Schuhart was born on 4 September 1909 in
Hamburg, then in the
German Empire. He began his naval career with the
Reichsmarine on 1 April 1929 as a member of "Crew 29" (the incoming class of 1929). He underwent basic military training in the 2nd department of the standing ship division of the
Baltic Sea in
Stralsund (1 April 1929 – 30 June 1929). Schuhart was then transferred to the
training ship Niobe (1 July 1929 – 11 October 1929), attaining the rank of
Seekadett (midshipman) on 10 October 1929. He then underwent a training course at the
Naval Academy at Mürwik (12 October 1929 – 5 January 1930) before serving on the light cruisers (6 January 1930 – 21 May 1930) and (22 May 1930 – 4 January 1931).
Emden at the time was under the command of
Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, a U-boat commander during
World War I. Schuhart sailed on
Emdens third training cruise, which started on 13 January 1930 and took him and her crew to
Madeira,
Saint Thomas,
New Orleans,
Kingston/Jamaica,
San Juan/Puerto Rico,
Charlestown and back to Germany via
Las Palmas and
Santa Cruz. They returned to Wilhelmshaven on 13 May 1930.
Karlsruhes first training cruise left Kiel 24 May 1930 and took its crew through the
Suez Canal via the
Mediterranean Sea. They then proceeded down Africa's east coast, around the
Cape of Good Hope to the
Angra Pequena and the
Walvis Bay. The cruise continued to
Lobito, Angola, where they stopped before heading to
South America, from here they headed back to Germany via
Vigo, Spain. They arrived back in Kiel on 12 December 1930. While stationed on
Karlsruhe, he advanced in rank to
Fähnrich zur See (officer cadet) on 1 January 1931. Schuhart then underwent a number of cadet training courses from 5 January 1931 to 30 September 1932. These courses included a naval infantry course for cadets at Stralsund (5 January 1931 – 2 April 1931), the main cadet course at the Naval Academy in
Mürwik (3 April 1931 – 29 March 1932), a torpedo course in Mürwik (30 March – 25 May 1932), an artillery course for cadets at Kiel-Wik (26 May – 30 July 1932), an anti-aircraft artillery course at Wilhelmshaven (31 July – 15 August 1932), a pathfinder course for cadets at Kiel-Wik (16 August – 7 September 1932), and lastly a communication course for cadets at Mürwik again (8–30 September 1932). On 1 October 1932 Schuhart was assigned to the
pre-dreadnought where he stayed until 25 September 1934. On this assignment he was promoted to
Leutnant zur See (second lieutenant) on 1 October 1933. His stay was briefly interrupted by a radio communication course at Mürwik (3 January – 29 March 1934). After service as a company commander in the 3rd Naval Artillery Department (26 September 1934 – 30 September 1937) at
Swinemünde where he was promoted to
Oberleutnant zur See (first lieutenant) on 1 June 1935, Schuhart joined
Unterseebootsflottille Weddingen as an
aide-de-camp on 1 October 1936. He attended another torpedo training course at Mürwik from 5 October 1937 to 31 October 1937 before being appointed company officer with the
Unterseebootsflottille Emsmann and
Hundius (1 November 1937 – 29 January 1938). On 12 July 1938 he served as officer of the watch on board of , based in
Wilhelmshaven. In 1938 he became commander of in the
U-Bootschule. In December 1938 he was given command of
U-25. On 4 April 1939 Schuhart was transferred to
U-29 in the
Unterseebootsflottille Saltzwedel. ==World War II==