U-134 Schendel 30-Jun-1942
Though he was promoted to Korvettenkapitänin late 1944, it is perhaps not surprising given the results of this patrol that Rudolf Schendel was not a decorated officer, though clearly from the track of his voyage this was not for lack of effort, but rather the lack of opportunity. U-134 would be taken over by Hans-Günther Brosin, whose patrols in the region were only marginally more successful and included the downing of a US Navy airship.
A member of the crew of 1932 Schendel and his boat survived their patrols and he lived until age 56 in 1970. His total tonnage sank over seven patrols and 271 days at sea was 12,147 GRT in Dutch, British and Panamanian registries. Unlike most U-boat skippers which are tracked on Uboat.net and whose feats are detailed in Busch and Röll, German U-boat Commanders of World War II(1998), and Franz Kurowski’s Knights Cross Holders of the U-boat Service, there is no photograph of Schendel on uboat.net.
SOURCES: Gudmundur Helgason, Rainer Kolbicz, www.uboat.net, 2013, Kenneth Wynn, U-boat Operations of the Second World War, Volume 1 and Volume 2, 1997, R. Busch, and H.-J. Röll, German U-boat Commanders of World War II, 1988, Franz Kurowski, Knights Cross Holders of the U-boat Service