Flag officers of the Kriegsmarine

Flag officers of the Kriegsmarine were the leadership of the German Navy (known then as the "Kriegsmarine") from 1935 to 1945. Most flag officers had also served as officers of the Reichsmarine, as well as the Imperial German Navy during World War I. German naval flag officers were divided into five Admiralty ranks while a senior captain rank, known as Kommodore also existed. The Kriegsmarine flag officers were responsible for holding the senior most naval positions within the organization of the Kriegsmarine.

Grand admirals
Rank Name Born Naval service Major positions Post war fate Died


Großadmiral
Karl Dönitz		 16 Sep 1891
(Grünau)		 1910 - 1945
(35 years)		 * Supreme Commander of the German Armed Forces (1945)[N 1]
* Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy (1943-1945)
* Commander of Submarines (1939-1943)
* Leader of Submarines (1936-1939)		 Sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Nuremberg trials.
Released in October 1956.		 24 Dec 1980
(Aumühle)
Aged 89

Erich Raeder		 24 Apr 1876
(Wandsbek)		 1894 - 1943
(49 years)		 * Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy (1935-1943)[N 2] Sentenced to life imprisonment at the Nuremberg trials.
Released 1955 and died five years later		 6 Nov 1960
(Kiel)
Aged 84

General admirals
General admirals of the Kriegsmarine
Rank Name Born Naval service Major positions Post war fate Died


Generaladmiral
Conrad Albrecht		 7 Oct 1880
(Bremen)		 1899 - 1939
(40 years)		 * Commander, Navy Group East (1938-1939)
* Baltic Sea Regional Commander (1935-1938)		 Retired shortly after the beginning of World War II
Was not investigated by the allied occupation forces after the war.		 18 Aug 1969
(Hamburg)
Aged 88

Hermann Boehm		 18 Jan 1884
(Rybnik)		 1903 - 1945
(42 years)		 * Inspector of Naval education (1944-1945)
* Commander, Norwegian Naval Area (1940-1943)
* Fleet commander of the German Navy (1938-1939)
* Commander, Naval Region North Sea (1937-1938)
* Commander German naval forces, Spanish Civil War (1936-1937)
* Commander of Surface Craft (1935-1937)[N 3]		 Testified in defense of Erich Raeder at the Nuremberg trials 11 Apr 1972
(Kiel)
Aged 88

Rolf Carls		 29 May 1885
(Rostock)		 1903 - 1943
(40 years)		 * Commander, Navy Group North (1940-1943)
* Commander Navy Group East (1939-1940)
* Commander, Naval Region Baltic Sea (1938-1939)
* Fleet commander of the German Navy (1936-1938)
* Commander German naval forces, Spanish Civil War (1936-1937)
* Commander of Liners (1935-1936)[N 4]		 Contender for the position of Navy Commander-in-Chief.
After the post went to Karl Dönitz, retired from the Navy in May 1943.
Killed in an allied air raid in 1945		 24 Apr 1945
(Bad Oldesloe)
Aged 59
Hans-Georg von Friedeburg 15 Jul 1895
(Strasbourg)		 1914 - 1945
(31 years)		 * Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy (1945)
* Commander of Submarines (1943-1945)
* Deputy commander of submarines (1941-1943)		 Surrendered German forces to the western allies in May 1945.
Afterwards committed suicide.		 23 May 1945
(Flensburg)
Aged 49

Oskar Kummetz		 21 Jul 1891
(Illowo)		 1910 - 1945
(35 years)		 * Baltic Sea Regional Commander (1944-1945)
* Commander of Surface Forces (1944)
* Commander of Cruisers (1942-1943)
* Inspector of Torpedoes (1939-1942)
* Staff officer, Navy Fleet & Baltic Sea commands (1937-1939)
* Leader of Torpedo-boats (1935-1937)		 Held as a prisoner of war until November 30, 1946 17 Dec 1980
(Neustadt)
Aged 89

Wilhelm Marschall		 30 Sep 1886
(Augsburg)		 1906 - 1945
(39 years)		 * Commander, Navy Group West (1943)
* Commanding Admiral of France (1942)
* Commander, Navy Group South (1941-1942)
* Inspector of Naval education (1940-1941)
* Fleet commander of the German Navy (1939-1940)
* Commander of Battleships (1938-1939)
* Commander German naval forces, Spanish Civil War (1937-1938)		 Placed on the inactive officer list in 1943
Recalled twice for special duty (1944-1945)
Held as a prisoner of war (1945-1947)		 20 Mar 1976
(Mölln)
Aged 89

Alfred Saalwächter		 10 Jan 1883
(Neusalz)		 1901 - 1942
(41 years)		 * Commander, Navy Group West (1939-1942)
* Commander, Naval Region North Sea (1938-1939)		 Captured by the Red Army in June 1945
Executed by firing squad after a show trial
Exonerated in the late 1990s by a Russian court		 6 Dec 1945
(Moscow)
Aged 62

Otto Schniewind		 14 Dec 1887
(Saarlouis)		 1907 - 1944
(37 years)		 * Commander, Navy Group North (1943-1944)
* Fleet commander of the German Navy (1941-1944)
* Chief of Staff, Navy War Office (1938-1941)		 Placed on inactive list in July 1944
Acquitted of war crimes at the High Command Trial
Served on Naval Historical Team (1949-1952)		 26 Mar 1964
(Linz am Rhein)
Aged 76

Otto Schultze		 11 May 1884
(Oldenburg)		 1900 - 1937
1939 - 1942
(40 years)		 * Commanding Admiral of France (1941-1942)
* Commander Naval Region North Sea (1939)
* Commander, Naval Station North Sea (1935-1937)		 Retired from the Kriegsmarine in 1937
Recalled for three months in 1939 and then again in 1941
Final retirement on 31 August 1942		 22 Jan 1966
(Hamburg)
Aged 81

Walter Warzecha		 23 May 1891
(Schwiebus)		 1909 - 1945
(36 years)		 * Commander-in-Chief of the Germany Navy (1945)
* Chief of the Navy War Office (1944-1945)
* Chief of the Navy General Headquarters (1939-1944)		 Served as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy for one month
(May - June 1945)
Released as a prisoner-of-war in 1947		 3 Aug 1956
(Hamburg)
Aged 65

Karl Witzell		 18 Oct 1884
(Hiersfeld)		 1902 - 1942
(40 years)		 * Chief of Naval Armaments (1939-1942) Retired from active service in 1942
Soviet prisoner-of-war for ten years, released in 1955		 31 May 1976
(Berlin)
Aged 91

Admirals
Admirals of the Kriegsmarine
Rank Name Born Naval service Major positions Post war fate Died


Admiral
Wilhelm Canaris		 1 Jan 1887
(Aplerbeck)		 1905 - 1944
(39 years)		 * Chief of Military Intelligence (1935-1944) Implicated in the 20 July Plot and imprisoned by the Gestapo
executed by the SS in 1945		 9 Apr 1945
(Flossenbürg)
Aged 58

Otto Ciliax		 30 Oct 1891
(Neudietendorf)		 1910 - 1945
(35 years)		 * Commander, Naval Forces Norway (1943-1945)
* Commander of Battleships (1941-1943)
* Chief of Staff, Navy Group West (1939-1941)
* Commanding Officer, Scharnhorst (1939)		 Father of Flottillenadmiral Otto Hermann Ciliax 12 Dec 1964
(Travemünde)
Aged 73

Günther Lütjens		 25 May 1889
(Wiesbaden)		 1907 - 1941
(34 years)		 * Fleet commander of the German Navy (1940-1941)[N 5]
* Battleship force commander, Operation Weserübung (1940)
* Commander of Surface Craft (1939-1940)
* Leader of Torpedo Boats (1937-1939)		 Killed in action during on board the battleship Bismarck in 1941. 27 May 1941
(Atlantic Ocean)
Aged 52

Vice admirals
Vice admirals of the Kriegsmarine
Rank Name Born Naval service Major positions Post war fate Died


Vizeadmiral
Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière		 18 Mar 1886
(Posen)		 1903 - 1932
1939 - 1941
(31 years)		 * Naval Commander of the Netherlands (1940-1941) Transferred to command Navy Group South
Killed en route in a plane crash		 24 Feb 1941
(Le Bourget)
Aged 54

Hellmuth Heye		 9 Aug 1895
(Beckingen)		 1914 - 1945
(31 years)		 * Chief of Naval Special Operations (1944-1945) Released after one year of captivity as a prisoner-of-war
Elected to the Bundestag of West Germany (1953-1961)		 10 Nov 1970
(Mittelheim)
Aged 75

Wilhelm Meendsen-Bohlken		 25 Jun 1897
(Brake)		 1915 - 1945
(30 years)		 * Fleet commander of the German Navy (1944-1945)
* Commander, Italian Naval Region (1943-1944)		 Arrested at the war's end as a member of the Navy High Command
Later released without charge		 20 Aug 1985
(Cologne)
Aged 88

Leopold Siemens		 17 May 1889
(Berlin)		 1910 - 1945
(35 years)		 * Staff Officer, Naval Region Baltic Sea (1944-1945)
* Commander, Norwegian coastal region (1943-1944)
* Deputy fleet commander, German Navy (1940-1941)		 Placed on inactive duty January 1945 with
no further assignments before the end of World War II		 7 Dec 1979
(Cologne)
Aged 90

Rear admirals
Rear admirals of the Kriegsmarine
Rank Name Born Naval service Major positions Post war fate Died


Konteradmiral
Erich Bey		 23 Mar 1898
(Hamburg)		 1916 - 1943
(27 years)		 * Commander of Cruisers (1943)
* Commander of Destroyers (1940-1943)		 Led a battleship-destroyer task force
to attack a British convoy on Christmas Day 1943.
Killed in the subsequent engagement with the Royal Navy		 26 Dec 1943
(North Cape, Norway)
Aged 45

Kurt Böhmer		 31 Dec 1892
(Magdeburg)		 1914 - 1944
(30 years)		 * Commander, 9th Naval Security Division (1942-1944)
* Leader of Minesweepers "North" (1941-1942)
* Leader of Special Craft "West" (1940-1941)		 Killed by Latvian partisans while hunting 1 Oct 1944
(Ventspils)
Aged 51
Robert Eyssen 2 Apr 1892
(Frankfurt)		 1912 - 1945
(33 years)		 * Chief of Vienna Military District III (1944-1945) 31 Mar 1960
(Baden-Baden)
Aged 67
Werner Fürbringer 2 Oct 1888
(Braunschweig)		 1907 - 1920
1927 - 1943
(29 years)		 * Tactical officer, Office of Submarines (1939-1945) Obtained flag rank towards the end of World War II. 8 Feb 1982
(Braunschweig)
Aged 93

Eberhard Godt		 15 Aug 1900
(Lübeck)		 1918 - 1945
(27 years)		 * Chief of Operations of Submarines (1939-1945) Advisor to the Naval Historical Team regarding
U-boat operations during World War II		 13 Sep 1995
(Lübeck)
Aged 95

Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer		 24 Mar 1900
(Frankfurt)		 1917 - 1945
(28 years)		 * Naval adjutant to Adolf Hitler (1943-1945)[N 6] Held as a prisoner of war from 1945 to 1947 4 Mar 1981
(Munich)
Aged 80
Gerhard Wagner 23 Nov 1898
(Schwerin)		 1916 - 1945
(29 years)		 * Operations officer, Naval war command (1942-1945) Accompanied Admiral von Friedeburg for the
surrender of German forces to Bernard Montgomery.
Later served as a rear admiral in the West German Navy		 26 Jun 1987
(Altenkirchen)
Aged 88

See also

References

    Bibliography
    • Lohmann W. & Hildebrand H., Die Deutsche Kriegsmarine, Verlag Hans-Henning Podzun, Bad Nauheim (1956)
    • Goerlitz, Walter. History of the German General Staff, 1657–1945. Boulder and London: Westview Press (1985)


    Notes
    1. As President of Germany
    2. Previously had served as Commander-in-Chief of the Reichsmarine from 1928 to 1935
    3. Also held this position in the Reichsmarine with date of appointment from 25 September 1934
    4. Also held this position in the Reichsmarine with date of appointment from 29 September 1934
    5. While serving as fleet commander, embarked onboard the battleship Bismarck in order to serve as the operational flag officer while Captain Ernst Lindemann served as the ship's commander. Lütjens was subsequently killed during the battle of the Denmark Strait, making him the only Kriegsmarine fleet commander to die in active combat against an enemy
    6. Present during the 20 July plot, award the Wound Badge of 20 July 1944
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