What was the military rank of Adolf Piening from Apr 1930 to Dec 1931?
Adolf Piening Adolf Cornelius Piening ( 16 September 1910 – 15 May 1984 ) was a Kapitänleutnant with the Kriegsmarine during World War II . He commanded the Type IXC U-boat , sinking twenty-six ships on nine patrols , for a total of of Allied shipping , to become the nineteenth highest scoring U-Boat ace of World War II , and receiving the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross . The Knights Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership . Career . Piening joined the Reichsmarine in 1930 . His first assignment was to the armoured cruiser , after which he served on torpedo boats and minesweepers , reaching the rank of Kapitänleutnant by April 1939 . In October 1940 he moved from the surface fleet to the U-boat arm ( U-Bootwaffe ) . In May–June 1941 he carried out a single patrol out of Saint-Nazaire aboard ( commanded by Herbert Schultze ) as Kommandantenschüler or Commander-in-Training . Following this , he was appointed commander of the newly built Type IX submarine on 23 August 1941 . After training the boats crew for several month , Piening set out from Kiel on his first patrol in command of U-155 in February 1942 , with the intention of attacking shipping in American waters . On the journey across the Atlantic , U-155 encountered the westbound convoy ON 67 , and after sending out a contact report that allowed several more U-boats to be directed against the convoy , carried out an attack that sank an 8,000 ton tanker and a 1,800 ton freighter . U-155 sank another ship off the coast of the United States re-crossing the Atlantic to the submarines new base at Lorient , as part of the 10th U-boat Flotilla . Piening carried out a further seven patrols in command of U-155 , sinking 26 ships for a total of , including the escort carrier , and also badly damaged the attack cargo ship . He also became well known for developing the Piening Route in 1943 , hugging the coast of France and northern Spain , to evade Allied patrol aircraft in the Bay of Biscay . U-155 attacked and sank MS Siranger , sailing from New York to West-Africa , on 24 October 1943 . There were no deaths , and all on board reached the lifeboats . The U-155 later surfaced and Piening apologized to the survivors for the act , claiming he was only carrying out orders . Dokumentary by NRK In March 1944 Piening left U-155 and was appointed commander of the 7th U-boat Flotilla at Saint-Nazaire . In April 1945 Piening made one last patrol , laying mines off Saint-Nazaire in . At the end of the war , he was taken prisoner of war . Postwar . Piening was released after two years of Allied imprisonment in 1947 . In 1956 , West Germany established its navy , the Bundesmarine , and Piening joined the new navy . In 1959 he was appointed commanding officer of the 1 . Geleitgeschwader ( 1st Escort Squadron ) . He then held the position of Planning officer on the staff of COMNAVNORCENT ( Commander Allied Naval Forces North Norway ) and Chief of the Operations Division on the staff of COMNAVBALTAP ( Commander of Allied Forces Baltic Approaches ) . On 1 October 1965 he became team leader at the Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr , serving until 1969 , retiring with the rank of Kapitän zur See . He died in Kiel on 15 May 1984 . Summary of career . Ships attacked . As commander of Adolf Piening is credited with the sinking of 25 ships for a total of , one warship , HMS Avenger , of and damaging one auxiliary warship , the USS Almaack , of . Awards . - Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class ( 2 October 1936 ) - Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords ( 6 June 1939 ) - Iron Cross ( 1939 ) - 2nd Class ( 22 November 1939 ) - 1st Class ( 27 June 1940 ) - U-boat War Badge ( 1939 ) ( 28 March 1942 ) - Knights Cross of the Iron Cross on 13 August 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-155 .