Werner Hartenstein (27 February 1908 – 8 March 1943) was a German naval officer during World War II who commanded the U-boat . He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. Hartenstein was credited with sinking 19 ships totaling , and with damaging three ships and a destroyer.
Born in Plauen, Hartenstein joined the Reichsmarine (navy of the Weimar Republic) in 1928. After a period of training on surface vessels and service on various torpedo boats during the Spanish Civil War and the first year of World War II, he transferred to the U-boat service in 1941. In September 1942, Hartenstein torpedoed and sank the , then attempted to rescue the survivors. He was forced to abort the rescue when his U-boat came under attack by a B-24 Liberator bomber of the United States Army Air Forces. The event became known as the "Laconia incident" and resulted in the "Laconia Order", an order from the Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote to the entire German U-boat force that forbade rescuing the survivors of sunken ships. Hartenstein and the entire crew of U-156 were killed in action by depth charges from a US PBY Catalina aircraft on 8 March 1943.
Early life and pre-war service Hartenstein was born in Plauen in the Vogtland of the Kingdom of Saxony, then a federated state of the German Empire, on 27 February 1908. He was the second child of William Karl Adolf Hartenstein, an export merchant, and Selma Emma Hartenstein, née Schlingensiepen. Hartenstein had one older sister, Thea Irena, and a younger sister, Charlotte. He celebrated his confirmation in 1923 and graduated from a humanities-oriented secondary school in Plauen with his diploma (Abitur) in 1926.humanities-oriented secondary school—humanistische Staatsgymnasium After graduation in 1926 he applied for a naval officer cadetship but was rejected at first, and instead studied two semesters of jurisprudence. He matriculated at the University of Freiburg (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg) in Freiburg im Breisgau on 29 April 1927.
Aged 20, Hartenstein re-applied for the cadetship, was accepted and began his naval career with the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1928 as a member of "Crew 28" (the incoming class of 1928). He underwent basic military training in the 2nd department of the standing ship division of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund (1 April 1928 – 30 June 1928).2nd department —II. Abteilungstanding ship division —Schiffsstammdivision Hartenstein was then transferred to the training ship Niobe (1 July 1928 – 15 October 1928), attaining the rank of Seekadett (midshipman) on 11 October 1928. Following a 14-month stay on board the cruiser Emden (16 October 1928 – 3 January 1930) he advanced in rank to Fähnrich zur See (officer cadet) on 1 January 1930. Emden at the time was under the command of Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, a U-boat commander during World War I. Hartenstein then underwent a number of officer training courses at the Naval Academy at Mürwik, including navigational training cruises on the survey vessel Meteor, before transferring to the light cruiser Köln (1 October 1931 – 23 September 1934). His stay on Köln was occasionally interrupted to attend further training courses at Wilhelmshaven and Kiel-Wik. During this assignment on 30 January 1933, the Nazi Party, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, came to power in Germany, and began to rearm the navy. In 1935, the Reichsmarine was renamed the Kriegsmarine.
Hartenstein served as first watch officer on the torpedo boat from 30 September 1936 to 13 November 1938. He was promoted to Kapitänleutnant (captain lieutenant) on 1 June 1937. Hartenstein participated in several patrols in 1937 and 1938 on board Greif in Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War. For these services he was awarded the Spanish Cross in Bronze () on 6 June 1939.
World War II
At the outbreak of World War II, Hartenstein continued to serve on torpedo boats. In this position, he completed 65 patrols in the North Sea, Norwegian waters, the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel in the first one and a half years of the war. Hartenstein took command of torpedo boat on 20 November 1938. In October 1939 Hartenstein transferred and switched command of torpedo boat with Kapitänleutnant Franz Kohlauf who took over command of Seeadler. On 30 March 1941, command of Jaguar was given to Kapitänleutnant Friedrich-Karl Paul and Hartenstein transferred to the U-boat force, and on 4 September 1941 was given command of U-156, a Type IXC U-boat. For his service on torpedo boats, Hartenstein was awarded the German Cross in Gold () on 2 February 1942. Karl Dönitz personally pinned the award on Harteinstein's leather jacket on 17 March 1942. U-156 was first assigned to the 4th U-boat Flotilla at Stettin as a training boat, then was transferred to the 2nd U-boat Flotilla at Lorient, France, on 31 December 1941.
First patrol Hartenstein's first patrol (24 December 1941 – 10 January 1942) was an uneventful transfer patrol taking U-156 from Kiel to Lorient. U-156, together with and , transited through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, passing Brunsbüttel where they joined up with a pathfinder and .pathfinder—Sperrbrecher The convoy received aerial protection from Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft and split up once they reached Cuxhaven. Passing south of the Shetland Islands, bypassing the Hebrides, U-156 slowly approached Rockall, where two weather buoys (, or WFB) were released: "WFB 33" on 7 January 1942 at , and "WFB 32" on 8 January 1942 at 02:44 at in the Porcupine Bank. U-156 received a radio message on the evening of 8 January ordering Hartenstein to proceed at high speed to Lorient, where it arrived on 10 January 1942.
Second patrol On his second patrol (19 January 1942 – 17 March 1942) Hartenstein commanded a wolfpack of U-boats (Gruppe Neuland—Group New Land) during the Attack on Aruba in February 1942, attacking an oil refinery. U-156 along with under the command of Günther Müller-Stöckheim and under the command of Jürgen von Rosenstiel departed from Lorient under the protection of a pathfinder in the early morning of 19 January 1942. Hartenstein's orders were to conduct a simultaneous surprise attack of the Gruppe Neuland against the shipping traffic off Aruba and Curaçao. Besides U-156, U-67 and U-502, Gruppe Neuland also included the submarines under the command of Nicolai Clausen and under the command of Albrecht Achilles.
On 16 February, after observing the area for a few days, U-156 came around to the refineries. There in front of her target were two Lago Company flat-bottom steamers, and , both British-owned oilers. At 01:31, U-156 surfaced in San Nicolaas Harbour some offshore and attacked the two British tankers at anchor. Hartenstein fired one torpedo from his bow tubes at Pedernales. The torpedo attack was successful and Pedernales was hit amidships. Loaded with crude oil, the steamer immediately burst into flames, killing eight of her 26 crewmen and wounding her captain Herbert McCall. Oranjestad then began to lift anchor and steam away but she was too late and was hit by a second torpedo fired from U-156. She too burst into flames and sunk an hour later in about of water. Fifteen of her 22 crewmen were killed.
At 03:13, U-156 attacked the Texaco-owned tanker SS Arkansas which was berthed at Eagle Beach next to the Arend/Eagle Refinery. Just one of the torpedoes struck Arkansas and partially sank her but the damage was moderate and caused no casualties. Commander Hartenstein then steamed further around Aruba and directed his men to take to the deck guns and prepare for a naval bombardment of the large oil tank of the Lago Oil and Transport Company. The crew of the 10.5 cm SK L/45 naval gun forgot to remove the tampion from the barrel, so when Hartenstein ordered them to fire, the gun blew up. Gunnery Officer Dietrich von dem Borne was wounded badly, one foot having been severed. His comrade and trigger man Heinrich Büssinger was badly wounded as well and died several hours after the attack. Hartenstein ordered the 3.7 cm flak gun to continue the attack, causing only superficial damage.
Third patrol
On Hartenstein's third patrol (22 April 1942 – 7 July 1942), U-156 sank 12 ships and damaged a further two, including the on 25 May 1942. This achievement earned Hartenstein a reference on 6 June 1942 in the Wehrmachtbericht, a propaganda bulletin issued by the headquarters of the Wehrmacht, the OKW. The mention was entered in the orders and decorations' section of a soldier's Service Record Book.
U-156 along with U-502 again departed from Lorient under the protection of a pathfinder on 22 April 1942 destined for the Caribbean Sea. Prior to the departure Dietrich von dem Borne, who had been severely wounded on the second patrol, was replaced by Oberleutnant zur See of the Reserve Gert Mannesmann. Chief engineer Wilhelm Polchau reported to Hartenstein on 6 May that the diesel compressor had malfunctioned. Hartenstein radioed under the command of Robert-Richard Zapp to assist. On 10 May U-156 and U-66 rendezvoused and exchanged of fuel oil for the necessary spare parts, and the fuel compressor was repaired. U-156 sighted the first steamer in the early afternoon on 12 May, the first of twelve ships—eleven merchantmen and one warship—attacked on this patrol, ten of which were sunk.
U-156, positioned near Fort-de-France, was ordered to observe the traffic to and from Martinique. At roughly offshore, the hydrophones detected a ship. Hartenstein attacked from a submerged position firing two torpedoes. One torpedo struck the bow of the Blakeley after a 25-second run-time. Hartenstein observed that the bow was completely blown away, but its engines kept running. The waters around Martinique were extremely shallow and Hartenstein decided not to pursue the destroyer. On 1 June 1942, Hartenstein was promoted to Korvettenkapitän (corvette captain). The first watch officer, Paul Just, left U-156 after returning from the third patrol. Just was replaced by Oberleutnant zur See Leopold Schumacher as new first watch officer. Just later became commander of , and .
Hartenstein and the entire crew of U-156 received a hero's welcome by the residents of Plauen on 20 July 1942. The people lined the streets as the whole crew marched from the railway station to the City Hall for the official welcome reception.
Fourth patrol and Laconia incident On U-156's fourth patrol (20 August 1942 – 16 November 1942), Hartenstein sank and then organised the rescue of the survivors of RMS Laconia, resulting in the "Laconia incident" and "Laconia Order".
U-156 together with under the command of Karl-Friedrich Merten departed from Lorient on 20 August 1942 heading for the Bay of Biscay. Hartenstein received the order to operate against Convoy SL-119 on 25 August. After a two-day pursuit, U-156 found a straggler, the SS Clan Macwhirter, west of Casablanca. Hartenstein attacked from a submerged position to avoid detection under the bright moonlight. Clan Macwhirter was hit by two torpedoes and sank, killing nine members of the crew and two gunners; 79 sailors survived the sinking. Two later sightings on 2 and 6 September did not lead to favourable attack positions.