Alfred Eick

Alfred Eick
Born	(1916-03-09)9 March 1916 Essen, Rhine Province, German Empire
Died	Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Federal Republic of Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1937–45
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Unit	destroyer Z4 Richard Beitzen
Commands held	U-510
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Other work	tax adviser

Alfred Eick (9 March 1916 – 12 April 2015) was a German U-boat commander and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership in World War II. He was born in Essen and lived in Bielefeld until his death.

Alfred Eick was in French captivity from May 1945 to 26 July 1947. After his release, he studied business management at the University of Hamburg and later worked as a tax adviser.

At the 25th anniversary of Eick's sinking of the SS Point Pleasant Park, the surviving crew created a monument to those that died in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Eick sent $30 ($180 in 2013) for a wreath to be placed at the base of the monument.

Summary of military career

Ships attacked

As a U-boat commander of U-510, Alfred Eick is credited with the sinking of eight ships for a total of 56,972 gross register tons (GRT), one auxiliary warship of 249 metric tons (245 long tons; 274 short tons), damaging one ship of 3,702 GRT, and severely damaging one ship that it was considered a total loss of 9,970 GRT.

Date	Name of ship	Flag	Tonnage	Fate
8 July 1943	B. P. Newton	Norway	10,324	Sunk
8 July 1943	Eldena	United States	6,900	Sunk
8 July 1943	Everagra	Latvia	3,702	Damaged
10 July 1943	Scandinavia	Sweden	1,641	Sunk
22 February 1944	E. G. Seubert	United States	9,181	Sunk
22 February 1944	Erling Brøving	Norway	9,970	Total loss
22 February 1944	San Alvaro	United Kingdom	7,385	Sunk
7 March 1944	Tarifa	Norway	7,299	Sunk
7 March 1944	John A. Poor	United States	7,176	Sunk
27 March 1944	HMS Maaløy	Royal Navy	249	Sunk
23 February 1945	Point Pleasant Park	Canada	7,136	Sunk

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (13 January 1940)
  • 1st Class (29 August 1943)
• Destroyer War Badge (13 January 1940)
• U-boat War Badge (September 1942)
• German Cross in Gold on 16 March 1944 as Oberleutnant zur See on U-510/10. Unterseeboots-Flottille
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 31 March 1944 as Oberleutnant zur See and commander of German submarine U-510
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 31 March 1944

Wehrmachtbericht reference

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
31 March 1944	An den Versenkungserfolgen der letzten Zeit ist das Unterseeboot unter Führung von Oberleutnant zur See Eick hervorragend beteiligt.	The submarine led by Lieutenant at Sea Eick contributed outstandingly to the recent sinking success.

External links

• Deutsche Marinearchiv