After spending four years in the Merchant Navy discovering the world and its pleasures, Werner Henke entered the Reichsmarine as an officer cadet in 1934. However, his need for freedom to go and resume his feminine conquests, his brawling, his love of jazz and dancing, excluded him from the active service of the officer corps of the Kriegsmarine in February 1941. He was aboard U-124 at the time as third officer, out on patrol. Picked out by Admiral Doenitz who was looking for strong personalities to command his U-Boats, he continued
the patrol as an "officer on availability". The admiral told him that if he was successful, his slate would be wiped clean. During his last patrol as second officer of U-124, he proved himself by supervising the firing of the torpedoes which sank 6 allied ships. He was awarded the Iron Cross, First Class, was reinstated for active service and was then given command of U-515, a Type IXC in February 1942. With a good crew, he obtained impressive results on his first patrol in the Caribbean by bringing back 10 pennants on his periscope when he returned to Lorient. His submarine, which entered the fray late during the summer of 1942, had already escaped 5 Allied attacks. Without hesitating he confronted a convoy of British warships alone in November 1942 ; he was also one of the rare U-Boats to obtain a kill during the Allied landings in North Africa ; U-515 resisted more than 200 depth charges. Captain Henke was awarded the Knight's Cross. During his third patrol in the spring of 1943, as German submarine successes were on the decline, U-515 sailed to Freetown and crossed the path of a convoy in which he created panic. He sank 7 ships with their cargo, an operation that was so disastrous for the Allies that Churchill asked
for a report. Henke escaped another 6 Allied attacks. After returning to Lorient with 11 pennants, Henke was awarded the Oak Leaves. On leave in Germany, this navy officer with the strong character, who had already fought an SS officer, destroyed a local Gestapo office. The fourth patrol was cut short by the damage caused after a twelve-hour pursuit by destroyers who dropped more than 310 depth charges... Despite the shooting and the charges by a destroyer, then an attack by two bombers, the fifth patrol ended with four extra boats sunk. But when this ace of the 10th Flotilla left again on combat patrol, his experience and his cunning were not enough to save his submarine. Chased by a whole armada, he was taken prisoner by the Americans and, a rebel to the end, he chose his own destiny...
