Friedrich Grade

Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Grade (born 29 March 1916) is a German engineer and naval officer.

Friedrich Grade
Born (1916-03-29) 29 March 1916
Büdelsdorf, German Empire
Allegiance
Service/branch
Years of service?–1945 and 1958–1974
RankCaptain (German Navy)
Unit7th U-boat Flotilla
10th U-boat Flotilla
AwardsGerman Cross in Gold

Biography

During World War II, Grade was a member of the Kriegsmarine and was chief engineer (LI) of the U-boats U-96 and U-183.

Grade is the last surviving eyewitness to the submarine's patrols. In 2017, he published his hitherto unknown diaries, which he wrote during operations on the U 96.[1] Germany-wide awareness reached Grade in 2018, when his story was picked up in the media as part of the remake of Das Boot.[2]

After the end of his assignments on U-96, Grade completed two more patrols on U-183 and then trained U-boat crews as a technical instructor for the submarine training flotilla until the end of the war.[3] In 1958, Grade was accepted into the newly formed German Navy to lead the development of new submarines there. In 1970, shortly before his retirement, he worked on the revision of Lothar-Günther Buchheim's novel Das Boot.[4] When he retired in 1974, he had the rank of Captain (Ing.).[5]

Grade was married in Eckernförde and has two children who were born during the war. Today, he lives in a retirement home in Bornheim.[5][6]

References
  1. Gerrit Reichert. „Das Boot“: Verbotene Tagebücher erzählen die wahre Geschichte von U 96. shz. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  2. Thomas Röbke. "Das Boot": Die wahre Geschichte. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  3. "Das Boot: Friedrich Grade - der letzte Augenzeuge". Nord-West-Zeitung. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  4. Gerrit Reichert. Das Boot U96:Friedrich Grade–der letzte Augenzeuge. Nordwest-Zeitung. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  5. "Als junger Mensch sieht man die Gefahren nicht so sehr". Schweriner Volkszeitung. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  6. "Mit 106 Jahren noch richtig fit". General-Anzeiger. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
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