Friedrich Grade

Friedrich Grade
Born	(1916-03-29)29 March 1916 Büdelsdorf, Schleswig-Holstein, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died	13 October 2023(2023-10-13) (aged 107) Bornheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany  West Germany
Service / branch	Kriegsmarine  German Navy
Years of service	1935–1945 1958–1974
Rank	Captain (German Navy)
Unit	7th U-boat Flotilla 10th U-boat Flotilla
Awards	German Cross in Gold U-boat War Badge

Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Grade (29 March 1916 − 13 October 2023) was a German engineer and naval officer. He was the last surviving member of the German submarine U-96, which achieved fame through Lothar-Günther Buchheim's 1973 novel Das Boot and the 1981 film adaption.

Biography

Joining the Kriegsmarine in 1935, Grade served aboard the cruiser Emden, a training ship, as an engineering cadet until 1936.^[1] During World War II, he was chief engineer (LI) of the U-boats U-96 and U-183.

Grade was the last surviving eyewitness to the submarine's patrols. In 2017, he published his hitherto unknown diaries, written during operations on U-96.^[2] He achieved Germany-wide awareness in 2018, when his story was picked up by the media as part of the remake of Das Boot.^[3]

After the end of his assignments on U-96, Grade completed two more patrols on U-183 and then trained U-boat crews as a technical instructor for the submarine training flotilla until the end of the war.^[4] In 1958, he was accepted into the newly formed German Navy to lead the development of new submarines there. In 1970, shortly before his retirement, he worked on the revision of Lothar-Günther Buchheim's novel Das Boot.^[5] When he retired in 1974, he held the rank of Kapitän zur See. ^[6]

Grade was married in Eckernförde and had two children who were born during World War II. In his last years, he lived in a retirement home in Bornheim.^[6][7] Grade died on 13 October 2023, at the age of 107.^[8]

References

1. Grade, Friedrich-Wilhelm. Tracesofwar.com (STIWOT). Retrieved 30 May 2023.
2. Gerrit Reichert. "Das Boot": Verbotene Tagebücher erzählen die wahre Geschichte von U 96. Retrieved 2 December 2018. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
3. Thomas Röbke (November 2018). "Das Boot": Die wahre Geschichte. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
4. "Das Boot: Friedrich Grade - der letzte Augenzeuge". Nord-West-Zeitung. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
5. Gerrit Reichert. Das Boot U96:Friedrich Grade–der letzte Augenzeuge. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
6. "Als junger Mensch sieht man die Gefahren nicht so sehr". Schweriner Volkszeitung. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
7. "Mit 106 Jahren noch richtig fit". General-Anzeiger. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
8. Jagodzinski, Antje (17 October 2023). "Mit 107 Jahren in Bornheim gestorben: Er fuhr auf dem berühmten U-Boot 96 mit - Friedrich Grade ist tot". General-Anzeiger Bonn (in German). Retrieved 17 October 2023.