Early Naval Career
Henke attended the Naval Academy at Mürwik and served on the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer. In five years of training he only spent one week studying U-boat warfare. He spent nearly two years stationed at the Pillau (now Baltiysk) naval base starting in 1937. In May 1939 he was assigned to the battleship SMS Schleswig-Holstein, where he participated in the first shots of World War II at Westerplatte.
In April 1940 he commenced six weeks of training at the U-boat school at Neustadt in Holstein. Before completing this training however, he was convicted of desertion and sent to a punishment unit. In November he was assigned to U-124.
In November 1941 he was sent to submarine commander's school, and on 21 February 1942 U-515 was commissioned with Henke in command.
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