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    Kriegsmarine Admirals ID thread and photo Database


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    Kriegsmarine officers in Saloniki, Greece, 25 April 1942. From left to right (in the front row):
    - Vizeadmiral Erich Förste, Admiral Aegean (27 September 1941-31 January 1943)
    - Fregattenkapitän z.V. Paul von Falkenried, Commander of the Naval Defences of Saloniki (29 April 1941-16 June 1943)
    - Vizeadmiral z.V. Siegfried Maßmann, Chief of the Senior-Shipyard-Staff Aegean (20 November 1941-15 February 1944)

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    Gathering of German and Italian naval officers in Salamina on the island of Salamis in Greece on 7 December 1942. The occasion was the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross awarding ceremony of Kapitän zur See Rolf Johannesson, the Commandant of the Destroyer „ZG 3 Hermes“ (08 February 1942-02 April 1943).
    1: Vizeadmiral Erich Förste, Admiral Aegean (27 September 1941-31 January 1943)
    2: Vizeadmiral z.V. Siegfried Maßmann, Chief of the Senior-Shipyard-Staff Aegean (20 November 1941-15 February 1944)
    3: Konteradmiral (Ing.) Ernst Halwe, Director of Naval Equipment and Repair Operations on Salamis (14 November 1942-16 May 1943)
    4: Contrammiraglio Gaetano Catalano Gonzaga, Commander of the Northern Aegean High Naval Command, at the same time Chief Liaison between the Regia Marina and the Kriegsmarine in the Aegean Sea (2 December 1942-26 July 1943)

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    Studio portrait of Konteradmiral Heinrich Ancker, taken when he was the Arsenal-Commandant of the Kriegsmarine-Arsenal Kiel (26 September 1936-29 November 1937).
    He was the only Kriegsmarine admiral to be awarded the American Silver Lifesaving Medal. The ribbon of this medal is visible in the last place on his ribbon bar. He was awarded the American Silver Lifesaving Medal on 14 April 1908, for a deed he performed while serving on board the Training-Ship „Stein“ (01 April 1906-31 March 1907). An article in the San Francisco Call (Volume 112, Number 114) from 22 September 1912 gives the interesting story of how Ancker came to be awarded this medal: „Five years ago [in 1907] Lieutenant [his actual rank at the time was Seekadett] Heinrich Ancker of the Imperial Germany Navy dived overboard, fully dressed, from a German Training Ship at anchor off New Orleans, Louisiana, and rescued a sailor who had missed his footing in climbing along the bowsprit. The struggle for life was a desperate one, for the water was cold and the current strong. But finally the Lieutenant [Seekadett] succeeded in towing the sailor back to the ship. He received the United States Life Saving Medal and also a German Medal of Honor [the medal in question was the Prussian Lifesaving Medal which Ancker received on 4 May 1907] for this brave deed“.

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    Kriegsmarine officers in Saint-Nazaire, France during an inspection of the 8. Minensuchflottille, August 1942.
    1: Admiral z.V. Eugen Lindau, Naval-Commander West France (20 February 1941-07 August 1942)
    2: Großadmiral Erich Raeder, Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine (01 June 1935-30 January 1943)
    3: Konteradmiral z.V. Herbert Goehle, Senior-Shipyard-Director of the Kriegsmarine-Shipyard La Pallice (01 December 1941-22 November 1943)

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    Kriegsmarine officers in Saint-Nazaire, France during an inspection of the 8. Minensuchflottille, August 1942.
    1: Kapitän zur See z.V. Adalbert Zuckschwerdt, Commandant of the Sea-Fortifications of the Loire-Estuary (23 February 1941-21 November 1942)
    2: Großadmiral Erich Raeder, Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine (01 June 1935-30 January 1943)
    3: Admiral z.V. Eugen Lindau, Naval-Commander West France (20 February 1941-07 August 1942)

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    • 2 weeks later...

    Portrait of Vizeadmiral Leo Kreisch (1895-1977). His career during WW2:
    -1st Admiral-Staff-Officer with the Staff of the Naval-Station of the Baltic Sea (29 September 1937-30 September 1939)
    -At the same time, Acting-Chief of Staff of the Naval-Station of the Baltic Sea (21 June 1939-12 July 1939)
    -Chief of the Military Department of the Office-Group U-boat-Affairs, Naval-Warfare-Command, OKM (01 October 1939-07 August 1940)
    -Commandant of the Light Cruiser „Nürnberg“ (08 August 1940-25 March 1941)
    -Commandant of the Heavy Cruiser „Lützow“ (28 March 1941-03 July 1941)
    -Chief of the Naval-Instruction-Command Romania (04 July 1941-17 November 1941)
    -Acting-Commandant of the Heavy Cruiser „Lützow“ (18 November 1941-26 January 1942)
    -Leader of U-boats Italy (27 January 1942-12 August 1943)
    -Leader of U-boats Mediterranean (13 August 1943-25 January 1944)
    -Leader of Destroyers and also Sea-Commander in the Area of the Danish Islands then of Swinemünde (26 January 1944-29 May 1945)

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    Kapitän zur See Wilhelm Matthies, Commander of the 1st Naval-Flak-Regiment (04 January 1940-30 April 1942), wearing the field grey Naval Artillery uniform, photographed in 1940.
    A U-boat veteran from WW1, he was promoted to Konteradmiral on 01 February 1943 and on 29 February 1944 he was awarded the German Cross in Gold.

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    Konteradmiral Hermann von Fischel, Commander of Armoured-Ships (25 November 1936-08 February 1938). At the same time he was also the Commander of the German Naval-Forces at Spain at four different occasions:  16 December 1936-19 March 1937; 14 May 1937-22 June 1937; 08 September 1937-07 October 1937 and 08 February 1938-13 March 1938. His flagship at this time was the „Deutschland“.

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    Launching of the Panzerschiff „Admiral Graf Spee“ at the Naval Shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, 30 June 1934.
    1: Vizeadmiral Emil Heusinger von Waldegg, Chief of the General Naval Office, Naval Command (15 November 1930-26 September 1935)
    2: Kapitän zur See Willy von Nordeck, Chief of the Central-Department of the Naval-Shipyard Wilhelmshaven (05 October 1932-29 September 1935)
    3: Huberta von Spee, the daughter of Vizeadmiral Maximilian von Spee, the ship's namesake. She christened the ship.
    4: Vizeadmiral Richard Foerster, Fleet-Chief, Fleet-Command (22 September 1933-20 December 1936)
    5: Kapitän zur See Werner Grassmann, Chief of the Shipyard Department of the Naval Command (01 July 1933-30 September 1934)

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    German and British naval officers on board the Panzerschiff „Deutschland“ at Gibraltar, end of May 1937. This photo was taken some time after the „Deutschland incident“ which occured on 29 May 1937. While moored in port of Ibiza, the „Deutschland“ was attacked by Spanish Republican bombers (a pair of Soviet-built SB-2 bombers, secretly flown by Soviet Air Force pilots), which bombed the ship. Two bombs struck the ship; the first penetrated the upper deck near the bridge and exploded above the main armored deck while the second hit near the third starboard 15 cm gun, causing serious fires below decks. The attack killed 31 German sailors and wounded 74. The ship then proceeded to Gibraltar, where the British Military Hospital treated the wounded sailors and where the dead were buried with full military honors. However, ten days later the dead were exhumed and returned for burial in Germany.
    Second from the left is Konteradmiral Hermann von Fischel, Commander of Armoured-Ships (25 November 1936-08 February 1938) and at the same time the Commander of the German Naval-Forces at Spain (14 May 1937-22 June 1937).
    Third from the left is Kapitän zur See Paul Fanger, the Commandant of the „Deutschland“ (30 September 1935-02 September 1937).

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    Group photo of the Instruction Staff for Luftwaffe Matters (Lehrstab für Luftwaffenfragen/Luftwaffenlehrstab), Berlin, 1943. Sitting in the middle is Admiral z.V. Gottfried Hansen, Head of the Instruction Staff for Luftwaffe Matters (17 November 1941-18 June 1943).
    In March 1937, the Instruction Staff for Luftwaffe Matters was set up in Berlin. It moved to Kiel on 24 June 1937, where it was assigned to the Inspection of Naval Artillery. On 14 February 1938 it was subordinated to the Inspection of Training Affairs of the Navy and attached to the Naval Academy. On 1 September 1940 the staff was again transferred to Berlin and was again directly subordinate to the High Command of the Navy (OKM) there. In the autumn of 1944 the training staff was considerably reduced in size. This remaining staff moved to the Kiel area in March 1945 and on 14 April 1945 to Dobersdorf, where it was disbanded after the German capitulation.
    It's main task was to improve cooperation between Naval Air Forces (Marineluftstreitkräfte)/Sea Air Forces (Seeluftstreitkräfte)/Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine. This instruction staff was used to instruct naval units on Luftwaffe (Air Force) matters and Luftwaffe units on naval matters. Among other things, the following topics were worked out and given to the participants of the training courses and/or later issued as regulations or instructions:
    - Navigation at sea (the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe had different navigation principles)
    - Reconnaissance of enemy naval forces
    - Securing one's own naval units from the air
    - Radio communication and reporting
    - Exchange of signals between the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine
    - Air combat tactics and/or naval combat tactics
    - Structure and organization of the individual units
    - Subordination relationships (some Naval Air Forces were subordinate to the various Naval High Commands)
    - Structure and organization of the maritime emergency service (the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine were equal partners)

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    Admiral Karlgeorg Schuster (right) is greeted by Bulgarian army officers upon his arrival in Sofia to assume the duties of Admiral „Z“, possibly March 1941. The office of Admiral „Z“ was set up on 24 February 1941 and it was eventually responsible for the Balkans, the Black Sea, the Aegean and the Adriatic. On 4 April 1941 it was renamed to Admiral South-East and on 30 June 1941 to Naval-Group-Command South.
    The Bulgarian officer second from the left is General-leytenant (Lieutenant General) Nikola Totev Markov, Inspector of Infantry (1938-1941).

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    German and Bulgarian officers in Sofia, possibly March 1941.
    1: Kapitän zur See Hellmuth Heye, Chief of Staff of the Admiral „Z“ (14 February 1941-03 April 1941)
    2: General-leytenant (Lieutenant General) Nikola Totev Markov, Inspector of the Infantry of the Bulgarian Army (1938-11 August 1941)
    3: Admiral Karlgeorg Schuster, Admiral „Z“ (04 March 1941-03 April 1941)
    4: Herbert Freiherr von Richthofen, German Ambassador to Bulgaria (1939–1941)
    5: General-leytenant (Lieutenant General) Nikola Petkov Hadzhipetkov, Chief of Staff of the Bulgarian Army (10 December 1938-11 August 1941)
    6: Oberst Hans Bruckmann, German Military Attaché in Sofia (01 November 1937-19 December 1942)
    7: Oberstleutnant Carl-August von Schoenebeck, Military Advisor and Air-Attaché at the German Embassy in Sofia, at the same time Chief of the Luftwaffe-Mission in Bulgaria (01 September 1939-06 September 1944)

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    Medal award ceremony in Sofia, Bulgaria, 1941/1942.
    First from the left is Kapitän zur See Hellmuth Heye, Chief of Staff of the Naval-Group-Command South (30 June 1941-14 September 1942).
    In the middle is Admiral Karlgeorg Schuster, Commander-in-Chief of the Naval-Group-Command South (30 June 1941-20 March 1943).

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