Heinrich Liebe

Commander Heinrich Liebe (29 January 1908 – 27 July 1997) was a highly decorated German naval officer who served as a U-boat commander during World War II until transferred to Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine (German Navy High Command). He sank 34 ships for a total of, placing him fourth on the Aces of the Deep list. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. It was Germany's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to Heinrich Liebe.

Biography
Born in Gotha, Liebe began his Reichsmarine career in 1927. Promoted to Oberfähnrich zur See on 1 June 1931, Liebe served on the World War I battleship SMS Schleswig-Holstein for four years. In September 1935, Liebe transferred to the U-boat arm.

On 1 October 1936, Liebe was promoted to Kapitänleutnant and assigned commander of GS U-2 (1935), a Type II U-boat attached to the U-Bootschulflottille. On 24 October 1938, Liebe commissioned GS U-38 (1938), a Type IX U-boat assigned to 6th U-boat Flotilla.

World War II
U-38 embarked on her first war time patrol on 19 August 1939 from Wilhelmshaven. Operating off Lisbon, Portugal on the outbreak of war, Liebe managed to sink two British freighters before returning to port on 18 September. On 2 November, Liebe set sail for Norwegian water on his second patrol.

Liebes fourth patrol, on 8 April 1940 was also set in Norwegian waters, to support Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway. During this patrol, Liebe shared the same negative experience of failed torpedoes as many other u-boat captains operating in the area. In mid April 1940, Liebe fired on the British heavy cruiser HMS Effingham (D98), but all the torpedoes fired failed to detonate.

U-38 left on her fifth patrol on 6 June 1940, tasked with patrolling the Western Approaches off southern Ireland. Liebe managed to sink six ships during this patrol, and also succeeded in landing a German agent in Ireland on 12 June. During his sixth patrol, Liebe sank three ships, and were ordered to the new 6th U-boat Flotilla base in Lorient, France. During this patrol, on 14 August, Liebe received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

On 9 April 1941, Liebe set sail for operations off Freetown, Africa. This was Liebe's ninth and last patrol with U-38, during which he sank 8 ships for a total of. For these successes, Liebe received the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross on 10 June 1941. On 29 June, U-38 returned to Lorient. On 22 July, Liebe transferred off the U-38, which was put under the command of Heinrich Schuch.

Following his departure from U-38, Liebe was assigned to the staff of Oberkommando der Marine. In August 1944, he was transferred to the staff of the Commander-in-Chief of Submarines (Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote or BdU), Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, during which tenure he was promoted to Fregattenkapitän on 1 October 1944.

After the war
After the war Liebe returned to his hometown in the Soviet sector to live with his parents. Since he refused to train Soviet submariners, he felt that was to blame for his being held to menial occupations. He died in July 1997 and is buried in Eisenach, Germany.

Achievements

 * 34 ships sunk for a total of 187.
 * 1 ship damaged for a total of 3.

Ships attacked
As a u-boat commander of U-38 Liebe was credited with the sinking of 34 commercial ships for, and damaged another of.

Awards

 * Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class (2 October 1936)
 * Olympic Games Decoration (20 April 1937)
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (8 October 1939)
 * 1st Class (6 April 1940)
 * U-boat War Badge (1939) (16 December 1939)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
 * Knight's Cross on 14 August 1940 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-38
 * 13th Oak Leaves on 10 June 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-38
 * Italian War Cross with Swords (2 December 1941)
 * War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords (3 September 1944)
 * Mentioned three times in the Wehrmachtbericht (5 July 1940, 31 May 1941 and 9 June 1941)