Hello to all

; more. His first two hundred!
Gert Hetschko was born on June 8, 1913 in Wilhelmshaven. His father was a Major a.D. (retired) in Fürth in Bavaria. Hetschko attended high school in Fürth and spent the Abitur there in March 1933. In April 1933 he joined the Reichsmarine as an officer candidate. After circumventing the normal activities of the period of instruction, including services aboard the Gorch Fock and the Cruiser Karlsruhe (around the world) he graduated as Leutnant z.S. on October 1, 1936, being promoted to Oberleutnant z.S. on June 1, 1938. He then completed the training course in the U boat school and between June and October 1940 he worked as Adjutant in the 2. U-Flotille in Wilhelmhaven. From December 1940 to May 1941 he served as a Guard Officer (Wachoffizier) at 7. U-Flotille in Kiel. From May to June 1941 he completed the commanders course at 24. U-Flotille (Memel).
While this was happening on October 30, 1939, the work order Nr. 284 (U 453 a Type VII C) had been placed at the Deutsche Werke, Kiel. The keel was laid on July 4, 1940 and she was launched on April 30, 1941. Both destinations were crossed here, since the now Kapitänleutnant Hetschko, after completion of the course was appointed commander of the brand new U 453 on June 26 of 1941. A particularity in that there was no familiarization time (Baubelehrung *), since on the same day of its designation the U 453 entered service in the Kriegsmarine.
Shortly after, performing night navigation exercises in the Bay of Kiel, the U 453 rammed and sank a small ship that served as a floating beacon. During the investigation, Hetschko, in his defense, said he noticed the ship on time and gave the order "all port" to avoid a collision, but the steering wheels got stuck and the U boat rammed his victim. The court, which investigated this incident, found the commander guilty and removed him from his post. As punishment, Hetschko was sent to a new training, since they considered that their qualifications were insufficient to entrust the ship and the crew to him in a combat situation. Known for his ingenuity, Otto Ites commented on the sinking of the ship as follows: "At least he could sink his first 200 tons."
Thus they exchanged positions with Oblt.z.S. Egon-Reiner Freiherr von Schlippenbach and Gert Hetschko went on to command U-121 (Type II B) until March 1942. He was then assigned to the Torpedo Test Command until he had a new opportunity and was appointed Kommandantenschüler at U 89 (Korvettenkapitän Dietrich Lohmann). With this U boat he sailed from La Pallice on April 25, 1943 (5th patrol) and sank with the ship and all aboard on May 12, 1943.
(*) Baubelehrung - it was normal for the commander to be appointed about four weeks before the launching.
Source:
http://www.ubootarchiv.de/ubootwiki/ind ... t_Hetschko
https://historisches-marinearchiv.de/pr ... uik=result
https://warspot.ru/10527-neschastlivaya ... -do-kontsa
https://uboot-recherche.de/en/u453-komm ... id=1&pid=1
Cheers. Raúl M

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