The Men - The Commander listing

Adalbert Schnee

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 34)

Successes
21 ships sunk for a total of 90,847 GRT
2 auxiliary warships sunk for a total of 5,700 GRT
3 ships damaged for a total of 28,820 GRT

Born	31 Dec 1913		Berlin
Died	4 Nov 1982	(68)	Hamburg

Kapitänleutnant Adalbert Schnee

Ranks

26 Sep 1934	Seekadett
1 Jul 1935	Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1937	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1937	Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939	Oberleutnant zur See
1 Mar 1942	Kapitänleutnant
1 Dec 1944	Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

21 Oct 1939	Iron Cross 2nd Class
27 Nov 1939	U-boat War Badge 1939
15 Aug 1940	Iron Cross 1st Class
30 Aug 1941	Knights Cross
15 Jul 1942	Knights Cross with Oak Leaves

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-6	31 Jan 1940	10 Jul 1940	1 patrol (16 days)
U-60	19 Jul 1940	5 Nov 1940	3 patrols (41 days)
U-121	6 Nov 1940	27 Nov 1940	No war patrols
U-201	25 Jan 1941	24 Aug 1942	7 patrols (242 days)
U-2511	29 Sep 1944	8 May 1945	1 patrol (4 days)

Personal information

'Adi' Schnee on board

Adalbert Schnee joined the Navy in April 1934. After some months on the light cruiser Leipzig, he began his U-boat career in May 1937.

He spent two pre-war years on board U-23 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Otto Kretschmer. There he completed his first five patrols before going on to win great success with his own boat, U-201. On his seventh patrol he sank ships for a total of 41,036 tons, and for this achievement was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knights Cross.

In October 1942 he joined the BdU staff. In his position as the "Geleitzugs-Asto" (A I op), he planned and organized operations against the enemy convoys.

Returning from his 'Oak Leaves' patrol 'Adi' Schnee in the conning tower
Of course the snowman has a Knights Cross as well. (Schnee is the German word for snow.)

In September 1944 he took over the command of the new "Elektro-boot" U-2511, the first and only Type XXI boat to go on patrol*. On this patrol in the last days of the war, in the hours immediately after the cease-fire orders on 4 May, 1945, Korvettenkapitän Schnee had an excellent opportunity to sink the British cruiser HMS Norfolk. Simulating an actual attack, he approached the vessel, evaded the destroyer screen, closed to point-blank range, and then simply left the area.

Adalbert Schnee

After the surrender he served for six months in a minesweeper unit. In October 1945 he was called into court to testify in defense of Heinz-Wilhelm Eck and some of his officers, who were being tried for their actions in the Peleus Affair. On the stand, Schnee was placed in a difficult position by the prosecutor, and faced with a choice of either incriminating himself or condemning Eck's decision. Backed into a corner, Schnee, who was to have been the star witness for the defense, was forced to admit he would not have done as Eck had.

Later Schnee completed a commercial training course and worked for some years as a commercial representative. Then he retired from this profession to become the director of a sailing school on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean.

Adalbert Schnee was for a long time the chairman of the "Verband der U-Boots-Fahrer" in Germany.

*Actually Kptlt Manseck on U-3008 also went on patrol but only 2-3 days before the end of the war in Europe. U-3008 returned to Kiel, Germany in late May to surrender.

Patrol info for Adalbert Schnee

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-6	4 Apr 1940	Wilhelmshaven	19 Apr 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 1,	16 days
2.	U-60	30 Jul 1940	Kiel	18 Aug 1940	Lorient	Patrol 2,	20 days
3.	U-60	21 Aug 1940	Lorient	6 Sep 1940	Lorient	Patrol 3,	17 days
4.	U-60	16 Sep 1940	Lorient	2 Oct 1940	Bergen		17 days
5.	U-60	5 Oct 1940	Bergen	8 Oct 1940	Kiel	Patrol 4,	4 days
6.	U-201	22 Apr 1941	Kiel	18 May 1941	Lorient	Patrol 5,	27 days
7.	U-201	8 Jun 1941	Lorient	19 Jul 1941	Brest	Patrol 6,	42 days
8.	U-201	14 Aug 1941	Brest	25 Aug 1941	Brest	Patrol 7,	12 days
9.	U-201	14 Sep 1941	Brest	30 Sep 1941	Brest	Patrol 8,	17 days
10.	U-201	29 Oct 1941	Brest	9 Dec 1941	Brest	Patrol 9,	42 days
11.	U-201	24 Mar 1942	Brest	21 May 1942	Brest	Patrol 10,	59 days
12.	U-201	27 Jun 1942	Brest	8 Aug 1942	Brest	Patrol 11,	43 days
13.	U-2511	17 Mar 1945	Kiel	23 Mar 1945	Horten		7 days
14.	U-2511	3 Apr 1945	Horten	8 Apr 1945	Bergen		6 days
15.	U-2511	17 Apr 1945	Bergen	20 Apr 1945	Bergen		4 days
16.	U-2511	3 May 1945	Bergen	6 May 1945	Bergen, Norway	Patrol 12,	4 days
12 patrols, 303 days at sea

Ships hit by Adalbert Schnee

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
13 Aug, 1940	U-60	Nils Gorthon	1,787		sw	HX-62
31 Aug, 1940	U-60	Volendam	15,434		nl	OB-205	damaged
3 Sep, 1940	U-60	Ulva	1,401		br

2 May, 1941	U-201	Capulet	8,190		br	HX-121
9 May, 1941	U-201	Empire Cloud	5,969		br	OB-318	damaged
9 May, 1941	U-201	Gregalia	5,802		br	OB-318
19 Aug, 1941	U-201	Aguila	3,255		br	OG-71
19 Aug, 1941	U-201	Ciscar	1,809		br	OG-71
23 Aug, 1941	U-201	Aldergrove	1,974		br	OG-71
23 Aug, 1941	U-201	Stork	787		br	OG-71
21 Sep, 1941	U-201	Lissa	1,511		br	OG-74
21 Sep, 1941	U-201	Rhineland	1,381		br	OG-74
21 Sep, 1941	U-201	Runa	1,575		br	OG-74
27 Sep, 1941	U-201	HMS Springbank	5,155		br	HG-73
27 Sep, 1941	U-201	Margareta	3,103		br	HG-73
27 Sep, 1941	U-201	Siremalm	2,468		nw	HG-73

18 Apr, 1942	U-201	Victoria	7,417		ar		damaged
21 Apr, 1942	U-201	Bris	2,027		nw
22 Apr, 1942	U-201	Derryheen	7,217		br
22 Apr, 1942	U-201	San Jacinto	6,069		am
6 Jul, 1942	U-201	Avila Star	14,443		br
12 Jul, 1942	U-201	Cortona	7,093		br	OS-33
12 Jul, 1942	U-201	Siris	5,242		br	OS-33
13 Jul, 1942	U-201	Sithonia	6,723		br	OS-33
15 Jul, 1942	U-201	British Yeoman	6,990		br
25 Jul, 1942	U-201	HMS Laertes (T 137)	545		br
			125,367
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.