Spanish Order of Naval Merit awarded to Kriegsmarine admirals

[Antonio Prieto]

1. No

2. No. Only white or red

3. No name

 

I do not know the reason for the varied denominations of the decorations. For these years, and in the orders of military and naval merit there are different classes, but only two modalities that are the red badge and the white badge (there are no golden, yellow or others). The crosses are golden, enameled in red or white, except those of silver that are in this metal, without enamel
The plates are in classes
Grand Cruz, Gold with the upper rectangle of silver
Third, gold
Second, overwhelmed silver

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

18 hours ago, Antonio Prieto said:

1. No

2. No. Only white or red

3. No name

 

I do not know the reason for the varied denominations of the decorations. For these years, and in the orders of military and naval merit there are different classes, but only two modalities that are the red badge and the white badge (there are no golden, yellow or others). The crosses are golden, enameled in red or white, except those of silver that are in this metal, without enamel
The plates are in classes
Grand Cruz, Gold with the upper rectangle of silver
Third, gold
Second, overwhelmed silver

Thank you for the explanation. I believe the confusion arises because of this Wikipedia article that states there were White, Red, Yellow and Blue decorations for the Order of Naval Merit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Naval_Merit

 

1. Do you think Ciliax then received the Order 3rd class with White and the Order 3rd class with Red (instead of Gold/Yellow) decorations on the same day?

2. Or do you think he only received the Order 3rd Class with White decoration on 21 August 1939?

3. Was the Red decoration given only during wartime? Since Spain was neutral, I pressume there were no concessions of the Red decoration during that time period (1939)?

Edited July 12, 2023 by Kriegsmarine Admiral

[Antonio Prieto]

1. I can't find information. I understand that it would only be granted from a single class and distinctive, possibly white (blanco)
Remember that the other yellow and blue distinctives are only from 1995, never before

2. For the above, I think that only one class, but I do not know the category, distinctive or date

3. According to Archive Documents the red (rojo) Crosses were also granted, but they were generally with white Distinctive. In this document of the Avila Archive, there is no date of the Great Cross of the Naval Merit of Admiral Canaris (no consta)

 

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

38 minutes ago, Antonio Prieto said:

1. I can't find information. I understand that it would only be granted from a single class and distinctive, possibly white (blanco)
Remember that the other yellow and blue distinctives are only from 1995, never before

2. For the above, I think that only one class, but I do not know the category, distinctive or date

3. According to Archive Documents the red (rojo) Crosses were also granted, but they were generally with white Distinctive. In this document of the Avila Archive, there is no date of the Great Cross of the Naval Merit of Admiral Canaris (no consta)

 

Thank you very much once again.

For Otto Ciliax, I decided to keep only the Spanish Order of Naval Merit 3rd Class with White Decoration, with the Spanish award date of 21 August 1939, and the German approval date of 16 May 1940. Both dates are confirmed in his Personalakte I posted earlier.

[Graf]

On 15/07/2023 at 21:42, Kriegsmarine Admiral said:

Thank you very much once again.

For Otto Ciliax, I decided to keep only the Spanish Order of Naval Merit 3rd Class with White Decoration, with the Spanish award date of 21 August 1939, and the German approval date of 16 May 1940. Both dates are confirmed in his Personalakte I posted earlier.

Nice

On 15/07/2023 at 21:02, Antonio Prieto said:

1. I can't find information. I understand that it would only be granted from a single class and distinctive, possibly white (blanco)
Remember that the other yellow and blue distinctives are only from 1995, never before

2. For the above, I think that only one class, but I do not know the category, distinctive or date

3. According to Archive Documents the red (rojo) Crosses were also granted, but they were generally with white Distinctive. In this document of the Avila Archive, there is no date of the Great Cross of the Naval Merit of Admiral Canaris (no consta)

 

Good Job

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

Hello Antonio,

I found out that Fritz Conrad (at the time Kapitän zur See/Captain) was awarded the Spanish Order of Naval Merit 3rd Class in 1929.

Can you perhaps find the exact award date and post the document with the information?

Many thanks!

On 15/07/2023 at 13:02, Antonio Prieto said:

1. I can't find information. I understand that it would only be granted from a single class and distinctive, possibly white (blanco)
Remember that the other yellow and blue distinctives are only from 1995, never before

2. For the above, I think that only one class, but I do not know the category, distinctive or date

3. According to Archive Documents the red (rojo) Crosses were also granted, but they were generally with white Distinctive. In this document of the Avila Archive, there is no date of the Great Cross of the Naval Merit of Admiral Canaris (no consta)

 

 

[Antonio Prieto]

Royal Order of 11 september 1930 (Diario Oficial del Ministerio de Marina núm. 207 of September 16

As a result of the proposal made by the Chief of the Destroyer Squadron, to reciprocate the attention and entertainment they received during their visit to the ports of the North, His Majesty the King has seen fit to grant the decorations of the Order of Merit Naval, with a white badge, of the corresponding class, to the Navy, consular and private personnel of the respective nations, which is listed below:
GERMANY
SWINEMUNDE
Third class cross.
Ship Captain Mr. Frits Heinrich Conrad.
-Second class cross.
Harbor Master Mr. Ernst Berg.
STETTIN:
Second class cross.
Mr. Hans Emmanuel Gottstein, Factory Director Feldmuhle paper coy.
Honorary Consul Mr. Arthur Kunstmann.
WILHELMSHAVEN:
First class cross.
Lieutenant Mr. Karl Heinrich Wilhelm Jacobson.

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

21 minutes ago, Antonio Prieto said:

Royal Order of 11 september 1930 (Diario Oficial del Ministerio de Marina núm. 207 of September 16

As a result of the proposal made by the Chief of the Destroyer Squadron, to reciprocate the attention and entertainment they received during their visit to the ports of the North, His Majesty the King has seen fit to grant the decorations of the Order of Merit Naval, with a white badge, of the corresponding class, to the Navy, consular and private personnel of the respective nations, which is listed below:
GERMANY
SWINEMUNDE
Third class cross.
Ship Captain Mr. Frits Heinrich Conrad.
-Second class cross.
Harbor Master Mr. Ernst Berg.
STETTIN:
Second class cross.
Mr. Hans Emmanuel Gottstein, Factory Director Feldmuhle paper coy.
Honorary Consul Mr. Arthur Kunstmann.
WILHELMSHAVEN:
First class cross.
Lieutenant Mr. Karl Heinrich Wilhelm Jacobson.

Thank you very much!

But where does it say the award date for Fritz Conrad is 11 September 1930?

I can see no date on the right under "Recompensas" (where his name is mentioned).

[Antonio Prieto]

The next page

 

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

6 minutes ago, Antonio Prieto said:

The next page

 

That makes sense.

Thank you very much!

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

@Antonio Prieto

Hello Antonio,

 

I managed to find the award documents of Wilhelm Canaris on the Bundesarchiv website.

According to these documents, he was indeed awarded the Spanish Order of Naval Merit 3rd Class with White Decoration on 16 May 1927 and the Spanish Order of Naval Merit 2nd Class with White Decoration on 16 November 1928.

 

The first document gives his rank as "Capitan de Navio" (Kapitän zur See in German), but in 1927 his rank was "Capitan de Corbeta" (Korvettenkapitän in German).

 

The second document gives the correct rank of "Capitan de Corbeta" and the appropriate class for his rank (Cross 2nd Class).

 

How is it possible he was first awarded the 3rd Class in 1927 and then the 2nd Class in 1928?

The 3rd Class is higher than the 2nd Class. Shouldn't it have been the other way around?

As far as I understand the classes for this order were always the same.

Is it possible the Spanish made a mistake?

 

It's also interesting that the German approval date for both classes (3rd and 2nd) was on 28 March 1934, when Canaris' rank was Kapitän zur See.

Edited March 4 by Kriegsmarine Admiral