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Some other related items available from this site. | ||||
  Swordfish Strike on U-451 by Jason Askew. |   Operation Drumbeat by Anthony Saunders. |   U-552 A Lonely Vigil by Robert Barbour. |   Lone Wolf by Ivan Berryman. | |
| Signatures on these products | |
| *The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature and is for the unmatted version where available. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare. | |
| Name | Info |
  Otto Kretschmer (deceased) Died : 1998 *Signature Value : £80 Editions signed : Kretschmer, Merten Presentation Edition of 5 artist proofs, supplied double mounted. | Kretschmer, Otto (Otto Kretschmer (deceased)) Otto Kretschmer was born in May 1912, joining the navy in 1930, and transferring to u-boats in 1936. He was the Watch Officer aboard U-35 from 3rd November 1936 to 30th July 1937. He briefly took command of U-35 after the death of the Captain, Hermann Michahelles, assuming command until 15th August 1937, after which he was Watch Officer once again until 30th September 1937. During this time, U-35 was involved in the Spanish Civil WarHe was in command of U-23 at the outbreak of war in 1939, and had successful patrols with U-23 which included the sinking of HMS Daring, before taking command of U-99 in April 1940. In March 1941, Kretschmer was captured after scuttling U-99 due to damage suffered from depth charges from British destroyer HMS Walker. After his capture, Kretschmer was imprisoned until December 1947. Despite his capture early in the war, Kretschmers total tonnage sunk of over 273 thousand tons was enough to make him the top scoring u-boat Ace of the war. Kretschmer was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Otto Kretschmer died 5th August 1998. |
  Karl-Friedrich Merten (deceased) Died : 1993 *Signature Value : £80 Editions signed : Kretschmer, Merten Presentation Edition of 5 artist proofs, supplied double mounted. | Merten, Karl-Friedrich (Karl-Friedrich Merten (deceased)) Karl-Friedrich Merten was born in 1905, joining the navy in 1928. After a ten year stint on warships and serving on the WW1 battleship Schleswig-Holstein during the attack on the Polish Westerplatte in Septmeber 1939, Merten joined the U-boat arm on 1st May 1940. He operated all over the world, patrolling in the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Indian Oceans. U-68 was in the U-boat wolfpack Eisbar (Polar Bear) which in the course of a few weeks during September - October 1942 sank more than 100,000 tons of shipping off South Africa. In January 1943 Merten became the commander of the 26th U-boat Flotilla in Pillau. There the new U-boat crews received their final training before going to the front. In March 1943 Merten moved to the 24th U-Boat Flotilla in Memel where he also was the flotilla commander. This was the training flotilla for future Commanders. After Merten gave up command of U-68, the boat had 4 commanders during the next 15 months. On April 10th 1944 U-68 was sunk off Madeira, Portugal by aircraft from the carrier USS Guadalcanal. A lookout survived. The remaining 56 crew members went down with the boat. After the war Merten salvaged sunken ships in the Rhine river along with another famous former U-boat commander, Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock. Later he wroked in the shipbuilding industry. In his time commanding U-68 he sank 27 ships - over 170 thousand tons of shipping, making him the 7th most successful u-boat Ace. He was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves. Karl-Friedrich Merten died 2nd May 1993. |
 Erich Topp (deceased) Died : 2005 *Signature Value : £105 Editions signed : Knights Cross Presentation Edition of 5 artist proofs. | Topp, Erich (Erich Topp (deceased)) Born 2nd July 1914 - Died 26th December 2005. Born in Hannover, Topp joined the Kriegsmarine in 1934, serving on the cruiser Karlsruhe, before transferring to U-Boats in 1937. He was assigned to U-46 for a number of combat tours before taking command of U57 in June 1940, sinking six ships over two missions before being sunk in a collision on the 3rd of September the same year. Surviving this, Topp then commanded U-552 from December that year, sinking 30 ships, predominantly in the North Atlantic, including the first American ship of the war to be sunk, the destroyer 'Reuben James'. From October 1942 he commanded the 27th submarine flottilla. He also took command of two further U-Boats, these being U-3010 for about a month in 1945, and subsequently U-2513 from April 1945 until surrendering this vessel on May 8th. His highest award was the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. The 3rd highest scoring U-boat Commander, Topp sank a total of 36 ships totalling almost 200,000 tons |
  Peter Cremer (deceased) Died : 1992 *Signature Value : £60 Editions signed : Knights Cross Presentation Edition of 5 artist proofs. | Cremer, Peter (Peter Cremer (deceased)) Peter Cremer joined the German Navy in 1932, joining the surface warships Koln, Deutschland and Theodor Riedel before joining the u-boats in 1940, commissioning U-152 in January the next year before taking command of U-333 some months later. He sank three enemy ships on his first patrol, and although absolved of blame later, he also sank the German ship Spreewald on this tour. On his second tour, Cremer sank four ships before bringing U-333 back home damaged, a result of being rammed. U-333 was in battle with British corvette HMS Crocus on Cremers third patrol, with the British vessel suffering damage, while 7 crew of U-333 were killed by gunfire from the corvette, Cremer himself being seriously wounded in the incident. Once again U-333 returned to base with heavy damage. After a brief spell on the staff of Donitz, Cremer embarked on another patrol with U-333, again returning with damage from a depth-charge attack. U-333 was lost on the next patrol, but Cremer had by then left the boat. Towards the end of the war, Cremer commanded U-2519. He was captured and spent a short time in captivity before his release. He was awarded the Knights Cross in June 1942, with a total of 6 ships sunk - almost 27,000 tons. Peter Cremer died 5th July 1992. |
  Carl Emmermann (deceased) Died : 1990 *Signature Value : £70 Editions signed : Knights Cross Presentation Edition of 5 artist proofs. | Emmermann, Carl (Carl Emmermann (deceased)) Carl Emmermann was born 6th March 1915, and joined the Kriegsmarine in 1934, transferring to u-boats in November 1940 with U-A On his first patrol, he damaged the British steamer 'Empire Attendant'. Emmermann then commanded U-172 from November 1941, completing five patrols, with the notable success of sinking the British 23,500 ton troopship Orcades. On his fifth patrol, he brough back half the crew of U-604 which had been badly damaged and subsequently scuttled. After these five patrols with U-172, he took up training and staff positions, befre returning to command U-3037 for one month in March 1945. In total, he sank 26 ships - a total of over 150,00 tons. He was awarded the Knights Cross with Oakleaves, and was the 13th highest ranking U-boat Commander. Carl Emmermann died 25th March 1990. |
 Hans-Gunther Lange (deceased) Died : 2014 *Signature Value : £70 Editions signed : Knights Cross Presentation Edition of 5 artist proofs. | Lange, Hans-Gunther (Hans-Gunther Lange (deceased)) Hans-Gunther Lange was born 28th September 1916. He joined the navy in 1937, gaining experience as an officer aboard the torpedo boat 'Jaguar' before transferring to u-boats in 1941 with U-431. In September1942 he commissioned U-711, commanding a total of eleven patrols, all of which were in Arctic waters, which included an unsuccessful attack on HMS Royal Sovereign - on loan to Russia as Archangelsk. In May 1945, Lange survived the sinking of U-711 spending the next three months in captivity. He had been awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves on 29th April 1945, one month prior to being captured. He had sunk 4 ships with a total tonnage of over 15,000 tons. In October 1957 Lange joined the Bundesmarine. Here he took part in the construction of a new German U-boat weapon. For two years he commanded the 1 Uboatgeschwader and in January 1964 became commander of the entire U-boat force. Later he held several staff positions, ending his second naval career in 1972 as staff officer in the Marinedivision der Nordsee. In a branch of the German navy whose survival rate was calculated in days, Lange survived for over four years. He died on 3rd April 2014. |
  Jurgen Oesten (deceased) Died : 2010 *Signature Value : £75 Editions signed : Jurgen Oesten U-Boat Knights Cross signature edition of 10 prints, from the signed limited edition of 1150 prints. | Oesten, Jurgen (Jurgen Oesten (deceased)) Jurgen Oesten joined the Kriesgmarine in April 1933. He first served on the Admiral Graf Spee and Karlsruhe but transfered to U-Boats in May 1937. In October 1937 he became Watch Officer on U-20 and in August 1939 he joined the new U-Boat U-61 which he served on for 8 patrols, sinking 6 ships during his mine laying patrols. In November he joined U-106. During her first patrol U-106 sank two ships on her way to her new base at Lorient. Jurgen Oesten was awarded the Knights Cross on his second patrol, off Africa where he sank eight ships. During this attack he torpedoed and damaged the British attleship HMS Malaya. In March 1942 he became Admiralstabsoffizier in Norway with Admiral Nordmeer and directed U-boat operations in the Arctic. In September he again joined the U-boats and joined U-861 and in April 1944 she joined the Monson Boats which was a special Wolfpack operating far away from germany, out of japanese bases in Indonesia at Jakarta, Penang and Sebang, sinking two ships on her way to Penang. U-861 operated at sea for five months, after which she was ordered back to Germany with vital supplies. On the 15th January 1945 U-861 left Soerabaya in Indonesia. On the return journey off Greenland Oesten struck an Iceburg but managed to reach Trondheim on 19th April 1945. His awards were as follows: 6th June 1939, The Spanish Cross, 3rd December 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class, 27 February 1940, Iron Cross 1st Class, 26th March 1941 Knights Cross. Sadly, Jurgen Oesten passed away on 5th August 2010. |
| Ships Related to This Print |
| U96 |
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Signature(s) value alone : £140
Signature(s) value alone : £305