Heinrich Schroeteler

Heinrich Schroeteler
Born	(1915-12-10)10 December 1915 Essen-Katernberg
Died	Bochum
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1936–45
Rank	Oberleutnant zur See
Unit	Schlesien Panzerschiff Admiral Scheer U-96
Commands held	U-667 U-1023
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic Actions of 7/8 May 1945 Operation Deadlight
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Other work	Art history and sculptor

Dr. Heinrich Andreas Schroeteler (10 December 1915 – 19 January 2000) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and 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. He is credited with damaging one merchant ship, the British steam merchant Riverton, of 7,345 gross register tons (GRT), and sinking one warship, the Norwegian minesweeper HNoMS NYMS-382, of 335 GRT. The sinking took place on 7 May 1945, 3 days after the U-boats had been ordered to surrender.

Schroeteler transferred to the U-boat service in September 1941 and sailed on one patrol from 23 April 1942 to 15 July 1942 on U-96 as a Kommandantenschüler (commander-in-training) under the command of Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel.

Heinrich Schroeteler, at the age of 50 years, began his studies of art history, archeology and medieval history at the Ruhr University Bochum. After his graduation in 1969 he worked as a research associate at the Institute of Archaeology. He led the modeling workshop, and was curator of collections. His success as a reconstructor of ancient works of art was honoured with the University Medal from the Ruhr University in 1981.

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  Heinrich Schroeteler designed the original figurehead of the SSS Gorch Fock.

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  Kortum-monument ("Jobsiade") by Heinrich Schroeteler

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (24 October 1940)
  • 1st Class (14 April 1941)
• Minesweeper War Badge (14 November 1940)
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (6 July 1942)
• U-boat Front Clasp (7 October 1944)
• German Cross in Gold on 10 November 1944 as Kapitänleutnant on U-667 in the 7th U-boat Flotilla
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 2 May 1945 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-1023

External links

• Heinrich Schroeteler in the German National Library catalogue
• http://www.classicwest.com/homesig.html