Adalbert Schnee

Lieutenant Commander Adalbert Schnee (31 December 1913 – 4 November 1982) was a Korvettenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He commanded the U-boats GS U-6 (1935), GS U-60 (1939), GS U-121 (1940), GS U-201 and GS U-2511, sinking twenty-one merchant ships on twelve patrols, for a total of of Allied shipping, and received the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. He is thirty-seventh in the list of U-Boat aces of World War II.

Career
Schnee joined the Kriegsmarine in April 1934. After serving aboard the light cruiser GERMAN CRUISER Leipzig, he transferred to the U-boat arm in May 1937. He spent two years on board the Type IIB U-boat GS U-23 (1936), under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Otto Kretschmer, completing five combat patrols as 1.WO (second-in-command), between October 1939 and January 1940.

Schnee's first command, from January to July 1940, was the Type IIA U-boat GS U-6 (1935), in which he sailed on only a single short patrol in April supporting "Operation Weserübung" (the invasion of Norway).

His next command, between July and October 1940, was the Type IIC U-boat GS U-60 (1939). In her he sailed on three more patrols around the coasts of the British Isles sinking two ships for a total of 3,188 tons, and damaging one of 15,434 tons.

Schnee commanded the Type IIB training boat GS U-121 (1940) during November 1940, but as this class of U-boat were withdrawn from front-line service, in January 1941 Schnee was given command of the newer, larger Type VIIC U-boat GS U-201.

Schnee sailed on seven combat patrols in U-201 between April 1941 and August 1942, sinking 19 merchant ships (totalling 87,001 tons) and damaged two others (13,386 tons). He also sank two British Royal Navy auxiliary warships, the fighter catapult ship HMS Springbank and the anti-submarine naval trawler HMS Laertes (T137). In August 1941 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and in July 1942 with the Oak Leaves.

In October 1942 Schnee joined the BdU staff. In his position as the Geleitzugs-Admiralstabsoffizier, he planned and organized operations against Allied convoys.

In September 1944 Schnee took command of the new Elektroboot GS U-2511, one of only two Type XXI U-boats to go on patrol (GS U-3008 being the other). U-2511's first and only patrol began on 3 May 1945 at Bergen. The next day Schnee received the cease-fire order, prior to the German surrender, and a few hours later spotted a group of British warships. Simulating an attack, he evaded the destroyer screen, closed to within 500 m of the British cruiser HMS Norfolk (78), and then left the area without being detected. U-2511 returned to Bergen on 5 May to surrender as ordered. Schnee spoke to officers from Norfolk a few days later, who could not believe that U-2511 was able to get so close without any sonar contact. Schnee is said to have requested a comparison of the respective ships' logs, which confirmed his account. His Leitender Ingenieur ("Engineer Officer") on this patrol was Gerd Suhren.

Post-war
After the war Schnee served for six months in a German minesweeper unit. In October 1945 he was called to testify at the trial of Heinz-Wilhelm Eck and the officers of GS U-852, for their actions after the sinking of SS Peleus. Although appearing for the defence, Schnee was forced to admit he would not have acted as Eck did. He then worked for some years as a commercial representative before becoming the director of a sailing school on Elba. He was also for many years the chairman of the Verband der U-Boots-Fahrer ("Association of U-boat Crews") in Germany. He died in 1982.

Awards

 * Wehrmacht Long Service Award (8 April 1938)
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (21 October 1939)
 * 1st Class (15 August 1940)
 * Sudetenland Medal (20 December 1939)
 * U-boat War Badge (1939) (27 November 1939)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
 * Knight's Cross on 30 August 1941 as Oberleutnant zur See and commander of U-201
 * 105th Oak Leaves on 15 July 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-201