The Men - The Commander listing

Joachim Schepke

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 30)

Successes
36 ships sunk for a total of 153,677 GRT
4 ships damaged for a total of 17,229 GRT
1 ship a total loss for a total of 2,205 GRT

Born	8 Mar 1912		Flensburg
Died	17 Mar 1941	(29)	North Atlantic

Kapitänleutnant Joachim Schepke

Ranks

9 Oct 1930	Seekadett
1 Apr 1931	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1934	Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1936	Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jun 1939	Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

27 Feb 1940	Iron Cross 1st Class
24 Sep 1940	Knights Cross
1 Dec 1940	Knights Cross with Oak Leaves

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-3	29 Oct 1938	2 Jan 1940	3 patrols (24 days)
U-19	3 Jan 1940	30 Apr 1940	5 patrols (64 days)
U-100	30 May 1940	17 Mar 1941 (+)	6 patrols (112 days)

Personal information

Kptlt. Schepke on board during the return

Joachim Schepke began his naval career in April 1930. He spent two years on the cruiser Deutschland before, like Günther Prien, he transferred to the U-boat force in October 1935. Later he spent 18 months as an instructor in the torpedo-school at Flensburg, but in 1938 he became commander of the training U-boat U-3. With U-3 he achieved his first successes, before leaving the U-boat in January 1940.

He then took command of U-19 and sank nine ships for a total of 15,715 tons.

In May 1940 he commissioned U-100, a Type VIIB U-boat. On his first patrol from Kiel to Lorient in August 1940, he sank six ships for a total of 25,812 tons and damaged one ship.

But Kapitänleutnant Schepke became well known as commander of U-100 in September 1940. On his second patrol with this boat, in two days he sank seven ships for a total of 50,340 tons. Two days later he received the Knights Cross.

Kapitänleutnant Schepke in the public

Kptlt. Schepke in Berlin 6 weeks before his death

Also outstanding was the day of 23 November, 1940, when Schepke sank seven ships totaling 24,601 tons. One week later he was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knights Cross.

In 1940 he published a book, U-Boot Fahrer von heute (U-boat men of today), describing life on a U-boat in simple terms. This book is illustrated with his own paintings.

Schepke, a handsome young man, was nicknamed Ihrer Majestät bestaussehender Offizier (Her Majesty's best-looking officer. The expression Ihrer Majestät is used to indicate the country's leader, and is not referring to royalty in this case!).

In February 1941 he spoke in the Berlin Sportpalast to thousands of young Germans about the U-boat war.

Joachim Schepke was killed when U-100 was sunk at 0318hrs on 17 March, 1941 southeast of Iceland in approximate position 61N, 12W after being rammed and depth charged by the British destroyers HMS Walker and HMS Vanoc. Vanoc spotted U-100 with her early radar in heavy fog and chased the contact. 38 men were killed, including Schepke, who is said to have been caught on the bridge when the boat was rammed. Six crew members survived.

(You can also find some very good information on this biography page for Joachim Schepke. It is part of the highly recommend site Canonesa, Convoy HX 72 & U-100 by Tom Purnell.)

Patrol info for Joachim Schepke

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-3	4 Sep 1939	Wilhelmshaven	8 Sep 1939	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 1,	5 days
2.	U-3	13 Sep 1939	Wilhelmshaven	24 Sep 1939	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 2,	12 days
3.	U-3	27 Sep 1939	Wilhelmshaven	3 Oct 1939	Kiel	Patrol 3,	7 days
4.	U-19	4 Jan 1940	Kiel	12 Jan 1940	Kiel	Patrol 4,	9 days
5.	U-19	18 Jan 1940	Kiel	28 Jan 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 5,	11 days
6.	U-19	14 Feb 1940	Wilhelmshaven	26 Feb 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 6,	13 days
7.	U-19	14 Mar 1940	Wilhelmshaven	23 Mar 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 7,	10 days
8.	U-19	3 Apr 1940	Wilhelmshaven	23 Apr 1940	Kiel	Patrol 8,	21 days
9.	U-100	9 Aug 1940	Kiel	1 Sep 1940	Lorient	Patrol 9,	24 days
10.	U-100	11 Sep 1940	Lorient	25 Sep 1940	Lorient	Patrol 10,	15 days
11.	U-100	12 Oct 1940	Lorient	23 Oct 1940	Lorient	Patrol 11,	12 days
12.	U-100	7 Nov 1940	Lorient	27 Nov 1940	Lorient	Patrol 12,	21 days
13.	U-100	2 Dec 1940	Lorient	1 Jan 1941	Kiel	Patrol 13,	31 days
14.	U-100	9 Mar 1941	Kiel	17 Mar 1941	Sunk	Patrol 14,	9 days
14 patrols, 200 days at sea

Ships hit by Joachim Schepke

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
30 Sep, 1939	U-3	Gun	1,198		sw
30 Sep, 1939	U-3	Vendia	1,150		da

9 Jan, 1940	U-19	Manx	1,343		nw
23 Jan, 1940	U-19	Baltanglia	1,523		br
23 Jan, 1940	U-19	Pluto	1,598		nw
25 Jan, 1940	U-19	Everene	4,434		le
25 Jan, 1940	U-19	Gudveig	1,300		nw
19 Mar, 1940	U-19	Charkow	1,026		da
19 Mar, 1940	U-19	Minsk	1,229		da
20 Mar, 1940	U-19	Bothal	2,109		da
20 Mar, 1940	U-19	Viking	1,153		da
16 Aug, 1940	U-100	Empire Merchant	4,864		br	OA-198
25 Aug, 1940	U-100	Jamaica Pioneer	5,471		br
29 Aug, 1940	U-100	Alida Gorthon	2,373		sw	OA-204
29 Aug, 1940	U-100	Astra II	2,393		br	OA-204
29 Aug, 1940	U-100	Dalblair	4,608		br	OA-204
29 Aug, 1940	U-100	Empire Moose	6,103		br	OA-204
29 Aug, 1940	U-100	Hartismere	5,498		br	OA-204	damaged
21 Sep, 1940	U-100	Canonesa	8,286		br	HX-72
21 Sep, 1940	U-100	Dalcairn	4,608		br	HX-72
21 Sep, 1940	U-100	Torinia	10,364		br	HX-72
22 Sep, 1940	U-100	Empire Airman	6,586		br	HX-72
22 Sep, 1940	U-100	Frederick S. Fales	10,525		br	HX-72
22 Sep, 1940	U-100	Scholar	3,940		br	HX-72
22 Sep, 1940	U-100	Simla	6,031		nw	HX-72
18 Oct, 1940	U-100	Boekelo	2,118		nl	SC-7	damaged
18 Oct, 1940	U-100	Shekatika	5,458		br	SC-7	damaged
19 Oct, 1940	U-100	Blairspey	4,155		br	SC-7	damaged
20 Oct, 1940	U-100	Caprella	8,230		br	HX-79
20 Oct, 1940	U-100	Loch Lomond	5,452		br	HX-79
20 Oct, 1940	U-100	Sitala	6,218		br	HX-79
23 Nov, 1940	U-100	Bradfyne	4,740		br	SC-11
23 Nov, 1940	U-100	Bruse	2,205		nw	SC-11	total loss
23 Nov, 1940	U-100	Bussum	3,636		nl	SC-11
23 Nov, 1940	U-100	Justitia	4,562		br	SC-11
23 Nov, 1940	U-100	Leise Mærsk	3,136		br	SC-11
23 Nov, 1940	U-100	Ootmarsum	3,628		nl	SC-11
23 Nov, 1940	U-100	Salonica	2,694		nw	SC-11
14 Dec, 1940	U-100	Euphorbia	3,380		br	OB-256
14 Dec, 1940	U-100	Kyleglen	3,670		br	OB-256
18 Dec, 1940	U-100	Napier Star	10,116		br
			173,111
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.