Hans Jenisch

Hans Jenisch (19 October 1913 – 29 April 1982) was a Kapitänleutnant with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He commanded the Type VIIA U-boat GS U-32 (1937), sinking seventeen ships on seven patrols, for a total of 110,139 tons of Allied shipping, to become the 26th highest scoring U-Boat ace of World War II.

Career
Jenisch joined the Reichsmarine in 1933, and after serving in the cruiser GERMAN POCKET BATTLESHIP Deutschland transferred to the U-boat arm in 1937. He served as 1.WO (second-in-command) of GS U-32 (1937) under Werner Lott, before taking command of the U-boat in February 1940. During 7 patrols he sank 17 ships, including the 42,348 ton RMS Empress of Britain (1931), for a career total of 110,139 GRT, as well as damaging 3 ships for 22,749 tons, including the cruiser HMS Fiji (58).

Empress of Britain
On 26 October 1940 the Empress of Britain was spotted by a German Focke-Wulf C 200 Condor long-range bomber, commanded by Oberleutnant Bernhard Jope. Jope's bomber strafed the Empress three times and hit her twice with 250 kg bombs causing severe damage to the ship. Jenisch had been informed of the location of the damaged vessel and intercepted her on the evening of 27 October. Jenisch fired three torpedoes, hitting her twice. The Empress of Britain sank at 02:05 AM on 28 October 1940. At 42,348 gross tons, she was the largest ship sunk by a German U-boat.

Capture
Jenisch was captured on 30 October 1940 after U-32 was sunk north-west of Ireland by the British destroyers HMS Harvester (H19) and HMS Highlander (H44). Nine of her crew died, but 33 survived to be taken prisoner, including Jenisch. He spent the next 6.5 years in British captivity before his return to Germany in June 1947.

Post-war
In 1956 Jenisch joined the Bundesmarine. He held staff positions and commanded the frigate Hipper for a time. Jenisch was Divisional Training Commander at the Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr in the Department of Navy in Hamburg from 1 October 1966 to 31 March 1970. He retired in 1972 with the rank of Kapitän zur See, and died in 1982.

Awards

 * Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
 * U-boat War Badge (1939)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 7 October 1940 as Oberleutnant zur See and commander of U-32
 * Mentioned four times in the Wehrmachtbericht (12 September 1940, 1 October 1940, 3 October 1940 and 28 October 1940)