Horst Höltring

Horst Höltring (30 June 1913 – 24 August 1943) was a German U-boat commander in World War II.^[1]

Horst Höltring
Born	(1913-06-30)30 June 1913 Altona, Hamburg, German Empire
Died	24 August 1943(1943-08-24) (aged 30) Central Atlantic Ocean
Allegiance	Weimar Republic  Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Reichsmarine  Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1933–43
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Commands	U-149 U-604
Battles / wars	World War II
Awards	Iron Cross 2nd Class, Iron Cross 1st Class, German Cross in Gold

Naval career

Horst Höltring joined the Reichsmarine in 1933. He went through U-boat training from March to October 1940. On 13 November 1940 he was given command of U-149, a training boat. He served on the boat for more than a year, giving up command on 30 November 1941.^[2] From December 1941 to January 1942 he went through U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) in preparation for his next command. On 8 January 1942 Höltring commissioned the Type VIIC U-604 at Hamburg. U-604 went on seven patrols, spending 203 days at sea. Six ships were sunk, totaling 40,000 tons.^[3] On the 7th patrol the boat was lost. Höltring survived the loss of his boat on 11 August 1943 after she was scuttled following an attack by two American aircraft.^[4] The entire crew of 45 men was rescued by two U-boats. Höltring died together with thirteen of his men when the boat that rescued half of his crew, U-185, was sunk 13 days later. According to survivors, when U-185 was fatally hit and chlorine gas was spreading through the boat, Höltring, himself wounded, jumped from his bunk with a pistol and ran to the forward torpedo room where two badly wounded men from U-604 begged to be shot to avoid drowning or suffocating, which he did, before taking his own life.^[5] Fourteen men from U-604 died on U-185. U-172 had rescued the rest of Höltring's crew, and reached port with them at Lorient, France on 7 September 1943.

Summary of career

Ships sunk

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
27 June 1941	U-149	M-99	Soviet Navy	206	Sunk
25 August 1942	U-604	Abbekerk	Netherlands	7,906	Sunk
27 October 1942	U-604	Anglo Mærsk	United Kingdom	7,705	Sunk
30 October 1942	U-604	Président Doumer	United Kingdom	11,898	Sunk
30 October 1942	U-604	Baron Vernon	United Kingdom	3,642	Sunk
2 December 1942	U-604	Coamo	United States	7,057	Sunk
23 February 1943	U-604	Stockport	United Kingdom	1,683	Sunk

Awards

• Iron Cross 2nd Class
• Iron Cross 1st Class
• German Cross in Gold - 6 November 1943 (posthumous)

References

1. "Kapitänleutnant Horst Höltring". uboat.net. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
2. Busch, R.; Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
3. Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.
4. Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.
5. Blair, C. (1998). Hitler's U-boat War. The Hunted, 1942-1945.

Bibliography

• Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary. Translated by Brooks, Geoffrey. London, Annapolis, Md: Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-186-6.