Just 10 days before the sinkings of U-99 and U-100 Günther Prien and U-47 had been destroyed. The three rivals were all out of action ; two dead and one a prisoner. Three aces lost in just over a week ; a great blow to morale in Germany where they were popular heroes. In his memoirs Dönitz wrote :

"The death of Prien and Schepke and the loss of U-99 were particularly heavy blows to me and my staff. Schepke had been a real thruster and had done exceptionally good work from the very beginning ; in all he had sunk 39 ships with a total of 159,300 tons."¹

According to one of Dönitz's subordinates, his aloofness and reserve at this time betrayed to his closest colleagues how deeply he was affected by their deaths. In the following days "he went about his work with a grim and purposeful dourness which we who knew him recognised as a sign of the depths of his emotion". His staff shared the loss ; "When at the time our fears had become certainty that Prien and Schepke were never to return, we on the Flag Officer's staff were sorely grieved."²

The impact of these losses was not restricted to the U-boat arm. In his war diary entry for 10 April 1941, Josef Goebbels noted :

"Kretschmer in English captivity. Prien and Schepke probably lost. Our three best U-boat commanders in one day. This is dreadful. We publish nothing about it for the moment. The people will be very sad. Particularly in the case of Prien, who is very popular."³

That Schepke and Kretschmer had been lost was conceded by Berlin on March 20th, following an announcement in the House of Commons by Winston Churchill that these two aces had respectively been killed and captured. Prien's loss was even kept from his wife (whose mauve scarf he always wore on patrol) and not made public until May 23rd, ten weeks after his death.⁴ According to one U-boat NCO "at a stroke the U-boat arm had been deprived of its heroes.... the losses were so secret that even the majority of U-boat officers had not heard about them."⁵ In the British press their deaths were reported with headlines such as 'U-boats of Kretschmer and Schepke sunk, Kretschmer taken prisoner.'⁶ The British authorities made the most of the situation, exploiting in particular the reluctance of the Nazi regime to admit the death of Prien. Handbills were dropped on Germany showing a photograph of a captured German submarine officer together with the following words :

"Schepke - Kretschmer - Prien. What has become of these three officers, the most famous German U-boat commanders, the only ones on whom Hitler has bestowed the Oak Leaves Cluster to the Knight's Cross? Schepke is dead. German High Command had to admit it. Kretschmer is captured. German High Command had to admit it. AND PRIEN? Who has heard anything of Prien recently? What does German High Command have to say about Prien? WHERE IS PRIEN?"⁷

It was news which greatly encouraged Churchill. In a speech to a Pilgrim's Society luncheon on March 18th he stated that :

"We are striking back with increasing effect. Only yesterday I received the news of the certain destruction of three German U-boats. Not since October 13th, 1939, have I been cheered by such delectable tidings of a triple event."⁸

The early U-boat aces had been lionised in Germany much as the Battle of Britain fighter pilots were in England. They were the perfect icons for the Nazi regime and their faces adorned postcards on sale all over Europe.⁹ Schepke and his crew made many public appearances (often billed as 'the most successful U-boat crew' and to huge acclaim) including an official visit to Munich in January 1941 which, according to the printed programme for the visit, "gave them maximum exposure to both populace and press and stressed the links between U-boats, national culture and the Nazi Party."¹⁰ They, and the other U-boat crews, were well-suited to the propaganda tasks assigned to them, as :

"In pitiless and self-immolatory dedication to the creed of total war, Nazism found no equal within the Wehrmacht to the U-boat arm. Its aces - Günther Prien, Otto Kretschmer, Manfred Kinzel, Joachim Schepke - whether believing Nazis or not, personified its ethos of the superman and even succeeded, for all the cruelty they inflicted, in winning the respect of their enemies for their warrior prowess."¹¹

Later in the war when the U-boat arm was having less success and morale was flagging within the Fatherland the 'legends of the long-lost ace Joachim Schepke'¹² were revived. In 1943, a short picture-book called Kapitänleutnant Schepke erzählt (Schepke Narrates) by Franz Führen), specifically written for juvenile readers, was published. Dönitz's preface to the book clearly sought to instil in its young readers the notions of loyalty to the Führer and personal sacrifice ;

"GERMAN LADS! This booklet portrays one of our most battle-proven commanders, Kapitänleutnant Schepke. In his zest and reckless way he was often just a big boy, but as a leader, fighter and soldier he showed that he was all man. His readiness and will [to fight] for Führer and Volk he sealed with the greatest sacrifice by giving of his young life in combat patrol. His youthful spirit, his manly toughness, his bold daring unto utmost commitment [serve] as a model for all who come after him, [and] live on as his legacy. This spirit speaks to you too, lads - and in his own words. May you strive to become 'all man' just as he."¹³

Thus, to propagandists in Germany Schepke continued to be an important role model to inspire the German people to greater exertions at a time when the war was looking less and less likely to have a victorious outcome. It was a propaganda which exploited Schepke's skill as a U-boat commander. This was recognised after the war by Churchill who wrote that :

"On March 8 Prien's U-47 was sunk with himself and all hands by the destroyer Wolverine, and nine days later U-99 and U-100 were sunk while engaged in a combined attack on a convoy. Both were commanded by outstanding officers, and the elimination of these three able men had a marked effect on the progress of the struggle. Few U-boat commanders who followed them were their equals in ruthless ability and daring."¹⁴

You can view more pictures of Joachim Schepke at the Gallery.

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