Kapitänleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp
German U-boat commander
Who was Kapitänleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp?
Kapitänleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp lived from February 19, 1913 to May 9, 1941.
Career and public life
Fritz-Julius Lemp (German: [fʁɪt͡s ˈjuːli̯ʊs lɛmp]; 19 February 1913 – 9 May 1941) was a captain in the Kriegsmarine during World War II and commander of U-28, U-30 and U-110. He sank the British passenger liner SS Athenia in September 1939, in violation of the Hague conventions. Germany's responsibility for the sinking was suppressed by Admiral Karl Dönitz and the Nazi propaganda. Lemp died on 9 May 1941 when the U-boat he commanded was captured. Adolf Hitler decided the incident should be kept secret for political reasons, and the German newspaper Völkischer Beobachter published an article which blamed the loss of the Athenia on the British, accusing Winston... Fritz-Julius Lemp was a captain in the Kriegsmarine during World War II and commander of U-28, U-30 and U-110.
Historical significance
On 3 September 1939, while in command of U-30, he sank the 13,581 ton passenger ship Athenia, the first British ship sunk in World War II. Lemp later claimed that the fact she was steering a zigzag course which seemed to be well off the normal shipping routes made him believe she was either a troopship or an armed merchant cruiser; when he realized his error he took the first steps to conceal the facts by omitting to make an entry in the submarine's log, and swearing his crew to secrecy.