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Biography
of Korvettenkapitian Kurt Steiner
KvtKpt. Kurt Steiner was born in Dresden in 1914, to a simple family, his
father being a carpenter and his mother a nurse. His father went on
to serve in the Great War with the Engineers and was killed on the Western
Front in 1917. Steiner hated school but showed an aptitude for
mathematics and excelled in this subject while barely passing others
preferring to pursue his own areas of interest. It was not uncommon
for his mother to receive a weekly letter from Kurt's schoolmaster
complaining of his failure to apply himself to traditional subjects and
constant daydreaming. In 1928, Kurt's mother became so exasperated
at his self established independence that she sent him to live with his
uncle in Todendorf near Kieler Hafen where his uncle operated a tug boat
and general marine repair service. It was here Kurt developed a love
for the sea and found his calling on the ocean. He joined the
Kriegsmarine in 1934 and served on various coastal ships in the
Baltic Sea. He found celestial navigation particularly interesting
and made it his area of personal study. In 1936 he applied for
and was admitted to Officer and U-boat School. Between 1936 and 1939
he served on various boats as IWO and IIWO. He quickly developed a
reputation for unorthodox tactics almost to the point of "reckless
abandon". In spite of this questionable qualification, when war
broke out in Sept. 1939, Steiner's Commanding Officer recommended him for
immediate Command. From Oct. 1939 to March 1942 Steiner
commanded 3 different boats and completed 17 patrols. His crews sank
over 850000 tons of enemy shipping, 2 destroyers, 3 corvettes and shot
down 6 enemy aircraft. He was promoted to KvtKpt. 31 March 1942 as
served as second in Command at Bergen. KvtKpt. Steiner took command
of the 13th Flotilla, Trondheim on 17 Nov. 1942. Through out his
naval career Steiner has shown a complete and total disdain of politics
and political issues. As a boat Commander, he forbid the crew to discuss
political issues while at sea, insisting they concentrate their mental
energies to the job at hand. While assigned to Bergen, he
transferred a captured British mini-sub to Kieler Hafen under the very
eyes of the Gestapo by preparing a set of false documents listing the
cargo as defective torpedoes. He raised such a fuss about the dud
torpedo problem that the secret cargo was quickly passed just to get him
on his way. Steiner has steadfastly held to the traditional naval
salute, refusing to use the party salute when dealing with the High
Command.
This "maverick" attitude has frequently brought him into
disfavor with
Berlin, but his success and dedication have thus far shielded him from
political retribution. Steiner has one older brother,
Sturmbannfuhrer Otto Steiner, serving with the 502nd Waffen SS Heavy Tank
Battalion. When the Americans entered the war, Kurt insisted his
mother leave Dresden and she now resides on a small farm near Bad Hersfeld
where she cares for soldiers crippled in battle. KvtKpt. Steiner is
a holder of the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.
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