Georg - Wilhelm Schulz Georg - Wilhelm Schulz ( 10 March 1906 – 5 July 1986 ) was a German U - boat commander of the Second World War . From September 1939 until retiring from front line service in September 1941 , he sank 19 ships for a total of 89 , 885 GRT . For this he received the Knight ' s Cross , among other commendations . Early life . Schulz was born on 10 March 1906 in Cologne . He initially entered the merchant marine , eventually spending ten years there , including time spent on sailing ships . He joined the navy in October 1933 , initially as HSO , Handelschiffoffizier ( merchant ship officer ) . He moved to the U - boat arm on 27 September 1935 as an Oberfähnrich zur See , spending the next three and half years training on submarines . During this time he appears to have been amongst those sent to help the Spanish Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War as he was awarded the Spanish Cross on 6 June 1939 . He received his first command on 5 January 1939 when he took over " U - 10 " . He was promoted to Kapitänleutnant on 1 April 1939 and on the outbreak of war he carried out two short patrols later that year , before leaving " U - 10 " on 15 October . Wartime career . His next command was " U - 64 " , which he took over on 16 December 1939 . He took her on her first patrol off the Norwegian coast in April 1940 . The patrol was only eight days old when " U - 64 " was detected by British naval air forces on 13 April , whilst in the Herjangsfjord near Narvik . She was attacked by a Fairey Swordfish from the battleship HMS " Warspite " and hit by a 350 - pound bomb and raked with machine gun fire . " U - 64 " was sunk , killing eight of the crew , but 38 survivors including Schulz managed to escape to be rescued from the water by German mountain troops . Two months later Schulz took over command of " U - 124 " and took her on a number of successful patrols . His greatest success was on his fourth patrol , where he sank 11 ships for a total of 52 , 379 tons , whilst also having damaged two other merchants . He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class on 25 September 1940 , and the Knight ' s Cross on 4 April 1941 . He stepped down as commander of " U - 124 " on 7 September 1941 , handing over to Johann Mohr . During this time several later successful U - boat captains had served under Schulz , including Mohr , Reinhard Hardegen and Werner Henke . Schulz then took over as commander of 6th U - boat Flotilla , initially based in Danzig , and later in Saint Nazaire . He was promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 April 1943 , and in October 1943 he was attached to the Staff of the ' FdU Ausbildungsflottillen ' ( Commander Training flotillas ) in Gotenhafen . He spent time here as a staff officer , and also as the leader of the ' Erprobungsgruppe U - Boote ' ( U - boat testing group ) . He briefly moved on 22 April 1945 to become the last commander of 25th U - boat Flotilla . Postwar . Little is known about Schulz ' s postwar activities . He died in Hamburg on 5 July 1986 at the age of 80 . In 1994 the Köhler Mittler Verlag in Hamburg published his autobiographical account " Über dem nassen Abgrund : Als Kommandant und Flottillenchef im U - Boot - Krieg " ( engl . " Above the Abyss " ) , which has been reissued in several editions . An unauthorized and undated Czech translation has later surfaced , titled " Ponorkové eso " .