Kriegsmarine Admiral

Admiral Otto Schultze, Commanding Admiral of the Naval-Station of the North Sea (04 July 1935-03 October 1937), giving a speech at the Naval Station of the North Sea in Wilhelmshaven, 1937. Visible on the left side of the photo are: 1: Generaladmiral Erich Raeder, Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine (01 June 1935-30 January 1943) 2: Konteradmiral Otto von Schrader, Fortress-Commandant of Wilhelmshaven (27 September 1934-30 September 1937) The identification of the officers stading on the right is still a work in progress. Check below for a close-up of the 17 officers. If you can help with their identification please leave a comment below.

Portrait of Admiral Günther Guse, Commanding Admiral of the Naval-Station of the Baltic Sea (21 September 1940-08 March 1943).

Meeting of the National Socialist German Naval Union (NSDMB), 1937/1938. 1: Char. Konteradmiral a.D. Karl Klüpfel, Chairman of the National Socialist German Naval Union from 1941 until the end of the war in 1945. 2: Kapitän zur See (E) Ernst Hintzmann, Chairman of the National Socialist German Naval Union from 1933 until 1941. When this photo was taken he was also a Group-Leader in the War Science Department, OKM (27 September 1937-03 September 1939).

Many thanks for the confirmation! If you look closely in the photo I posted you can see that the version "with Swords" is marked with a green colour. I guess this means it's the actual version he received.

Johan, could you check again in Antti Matikkala's book if Admiral Hubert Schmundt received on 25 March 1942 the Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty 1st Class just "with Swords" or "with Oak Leaves and Swords"? His Personalakte lists both versions... Thanks!

Thanks. But he did get the 2nd Class with Swords?

Great! I still sent an e-mail to the order chancellery like you suggested.

Johan, can you confirm if Wilhelm Meisel was awarded the Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty 2nd Class with Swords on 21 May 1942. His rank at the time was Kapitän zur See (last rank Admiral). Thanks!

The Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine Großadmiral Erich Raeder (number 1) arrives in Greece, 1942. Number 2 is Kapitän zur See Hellmuth Heye, Chief of Staff of the Naval-Group-Command South (30 June 1941-14 September 1942). Number 3 is Vizeadmiral z.V. Siegfried Maßmann, Chief of the Senior-Shipyard-Staff Aegean (20 November 1941-15 February 1944).

I found the answer myself. During the 4th period the Chilean Order of Merit had 6 classes: Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Commander with Star, Commander, Officer and Knight But, the "3rd Class" that Hormel received is still the Knight's Cross because the 3rd Class was the Knight's Cross during the 3rd and 2nd periods.

Hello, Admiral Otto Hormel was awarded the Chilean Order of Merit 3rd Class on 10 December 1925. At this time his rank was Kapitänleutnant. Can someone tell me which class was the 3rd Class at that time. I believe this was the 4th period of the Order, after the reorganization on 15 October 1925. According to the usual division of Orders, the 3rd Class would be the Commander. But I think this is not the case for the Chilean Order of Merit. Many thanks!

Great job! Thank you very much for your help. You are a true detective 😄

The latest addition to my collection is this extremely rare studio portrait of Vizeadmiral (Ing.) Dipl. Ing. Walter Fröhlich, the third (and last) Ship Machinery Inspector (29 March 1943-14 July 1945). This is only the second photo of him I have seen so far. I posted the other one (which comes from a book) below it. The office called "Inspectorate of Ship Machinery" (Schiffsmaschineninspektion) was established on 01 October 1935 for the technical supervision of all personnel and material matters regarding engineering of ships and ship security. The office was called the "Schiffsmaschineninspektion" until the beginning of the war when it was changed to "Inspektion des Schiffsmaschinenwesens". The Inspectorate was technically subordinate to the High Command of the Navy (OKM), and in terms of troop service to the Chief of Station or Commanding Admiral of the Naval Station of the North Sea/Commander in Chief of the Naval High Command North Sea. The Inspectorate was first based in Wilhelmshaven, from March 1943 in Wesermünde, from 28 September 1943 in Nordholz near Cuxhaven and finally in May 1945 in Glücksburg. On 01 October 1935 the Training and Repair Workshops and from 01 October 1936 the Naval Schools in Kiel and Wesermünde were placed under the Inspectorate, and later also the Naval Warship Construction Training Departments and the Ship Machinery Training Departments. The first Ship Machinery Inspector was Char. Admiral (Ing.) Hans Fechter (01 October 1935-31 December 1939) and the second Admiral (Ing.) Erich Zieger (01 January 1940-28 March 1943).

The source is very much official and not written by Groos himself. The document can be found in his Personalakte in the Bundesarchiv. The awards were written by clerks, presumably from some other sources. Here is the full document:

I think you are onto something with this. Order of the Phoenix would make sense. The date fits, and it is indeed a Greek order like it is written on the document I posted in the first post. And I suppose the class written ("Superior Commander") would be the Grand Commander Class? The only odd thing is the fact that the name of the order is written in French.

Thank you for this information tony. But we still don't know what kind of an award it is.

Thank you. It's possible he got it during this journey. But still, I can't find any information about it. None whatsoever.

Commander in Chief of the Kriegsmarine, Großadmiral Erich Raeder, in Yalta on the Crimea during the inspection of the German, Italian and Croatian naval units and a short port inspection, 9 September 1942. Raeder inspected the Italian 4th MAS Flotilla (4ª Flottiglia MAS) that was stationed in Yalta from May 1942 until 20 May 1943. Shortly after his visit, later that same day, the naval base in Yalta was violently attacked by a squadron of Soviet fighter-bombers, which hit and sank MAS 571 and 573 and a barge, succeeding also in seriously damaging MAS 567, 569 and 572. Who knows what would've happened if the Soviet air attack came when Raeder was still in Yalta. Would the Soviets manage to kill the Commander in Chief of the Kriegsmarine? The officers in the photo are, from left to right: - Konteradmiral Hellmuth Heye, Chief of Staff of the Naval-Group-Command South (30 June 1941-14 September 1942) - Großadmiral Erich Raeder, Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine (01 June 1935-30 January 1943) - Konteradmiral Hans-Hermann Graf von Schweinitz und Krain Freiherr von Kauder, Commandant of the Sea-Fortifications of the Crimea (01 February 1942-31 March 1943) - unknown lower ranking officer, perhaps the Port Commander of Yalta - Admiral Karlgeorg Schuster, Commander-in-Chief of the Naval-Group-Command South (30 June 1941-20 March 1943) Großadmiral Raeder visited Yalta as part of his inspection tour of the South of the Eastern Front, which lasted from 7 September until 10 September 1942. You can expect a more detailed post about this tour in the coming days.

Hello, when going through the awards of the German Admiral Otto Groos, I came across this entry: "Griechischer Orden Commandeur Supérieur du Bataillon de Palmier", awarded in February 1927. Does anyone know what this is? It's very odd that the name is written in French. When translated from French it says: "Superior Commander of the Palm Battalion". Is it even a decoration then? I would love to find out more about this. Thanks!

Wehrmacht officers gathered in front of a building, most likely in Kiel, 1936/1937. 1: Admiral Conrad Albrecht, Commanding Admiral of the Naval-Station of the Baltic Sea (04 July 1935-31 October 1938) 2: General der Flieger Konrad Zander, Commanding General and Commander in Air-District VI (Sea) (01 April 1935-31 January 1938) 3: Generalfeldmarschall Werner von Blomberg, Reichs War Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht (01 June 1935-26 January 1938)

Konteradmiral Erich Bey, Leader of Destroyers (10 May 1940-26 December 1943), 1943. The decorations he is wearing are the following: Around the neck: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Ribbon bar (from left to right): Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class with the 1939 Clasp; Hamburg Hanseatic Cross; The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords; Silesian Eagle 2nd Class; Prussian Lifesaving Medal; Wehrmacht Long Service Award 2nd Class; Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class; Sudetenland Medal and the Memel Medal. Below the ribbon bar worn as badges: Iron Cross (1939) 1st Class and the Destroyer War Badge. On his left sleeve: Narvik Shield

Thank you Johan! So, if the Swedish award date is 26 June 1936, what do you think the date 30 June 1936 is? German approval date or something else? Presentation date?

Kriegsmarine officers in Wilhelmshaven, taken sometime between 1 April and 3 October 1937. From left to right: - Admiral Otto Schultze, Commanding Admiral of the Naval-Station of the North Sea (04 July 1935-03 October 1937) - Generaladmiral Erich Raeder, Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine (01 June 1935-30 January 1943) - Konteradmiral Otto von Schrader, Fortress-Commandant of Wilhelmshaven (27 September 1934-30 September 1937)

Kriegsmarine officers in Wilhelmshaven, 1937. From left to right: - Generaladmiral Erich Raeder, Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine (01 June 1935-30 January 1943) - Admiral Otto Schultze, Commanding Admiral of the Naval-Station of the North Sea (04 July 1935-03 October 1937) - Kapitän zur See Johannes Bachmann (behind Schultze), Chief of Staff of the Naval Station of the North Sea (26 August 1936-20 August 1940)

Hello Johan, Could you please check the Swedish rolls for Admiral Richard Foerster? I believe he received the Grand Cross of the Royal Swedish Order of the Sword. I am unsure of the date written in his Personalakte. It's either 30 June 1936 or 3 June 1936 because the second number in the day also looks like an "8" and the "3" is underlined. What do you think?