# Walther Forstmann > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Walther_Forstmann > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Walther_Forstmann.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_Forstmann > Source revision: 1356119335 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Walther Forstmann** (9 March 1883 – 2 November 1973) was one of the most highly decorated [U-boat](/source/U-boat) commanders in the *[Kaiserliche Marine](/source/Kaiserliche_Marine)* during [World War I](/source/World_War_I). He also served in the *[Kriegsmarine](/source/Kriegsmarine)* during [World War II](/source/World_War_II) in different [staff](/source/Staff_(military)) positions. In his time as commander of and in World War I, he conducted 47 patrols and succeeded in sinking 148 ships for a total tonnage of .[1] As such, he is the second most successful submarine commander ever (by tonnage sunk), after [de la Perière](/source/Lothar_von_Arnauld_de_la_Peri%C3%A8re). ## World War I On 12 August 1916 *[Kapitänleutnant](/source/Kapit%C3%A4nleutnant)* Forstmann of *U-39* was awarded the [Pour le Mérite](/source/Pour_le_M%C3%A9rite) for his achievements so far in the [First World War](/source/First_World_War). In 1917 Forstmann, in command of *U-39*, sank five valuable [steamers](/source/Steamboat) within only two days in the [Straits of Gibraltar](/source/Straits_of_Gibraltar) with over , the [SS *Normanton*](/source/SS_Normanton) (3,862 tonnes), [SS *Mersario*](/source/SS_Mersario) (3,847 tonnes), [SS *Almora*](/source/SS_Almora) (4,385 tonnes), [SS *Nuceria*](/source/SS_Nuceria) (4,702 tonnes) and the [Japanese](/source/Japan) steamer [SS *Sitosan Maru*](/source/SS_Sitosan_Maru) (3,555 tonnes). The ships carried a total load of 31,500 tonnes of [coal](/source/Coal), of which more than 26,000 tonnes were meant for [Italy](/source/Italy) for use in the winter. ## Interbellum *Forstmann* wrote his memoirs after the war in the book *Hunting in the Mediterranean* (German: *Auf Jagd im Mittelmeer*). In 1921 he qualified as an attorney and in 1924 he became social departmental head and director with the [August Thyssen](/source/August_Thyssen) coal company in [Duisburg](/source/Duisburg). From 1929 to 1933 he was a city delegate and parliamentary group leader of the [German People's Party](/source/German_People's_Party) in Duisburg. Between 1933 and 1950 he was a member of the board (1951-1953 member of the supervisory board) of four large housing cooperatives of the Ruhr steel plants. ## World War II In the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War) Forstmann served as chief of different commands in [Osnabrück](/source/Osnabr%C3%BCck) and [Copenhagen](/source/Copenhagen). In Copenhagen, he was the commander of the Wehrwirtschaftsstab Denmark, Germany's chief industrial purchasing entity in [occupied Denmark](/source/Occupied_Denmark).[2] He was promoted to *[Kapitän zur See](/source/Kapit%C3%A4n_zur_See)* on 1 July 1942. He retired from the navy in 1945. ## Postwar career 1951 - 1955 He became one of the advisors of the housing company - Rheini dwellings A.G. in Duisburg which was responsible for the movement of several villages to enable development of open cast coal mining. In 1954 he became a member of the supervisory board of this company. In 1956 he was involved in the design structure of the 30 Pestalozzi villages ([de](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pestalozzidorf_%E2%80%9EIm_Grund%E2%80%9C)) and became vice-president of the German settler federation, chairman of the executive committee of youth centre place work [e. V.](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verein) ## Awards and decorations - Gold [German Sports Badge](/source/German_Sports_Badge) (1933) - [Iron Cross](/source/Iron_Cross) of 1914, 1st and 2nd class - [Order of Saint Stanislaus](/source/Order_of_Saint_Stanislaus), 3rd class - [Hanseatic Cross](/source/Hanseatic_Cross) of Hamburg - Knights Cross with Swords of the [House Order of Hohenzollern](/source/House_Order_of_Hohenzollern) - [Order of the Red Eagle](/source/Order_of_the_Red_Eagle) 4th Class - [The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918](/source/The_Honour_Cross_of_the_World_War_1914/1918) - [Pour le Mérite](/source/Pour_le_M%C3%A9rite) - [U-boat War Badge](/source/U-boat_War_Badge) WW1 - [Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany](/source/Order_of_Merit_of_the_Federal_Republic_of_Germany): - 1st class, 1952 - Grand Cross, 3 August 1960 (for his part in the 25-year-old existence of the German settler federation) - Grand Cross with Star, 9 March 1968 In 1968 he received an honorary Doctorate from the Roman Accademia Tiberina and in 1972 another from the university of the Mediterranean in Rome. ## References 1. ["Walther Forstmann"](https://uboat.net/wwi/men/commanders/75.html). *uboat.net* 1. See Phil Giltner, *In the friendliest manner : German-Danish economic cooperation during the Nazi occupation of 1940-1949* (Peter Lang, 1998). --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Walther Forstmann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_Forstmann) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_Forstmann?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.