(Ritterkreuzträger Postkarte mit Unterschrift). A signed postcard depiction U-Boat ace Kapitänleutnant Joachim Schepke, in dress uniform and with the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves clearly visible, with the lower half of the image overlaid by Schepke’s handwritten signature in black or dark blue ink, the reverse unused and bearing a Hoffmann studio mark, measuring 90 mm (w) x 140 mm (h), a scarce and desirable signature in extremely fine condition.
Footnote: Beginning his naval career in 1930 with the Reichsmarine, Joachim Schepke held command of U-3, U-19, and U-100, the latter a Type UVIIB vessel with which Schepke claim to have sunk 37 allied ships for 213,310 gross register tons (although only 36 have been confirmed as sunk by Schepke). He was the recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross (24 September 1940) and notably an early recipient (7th) of the Oak Leaves (1 December 1940). Schepke was killed along with most of his crew on 17 March 1941 when, during an attack on a convoy, U-100 was forced to surface by Royal Navy depth charges and then rammed by HMS Vanoc.