Hans-Hartwig Trojer

Hans-Hartwig Trojer
Born	(1916-01-22)22 January 1916 Birthähn, Siebenbürgen
Died	North Atlantic south of Ireland
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1936–43
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Commands held	U-3 U-221
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Hans-Hartwig Trojer (22 January 1916 – 27 September 1943) was a German U-Boat commander in World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Naval career

He joined the Kriegsmarine in April 1936 and was a member of the Olympia crew. Because he had been born in Transylvania, he was nicknamed Count Dracula by his comrades. In 1938 he joined the U-boat service, and spent his first two years as watch officer on the U-34 and U-67.

After completing his commander training, Trojer was promoted to Oberleutnant zur See and took command of the U-3. In March 1942 he was assigned to command the new Type VIIc boat U-221. He sank six ships for a total of 29,682 gross register tons (GRT) on his first patrol and he and his crew earned a mention in the Wehrmachtbericht for this. On his third patrol he was informed by a radio message that he had received the Knights cross. On 1 April 1943 he received a promotion to Kapitänleutnant.

Hans-Hartwig Trojer was killed when U-221 was sunk with all hands by a British Halifax bomber south of Ireland on 27 September 1943.

Awards

• U-boat War Badge (1939) (12 November 1939)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (7 February 1940)
  • 1st Class (5 August 1940)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 24 March 1943 as Oberleutnant zur See and commander of U-221
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 14 October 1942

Wehrmachtbericht reference

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
Wednesday, 14 October 1942	Bei den Geleitzugkämpfen im Nordatlantik hat sich das Unterseeboot des Oberleutnants zur See Trojer besonders ausgezeichnet, das aus einem Geleitzug acht Schiffe mit 47 000 BRT herausschoß.	In the convoy battles in the North Atlantic, the submarine of First Lieutenant at Sea Trojer was particularly successful, which shot out of a convoy eight vessels with 47,000 GRT.