U-575 Heydemann 11-Apr-1942 20 days
Kapitänleutnant Günther Heydemann spent nearly three weeks between the 11th of April and the 30th of April 1942 in the area north and northwest of Bermuda. The only result of this patrol was the sinking of the American ship Robin Hoodof 6,887 tons by combined torpedo and gunfire on the 16th Northwest of Bermuda at the outside of the sub’s patrol area.
Starting on the 11th Heydemann moved southwest until the 15th, then north, then west, south, and southeast, reaching its closest point to Bermuda on the 24th of April. From there the boat proceeded north and northeast along a similar track it had arrived with. U-575 sailed for the 7th U-boat Flotilla out of Saint Nazaire on the 24th of March and returned there on the 14th of May 1942.
Heydemann was born in 1914 and was a Crew of 1933. His first stints were aboard the Schlesien and the Schleswig-Holstein, then he joined u-boats in April 1940. After serving on the U-69 under Metzler he commissioned U-575 in mid 1941. Over eight patrols he accrued 395 patrol days and sank or damaged eight ships of 48,920 tons. He received the Knights Cross in July of 1943, after which he moved ashore to command the 23rdand 25th training flotillas until the war’s end. Günther Heydemann died in 1986 at age 71.
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