The Men - The Commander listing

Reinhard Hardegen

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 33)

Successes
21 ships sunk for a total of 112,447 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 3,209 GRT
4 ships damaged for a total of 32,516 GRT
1 auxiliary warship damaged for a total of 13,984 GRT

Born

18 Mar 1913

Bremen

Kapitänleutnant Reinhard Hardegen

Ranks

1 Jul 1934	Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1936	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1936	Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1938	Oberleutnant zur See
1 Dec 1940	Kapitänleutnant
1 Mar 1944	Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

18 Sep 1940	Iron Cross 2nd Class
18 Nov 1940	U-boat War Badge 1939
23 Aug 1941	Iron Cross 1st Class
23 Jan 1942	Knights Cross
23 Apr 1942	Knights Cross with Oak Leaves
7 May 1942	U-boat War Badge with Diamonds

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-147	11 Dec 1940	4 Apr 1941	1 patrol (19 days)
U-123	19 May 1941	31 Jul 1942	4 patrols (221 days)

Personal information

Kptlt. Hardegen during navigation

Reinhard Hardegen began his naval career in April 1933. After two and a half years he transferred, like some other naval officers, to the Marineflieger (naval air force), a part of the Kriegsmarine. Here he received training as an aircraft observer and later as a pilot. After a crash and an ensuing six months in hospital, in November 1939 he transferred to the U-boat force.

He received his first experience on U-124 under Kptlt. Schulz. In December 1940 he became commander of U-147. On his first patrol as commander in March 1941 he sank the Norwegian steamer Augvald (4,811 tons).

On 16 May, 1941 he took over U-123, a very successful boat, from Kptlt. Karl-Heinz Moehle. On his first patrol with this boat in summer 1941 in West African waters, Hardegen sank five ships for a total of 21,507 tons. In October 1941 he torpedoed the British auxiliary cruiser HMS Aurania (13,984 tons), but the badly damaged ship was towed to harbor by two destroyers.

At this time, Hardegen's medical history finally caught up with him. Due to injuries received in the 1936 plane crash, Hardegen had actually been classed unfit for U-boat service. However, his papers had repeatedly arrived at each training location after he had already departed for the next. Now Dönitz had learned of Hardegen's lingering injuries (including a shortened leg and chronic bleeding of the stomach which required a special diet of easily-digested foods), but rewarded Hardegen's dedication by permitting him to carry out two further patrols.

On 23 December, 1941 U-123 left Lorient on a special mission. She was one of five U-boats ordered to launch an attack against the eastern coast of the United States. The operation was called Paukenschlag (Drumbeat).

On 12 January, 1942, before reaching the operational area, Hardegen sank the British freighter Cyclops in Canadian waters. This was two days before Operation Paukenschlag officially was to start in US waters. But the commanders had permission to sink ships on the crossing to the US coast if they were larger than 10,000 tons. The next two weeks were very successful for U-123, which sank nine ships for a total of 53,173 tons. On 20 January Dönitz sent the following radiogram:

An den Paukenschläger Hardegen. Bravo! Gut gepaukt. Dönitz.

Three days later Hardegen received by radio the announcement that he had been decorated with the Knights Cross.

Kptlt. Reinhard Hardegen after patrol

In March 1942 Hardegen was once more on patrol with U-123 off the US east coast. During this second Drumbeat patrol he sank ten ships for a total of 57,170 tons. For this additional outstanding patrol he received the Oak Leaves to his Knights Cross while still at sea. In May 1942 Hardegen brought U-123 back to Kiel for some necessary repairs.

On 31 July, 1942 he left the boat and became an instructor in the 27th Flotilla in Gotenhafen. In March 1943 Kptlt. Hardegen became chief of U-boat training in the torpedo school at Mürwik. Then he served for a few months in the Torpedowaffenamt (torpedo weapon department), before becoming a battalion commander in the Marine Infanterie Regiment 6 in February 1945.

After the war Reinhard Hardegen spent more than a year in British captivity, before returning home in November 1946. Then he built up a successful oil trading company and was a member of Parliament in his hometown of Bremen for 32 years.

You can listen to Mr. Hardegen speaking of his experiences here.

Patrol info for Reinhard Hardegen

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-147	9 Feb 1941	Kiel	16 Feb 1941	Bergen		8 days
2.	U-147	22 Feb 1941	Bergen	12 Mar 1941	Kiel	Patrol 1,	19 days
3.	U-123	8 Jun 1941	Lorient	12 Jun 1941	Lorient		5 days
4.	U-123	15 Jun 1941	Lorient	23 Aug 1941	Lorient	Patrol 2,	70 days
5.	U-123	14 Oct 1941	Lorient	22 Nov 1941	Lorient	Patrol 3,	40 days
6.	U-123	23 Dec 1941	Lorient	9 Feb 1942	Lorient	Patrol 4,	49 days
7.	U-123	2 Mar 1942	Lorient	2 May 1942	Lorient	Patrol 5,	62 days
8.	U-123	16 May 1942	Lorient	24 May 1942	Bergen		9 days
9.	U-123	25 May 1942	Bergen	26 May 1942	Kristiansand		2 days
10.	U-123	26 May 1942	Kristiansand	27 May 1942	Aarhus		2 days
11.	U-123	28 May 1942	Aarhus	29 May 1942	Kiel		2 days
12.	U-123	3 Jun 1942	Kiel	5 Jun 1942	Stettin		3 days
5 patrols, 240 days at sea

Ships hit by Reinhard Hardegen

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
2 Mar, 1941	U-147	Augvald	4,811		nw	HX-109
20 Jun, 1941	U-123	Ganda	4,333		pt
27 Jun, 1941	U-123	Oberon	1,996		nl	SL-78
27 Jun, 1941	U-123	P.L.M. 22	5,646		br	SL-78
29 Jun, 1941	U-123	Rio Azul	4,088		br	SL-78
4 Jul, 1941	U-123	Auditor	5,444		br	OB-337
21 Oct, 1941	U-123	HMS Aurania (F 28)	13,984		br	SL-89	damaged

12 Jan, 1942	U-123	Cyclops	9,076		br
14 Jan, 1942	U-123	Norness	9,577		pa
15 Jan, 1942	U-123	Coimbra	6,768		br
19 Jan, 1942	U-123	Ciltvaira	3,779		le
19 Jan, 1942	U-123	City of Atlanta	5,269		am
19 Jan, 1942	U-123	Malay	8,206		am		damaged
19 Jan, 1942	U-123	Norvana	2,677		am
25 Jan, 1942	U-123	Culebra	3,044		br	ON-53
27 Jan, 1942	U-123	Pan Norway	9,231		nw	ON-56
22 Mar, 1942	U-123	Muskogee	7,034		am
24 Mar, 1942	U-123	Empire Steel	8,138		br
27 Mar, 1942	U-123	USS Atik (AK 101)	3,209		am
2 Apr, 1942	U-123	Liebre	7,057		am		damaged
8 Apr, 1942	U-123	Esso Baton Rouge	7,989		am		damaged
8 Apr, 1942	U-123	Oklahoma	9,264		am		damaged
9 Apr, 1942	U-123	Esparta	3,365		am
11 Apr, 1942	U-123	Gulfamerica	8,081		am
13 Apr, 1942	U-123	Korsholm	2,647		sw
13 Apr, 1942	U-123	Leslie	2,609		am
17 Apr, 1942	U-123	Alcoa Guide	4,834		am
			162,156
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.