Hans-Gunther Lange
 | Died : 3 / 4 / 2014 |
| Hans-Gunther Lange (deceased)
Hans-Gunther Lange was born 28th September 1916. He joined the navy in 1937, gaining experience as an officer aboard the torpedo boat 'Jaguar' before transferring to u-boats in 1941 with U-431. In September1942 he commissioned U-711, commanding a total of eleven patrols, all of which were in Arctic waters, which included an unsuccessful attack on HMS Royal Sovereign - on loan to Russia as Archangelsk. In May 1945, Lange survived the sinking of U-711 spending the next three months in captivity. He had been awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves on 29th April 1945, one month prior to being captured. He had sunk 4 ships with a total tonnage of over 15,000 tons. In October 1957 Lange joined the Bundesmarine. Here he took part in the construction of a new German U-boat weapon. For two years he commanded the 1 Uboatgeschwader and in January 1964 became commander of the entire U-boat force. Later he held several staff positions, ending his second naval career in 1972 as staff officer in the Marinedivision der Nordsee. In a branch of the German navy whose survival rate was calculated in days, Lange survived for over four years. He died on 3rd April 2014. |
