Date of birth:

April 10th, 1917 (Padang/Sumatra, Dutch East Indies)

Date of death:

April 23rd, 1945 (Java Sea)

Mentioned on:

German Submarines Memorial

Nationality:

German (1933-1945, Third Reich)

Crew of 1936

Promotions:
03.04.1936: Offiziersanwärter
10.09.1936: Seekadett
01.05.1937: Fähnrich zur See
01.07.1938: Oberfähnrich zur See
01.10.1938: Leutnant zur See
01.10.1940: Oberleutnant zur See
01.03.1943: Kapitänleutnant

Career:
03.1940-06.1940: Zug.Off. 'ALBERT LEO SCHLAGETER'
09.1941-11.1942: 1.W.O. 'U-506'
12.1942-11.1943: Kdr 'U-511'
11.1943-23.04.1945: Kdr 'U-183'

Fritz Schneewind joined the Kriegsmarine in 1936, and was part of the Olympia Crew. He served as a Group Officer at the Naval College at Flensburg and on the sailing ship Leo Schlageter and at the Kriegsmarine Depot at Boulogne before joining the U-boat arm in 1940.
After basic training he served as a Watch Officer (WO) with the 1st Flotilla and the 3rd Flotilla until Sept 1941.
From September 1941 to November 1942, Schneewind served as First Watch Officer (I WO) on the successful type IXC U-boat U-506 (Würdemann).
Kptlt Schneewind went through U-boat Commander training with the 24th (Training) Flotilla before taking over command of U-511, another long range boat, on 18 Dec 1942. He commanded her on two patrols; the first was in the mid Atlantic, and for the second he was ordered to take the boat to the Indian Ocean and then deliver the boat to Japan. U-511 arrived at Kure, Japan on 7 Aug 1943, having sunk two ships en route.
On 20 Nov 1943, Kptlt. Fritz Schneewind took command of U-183 type IXC at Singapore. The boat operated in the Indian Ocean as part of the Monsun group.
Schneewind successfully completed four patrols in her, sinking three ships of almost 18,000 tons.
On the fifth patrol, the boat was ambushed by the American submarine USS Besugo in the Java Sea and sunk, leaving only one survivor from a crew of 55.
Kptlt. Fritz Schneewind went down with his boat.

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• Photo 1: Known to STIWOT
• Photo: Kapitänleutnant Fritz Schneewind - German U-boat Commanders of WWII - The Men of the Kriegsmarine - uboat.net
  
• - Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht - Kapitänleutnant Fritz Schneewind - German U-boat Commanders of WWII - The Men of the Kriegsmarine - uboat.net
  - Portrait
  - Mannschaftslisten der Kriegsmarine
  - Detailansicht
  

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