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    Kriegsmarine Admiral

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    Posts posted by Kriegsmarine Admiral

    1. 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).

      KF.png

    2. 9 minutes ago, JohanH said:

      Sorry! I missed your message. 

      Attached are a photo from the book Kunnian ruletti: korkeimmat ulkomaalaisille 1941-1944. 

       

      I understand it that he had the 2nd class cross. I can't say for certain but most likely it was the version with swords. There were only 53 crosses without swords awarded so I would say it was the version with swords. 

      IMG_0979.JPG

      Hubert Schmundt is not in the list of Libertycrosses 1st class with swords and oakleaves in Matikkala's book. Only in the list over 1st class crosses with swords. 

      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.

    3. 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!

    4. 6 minutes ago, Farkas said:


      Very much official…
      That was unexpected!


      👉 A German record, in French, for a non existent Greek ‘Commander superior of the palm battalion’… I said several times I felt the entry must have been informal/flippant.  But clearly not.

       

      I enjoyed looking for clues about this the other night. I (of course) enjoyed finding the Phoenix link.
      So I thought I’d have another go armed with this different new viewpoint.

       

      If “battaillon de palmier” is used in the officially recorded title, there must be a explanation other than as ‘a joke’?
      I had already looked but I looked again…


      & found it.

      👉 “Modern Greek military ranks are based on Ancient Greek and Byzantine terminology.

      In the army and Air Force, these names are often based on the unit or post that a holder of each rank usual commands. For example, a tagmatarchis is in charge of a tagma, which is derived from an Ancient Greek word translatable as "command", "order", or "class", and in modern Greek is a unit equivalent to a battalion in other armies; “


      So, by my reckoning, we’ve got


      Superior Commander 

      Grand Commander

      Bataillon

      = Order

      Palmier

      = Phoenix

       

      Thats 3 for 3 now matched 👍👍

       

      tony 🍻

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

    5. 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).

      KF.png

      Walter Fröhlich (3).jpg

    6. 9 hours ago, Farkas said:


      I was almost expecting silence!

      So I’m glad you see something in it.
       

      There aren’t many to chose from in the first place and certainly nothing using battalion. I did wonder if legion might have translated as battalion but there is no Order of the ‘legion of palms’ either.

      & yes I also would take it to the Grand Commander class.


      Can you tell me the context of the record? Is the source document written in his own hand or a third party? Is it a later official record?

       

      If it was his to write as he pleased, then perhaps he was simply not impressed? Then I can imagine him getting this ‘Micky Mouse’ award and as he throws it in a drawer, he dismisses his title as…

      or just a joke.


      but as to why in French, yes that’s still odd. Though I have one explanation that is possible.

      Would a German Naval Captain have spoken with the Greek politicians using French as the common language?

       

      Perhaps then, palm battalion was a private joke arising from that, though the likelihood of recording it as such would depend on who wrote your source document and when.

       

      tony 🍻

       

       

       

       


       

      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:

      Otto Groos (1).jpg

    7. 19 minutes ago, Farkas said:

      I got distracted!

      I do have a possibility though.

      I may be crazy but I think it’s this one…

      88A319BC-2F8B-41BE-AC19-FE5230BECCEE.thumb.jpeg.5ca944b8161fde3d335f2d59d97d2a74.jpegC856F986-5CA7-43BD-B796-2517921891FA.thumb.jpeg.5cbcdfdeb4a541fd75ba1e97ec7e68cb.jpeg

       

      Also.

      The Ancient Greek word for palm tree is phoinix.

      1 of the 2 native Greek palm trees is called a phoenix.

      38F7A55B-FF01-4531-B872-F5669024851C.jpeg.14f4aa2c806085e99edc679379361b23.jpeg
       

      🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

       

      I reckon a piss take not a weird translation.

       

      t

      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.

    8. 59 minutes ago, Farkas said:

      Gents,

      I have a lead methinks, I’m not on Reddit so I couldn’t check the picture but 👇

      6247C55C-008E-4AC4-B864-2FEE8B99F421.thumb.jpeg.e9abf4fa38388dbadb95e9c5e9692235.jpeg
      The panathinaikon stadium is in Athens, Greece. The photo of the Hamburg is dated 6th Feb 1927. 👍

       

      Although Greece isn’t listed on the ‘farewell’ tour it seems they stopped there, likely after Spain I guess.

      86274E44-2762-4F19-90F3-973BFA98829A.thumb.png.4fdf6fc076239a5871f711a376206ade.png
       

      So perhaps the award was the Captains reward 😁

       

      tony

      🍻 zzz

       

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

    9. 6 hours ago, The Prussian said:

      Hello!

      I don´t know anything about the medal, but Groos was captain of the Light Cruiser "Hamburg" from Jan.26 -June 27.

      The ship left Hamburg Feb.2, 1926. Her journey was:

      Cuxhaven - British Channel - Biscaya - Pontvedra - Funchal - St.Vincent - Las Palmas - West-India - Central-America - Panama-Channel - Westcoast of Central- and North America - San Francisco - Pacific Ocean - Honolulu - Japan - Philippines - several ports of Indonesia - Colombo - Suez-Channel - several ports in the Mediterranean Sea* - Vigo - back to Germany.

      * probably a port in Greek too. Maybe that is the missing link to the medal?

      https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Groos

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Hamburg

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

    10. 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.

      KF - Copy.png

    11. 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!

      image_5639441.jpg

    12. 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)

      KF.png

    13. 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

      KF - Copy.png

    14. 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)

      KF.png

    15. 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)

      KF.png

    16. On 29/06/2023 at 15:29, JohanH said:

      Hello!

       

      No problem, he got it on June 26th 1936.

       

       

      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?

      Screenshot (1260).jpg

    17. On 10/12/2022 at 14:28, Kriegsmarine Admiral said:

      Großadmiral Erich Raeder (2nd from the left), Konteradmiral z.V. Wilhelm Rhein (2nd from the right), Chief of the Office-Group for Research, Invention and Patenting, Naval-Weapons-Head-Office, OKM (01 September 1942-08 May 1945), and Admiral Günther Guse (1st from the right), Commanding Admiral of the Naval-Station of the Baltic Sea (21 September 1940-08 March 1943), late 1942, place unkown.

      Erich Raeder, Wilhelm Rhein and Günther Guse.png

      The Konteradmiral 2nd from the right in this photo is NOT Wilhelm Rhein. He is Konteradmiral Ernst Krafft, Coastal-Commander of the Eastern Baltic Sea and also Fortress-Commandant of Gotenhafen (27 June 1940-31 August 1942).
      The photo was not taken in late 1942. Time and place are unknown. But it was possibly taken in Gotenhafen.

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