Hanns Ferdinand Maßmann

Hanns Ferdinand Maßmann
Maßmann was nicknamed Hai or "Shark"
Birth date	25 June 1917 (1917-06-25)
Place of birth	Kiel, Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	2 December 2010 (2010-12-03) (aged 93)
Place of death	Freie und Hansestadt Bremen, Germany
Allegiance	National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1936–1943
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Commands held	U 137, U 409
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Iron Cross

Hanns Ferdinand Maßmann (25 June 1917 – 2 December 2010) was a German naval officer, finally Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant Captain) and U-boat commandant (U-Boot-Kommandant) of the Kriegsmarine in World War Two. During 7 patrols (Feindfahrten), six with U 409, and 184 days at sea, Maßmann sank five ships (24,971 tons) and damaged one ship (7,519 tons).

Military career (chronology)

• 3.4.1936 Entry into the Navy as an officer cadet.
• 3.4.1936 – 13.6.1936 Basic training at the II. Schiffsstammabteilung der Ostsee in Stralsund
• 14.6.1936 – 21.9.1936 On-board training on the sailing training ship GORCH FOCK
• 22.9.1936 – 29.4.1937 On-board training on the SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN training ship
• 30.4.1937 – 27.11.1937 Main course for Ensigns/Officer Cadets followed by the main officer examination at the Naval Academy in Flensburg-Mürwik
• 28.11.1937 – 2.4.1938 Ensign/Officer Cadet courses
• 3.4.1938 – 2.4.1939 Not determined
• 3.4.1939 – January 1940 Platoon officer in the 7. Schiffsstammabteilung in Stralsund
• January 1940 – January 1940 Adjutant to the Commander-in-Chief of U-boats in Kiel
• January 1940 – May 1940 Watch officer on U 17
• 5.6.1940 – 14.6.1940 Building instruction (Baubelehrung) for U 137 at U-Boote Ostsee in Kiel
• 15.6.1940 – 14.12.1940 I. Wachoffizier on U 137.
• 15.12.1940 – 7.12.1941 Kommandant of U 137
• 8.12.1941 – 20.1.1942 Building instruction (Baubelehrung) for U 409 at the 7th Warship Building Training Department, Danzig
• 21.1.1942 – 12.7.1943 Kommandant of U 409
• 12.7.1943 – 27.2.1948 After the loss of his boat U 409, he was taken prisoner of war in the Mediterranean northeast of Algiers
• 12.7.1943 – 27.2.1948 Prisoner of war

Living quarters of the 9th Flotilla

U-604, U-659 and U-409 (Maßmann) in Brest

U 409

U-409 surfaces ahead of HMS Inconstant

HMS Inconstant opens fire

The whaleboat returns with survivors of U 409

All officers and men including the Personnel Reserve of the 9th Flotilla are quartered in a group of buildings, known as the Stutzpunkt (Base) on the site of the old cycle track in the Kerebecam district. The sketch plan of the base shows the arrangement of the buildings which were originally designed by the French for a sanitarium. They were completed by he Germans and occupied in the latter part of 1942. Commuting between the U-boat shelter and the base is by motor bus following the Rue de Siam. Just north of the Place de la Liberté, known to the Germans as the Theater Platz, is the main gate to the Base. Inside the wall the first building to the left contains the living quarters of the flotilla commander and visiting officers. In another building to the right are housed the officers of the Personnel Reserve and a unit of the guard. Behind these buildings lies the long curved 4-story Haus Endrass in the left end of which is located the canteen, and the Mess for officers and men; the Personnel Reserve occupy other parts of the building. The main driveway goes under Haus Endrass to reach the large and small air raid shelters, behind which are the crew headquarters in Haus Gilardone, the flotilla officers' quarters and the administrative offices in Haus Jürst. Up the hill inside the rear wall are the swimming pool and the athletic field. Outside the rear wall are storage facilities for gasoline and materials used by the Organization Todt. All is apparently not heel-clicking formality at this most luxurious of all German U-boat posts. A juvenile, buccaneering spirit seems to animate the personnel from top to bottom and is evidently considered essential to morale. The door of each administrative office is adorned with a cartoon. The Flotilla Commander, Korvettenkapitän Lehmann-Willenbrock is pictured reaching out a welcoming hand to an incoming U-boat; the Kapitan beim Stab, Kapitänleutnant Wein, the Disciplinary Officer, is shown towering over and threatening punishment to a diminutive sailor; the administrative officer Kapitänleutnant Festner is portrayed handing out pay from a bag of gold; the records officer, Oberleutnant Festner, with his cap on the back of his head, is sweating over a pile of papers. The canteen, far more popular with the men than any of the cafes in town, is a colorful spot. It carries a selection of French silk stockings and lingerie at prices that have a great appeal to the men returning on leave to their rationed home land. Liquor, wine and beer flow freely, so freely in fact that the glass windows had to be replaced with an unbreakable material. The crew of U-409 staged a jamboree once, which for sheer destructiveness outraged even the tolerant standards of the base. Lehmann-Willenbrock demanded that Massmann punish his men. When the latter refused, he was confined to quarters for two weeks. Hunting with the No. 98 service carbine is popular on the hill back of the base. Clashes between the hunters and the guard are not infrequent. On one occasion two naval ratings and two Frenchmen were said to have been killed. On another occasion youthful marksmen used tracer ammunition to bring down two of the barrage balloons protecting the rear approaches to the base.

Sinking of U 409 (US Navy, secret)

On 12 July, at approximately 0700, in position 370 17' N - 030 55' E, while U-409 was proceeding submerged on a westerly course she was intercepted by H.M.S. Inconstant. A single depth charge was released, which according to prisoner's statements, was their first knowledge of an impending attack. Prisoners were firm in believing that before they submerged on the morning of their sinking U-409 had been detected from land-based stations; and that a surface vessel had been dispatched to their anticipated position. (O.N.I. Note: The action report on the sinking of U-409 stated that the U-boat had penetrated the escort screen of a convoy, and was in favorable position to attack the Empress of Russia when she was intercepted. When H.M.S. Inconstant obtained the first contact she was between the U-boat and the Empress of Russia.) During the ensuing two and one-half hours, U-409 received 41 depth charges. Whereas they did no great damage to the boat, they were sufficiently accurate to create in the minds of the crew a feeling of helplessness and impending destruction. This impression was intensified by the audible escape of high pressure air from the valve, damaged during a previous attack. It was believed by some that the destroyer was equipped with a "new" device which revealed their depth and bearing. (O.N.I. Note: The Commander of H.M.S. Inconstant, a former submariner who had undergone extended depth-charge attacks in British submarines, utilized his echo-sounding gear purely for its sonic effect within the U-boat. This maneuver was highly successful in unnerving the crew as the action developed.) U-409 maneuvered almost constantly during the attack, and gradually submerged to greater depths. The Commander, reportedly, felt their only chance of escape was to find a stratified patch of concentrated salt water, which would allow him to use the S.B.T. to advantage, and at the same time make detection by Asdic difficult. The third pattern of ten depth charges, exploding above the boat caused extensive damages, the hydrophones, lighting and electrical instruments were put out of order, and one propeller shaft was put out of line. Massmann went still deeper. In the next pattern one charge apparently exploded above the conning tower, causing a serious water entry through the unreinforced and removable section of the pressure hull over the battery compartment. (O.N.I. Note: The final pattern of depth charges which caused the water entry were set at 700 feet. It is believed, however, that they actually exploded at a depth somewhat less than the indicated depth setting, due to changing of pistols.) The U-boat immediately went down by the stern, and trim was lost completely. All tanks had to be blown in order to keep the boat from sinking, and U-409 shot to the surface almost vertically. Utter confusion reigned in the boat, crew members were standing on bulkheads, or frantically clutching any fixed support. The boat broke surface vertically shortly after the last depth charge attack, she then slowly leveled off and sank several minutes later. No radio message was sent advising the Commander-in-Chief U-boats of the sinking, and no scuttling charges were set. Almost immediately the crew began abandoning ship, and when it seemed as if an attempt were being made to man the forward gun, H.M.S. Inconstant opened fire and scored three hits in rapid succession. No order was given aboard U-409 to man any of the guns. This burst of fire was responsible for most of the casualties among the crew of the U-boat. About 20 minutes after the U-boat disappeared a whaleboat from H.M.S. Inconstant rescued 39 survivors. Because of the rapidity of the final action, most of the survivors were without life belts or escape lungs.

In 1996, Kapitänleutnant a. D. Maßmann wrote to John Henry Eaden (1910–2007) from Dominica (British West Indies, Great Britain), commander of the H.M.S. Inconstant, and thanked him for the "chivalrous action you took to save the surviving people of my crew" (37 survivors), but still uttered his great regret, that the Inconstant opened fire on the surrendering German soldiers, unnecessarily killing eleven of Maßmann's men.

The fallen of U 409 on 12 July 1943

• BALUCH, OTTO, 02/08/1922, Maschinenobergefreiter, 20 years
• BRIEGER, KURT-ERNST, 04/11/1920, Matrosenobergefreiter, 22 years
• GIERINGER, LEOPOLD, 27/11/1924, Maschinengefreiter, 18 years
• GÜNTHER, HANS, 30/03/1924, Maschinengefreiter, 19 years
• HARTMANN, ADOLF, 15/04/1924, Matrosenobergefreiter, 19 years
• JAUTSCHUS, ERICH, 25/03/1920, Leutnant zur See / 1WO, 23 years
• KLEMPTNER, HERBERT, 29/06/1920, Obermaschinistenmaat, 23 years
• KÖPPEL, HANS, 08/11/1924, Matrosengefreiter, 18 years
• SANDMANN, JOACHIM, 13/07/1924, Funkgefreiter, 18 years
• SCHEIDHAUER, HERBERT, 19/04/1914, Bootsmannmaat, 29 years
• TIMMER, BERNHARD, 27/06/1919, Maschinenmaat, 24 years

Matrosengefreiter Gerhard Korsus (b. 19 August 1923) died on 13 September 1944 as a POW in Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA.

Family

Other members of the Maßmann family also joined the German Navy. Among them were:

• Karl Maßmann (b. 1877/78) joined the Imperial German Navy on 7 April 1896, was promoted to Oberleutnant zur See on 15 March 1902 and to Kapitänleutnant on 30 March 1906; either retirement or death led to the fact, that he was not noted as of the Rangliste 1914.
• Theodor Karl Wilhelm Maßmann (b. 14 April 1892 in Oldenburg in Holstein) joined the Imperial German Navy in 1914 (Crew VIII/1914), was discharged in 1920, became a merchant, then belonged to the reserves of the Kriegsmarine, finally as Korvettenkapitän der Reserve
• Siegfried Maßmann (1882–1944), Kapitänleutnant of the Imperial German Navy, Konteradmiral of the Reichsmarine and Vizeadmiral of the Kriegsmarine
• Rudolf Maßmann (1883–1956) joined the Imperial German Navy on 1 April 1902, was promoted to Kapitänleutnant on 22 March 1914, received the Iron Cross and the Hessian Bravery Medal (Hessische Tapferkeitsmedaille; HAE1). In 1919 he was discharged with the Charakter als Korvettenkapitän. In the Third Reich he was active with the Reich Labour Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst; RAD), becoming Arbeitsführer, Oberarbeitsführer, Oberstarbeitsführer and finally receiving the rank Charakter als Generalarbeitsführer (IV Pommern-Ost) in 1940. He also wrote Der Führer im Reichsarbeitsdienst als Persönlichkeit und Erzieher im Dritten Reich. In 1940, he became Korvettenkapitän z. V. of the Kriegsmarine and served in Norway. On 1 February 1945 he was promoted to Fregattenkapitän z. V. He became POW of the Red Army until 1949, surviving torture and hunger.
• Hans Maßmann joined the Imperial German Navy on 1 April 1908, was promoted to Leutnant zur See on 27 September 1911 and Oberleutnant zur See on 19 Septemver 1914. He received the Iron Cross, 2nd and 1st Class.

Promotions

• 3 April 1936 Offiziersanwärter
• 10 September 1936 Seekadett
• 1 May 1937 Fähnrich zur See
• 1 July 1938 Oberfähnrich zur See
• 1 October 1938 Leutnant zur See
• 1 October 1940 Oberleutnant zur See
• 1 August 1943 Kapitänleutnant (post-capture)

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
  • EK II in September 1940
  • EK I in April 1943
• U-Boat Badge 1939 (U-Boot-Kriegsabzeichen)
• Wound Badge (Verwundetenabzeichen 1939) in Black

External links

• Pictures of U 409