Kriegsmarine Admiral

On 24/11/2022 at 14:25, Kriegsmarine Admiral said:

Possibly Konteradmiral Werner Schönermark at an unknown barracks, date and place unknown.
He was the Chief of the Naval-Defence-Office, OKM (15 February 1943-30 April 1944) and then Chief of the Naval-Troop-Office, OKM (01 May 1944-22 July 1945).
If anyone has any additional information about the location please comment. I am not 100% sure the admiral is indeed Werner Schönermark because the quality of the photo is bad.

 

Below the photo is a comparison of photos of Konteradmiral Werner Schönermark (top row) with the close-ups of the admiral on my photo (bottom row). Please comment if you think it's the same admiral.

Mystery finally solved!

The admiral in the photo is Konteradmiral Siegfried Engel, 2nd Admiral of the North Sea (14 April 1943-19 April 1945) and NOT Werner Schönermark. The photo was taken at an unknown barracks, date unknown.

On 23/11/2022 at 18:09, Antonio Prieto said:

The differences between second and third class crossings are almost impossible to appreciate in black and white photographs. The plaque of 2nd class, is in silver with castles and lions in gold. The plaque of 3rd class is in gold with castles and lions in silver. The Great Cross is the third class with the sash, which is not seen in any of the photographs of the German admirals.

That is why it is necessary to find the concession decrees where the class is specified

Hello Antonio,

Here I have a document that mentions the awards of Generaladmiral Wilhelm Marschall.

You can see the Grand Cross of the Spanish Order of Naval Merit with White Decoration is mentioned three times.

The first date listed is "19. 01. 1940". I am sure this is the German approval date.

Then, there are two different dates listed, which I believe are the Spanish award dates: "25. 08. 1939" and "21. 08. 1939". Can you perhaps find out which one of these dates is the correct Spanish award date? At this time Marschall's position was the Commander of Armoured Ships (09 February 1938-20 October 1939).

Also, you can see that his Grand Cross of the Spanish-Moroccan Order of Mehdauia is also listed. However, the date listed here "31. 10. 1937" is incorrect because you sent me a PDF document which says he was awarded this order on 5 November 1938. Is that right?

And finally, on the second photo below you can see what I believe is the Grand Cross of the Spanish Order of Military Merit with White Decoration. Can you also read this from the text? The award date is 1 January 1941.

On 02/02/2022 at 07:13, JohanH said:

I found Götting!

 

He got the Knight 1st class on August 2nd 1918. 

 

Hello Johan,

I found out that Generaladmiral Wilhelm Marschall was awarded the Commander's Cross 2nd Class of the Royal Swedish Order of the Sword. I pressume it was awarded sometime before September 1937.

Can you perhaps find the exact award date?

Thanks

Hello,

Can someone tell me more about the Chinese Yun (or Yon)-Hwei Order? What were the classes of this order? I want to know if the 4th class was the Officer's Cross.

Thanks

On 24/11/2022 at 14:25, Kriegsmarine Admiral said:

Possibly Konteradmiral Werner Schönermark at an unknown barracks, date and place unknown.
He was the Chief of the Naval-Defence-Office, OKM (15 February 1943-30 April 1944) and then Chief of the Naval-Troop-Office, OKM (01 May 1944-22 July 1945).
If anyone has any additional information about the location please comment. I am not 100% sure the admiral is indeed Werner Schönermark because the quality of the photo is bad.

 

Below the photo is a comparison of photos of Konteradmiral Werner Schönermark (top row) with the close-ups of the admiral on my photo (bottom row). Please comment if you think it's the same admiral.

The admiral in this photo is not Konteradmiral Werner Schönermark after all.

Because of the low quality of the photo in the first row, I used a face enhancing software to try and enhance the facial features.
In the second row are the photos of Konteradmiral Siegfried Engel.
Is the unknown admiral in the first row Siegfried Engel?

Please help me and share your opinions!

Admiral Otto Schniewind, Fleet Chief, Fleet Command (12 June 1941-30 July 1944), on board the Heavy Cruiser "Prinz Eugen", date unknown.

Konteradmiral Walter Georg Lohmann, Commander of the Naval-School Mürwik (13 October 1939-30 September 1942), photographed in June 1941.

Inspection of Luftwaffe recruits in Schleswig, 1936.
1: Char. Konteradmiral Rudolf Lahs, Director of the Reichs Association of the German Aviation Industry (01 April 1929-May 1945)
2: Generalmajor Friedrich Christiansen, Commander of Flying-Schools (01 April 1935-28 February 1937)
3: General der Flieger Erhard Milch, State-Secretary in the Reichs Air Ministry (05 May 1933-20 June 1944)
4: Generalleutnant Konrad Zander, Commanding General and Commander in Air-District VI (Sea) (01 April 1935-31 January 1938)
Rudolf Lahs retired from the Reichsmarine in 1929 with the honorary rank of Konteradmiral (Charakterisierter Konteradmiral). Although he served as Director of the Reichs Association of the German Aviation Industry from 1929 until the end of WW2, he was never re-activated into service in the Kriegsmarine, and therefore he cannot be considered a Kriegsmarine admiral. He is seen wearing a Kriegsmarine uniform on this photo. This is because all the former Reichsmarine admirals had the right to wear a Kriegsmarine uniform, unlike the Kaiserliche Marine admirals who did not.
Both General Zander and Christiansen were former Navy officers. Zander reached the rank of Konteradmiral in the Reichsmarine in 1932, and in 1934 he transferred to Luftwaffe service.

Konteradmiral Friedrich Ruge, Commander of Security West (17 February 1941-21 May 1943), on board the Sperrbrecher 14 "Bockenheim" in France, 1942.

Portrait of Vizeadmiral Karl Topp. During WW2 he held various positions, some of which are: Commandant of the Battleship „Tirpitz“ (25 February 1941-24 February 1943), Chairman of the Ship-Construction-Commission of the Reichs-Minister for Armaments and War Production (13 July 1943-30 April 1945) and Chief of the Office for Warship-Construction, OKM (10 May 1945-15 October 1945).

Generaladmiral Alfred Saalwächter (middle), Commander-in-Chief of the Naval-Group-Command West (23 August 1939-20 September 1942), and Kapitänleutnant der Reserve Dr.-Ing. Karl-Friedrich Brill (left), Commandant of the Minelaying Ship "Cobra" (01 January 1940-25 August 1942), somewhere in France, 1940/41.
Brill was a later recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross (posthumously).

On 19/11/2022 at 14:48, Kriegsmarine Admiral said:

Generaladmiral Rolf Carls and Konteradmiral z.V. Karl-Friedrich Wollanke on board a ship, possibly in Hamburg.
During the war Wollanke was the Director of the Technical Office of OKM for Auxiliary-Ships at the Kriegsmarine-Service-Office Hamburg (16 April 1941-30 June 1943).

 

1st and 2nd photos: Generaladmiral Rolf Carls (2nd from the right) and Konteradmiral z.V. Karl-Friedrich Wollanke (1st from the right).

3rd photo: Konteradmiral z.V. Karl-Friedrich Wollanke boarding a ship, most likely in Hamburg.

4th photo: Generaladmiral Rolf Carls.

The Konteradmiral on these photos is not Wollanke, but rather Konteradmiral z.V. Franz Claassen, Naval-Commander „C“ (Libau-Riga) (19 May 1941-06 November 1941). They were taken on board a ship in Riga, Latvia, most likely July 1941.

Vizeadmiral Friedrich Wilhelm Kurze (in the middle), Chief of the Office-Group Nautical, Naval Warfare Command, OKM (31 October 1939-11 December 1944), visiting the Navigation School in Gotenhafen, date unknown.

Portrait of Vizeadmiral z.V. Siegfried Maßmann, recipient of the German Cross in Silver which is half visible in the bottom left.
His most notable position during WW2 was Chief of the Senior-Shipyard-Staff Aegean (20 November 1941-15 February 1944).
He was killed during an air raid on 15 February 1944 in Berlin.

Portrait of Vizeadmiral Helmuth Brinkmann, recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and the German Cross in Gold.
Most notably he was the Commandant of the Heavy Cruiser „Prinz Eugen“ (01 August 1940-04 August 1942), Commanding Admiral Black Sea (22 November 1943-09 November 1944) and 2nd Admiral of the Baltic Sea (06 January 1945-31 May 1945).

Konteradmiral Robin Schall-Emden, Admiral of the Sea-Command-Offices (08 March 1941-14 November 1944), date and place unknown.
The Staff of the Admiral of the Sea-Command-Offices (Admiral der Seebefehlsstellen) was formed in March 1941. It was formed to oversee the remaining tasks of the Operation Sea Lion (Unternehmen Seelöwe), namely forming and equipping the Landungsflottillen. The Admiral of the Sea-Command-Offices was also the administrative superior of all Marinehafenabteilungen, Flottillenstammregimenter, Transportflottillen, Artillerieträgerflottillen and Landungsflottillen. The Admiral was subordinate to the Kommandierender Admiral Frankreich, then Marinegruppenkommando West. The staff quarters were in Souverain Moulin near Boulogne, Antwerp and then Heringsdorf. It was dissolved in Ahlbeck on 14 November 1944 with its tasks being handed over to the Commander of Security Forces.

On 17/11/2022 at 14:42, Kriegsmarine Admiral said:

Three photos of Admiral Karlgeorg Schuster, Commander-in-Chief of Naval-Group-Command South (30 June 1941-20 March 1943) in Greece.
On the first photo Admiral Schuster is on the right, and behind him is Vizeadmiral z.V. Siegfried Maßmann, Chief of the Senior-Shipyard-Staff Aegean (20 November 1941-15 February 1944). Info from the seller indicated the photos were taken in Ukraine, however, since Maßmann was posted in Greece, and there is no text on the back of the photo, I believe the photos were taken in Greece.

 

These photos were not taken in Greece. They were taken during Schuster's visit to the Flak-Abteilung 505 (Fähre) in Ukraine, 1942. They were taken at the same time as the two photos I posted today.

Admiral Karlgeorg Schuster, Commander-in-Chief of the Naval-Group-Command South (30 June 1941-20 March 1943), visiting the Flak-Abteilung 505 (Fähre) in Ukraine, 1942.
Also visible on the second photo (third from the left in the white uniform) is Vizeadmiral z.V. Siegfried Maßmann, Chief of the Senior-Shipyard-Staff Aegean (20 November 1941-15 February 1944).

Großadmiral Karl Dönitz during an inspection in Cherbourg, France, 1944. Sadly, the photo is quite damaged.
1: unknown admiral (if anyone recognizes him please comment)
2: Konteradmiral Martin Baltzer, Chief of the Naval-Personnel-Office, OKM (06 January 1943-14 July 1945)
3: unknown admiral (if anyone recognizes him please comment, it appears he is wearing a neck decoration, perhaps the Ritterkreuz)
4: Konteradmiral Walter Hennecke, Commandant of the Sea-Fortifications of Normandy (06 May 1943-26 June 1944)
5: Konteradmiral Gerhard Wagner, Chief of the Operations-Department, Naval Warfare Command, OKM (13 June 1941-28 June 1944)
6: Vizeadmiral Friedrich Rieve, Commanding Admiral of the Channel Coast (11 May 1943-08 September 1944)
7: Großadmiral Karl Dönitz, Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine (30 January 1943-30 April 1945)

Unknown #37

Who are the two admirals (1 & 2) in Cherbourg, France, 1944? Between them is Martin Baltzer.
Thanks

35 minutes ago, GreyC said:

It looks like Flandres. The guy with the goggles is GFM Hindenburg. The Admiral most probably Adm. Ludwig von Schröder.

Text: Hindenburg bei seinem Besuch der Küste vor einigen Wochen.

Thank you GreyC. But the admiral is not Ludwig von Schröder, that's for sure.

#5: Who is this admiral on the right? Could he be Gustav Bachmann?

Can anyone read the text on the back?

#4: Who is this Admiral? Photo was taken at the inauguration of the U-boat Memorial in Moeltenort at Kiel, 12 June 1938.

Kommodore Erich Bey, Leader of Destroyers (10 May 1940-26 December 1943). He was later promoted to Konteradmiral and killed on board the "Scharnhorst" in the Battle of the North Cape on 26 December 1943.
The rank of Kommodore was very rare in the Kriegsmarine. Only six officers held this rank at some point: Karl Dönitz, Kurt Böhmer, Erich Bey, Friedrich Ruge, Friedrich Bonte and Rudolf Petersen. Kommodore was the final rank Bonte and Petersen achieved in the Kriegsmarine, the other four officers were promoted to admiral ranks.

#3: Who is this Vizeadmiral in Stralsund? Photo taken in the late 1920s or early 1930s, I can't say for sure.

There is also an unknown Reicshmarine Konteradmiral behind him, if someone recognizes him...