This is a quite unique collection of 16 German U-Boat aces autographs, all recipients of the Knights Cross.
The autographs were taken before August 1964 when Richard Zapp passed away.
The front, as can be seen in the picture is of a calendar with two colour etchings on the background depicting aspects of the submarine service. The reverse of the piece is an article in German about the history of the submarine.
The list of signatures is:
Karl Donitz: the commander of the U-boat force. Died 24/12/1980
Otto Kretschmer: U-99, Sank 47 ships. Died 05/08/1998
Erich Topp: U-552. Sank 36 ships. Died 26/12/2005. He is well known for sinking the destroyer USS Reuben James on 31 October 1941, the first United States Navy warship to be lost in World War II.
Heinrich Willenbrock: U-96. Sank 25 ships. Died 18/04/1986. He is well known due to the film “Das Boot”.
Ernst Hechler: U-870. Sank 4 ships. Died 23/10/1965
Richard Zapp: U-66. Sank 16 ships. Died 17/07/1964
Karl Nietze: U-510. Sank 5 ships. Died 13/11/1966.
Eital Kentrat: U-74. Sank 8 ships. Died 09/01/1974
Gunther Hessler: U-107. Sank 21 ships. Died 04/04/1968
Jost Metzler: U-69. Sank 11 ships. Died 29/10/1975
Herbert Wohlfarth: U-14. Sank 21 ships. Died 13/09/1982
Hans Witt: U-129. Sank 19 ships. Died 13/02/1980
Helmut Mohlmann: U-571. Sank 7 ships. Died 12/04/1977
Hans Jenish: U-32. Sank 17 ships. Died 29/04/1982
Karl-Heinz Moehle: U-32. Sank 21 ships. Died 17/11/1996
Karl Fleige: U-18. Sank 2 ships. Died 16/12/1975
The total number of ships sank by these captains was 260, totaling 1,432,456 tons.
The piece comes framed.
*Condition*
As seen in the pictures, the piece remains in very good condition.
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