Alfred Radermacher
| Alfred Radermacher | |
|---|---|
Alfred Radermacher onboard U-96 in 1941
|
|
| Born |
13 September 1913 Hilgert, Westerwald |
| Died | 1994 (age 81) |
| Allegiance |
 Nazi Germany
|
| Service/branch |
 Kriegsmarine
|
| Years of service | 1933–45 |
| Rank | Oberleutnant zur See |
| Unit |
1st U-boat Flotilla 25th U-boat Flotilla |
| Commands held |
U-5 U-120 U-393 |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
U-boat War Badge Iron Cross (1st & 2nd Class) German Cross (in Gold) |
Alfred Radermacher (13 Sep 1913 - 1994) was a career officer of both the Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine who served as a navigator, and later commander, of German U-boats during the Second World War. He is best known for serving as navigator of U-96 during its 7th war patrol which was documented by naval war correspondent Lothar-Günther Buchheim. Radermacher was subsequently portrayed in both the novel and film versions of the war patrol, known as Das Boot.
Radermacher was born in September 1913 in the community of Hilgert in Westerwald. At the age of twenty, he enlisted into the Reichsmarine as an ordinary deck seaman. He received his initial basic training in the summer of 1933, the year in which the Nazi Party came to power in Germany. In 1935 Radermacher applied to join the expanding German submarine force, and was assigned as a deck seaman on submarine U-5 that August. Radermacher served on U-5 for three and half years, and was appointed an apprentice navigator in October 1937.
In April 1939 Radermacher attended a U-boat navigator's course and was promoted to the rank of Chief Petty Officer that November. During his schooling Nazi Germany invaded Poland, and the Second World War began. Radermacher's first war assignment was in the personnel office of the 1st U-boat Flotilla while he awaited posting to an active duty submarine. In February 1940 he was promoted to Senior Navigator and issued orders to return to U-5 as the submarine's navigator. The boat was at that time under the command of Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock and Radermacher served on U-5 for a single war patrol, lasting from April 4 to 19, 1940.
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