Ernst Hechler Ernst Hechler ( 21 November 1907 – 23 October 1965 ) was a German bomber pilot and U - boat commander in World War II 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 . Corvette captain ( or lieutenant commander ) Hechler is credited with the sinking of four ships for a total of , and with damaging one destroyer escort . Born in Lauterbach , Hechler joined the " Reichsmarine " ( navy ) of the Weimar Republic in 1928 . After a period of training on surface vessels he transferred to the " Luftwaffe " ( air force ) in 1935 . During World War II he flew 65 combat missions as a bomber pilot , the majority of which were in mine - laying operations . Following his voluntary transfer back to the " Kriegsmarine " in 1943 he took command of in 1944 which he took on one war patrol . He claimed to have sunk five ships for a total of . These claims were acknowledged by the presentation of the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross . Career . Ernst Hechler was born on 21 November 1907 in Lauterbach in Hesse - Nassau , then a province of the Kingdom of Prussia . He joined the German Merchant Marine ( " Deutsche Handelsmarine " ) in 1926 . He began his pilot training in 1928 at the German Air Transport School ( " Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule " ) at Schleißheim ( 28 May 1928 – 15 July 1928 ) and Warnemünde ( 16 July 1928 – 24 March 1929 ) . Hechler joined the military service of the Weimar Republic in the " Reichsmarine " on 1 April 1929 and became a member of " Crew 1929 " ( the incoming class of 1929 ) . After he underwent basic military training in the 4th company , 2nd department ( 4 . " Kompanie " / II . " Abteilung " ) of the standing ship division ( " Schiffsstammdivision " ) of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund ( 1 April 1929 – 30 June 1926 ) , he was transferred to the training ship " Niobe " ( 1 July 1929 – 11 October 1929 ) attaining the rank of " Seekadett " ( Naval Cadet ) on 10 October 1929 . Hechler was transferred on 12 October to the 3rd company ( 3 . " Kompanie " ) of the Naval Academy at Mürwik before going on a half year stay on board the light cruiser cruiser " Emden " ( 6 January 1930 – 21 May 1930 ) , which was immediately followed by a seven months stay on to the light cruiser " Karlsruhe " ( 22 May 1930 – 19 December 1930 ) . Following these assignments he advanced in rank to " Fähnrich zur See " ( officer cadet ) on 1 January 1931 . On 1 September 1934 Hechler was promoted to " Oberleutnant zur See " ( First Lieutenant ) . He was released from the " Kriegsmarine " on 30 April 1935 and transferred to the " Luftwaffe " . Prior to this assignment on 30 January 1933 , the Nazi Party , under the leadership of Adolf Hitler , came to power in Germany , ushering in a period of rearmament . In 1935 , the " Reichsmarine " was renamed the " Kriegsmarine " . On 1 May 1935 his naval rank was redesignated to " Oberleutnant " of the " Luftwaffe " . Hechler was appointed " Ia " ( operations officer ) in the headquarters unit ( " Stab " ) of the 9th Air Division ( Sea ) ( 9 . " Fliegerdivision ( See ) " ) on 28 August 1939 before taking command of the 2nd squadron of 126th bomber group ( 2 . / " Kampfgruppe " 126 ) on 7 September 1940 . The unit was redesignated to 2 . / Kampfgeschwader 28 in December 1940 . In the timeframe September 1940 to March 1941 Hechler flew a total of 62 combat missions on the Heinkel He 111 with this unit . The majority of these missions were mine - laying sorties over coastal waters . On 1 July 1943 Hechler was transferred back to the " Kriegsmarine " at his own request attaining the rank of " Korvettenkapitän " on 3 July . Until January 1944 he underwent a number of training courses for submarine commanders at the 2nd submarine training division ( 2 . " U - Boot - Lehr - Division " ) , torpedo school ( " Torpedoschule Flensburg - Mürwick " ) , the Naval anti - aircraft warfare school II ( " Marine - Flakschule " II ) and the 24th U - boat Flotilla . Hechler was stationed in Bremen from 3 January to 2 February 1944 for construction training ( " Baubelehrung " ) of , a Type IXC / 40 submarine . He took command of the boat on 3 February which was subordinated to the 4th U - boat Flotilla until 30 September 1944 when it was transferred to the 33rd U - boat Flotilla on 1 October . Hechler ' s chief engineer on " U - 870 " was Knight ' s Cross recipient Johann - Friedrich Wessels , who joined the crew on 14 August 1944 . Wessels had served on under the command of Günther Prien and was involved in the sinking of the HMS " Royal Oak " , and on under the command of Werner Hartmann . Hechler took " U - 870 " on one war patrol . " U - 870 " had left Kiel , Germany on 31 October 1944 before arriving in Horten , Norway on 3 November . " U - 870 " left Horten again on 10 November returning to Kristiansand , Norway on 20 February 1945 . Here the boat departed again on 25 February returning to Flensburg , Germany on 27 February . During this war patrol Hechler mission was to radio back weather reports from the Gibraltar - Azores area in preparation for the Battle of the Bulge which he failed to reach on time . He also claimed the destruction of five ships totaling and was awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross on 21 January 1945 . " U - 870 " was sunk in Bremen in an Allied air raid on 30 March 1945 . In the final weeks of the war Hechler served as operations officer on the staff of the " Befehlshaber der U - Boote " ( supreme commander of submarines ) . Ernst Hechler died on 23 October 1965 aged 57 in Alzey , Federal Republic of Germany . Summary of career . During his career as commander of Ernst Hechler sank 4 ships for and damaged one ships for .