Wehrpass U-Boat crew member U-25 KIA 1940 Holland

(D21707)
Heinrich Bauer, Funker-Obergefreiter (radio operator) Kriegsmarine U-boot service
1) Wehrpass, 3.12.36.
2) Period postcard showing his U-boot, U-25.
3) Recent printed list with all crew members (including Heinrich) of the U-25. Crew members list can also be found at historisches-marinearchiv.de

Entitled to: SA-Sportabzeichen and the U-Boot-Kriegsabzeichen, U-Boat War Badge (6.5.40).

Born 1918 in Bochum. He volunteered the Kriegsmarine in 1937. RAD Service Oct.37-Mar.38. Kriegsmarine service since Jul.38, first basic training at 10.Schiffstammabteilung in Wesermünde, Sep.39 special schooling as a radio operator at the Marine -Nachrichten-Schule. Apr.-Jul.39 service with the 6.U-Bootsflottille home based in Kiel. Jul.39-Aug.40 he served on board the U-boot U-25, of the 2. U-boot flotille. He was KIA around 1.8.40 when the U-boat sunk in a mine field in the North Sea near Terschelling (exact location 54°14’N – 05°07’E).

The U-25, type IA submarine, had a short but successful career. During the 5 patrols carried out, for a total of 129 days at sea, it sank 8 ships and damaged another, for a total of about 57,000 tons. During his first three patrols, during which 7 ships were destroyed, the U-25 was commanded by Kapitänleutnant Viktor Schütze, who would finish his career at 5th place in the ranking of the major submarine axes , with 180.000 tons and 35 sunk ships.

Around 1 August 1940, during the drafting of a minefield north of the Netherlands near the Dutch island Terschelling, the U-25 fell into a minefield layed by British destroyers and sank bringing all 49 crew members with it, including our Heinrich. The body of a crew member was found on the shores of Helgoland (German archipelago a lot further to the west) on 19 August.

Recent information German War Casualties Organization:
Nachname: Bauer
Vorname: Heinrich
Dienstgrad: Obergefreiter
Geburtsdatum: 30.03.1918
Todes-/Vermisstendatum: 03.08.1940
Heinrich Bauer ist als gefallener Angehöriger der Marine namentlich entweder in dem U-Boot-Ehrenmal Möltenort bei Kiel an einer der Wandtafeln oder im Marineehrenmal in Laboe in einem dort ausliegenden Gedenkbuch verzeichnet.