Heinrich Timm | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance |  Nazi Germany West Germany |
| Service/ |  Kriegsmarine German Navy |
| Years of service | 1933–1945, 1956–1966 |
| Rank | Korvettenkapitän (Kriegsmarine) Fregattenkapitän (Bundesmarine) |
| Commands held | U-251 U-862 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Heinrich Timm (30 April 1910 in Bremen—12 April 1974 in Axstedt) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.[1]
Timm joined the Kriegsmarine in October 1933. He first served as a junior officer aboard the minesweepers M-132 and M-110, before taking command of M-7 in July 1939. His first success came on 9 January 1940 when he attacked the British submarine HMS Starfish with depth charges in Heligoland Bight, finally forcing her to surface and scuttle.[1]
Timm won the Iron Cross during the Norwegian invasion in May 1940, and then transferred to the U-boat force. After commander training at Pillau, in September 1941 he commissioned the Type VIIC U-boat U-251. After training in the Baltic Sea U-251 was assigned to 11. Unterseebootsflottille based at Bergen, Norway, in April 1942. Timm then made nine patrols in the Arctic Sea, operating against the Russian Convoys, and sinking two ships. The first, on 3 May 1942, was the 6,135 ton British merchant ship SS Jutland of Convoy PQ-15, while the second, in July 1942, was the American cargo ship El Capitan from the ill-fated Convoy PQ 17.[1] Timm also took part in "Operation Wunderland" in the Kara Sea, surfacing close to Uyedineniya Island and destroying a Soviet weather station with gunfire.
When U-251 was decommissioned to refit in June 1943, Timm and his crew were transferred to commission the Type IXD2 U-boat U-862, and after training in the Baltic, she sailed to the Indian Ocean in mid-1944 to join the Monsun Gruppe, sinking five merchant ships and shooting down a Catalina flying boat of No. 265 Squadron RAF en route. On 5 July, Timm received notification of his promotion to Korvettenkapitän. While patrolling off Australia in late 1944/early 1945, Timm sank two American Liberty ships. In January 1945, U-862 entered the Port of Napier, New Zealand, undetected.[1] This later gave rise to the widely circulated post-war myth that Timm took his crew ashore near Napier to milk cows to supplement their rations.
After the German surrender in May 1945, the German U-boat crews were interned by the Japanese at Singapore, and U-862 was commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy as I-502. Timm and his crew were still at Singapore when British forces arrived there on 12 September 1945. They were returned to England in July 1946 as prisoners of war. Timm was finally released in April 1948.[1]
Timm joined the Bundesmarine when it was formed in 1956. He served in several positions, including as the first commander of the frigate Scharnhorst. He retired in 1966 with the rank of Fregattenkapitän.[1]
| Date | Ship | Tons | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|
| In U-251 | |||
| 3 May 1942 | Jutland | 6,153 |  United Kingdom
|
| 10 July 1942 | El Capitan | 5,255 |  United States
|
| In U-862 | |||
| 25 July 1944 | Robin Goodfellow | 6,885 | United States
|
| 13 August 1944 | Radbury | 3,614 | United Kingdom
|
| 16 August 1944 | Empire Lancer | 7,037 | United Kingdom
|
| 18 August 1944 | Nairung | 5,414 | United Kingdom
|
| 19 August 1944 | Wayfarer | 5,068 | United Kingdom
|
| 24 December 1944 | Robert J. Walker | 7,180 | United States
|
| 6 February 1945 | Peter Silvester | 7,176 | United States
|