Background
Brandi was born on 20 June 1914 in Dortmund at the time in the Province of Westphalia, a province of the Kingdom of Prussia.
Brandi was born on 20 June 1914 in Dortmund at the time in the Province of Westphalia, a province of the Kingdom of Prussia.
He received his military basic training in the 2nd company in the 2nd department of the standing ship division of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund. He was then transferred to the school ship Gorch Fock attaining the rank of Seekadett (midshipman) on 25 September 1935.
His U-boat career spanned only a little more than two years starting in 1942. Commanding U-617 and then U-967, Brandi sank more than 115,000 tons while operating independently in the Atlantic. His victims included three cruisers and 12 destroyers. Kapitaen- leutnant Brandi was awarded the RK on 21 Jan 1943 and Oakleaves on 11 Apr 1943. Moving to U-967 and promoted, Korvetten- kapitaen Brandi was awarded the Swords (66/159) on 9 May 1944 for action in the North Sea and the Diamonds (22/27) on 24 Nov 1944. The only earlier naval recipient of the Diamonds was Wolfgang Leuth. The somber, unsmiling Cherry Brandi spent the last year of the war operating with small surface craft out of Holland. He died 6 Jan 1966 in Cologne.
