{{Short description|German navy officer and world war II U-boat commander (1911–1943)}} {{Infobox military person |name=Robert Bartels |birth_date={{birth date|1911|4|28|df=y}} |death_date={{death date and age|1943|8|20|1911|4|28|df=y}} |birth_place=[[Kiel]]-Pries, [[Schleswig-Holstein]], [[German Empire]] |death_place=[[Indian Ocean]] |image= |caption= |nickname= |allegiance={{flag|Nazi Germany}} |branch={{navy|Nazi Germany}} |service_years=1935–43 |rank=''[[Korvettenkapitän]]'' |commands={{GS|U-139|1940|2}}<br/>{{GS|U-561||2}}<br/>{{GS|U-197||2}} |unit= |battles=[[World War II]] |awards=[[U-boat War Badge|U-boat War Badge 1939]], [[German Cross|German Cross in Gold]], [[Bronze Medal of Military Valor]] }}
'''Robert Bartels''' (28 April 1911 – 20 August 1943) was a German [[U-boat]] commander in [[World War II]].<ref name="Bartels">{{Cite web |url=http://uboat.net/men/commanders/43.html |title=''Korvettenkapitän'' Robert Bartels |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net |access-date=6 April 2014 }}</ref>
==Naval career== Robert Bartels joined the ''[[Reichsmarine]]'' in 1935. From 1937 to June 1940, he served as a watch officer on {{GS|U-21|1936|2}}. He went through U-boat familiarisation in July 1940 in preparation for his own command. On 24 July 1940 Bartels commissioned the new [[German Type II submarine|Type IID]] {{GS|U-139|1940|2}}. He left the boat on 20 December 1940. From there he went to the [[1st U-boat Flotilla]] and another U-boat familiarisation, this time in order to prepare for his command of the larger [[German Type VII submarine#Type VIIC|Type VIIC]] boat, {{GS|U-561||2}} on 13 March 1941.{{sfn|Busch|Röll|1999a|p=26}} With this vessel Bartels went out on his first war patrol on 25 May 1941, a 69-day patrol where he sank one small ship. When he left the boat on 5 September 1942 after eight patrols he had sunk or destroyed five ships for over 21,000 tons and damaged another - the last three ships fell to mines laid by ''U-561''. Bartels went through his third U-boat familiarisation in September and October 1942 in order to prepare for the much larger [[German Type IX submarine#Type IXD|Type IXD2]] boats. These vessels were very long range and were later converted for transport use. Bartels commissioned the new {{GS|U-197||2}} on 10 October 1942.{{sfn|Busch|Röll|1999a|p=26}}
==Death== The day before its loss, ''U-197'' had met with [[Wolfgang Lüth]]'s {{GS|U-181||2}} where Bartels told Lüth he intended to stay in this area and hunt the traffic Lüth had told him about. Their radio chatter had allowed the Allies to pinpoint the location, finding Bartels' boat the next day.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.u-boot-archiv.de/dieboote/u0197.html |title=Deutsche U-Boote 1935–1945 : ''U 197'' |work=u-boot-archiv.de |access-date=6 April 2014 }}</ref> On 20 August 1943 ''U-197'' was attacked south of Madagascar, in position {{coord|28|40|S|42|36|E|dim:2000000|display=inline,title}}, by a British [[PBY Catalina]] aircraft, ''C'' of [[No. 259 Squadron RAF]], with six depth charges and slightly damaged. As the aircraft had no more bombs, it attempted to strafe with her machine guns, but the U-boat responded with AA fire. The aircraft then circled the U-boat at a safe distance and radioed for assistance. The U-boat remained on the surface, perhaps assuming that any support was unlikely, and that the aircraft would eventually have to abandon her vigil. Unfortunately for the German submarine, another Catalina, FP 313 of [[No. 265 Squadron RAF|265 Squadron]], arrived. ''U-197'' promptly crash-dived, and the aircraft dropped three depth charges, two of which detonated to port of the U-boat, but the third hit her squarely, killing all 67 hands.{{sfn|Busch|Röll|1999b|p=140}} The pilot, captain Ernest Robin, received the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] for the sinking of the vessel.
[[Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat]], commander of {{GS|U-196||2}}, was severely criticised by the ''[[Befehlshaber der U-Boote]]'' (BdU) [U-boat headquarters] for his lack of support for ''U-197''. Bartels of ''U-197'' had radioed a distress signal. The correct response by any boat in the vicinity, according to orders, would have been to assist at top speed. The BdU twice ordered ''U-196'' to aid ''U-197'' before Kentrat responded, and by that time ''U-197'' and the entire crew were lost.{{sfn|Busch|Röll|2003|p=181}}
===Ships attacked=== {|class="wikitable sortable" |- !Date!!U-boat!!Name of ship!!Nationality!!Tonnage!!Fate |- |align="right" |28 July 1941 |align="center" |{{GS|U-561||2}} | align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in July 1941#28 July|''Wrotham'']] | align="left" |{{flag|United Kingdom|civil}} |align="right"|1,884 | align="left" |Sunk |- | align="right" |11 November 1941 | align="center" |{{GS|U-561||2}} | align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in November 1941#11 November|''Meridian'']] | align="left" |{{flag|Panama}} |align="right"|5,592 | align="left" |Sunk |- | align="right" |14 November 1941 | align="center" |{{GS|U-561||2}} | align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in November 1941#14 November|''Crusader'']] | align="left" |{{flag|Panama}} |align="right"|2,939 | align="left" |Sunk |- | align="right" |14 May 1942 | align="center" |{{GS|U-561||2}} | align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in May 1942#14 May|''Fred'']] | align="left" |{{flag|Greece|old}} |align="right"|4,043 | align="left" |Damaged |- | align="right" |14 May 1942 | align="center" |{{GS|U-561||2}} | align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in May 1942#14 May|''Hav'']] | align="left" |{{flag|Norway}} |align="right"|5,062 | align="left" |Sunk |- | align="right" |14 May 1942 | align="center" |{{GS|U-561||2}} | align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in May 1942#14 May|''Mount Olympus'']] | align="left" |{{flag|Greece|old}} |align="right"|6,692 | align="left" |Sunk |- | align="right" |20 May 1943 | align="center" |{{GS|U-197||2}} | align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in May 1943#20 May|''Benakat'']] | align="left" |{{flag|Netherlands}} |align="right"|4,763 | align="left" |Sunk |- | align="right" |24 July 1943 | align="center" |{{GS|U-197||2}} | align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in July 1943#24 July|''Pegasus'']] | align="left" |{{flag|Sweden}} |align="right"|9,583 | align="left" |Sunk |- | align="right" |30 July 1943 | align="center" |{{GS|U-197||2}} | align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in July 1943#30 July|''William Ellery'']] | align="left" |{{flag|United States|1912}} |align="right"|7,181 | align="left" |Damaged |- | align="right" |17 August 1943 | align="center" |{{GS|U-197||2}} | align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in August 1943#17 August|''Empire Stanley'']] | align="left" |{{flag|United Kingdom|civil}} |align="right"|6,921 | align="left" |Sunk |}
==See also== *[[List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea]]
==Awards== *[[German Cross]] in Gold on 28 August 1942 as ''[[Kapitänleutnant]]'' on ''U-561'' in the [[29th U-boat Flotilla]]<ref>Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 25.</ref>
==References==
===Citations=== {{Reflist|25em}}
===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} *{{cite book | last1 = Busch | first1 = Rainer | last2 = Röll | first2 = Hans-Joachim | translator-last = Brooks | translator-first = Geoffrey | title = German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary | publisher = Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press | location = London, Annapolis, Md | year = 1999a | isbn = 1-55750-186-6 }} *{{cite book |last1=Busch |first1=Rainer |last2=Röll |first2=Hans-Joachim |title=Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 |trans-title=German U-boat losses from September 1939 to May 1945 |work=Der U-Boot-Krieg |volume=IV |publisher=Mittler |location=Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn |year=1999b |isbn=3-8132-0514-2 |language=German }} * {{Cite book |last1=Busch |first1=Rainer |last2=Röll |first2=Hans-Joachim |year=2003 |title=Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939–1945 — Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 |trans-title=The U-Boat War 1939–1945 — The Knight's Cross Bearers of the U-Boat Force from September 1939 to May 1945 |language=German |location=Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany |publisher=Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn |isbn=978-3-8132-0515-2 }} * {{Cite book |last1=Patzwall |first1=Klaus D. |last2=Scherzer |first2=Veit |year=2001 |title=Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II |trans-title=The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2 |language=German |location=Norderstedt, Germany |publisher=Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall |isbn=978-3-931533-45-8 }} {{refend}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartels, Robert}} [[Category:1911 births]] [[Category:1940s missing person cases]] [[Category:1943 deaths]] [[Category:Kriegsmarine personnel killed in World War II]] [[Category:Missing person cases in Germany]] [[Category:Military personnel from Kiel]] [[Category:Military personnel from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein]] [[Category:People lost at sea]] [[Category:Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor]] [[Category:Recipients of the Gold German Cross]] [[Category:Reichsmarine personnel]] [[Category:U-boat commanders (Kriegsmarine)]] [[Category:Deaths by British airstrikes during World War II]] [[Category:Missing in action of World War II]]