Jürgen Oesten

Jürgen Oesten
Born October 24, 1913(1913-10-24)
Grunewald, Berlin, Germany
Died August 5, 2010(2010-08-05) (aged 96)
Hamburg, Germany
Allegiance  Nazi Germany
Service/branch  Kriegsmarine
Years of service 1933–1945
Rank Korvettenkapitän
Commands held U-61
U-106
U-861
Battles/wars

World War II
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The title of this article contains the character ü . Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Juergen Oesten.

Jürgen Oesten (24 October 1913 – 5 August 2010) was a Korvettenkapitän in the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He commanded the U-boats U-61 and U-106, and then served as a staff officer before returning to command U-861. He sank nineteen ships for a total of 101,744 gross register tons (GRT), and damaged four others for 51,668 GRT to become number 29 on the list of the highest scoring U-Boat aces of World War II.

Contents

Career

Born in Grunewald, Berlin, Oesten joined the Reichsmarine in April 1933. After serving aboard the cruisers Admiral Graf Spee and Karlsruhe he transferred to the U-boat arm in May 1937, and was appointed watch officer of U-20. In August 1939 Oesten commissioned U-61, sailing on nine patrols, and sinking five ships. Taking command of U-106 in September 1940, he sailed on three patrols sinking another ten ships. On 20 March 1941 during an attack on convoy SL-68 he damaged the British battleship HMS Malaya. In October 1941 Oesten became the first commander of the 9th U-boat Flotilla based in Brest, France. In March 1942 he joined the staff of FdU Nordmeer directing the U-boat war in the Norwegian Sea. In September 1943 Oesten returned to active duty in U-861, sailing to Penang to join the Monsun Gruppe of U-boats operating in the Indian Ocean, and sinking another four ships, bringing his career total to 19 ships sunk, totalling 101,744 GRT, and four ships damaged (51,668 GRT). U-861 left Soerabaya, Dutch East Indies, in January 1945 carrying a cargo of vital materials, but only two torpedoes, and reached Trondheim, Norway, in April, just before the German surrender.[1] Oesten was a technical advisor for the 2005 submarine simulator Silent Hunter III.[2]

Awards

References

Notes
  1. ^ "Korvettenkapitän Jürgen Oesten". uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/men/oesten.htm. Retrieved 19 April 2010. 
  2. ^ "Softpedia News talks with the creators of Silent Hunter III". news.softpedia.com. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Softpedia-News-talks-with-the-creators-of-Silent-Hunter-III-2142.shtml. Retrieved 19 April 2010. 
  3. ^ a b c d Busch and Röll 2003, p. 114.
  4. ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 329.
Bibliography
  • Busch, Rainer & Röll, Hans-Joachim (2003). Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939-1945 - Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 3-8132-0515-0.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945 (in German). Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
  • Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-88740-748-X.
  • Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine (in German). Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 3-87943-355-0.
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

External links