Career
The Knight"s Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. As commander of U-558 he sank nineteen ships, totalling 100,771 tons, and damaged two ships (15,070 tons). He is thirty-third in the list of U-Boat aces of World World War World War II Krech joined the Reichsmarine in April 1933, initially training as an observer and pilot in the Marineflieger before transferring to the U-boat arm in November 1939.
Krech conducted ten combat patrols in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
He sank 18 merchant ships and the naval trawler HMT Bedfordshire, which was assisting the United States Navy with anti-submarine patrols along the East Coast, for a total of 100,771 tons. He also damaged two merchant ships for a total of 15,070 GRT. U-558 was sunk by depth charges from a Halifax from Number.
58 Squadron Royal Air Force, and a B-24 Liberator from 19th Antisubmarine Squadron United States Army Air Force on 20 July 1943 in the Bay of Biscay, north-west of Cape Ortegal, Spain. Only Krech, the Leitender Ingenieur ("Leading Engineer"), and three men of the gun crew survived.
Krech remained in Allied captivity until after the war.
He died in 2000. Ships attacked Wehrmachtbericht references.
