Albrecht Brandi

For his first patrol (29 August – 7 October 1942), Brandi left Kiel in August 1942, operating in the Western Approaches before arriving at St. Nazaire, France in October. There U-617 was subordinated to the 7th U-boat Flotilla.[3] On this patrol, Brandi claimed four merchant ships sunk.[8] On 7 September, Brandi sank his first ship, the Faroes trawler Tor II.[9] U-617 was then part of Wolfpack Pfeil, which also included U-216, U-221, U-258, U-356, U-595, U-607 and U-615, and operated against Convoy SC 100. On the night 22/23 September, Brandi sank one ship, the tanker Athelsultan,[10] and on the following day two stragglers for 14,787 gross register tons (GRT).[11] One of the stragglers sunk by Brandi on 23 September was the formerly Danish steamer Tennessee.[12] The other straggler, the Belgian steamer Roumanie, was sunk at 13:58 on 24 September, killing the master, 35 crewmen and 6 gunners; only the chief engineer survived.[13] Brandi rescued the chief engineer in violation of the Laconia Order issued by Großadmiral (German Grand Admiral) Karl Dönitz.[14] On 26 September, Brandi sighted Convoy ON 131, his attack failed due to torpedo malfunctions.[15] On this patrol, Brandi was promoted to Kapitänleutnant on 1 October 1942. After this patrol, on 8 October 1942, he received the U-boat War Badge (U-Boot-Kriegsabzeichen).[5]

On his second patrol (2–28 November 1942), Brandi was ordered to the Mediterranean Sea where he was placed under the command of the 29th U-boat Flotilla.[3] His mission in the Mediterranean theater of operations was to help secure the supply routes for the Afrikakorps in North Africa. To get to his destination Brandi had to traverse the heavily guarded Strait of Gibraltar. Brandi made the passage on 8 November 1942 submerged. Nevertheless, U-617 was discovered by a British Short Sunderland bomber which dropped two depth charges, but missed. That day, British-American forces invaded French North Africa in Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942). At 11:27 on 21 November, Brandi attacked a strong British naval task force, firing a spread of four torpedoes at distance. Following the assault, U-617 came under attack. Over four hours, 80 depth charges were dropped on U-617. At 16:00 on 23 November, Brandi unsuccessfully attacked a cruiser before arriving in La Spezia on 28 November 1942.[5] Although no ships were actually sunk that day, the Führer der Unterseeboote Italy (FdU—Leader of U-boat Operations) later credited Brandi with the sinking of one cruiser of French or American origin, and one destroyer. Additionally the FdU acknowledged that Brandi had torpedoed two freighters, their sinking was assumed. The FdU denied him credit for having severely damaged a battleship.[16]

On his third patrol (21 December 1942 – 17 January 1943) before the coast of Cyrenaica, in December 1942, Brandi sank the ocean tug HMS St. Issey (W25),[17] and two merchant ships, Annitsa and Harboe Jensen on 15 January 1943. Following this patrol which ended in Salamis, the FdU credited Brandi with the destruction of one destroyer, one tug of 1,000 GRT and one lighter of unknown tonnage, all three sunk on 28 December 1942. The FdU further acknowledged the sinking of three ships on 30 December of 22,000 GRT, two ships on 13 January 1943 of 5,000 GRT, and two more ships on 15 January of 13,000 GRT. The Befehlshaber der U-Boote (BdU—U-boats Commander-in-Chief) confirmed this assessment and credited Brandi with the sinking of eight ships totalling 41,000 GRT and one destroyer.[16] For this achievement, Brandi was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 21 January 1943. The presentation was made by the commanding Admiral Aegean Sea, Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) Erich Förste, in La Spezia.[18]

During his fourth patrol (27 January – 13 February 1943) which started at the Salamis Naval Base and ended in Pula, Brandi sank the British minelayer HMS Welshman a few miles from the Maltese coast on 1 February 1943. Welshman, together with the minelayer HMS Abdiel and the mine-laying submarine HMS Rorqual, had been operating against the Axis supply route between the Gulf of Tunis and Sicily.[19] In addition, Brandi also claimed to have sunk four ships from two convoys for a total of 10,800 GRT.[20] Verifiable were the destruction of the Norwegian freighter Corona and Henrik, both sunk on 5 February 1943 from Convoy AW 22.[18]

In April 1943, on his fifth patrol (25 March – 17 April 1943), Brandi claimed the sinking of a light cruiser, 40 nautical miles (74 km; 46 mi) off Gibraltar. The FdU credited him with the sinking of a Fiji-class cruiser, a Tribal-class destroyer on 10 April and a troop transport type Orcades of 23,456 GRT attacked on 13 April.[21] On this patrol, Brandi was awarded Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) on 11 April 1943, the 224th officer or soldier of the Wehrmacht so honored.[18]

In June 1943, on his sixth patrol (31 May – 20 July 1943), a roundtrip from Toulon, with the objective to engage enemy shipping east of Gibraltar before the Algerian coast. On this patrol, the FdU credited Brandi with the unverifiable destruction of an H-class destroyer.[21]

U-617 aground near Mellila, Morocco after British air attack 12 September 1943.

In September 1943, in his last patrol in U-617, Brandi sank HMS Puckeridge, a Hunt class destroyer, off Gibraltar.[22] A few days later, on the night of 10 September, he was attacked near the Moroccan coast by Royal Air Force Wellington aircraft from No. 179 Squadron piloted by Squadron Leader D. B. Hodgkinson in position 35°38′N 03°27′W damaging U-617. Three hours later, on 11 September, another No. 179 Squadron aircraft piloted by Pilot Officer W. H. Brunini dropped more depth charges. The resultant damage to U-617 was so severe that Brandi could no longer risk diving. To avoid capture, Brandi decided to sail U-617 to shallow waters and abandoned ship off Melilla, Spanish Morocco, in position 35°13′N 03°21′W.[8] After evacuating into rubber boats, the crew managed to reach the shore without loss and were interned by Spanish troops. Brandi was loosely confined in the officers' camp near Cadiz. With the help of the German naval attaché in Madrid, he received a fake passport with the cover name "Albert Bergmann" and from there returned to Germany.[23] The wrecked U-617, aground offshore, was finally destroyed and sunk by air attack from Lockheed Hudson bombers from No. 48 and No. 233 Squadron and naval gunfire from HMS Hyacinth and HMAS Wollongong.[24][25]

On 19 November 1943, Brandi returned to Toulon and took command of U-380 from Kapitänleutnant Josef Röther. U-380 was damaged in an aerial attack on 24 November. Three waves of over 100 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers had targeted the U-boat base at the military port of Toulon.[26] The pressure hull was punctured in three places, requiring extended repairs. On 11 December, Brandi began with first test runs before torpedoes and provisions were stored on 18/19 December.[27] Brandi completed one patrol (20 December 1943 – 21 January 1944) with U-380, it was U-380's tenth and last patrol before the boat was destroyed on 11 March 1944 in Toulon by a bombing raid of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Ninth Air Force. On 24 December, Brandi attacked what he identified as a H-class destroyer. Röll and Besler state that this destroyer may have been the French destroyer Le Fantasque.[28]

On his return to Toulon on 21 January, Brandi, due to a navigational error of 45 nautical miles (83 km; 52 mi), ran U-380 aground. Two tugboats called in from Toulon had to pull U-380 free again. Kapitän zur See (Captain at See) Werner Hartmann, the new FdU Mediterranean Sea, evaluated Brandi's performance and severely criticized him for his bad performance on this patrol. In particular his report stated that Brandi failed to maintain a proper war diary, which makes it difficult to assess Brand's decisions. He went on that Brand's attacks were carried out to passively, avoiding contact with the enemy, apparently diving away too early. Hartmann concluded that U-380's running aground was caused by "sloppy" navigation.[29] Nevertheless, both the FdU and BdU credited Brandi with torpedoing one destroyer on 23 December and probably having sunk another destroyer on 11 January.[30]

On 22 January 1944, U-380 was taken to the shipyard at Missiessy for a major overhaul of the boat. An attack carried out by the 15th USAAF on 4 February damaged U-380, extending its planned maintenance time. U-380 was ready again for sea trials on 8 March. On 11 March, fully equipped and ready again for its next war patrol, it was moored just outside of Missiessy. At 12:00, Toulon came under attack of 120 Consolidated B-24 Liberators of the 47th Bombardment Wing of the Ninth Air Force. U-380 took a direct hit, killing the Dieselmaat Jonny Christof and two shipyard employees.[31]

In April 1944 Brandi became commander of U-967. During his first and only patrol (11 April – 17 May 1944) with her in May 1944 Brandi, operating against convoy GUS 38, sank the destroyer USS Fechteler on the night of 4/5 May 1944 with a T-5 acoustic torpedo. Two further attacks with acoustic torpedoes on 26 April and 8 May were unsuccessful.[32] Brandi also made a number of claims for sinking ships that cannot be substantiated.[33] Following this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) on 9 May 1944.[34] Brandi was the 66th member of the Wehrmacht and last sailor of the Kriegsmarine who received this award.[23]

Brandi had to surrender command of U-967 because he had fallen seriously ill with tonsillitis on his last patrol. On 8 June 1944, he was promoted to Korvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain), backdated to 9 May 1944.[35] In July 1944, Brandi was then appointed U-Admiralstabsoffizier (Asto—officer of the admiralty staff) commander of all U-boat operations in the Gulf of Finland with commanding admiral of the eastern Baltic Sea in Helsinki,[Tr 6] under the command of Admiral Theodor Burchardi.[8] Following the loss of the German naval bases in Finland, the German U-boats operated from Danzig, present-day Gdańsk, and Gotenhafen, present-day Gdynia. Their primary area of operations was the passage into the Gulf of Finland. In September–October 1944, Brandi had ordered U-717, U-958, U-370, U-348, U-475, U-745, U-290, U-1165 and U-481 into this area of operations. On 21 September U-242 and U-1001 laid a mine barrage before the peninsula Porkkala which subsequently sank the Finnish cargo ship Rigel. On 8/9 October, U-370 sank one Motor Gun Boat and the Finnish trawler No. 764, U-481 sank a Finnish sailboat on 15 October, U-1165 sank one minesweeper and attacked a submarine convoy, U-958 sank two Finnish sailboats, U-1001 torpedoed one trawler on 25 October, and U-475 sank one patrol boat. In November–December 1944, Brandi dispatched U-475, U-958, U-479, U-481, U-679 and U-1165 into the Bottenbusen, the northern part of the Gulf of Finland, and to the area between Hanko and Rewal. U-679 sank one escort ship and one mine layer and was sunk by the Soviet anti-submarine vessel MO-124 on 9 January 1945. U-481 sank one lighter and probably the Finnish minelayer Louhi on 12 January.[Note 2] U-637 sank one patrol boat.[37]

Brandi was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten) on 24 November 1944 for his leadership of the U-boat fleet. On 18 December 1944, he was promoted to Fregattenkapitän (Frigate Captain).[35] In the last year of the war, Brandi became chief commander of the Marinekleinkampfverbände (small naval battle units) in IJmuiden in the Netherlands. On 6 May 1945, Brandi surrendered to Canadian forces in the Netherlands and was taken prisoner of war.[38]

As commander of U-617, U-380 and U-967, Brandi claimed, and was credited with, sinking 20 ships of 115,000 gross register tons (GRT), 3 cruisers and 12 destroyers. Although ships sunk in the Mediterranean were doubled for award purposes, and extra credit was given for sinking warships, Brandi's actual sinkings were "startlingly less" according to Blair.[40] The verifiable total was:

• 8 ships sunk for a total of 25,879 GRT
• 1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 810 GRT
• 3 warships sunk for a total of 5,000 long tons (5,100 tonnes)

Chronicle of ships attacked[41][42]
Date	U-boat	Name of Ship	Nationality	Tonnage[Note 3]	Fate
7 September 1942	U-617	Tor II[43]	Faroe Islands	292	Sunk at 62°30′N 18°30′W
23 September 1942	U-617	Athelsultan[44]	United Kingdom	8,882	Sunk at 58°42′N 33°38′W
23 September 1942	U-617	Tennessee[44]	United Kingdom	2,342	Sunk at 58°40′N 33°41′W
24 September 1942	U-617	Roumanie[45]	Belgium	3,563	Sunk at 58°10′N 28°20′W
28 December 1942	U-617	HMS St. Issey (W25)[46]	Royal Navy	810	Sunk at 32°37′N 20°22′E
15 January 1943	U-617	Annitsa[47]	Greece	4,324	Sunk at 33°02′N 21°58′E
15 January 1943	U-617	Harboe Jensen[47]	Norway	1,862	Sunk at 33°04′N 21°50′E
1 February 1943	U-617	HMS Welshman (M84)[48]	Royal Navy	2,650	Sunk at 32°12′N 24°52′E
5 February 1943	U-617	Corona[48]	Norway	3,264	Sunk at 32°11′N 24°46′E
5 February 1943	U-617	Henrik[48]	Norway	1,350	Sunk at 32°11′N 24°46′E
6 September 1943	U-617	HMS Puckeridge[22]	Royal Navy	1,050	Sunk at 36°06′N 4°44′W
5 May 1944	U-967	USS Fechteler (DE-157)[32]	United States Navy	1,300	Sunk at 36°07′N 2°40′W

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• U-boat War Badge (8 October 1941)[5] & in Gold with Diamonds (April 1943)[49]
• Italian Silver Medal of Military Valor (29 May 1943)[50]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
  • Knight's Cross on 21 January 1943 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-617[51][52]
  • 224th Oak Leaves on 11 April 1943 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-617[51][53]
  • 66th Swords on 9 May 1944 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-380[51][54]
  • 22nd Diamonds on 24 November 1944 as Korvettenkapitän and commander of U-967[51][55]