Werner Winter

Werner Winter (26 March 1912 – 9 September 1972) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He reached the rank of Korvettenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II, and later that of Kapitän zur See with the Bundesmarine.

Career
Winter joined the Reichsmarine in April 1930, serving aboard the battleship SMS Schlesien and the light cruiser Emden then transferred to the U-boat force in July 1935.

He served for a few months aboard GS U-22 (1936), before taking command of the U-boat in October 1937. In September 1939 he made two short and unsuccessful combat patrols, before joining the staff of the BdU, but returned in July 1941 to take command of GS U-103 (1940) from Viktor Schütze, making three successful patrols, sinking fifteen merchant ships, for a total of 79,302 tons of Allied shipping, including the USS W. L. Steed (ID-3449).

In July 1942 he took command of 1st U-boat Flotilla in Brest, France, where he was captured after the city's surrender in August 1944, and was finally released in November 1947.

Winter joined the Bundesmarine in 1957, commanding the GERMAN DESTROYER Z-1 from July 1961 to September 1962, retiring in March 1970 with the rank of Kapitän zur See.

Awards

 * Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class
 * Knight's Cross of the Hungarian Merit Medal (August 1938)
 * Sudetenland Medal (20 December 1939)
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (18 September 1939)
 * 1st Class (10 November 1941)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 5 June 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-103
 * War Merit Cross 2nd Class
 * Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 1 June 1942