High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Lieutenant Commander Reinhard Hardegen (born March 18, 1913) is a German U-boat Commander who sank 22 ships, amounting to 115,656 gross register tons (GRT) sunk, ranking him as the 24th most successful Commander in World War II. After the war, he spent a year in British captivity before running a successful oil company and serving in Bremen's Parliament for over 32 years. An efficient and effective combat Commander, he was never known for being a virulent Nazi supporter.