Hans-Werner Kraus

Hans-Werner Kraus
File:Hans-Werner Kraus.jpg
Born	(1915-07-01)1 July 1915 Beulwitz/Saalfeld
Died	Wanger/Allgäu
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1934–45
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Unit	SSS Gorch Fock cruiser Karlsruhe cruiser Königsberg U-47
Commands held	U-83, U-199
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic Great Papago Escape
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Hans-Werner Kraus (1 July 1915 – 25 May 1990) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Kraus served as 1st watch officer on U-47 from January 1940 until November 1940 having replaced Engelbert Endrass. He later commanded U-83 and U-199. He was on board the latter when it was bombed and sunk by aircraft off the coast of Brazil on 31 July 1943. Captured, he was sent as a POW to the United States. Kraus was one of the 25 POWs who escaped from Camp Papago Park, Arizona, during the night of 23–24 December 1944.

Kraus was repatriated to Germany in February 1946 and released from imprisonment in the British zone of Allied-occupied Germany on 22 May 1946.

Summary of career

Ships attacked

Date	U-boat	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
12 October 1941	U-83	Corte Real	Portugal	2,044	Sunk
26 October 1941	U-83	HMS Anguani	Royal Navy	6,746	Damaged
17 March 1942	U-83	Crista	United Kingdom	2,590	Damaged
8 June 1942	U-83	Esther *	Mandatory Palestine	100	Sunk
8 June 1942	U-83	Said	Egypt	231	Sunk
9 June 1942	U-83	Typhoon *	Mandatory Palestine	175	Sunk
13 June 1942	U-83	HMS Farouk	Royal Navy	96	Sunk
17 August 1942	U-83	Princess Marguerite	Canada	5,875	Sunk
4 July 1943	U-199	Changri-Lá	Brazil	20	Sunk
24 July 1943	U-199	Henzada	United Kingdom	4,161	Sunk

* Sailing vessel

Awards

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (29 April 1940)
• Medaglia di bronzo al Valore Militare (18 March 1942)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (8 July 1940)
  • 1st Class (28 September 1940)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 June 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-83
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 22 March 1942

Wehrmachtbericht reference

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
22 March 1942	Bei den Unternehmungen gegen feindliche Kriegs- und Transportschiffe vor der Cyrenaika hat sich das Unterseeboot unter Führung von Kapitänleutnant Kraus besonders ausgezeichnet.	The submarine under the command of Kapitänleutnant Kraus distinguished itself in the operations before the Cyrenaica against enemy war and transport shipping.

References

Bibliography

• Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 2, 1. Januar 1942 bis 31. Dezember 1943. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1985. ISBN 3-423-05944-3.