Joachim Schepke - Wikiwand

NicknameHer Majesty's best-looking officer (Ihrer Majestät bestaussehender Offizier)

Born8 March 1912

Flensburg, Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia, Germany

Died17 March 1941 (aged 29)

U-100, Western Approaches, off British-occupied Iceland
61°N 12°W / 61°N 12°W

Allegiance

Weimar Republic (to 1933)

Nazi Germany

Joachim Schepke

Nickname	Her Majesty's best-looking officer (Ihrer Majestät bestaussehender Offizier)
Born	(1912-03-08)8 March 1912 Flensburg, Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia, Germany
Died	17 March 1941(1941-03-17) (aged 29) U-100, Western Approaches, off British-occupied Iceland 61°N 12°W / 61°N 12°W / 61; -12
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Branch	Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Service years	1930–41
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Commands	U-3 U-19 U-100
Conflicts	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Joachim Schepke (8 March 1912 – 17 March 1941) was a German U-boat commander during World War II.^[1] He was the seventh recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.^[2]

Schepke is credited with having sunk 36 Allied ships. During his career, he gained notoriety among fellow U-boat commanders for exaggerating the tonnage of ships sunk.

Awards

References

Citations

1 2 Purnell, Tom. "Canonesa, Convoy HX72 & U-100". canonesa.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
↑ Williamson & Bujeiro 2004, pp. 3, 7.
↑ Blair 1996, p. 218.
1 2 3 Busch & Röll 2003, p. 71.
↑ Thomas 1998, p. 252.
1 2 Scherzer 2007, p. 659.
↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 376.
↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 53.

Bibliography

Blair, Clay (1996). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939-1942. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-58839-8.
Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (2003). Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939–1945 — Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 [The U-Boat War 1939–1945 — The Knight's Cross Bearers of the U-Boat Force from September 1939 to May 1945] (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 978-3-8132-0515-2.
Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
Fuhren, Franz (1943). Kapitänleutnant Schepke erzählt. Mit einem Geleitwort von Großadmiral Dönitz. Minden: Köhler Verlag.
Hadley, Michael L. (1995). Count Not the Dead: The Popular Image of the German Submarine. Montreal, Quebec: McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-6526-5.
Rohwer, Jürgen (1999). Axis submarine successes of World War Two: German, Italian, and Japanese submarine successes, 1939-1945. Greenhill Books. ISBN 978-1557500298.
Schepke, Joachim (1940). U-Boot-Fahrer von heute. Erzählt und gezeichnet von einem U-Boot-Kommandanten. Berlin, Deutscher Verlag 1940
Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
Thomas, Franz (1998). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 2: L–Z] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2300-9.

Williamson, Gordon; Bujeiro, Ramiro (2004). Knight's Cross and Oak Leaves Recipients 1939–40. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-641-6.

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat
National	United States Czech Republic Israel
People	Deutsche Biographie DDB
Other	IdRef

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Bibliography

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