Robert Gysae

Robert Gysae
File:Robert Gysae.jpg
Born	(1911-01-14)14 January 1911 Berlin-Charlottenburg, German Empire
Died	Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany (to 1945) West Germany
Service/branch	Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine German Navy
Years of service	1931–45 1956–70
Rank	Korvettenkapitän (Kriegsmarine), Flottillenadmiral (Bundesmarine)
Commands held	U-98 U-177 Marinepanzerjagd-Regiment 1 Marinedivision Nordsee
Battles/wars	Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class U-boat War Badge Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves U-boat Front Clasp

Robert Gysae (14 January 1911 – 26 April 1989) was a Korvettenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Gysae commanded U-98 and U-177, sinking twenty-five ships on eight patrols, for a total of 146,815 gross register tons (GRT) tons of Allied shipping, to become the fifteenth highest scoring U-Boat ace of World War II.

Career

Gysae joined the Reichsmarine in 1931 and served on torpedo boats before transferring to the U-bootwaffe ("U-boat force") in April 1940. In October 1940 he was appointed commander of the Type VIIC U-boat U-98, unusually without serving any time as either 1.WO (1. Wachoffizier, "1st Watch Officer") or Kommandantenschüler ("Commander-in-Training") on any other U-boats. After six patrols in the north Atlantic in command of U-98, in March 1942 he transferred to the Type IXD2 U-boat U-177 for another two patrols, this time operating off South Africa and Portuguese East Africa. He sank a total of 25 ships, including the armed merchant cruiser HMS Salopian.

On 28 November 1942 off the coast of Natal Province, Gysae sank the 6,796 ton British troop ship RMS Nova Scotia with three torpedoes. She was carrying 780 Italians; a mixture of prisoners of war and civilian internees. Gysae rescued two survivors to identify the ship, who turned out to be Italian merchant sailors. Mindful of the Laconia Order issued two months previously, Gysae radioed the BdU, who ordered him to continue his patrol. The BdU notified the Portuguese authorities, who sent the frigate NRP Afonso de Albuquerque from Lourenço Marques to help. Of 1,052 people from the Nova Scotia only 194 survived: 192 rescued by the frigate and two others in subsequent days. 858 were killed, including 650 Italians.

In January 1944 he became commander of 25th U-boat Flotilla, a training flotilla based at Gotenhafen. In April 1945, during the last month of the war, Gysae commanded the Marinepanzerjagd-Regiment 1, a naval anti-tank regiment. After the war he served in the Deutscher Minenräumdienst ("German Mine Sweeping Administration") for more than two years. In 1956 he joined the Bundesmarine, serving for four years as Navy attaché in the United States, and then three years as commander of Marinedivision Nordsee with the rank of Flottillenadmiral before retiring in 1970. He died in 1989 aged 78.

Summary of career

Ships attacked

During his career Gysae sunk 24 commercial ships for 136,266 GRT, one auxiliary warship of 10,549 GRT, and damaged one ship for 2,588 GRT.

Date	U-Boat	Name of Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
27 March 1941	U-98	Koranton	United Kingdom	6,695	Sunk at
4 April 1941	U-98	Helle	Norway	2,467	Sunk at
4 April 1941	U-98	Welcombe	United Kingdom	5,122	Sunk at
9 April 1941	U-98	Prins Willem II	Netherlands	1,304	Sunk at
13 May 1941	U-98	HMS Salopian	Royal Navy	10,549	Sunk at
20 May 1941	U-98	Rothermere	United Kingdom	5,356	Sunk at
21 May 1941	U-98	Marconi	United Kingdom	7,402	Sunk at
9 July 1941	U-98	Designer	United Kingdom	5,945	Sunk at
9 July 1941	U-98	Inverness	United Kingdom	4,897	Sunk at
16 September 1941	U-98	Jedmoor	United Kingdom	4,392	Sunk at
15 February 1942	U-98	Biela	United Kingdom	5,298	Sunk at
2 November 1942	U-177	Aegeus	Greece	4,538	Sunk at
9 November 1942	U-177	Cerion	United Kingdom	2,588	Damaged at
19 November 1942	U-177	Scottish Chief	United Kingdom	7,006	Sunk at
20 November 1942	U-177	Pierce Butler	United States	7,191	Sunk at
28 November 1942	U-177	RMS Nova Scotia	United Kingdom	6,796	Sunk at
30 November 1942	U-177	Llandaff Castle	United Kingdom	10,799	Sunk at
7 December 1942	U-177	Saronikos	Greece	3,548	Sunk at
12 December 1942	U-177	Empire Gull	United Kingdom	6,408	Sunk at
14 December 1942	U-177	Sawahloento	Netherlands	3,085	Sunk at
28 May 1943	U-177	Agwimonte	United States	6,679	Sunk at
28 May 1943	U-177	Storaas	Norway	7,886	Sunk at
6 July 1943	U-177	Jasper Park	Canada	7,129	Sunk at
10 July 1943	U-177	Alice F. Palmer	United States	7,176	Sunk at
29 July 1943	U-177	Cornish City	United Kingdom	4,952	Sunk at
5 August 1943	U-177	Efthalia Mari	Greece	4,195	Sunk at

Awards

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class (2 October 1936)
• The Return of Sudetenland Commemorative Medal of 1 October 1938 (20 December 1939)
• Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (31 May 1940)
  • 1st Class (15 April 1941)
• Knight's Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy (11 March 1941)
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (31 May 1941)
  • with Diamonds
• Croce di Guerra with Swords (Italy, 25 May 1943)
• Wound Badge (1939) in Black (25 June 1943)
• War Merit Cross, 2nd Class with Swords (1 September 1944)
• U-boat Front Clasp in Bronze (1 October 1944)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross (31 December 1941) as commander of U-98
  • 250th Oak Leaves (31 May 1943) as commander of U-177
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 23 May 1941
• Legion of Merit (United States of America)
• Merit Cross 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany

Wehrmachtbericht references

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
Friday, 23 May 1941	Bei Angriffen gegen den erwähnten feindlichen Geleitzug zeichneten sich die von Kapitänleutnant Wohlfahrt und Kapitänleutnant Gysae geführten Unterseeboote besonders aus.	In attacks against the already mentioned enemy convoy distinguished themselves from the rest the submarines under the leadership of Captain Lieutenant Wohlfahrt (sic) and Captain Lieutenant Gysae.

External links

• Deutsche Marinesoldaten
• Wehrmacht Lexikon

Military offices
Preceded by Fregattenkapitän Karl Neitzel	Commander of the 25th U-boat Flotilla 5 January 1944 – 21 April 1945	Succeeded by Korvettenkapitän Georg-Wilhelm Schulz