Reinhart Reche
Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)
| Successes 9 ships sunk for a total of 47,229 GRT 1 ship a total loss for a total of 7,191 GRT |
| Born | 13 Dec 1915 | ||
| Died | 3 Mar 1993 | (77) |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
| U-255 | 29 Nov 1941 | 6 Jun 1943 | 6 patrols (145 days) |
Personal information
Kapitänleutnant Reinhart Reche |
Reinhart Reche began his naval career in April 1934, serving as training officer and on the light cruiser Emden.
In April 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force. He made two patrols on U-751 under the command of Kptlt. Gerhard Bigalk before commissioning U-255 in November 1941. He led U-255 on nine patrols in the Arctic Sea and played a major role in the destruction of convoy PQ-17.
Reinhart Reche left U-255 in June 1943 and was then a member of the FdU Nordmeer staff until the end of the war.
In 1956 he joined the Bundesmarine and was from 1959 to 1961 commander of the U-boat training unit. Later he served in several staff positions and retired in 1974 as Kapitän zur See. He was decorated with the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Merit Cross).
Patrol info for Reinhart Reche
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-255 | 15 Jun 1942 | Kiel | 20 Jun 1942 | Narvik | 6 days | ||
| 2. | U-255 | 23 Jun 1942 | Narvik | 15 Jul 1942 | Narvik | Patrol 1, | 23 days | |
| 3. | U-255 | 18 Jul 1942 | Narvik | 20 Jul 1942 | Bergen | 3 days | ||
| 4. | U-255 | 4 Aug 1942 | Bergen | 9 Sep 1942 | Neidenfjord | Patrol 2, | 37 days | |
| 5. | U-255 | 13 Sep 1942 | Neidenfjord | 25 Sep 1942 | Bergen | Patrol 3, | 13 days | |
| 6. | U-255 | 29 Sep 1942 | Bergen | 3 Oct 1942 | Kiel | 5 days | ||
| 7. | U-255 | 7 Jan 1943 | Kiel | 18 Jan 1943 | Hammerfest | 12 days | ||
| 8. | U-255 | 23 Jan 1943 | Hammerfest | 9 Feb 1943 | Narvik | Patrol 4, | 18 days | |
| 9. | U-255 | 22 Feb 1943 | Narvik | 15 Mar 1943 | Narvik | Patrol 5, | 22 days | |
| 10. | U-255 | 29 Mar 1943 | Narvik | 29 Apr 1943 | Bergen | Patrol 6, | 32 days | |
| 6 patrols, 145 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Reinhart Reche
| Date | Boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | Fate * | |
| 6 Jul, 1942 | U-255 | John Witherspoon | 7,191 |  | am | PQ-17 | |
| 7 Jul, 1942 | U-255 | Alcoa Ranger | 5,116 | | am | PQ-17 | |
| 8 Jul, 1942 | U-255 | Olopana | 6,069 | | am | PQ-17 | |
| 13 Jul, 1942 | U-255 | Paulus Potter | 7,168 |  | nl | PQ-17 | |
| 20 Sep, 1942 | U-255 | Silver Sword | 4,937 | | am | QP-14 | |
| 26 Jan, 1943 | U-255 | Krasnyj Partizan | 2,418 |  | sj | ||
| 29 Jan, 1943 | U-255 | Ufa | 1,892 | | sj | ||
| 3 Feb, 1943 | U-255 | Greylock | 7,460 | | am | RA-52 | |
| 5 Mar, 1943 | U-255 | Executive | 4,978 | | am | RA-53 | |
| 10 Mar, 1943 | U-255 | Richard Bland | 7,191 | | am | RA-53 | total loss |
| 54,420 | |||||||
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk. | |||||||
Decorations and ranks information is in many cases not complete. If you can help on any of those missing that would be great.