Admiral Ostland

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Vice-Admiral Theodor Burchardi, Admiral Ostland

Naval Commander Ostland (later Admiral Ostland , from February 1943 Commanding Admiral Ostland ) was the name of a military service of the German Navy and its commander in World War II that was set up in May 1941 .

history

In the spring of 1941, the Navy made organizational preparations for the German attack on the Soviet Union ( Operation Barbarossa ). For this purpose, the staffs of two naval commanders and other subordinate naval commanderships were set up. All bars were initially designated with just one letter:

  • Naval Commanders C and D
  • Naval Defense Commanders O, P, Q, R.

Navy Commander C

The staff of Naval Commander C was set up in Kiel from April 1941 . At the beginning of the advance he moved eastwards in several stages. After a short stay in Libau , he took up his permanent quarters in Riga .

The naval commander C was subordinate to the naval station of the Baltic Sea and was responsible for the sea area from the German- Lithuanian border to the north to a line from the northern tip of the island of Dagö to Hapsal including the Baltic islands.

Subordinate to Naval Commander C:

  • 1. Marine intelligence department (mot.)
  • Naval Shock Troop Department (detached from Glaser Department in December 1941, renamed to Naval Artillery Department 531 and subordinate to Maritime Commander R)
  • Marine-Sonderkommando Bigler (named after the leader of the command, Lieutenant Captain Richard Bigler)
  • Glasses Division (formed in June 1941 after Bigler's death by merging the Bigler Marine Shock Troop Department and Sonderkommando Bigler, disbanded December 1941; named after the leader of the department, Frigate Captain Ewald Gläser)
  • Maritime Commander O / Commander of the Libau Naval Defense
    • 7. Replacement naval artillery department (Libau)
    • Naval Flak Division 239
    • Naval Flak Division 712 (July - December 1941)
    • Navy shipyard in Libau
  • Maritime Commander P / Commandant of the Naval Defense of Riga (disbanded in November 1941)
    • Port Commander Riga
    • Naval Equipment Station Riga

The only naval commander in chief C was Rear Admiral Franz Claassen . In November 1941 the Office of Naval commander C was dissolved and its area of responsibility the Marine commander D assigned.

Navy Commander D

Supply transport with marine trucks in the port of Reval, September 1941

With the same objective as that of Naval Commander C, the staff of Naval Commander D was set up in Eckernförde from May 1941 . He was also under the naval station of the Baltic Sea. His area of ​​responsibility joined that of Naval Commander C to the north and extended ashore as far as the main battle line .

Subordinate to Naval Commander D:

The naval commander R was intended as the commander of the Saint Petersburg naval defense. However, since that was not conquered, he kept his letter designation only the commanded section was redefined from the mouth of the Woronka at the Oranienbaumer bridgehead to Narva.

From June 1941 the 6th Marine Motor Vehicle Department was also subordinate to Navy Commander D.

Chief of staff was the sea captain Conrad Engelhardt .

In November 1941, the command area of ​​Naval Commander C was integrated into that of Naval Commander D. The Navy Commander D received the designation Navy Commander Ostland .

Merging the bars

With the merger of Naval Commanders C and D in November 1941, the new office was initially renamed Naval Commanders Ostland, later Admiral Ostland and in February 1943 Commanding Admiral Ostland . The subordination remained with the naval station of the Baltic Sea, which from February 1943 carried the designation Marine High Command Baltic Sea . The headquarters, first of Naval Commander D, later of Admiral Ostland, was located near Danzig until the start of the Russian campaign and then moved via several stations ( Cranz in East Prussia, Riga, Loksa , Reval, Kutusi) to Reval, where it was from October 1941 to September 1944 was stationed. In June 1944, the Commanding Admiral Ostland was the staff of the bar from the commanding admiral eastern Baltic formed and the commander received the appropriate designation.

Participation in the war

The forces subordinate to Admiral Ostland and his predecessor commands were involved in combat operations, especially during the advance in 1941 and the retreat in 1943/1944.

The Naval Shock Troop Detachment and Bigler Sonderkommando took part in the fighting on the advance, and both lost their commanders in battle. The Bigler Sonderkommando was involved in the occupation of Libau. The remnants of the troops were combined to form the glasses department in June 1941.

The 6th Marine Motor Vehicle Department was deployed in 1941 in the Baltic States and near Narva . It was relocated to southern Russia in August 1942, now as the 4th Marine Vehicle Operations Department.

The Ostland naval operations department was deployed at Narwa, Hungerburg and the bridgehead of Oranienbaum . She settled down on the retreat to the island of Ösel .

In September 1944, Admiral Ostland successfully commanded Operation Aster , with which large parts of Army Group North were evacuated from the enclosure by the Red Army .

The Marine artillery battalion 531 supported the Marine Operations Department Ostland for most operations. It was also used on Groß-Tütters and at Mitau . After participating in the failed landing ( Operation Tanne Ost ) on Hogland in September 1944, she fought for Sworbe .

Subordinate departments

The (commanding) Admiral Ostland reported:

  • Head of Sea Transport East ( Reval )
  • Oberwerftstab Ostland
  • Ostland Coast Guard Flotilla (from Ostland Coast Guard Group; from August 1942 Reval Coast Guard Flotilla, which from July 1944 formed the 14th Security Flotilla)
  • 4th Artillery Carrier Flotilla (Dorpat, from January 1944)
  • Port Commander Riga (from the former Naval Commander R)
  • Island commander Groß Tütters (Tytärsaari, Bolshoy Tyuters) (from April 1942)
  • Naval Operations Department Ostland (formed in January 1943 from troops from the 31st Ship Main Division, dissolved in Hela in December 1944)
  • Naval Artillery Department 531 (from the former sea commander R)
  • 6th Marine Motor Vehicle Department (from the German Bight Coast Commander , from January 1942 4th Marine Motor Vehicle Department)
  • 9. Marine Automotive Department
  • 3rd Marine Motor Training Department (Reval)
  • Naval Fortress Engineer Battalion 311 (from 1942)
  • Naval Fortress Engineer Battalion 321 (Reval, from 1942)
  • Sonderkommando 7000 (from March 1944, intended task: occupation of the Åland Islands)
  • Commander of the Naval Defense Reval
  • Commander of the naval defense "R" (until February 1944)
  • Commander of the Naval Defense Libau (formerly Maritime Commander O)
  • 9th Security Division (June 1944)

Commanding admiral

Navy Commander D and then Commanding Admiral Ostland was Vice Admiral Theodor Burchardi from May 1941 to June 1944 .

literature

  • Walter Lohmann , Hans H. Hildebrand. The German Navy 1939-1945 . Compilation in three volumes. OO 1956. Volume I, main chapter VIII, chapter 7

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Walter Lohmann, Hans H. Hildebrand. The German Navy 1939-1945 . Compilation in three volumes. OO 1956. Volume I, main chapter VIII, chapter 7, p. 1 f.
  2. ↑ a b c Walter Lohmann, Hans H. Hildebrand. The German Navy 1939-1945 . Compilation in three volumes. OO 1956. Volume I, main chapter VIII, chapter 6, p. 1 f.
  3. ^ Württembergische Landesbibliothek: Chronicle of the Naval War June 1941 , accessed October 11, 2019