Victor Oehrn
{{Infobox military person
|name=Victor Oehrn
|birth_date={{birth date|1907|10|21|df=y}}
|death_date={{death date and age|1997|12|26|1907|10|21|df=y}}
|birth_place=Gədəbəy, Azerbaijan
|death_place=Bonn
|placeofburial=Cemetery Rüngsdorf. Section II–Grave 226
|image=
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance=Weimar Republic (to 1933)
Nazi Germany
|branch=Reichsmarine
Kriegsmarine
|serviceyears=1927–45
|rank=Fregattenkapitän
|commands={{GS|U-14|1936|2}}
{{GS|U-37|1938|2}}
|unit=
|battles=World War II
|awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
|laterwork=}}
Victor Otto Oehrn (21 October 1907-Gədəbəy, Azerbaijan – 26 December 1997, Bonn, Germany) was a Fregattenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He commanded the U-boats {{GS|U-14|1936|2}} and {{GS|U-37|1938|2}}, sinking twenty-four ships on four patrols, for a total of 104,846 tons of Allied shipping.
Career
Oehrn joined the Reichsmarine in 1927, serving aboard the light cruisers {{Ship|German cruiser|Königsberg||2}} and {{Ship|German cruiser|Karlsruhe||2}}, before being one of the first officers to transfer to the newly formed U-boat arm in July 1935. He was appointed to command of {{GS|U-14|1936|2}} in January 1936, and patrolled in Spanish waters during the Civil War in July–September 1936. In August 1939 he joined the staff of BdU as an Admiralstabsoffizier.{{Cite web
|url= http://www.uboat.net/men/oehrn.htm
|title=Fregattenkapitän Victor Oehrn
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|access-date=19 April 2010
}}
In May 1940 Oehrn took command of {{GS|U-37|1938|2}}, in order to restore trust in the G7e/T2 torpedo, which had performed abysmally, often detonating prematurely or not at all. In four patrols he sank 23 merchant ships for a total of {{GRT|103821|link=off}}, damaged another of {{GRT|9494|link=off}}, and sank the British sloop {{HMS|Penzance|L28|6}}, before returning to the staff in August.
From November 1941 Oehrn served on the Mediterranean U-boat staff, but during a mission to North Africa in July 1942, he was severely wounded and captured. After recovering at a British Military Hospital in Alexandria, Oehrn was sent to POW Camp 306 on the Suez Canal. He returned to Germany in October 1943 after being released in a prisoner exchange. Oehrn spent the remainder of the war serving on the staff in a number of posts.
He died in December 1997.
Awards
- Sudetenland Medal (20 December 1939)Busch & Röll 2003, p. 78.
- Iron Cross (1939)
- 2nd Class (27 January 1940)Busch & Röll 2003, p. 79.
- 1st Class (10 June 1940)
- Italian Croce al Merito di Guerra with Swords (2 November 1941)
- Italian Croce di guerra al valore militare (28 January 1942)
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 21 October 1940 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-37Fellgiebel 2000, p. 328.
References
=Notes=
{{Reflist|30em}}
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin}}
- {{Cite book
|last1=Busch
|first1=Rainer
|last2=Röll
|first2=Hans-Joachim
|year=2003
|title=Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939–1945 — Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945
|trans-title=The U-Boat War 1939–1945 — The Knight's Cross Bearers of the U-Boat Force from September 1939 to May 1945
|language=de
|location=Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany
|publisher=Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn
|isbn=978-3-8132-0515-2
}}
- {{Cite book
|last=Fellgiebel
|first=Walther-Peer
|author-link=Walther-Peer Fellgiebel
|year=2000
|orig-year=1986
|title=Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile
|trans-title=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
|language=de
|location=Friedberg, Germany
|publisher=Podzun-Pallas
|isbn=978-3-7909-0284-6
}}
- {{Cite book
|last=Scherzer
|first=Veit
|year=2007
|title=Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives
|trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives
|language=de
|location=Jena, Germany
|publisher=Scherzers Militaer-Verlag
|isbn=978-3-938845-17-2
}}
{{refend}}
{{Subject bar
| portal1=Biography
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oehrn, Victor}}
Category:U-boat commanders (Kriegsmarine)
Category:Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Category:Reichsmarine personnel