Eberhard Weichold

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Eberhard Weichold (born August 23, 1891 in Dresden , † December 19, 1960 in Bremen ) was a German naval officer , most recently vice admiral in World War II .

Life

Eberhard Weichold in Marsa Matruh in July 1942.

Weichold joined the Imperial Navy on April 1, 1911 as a midshipman ( crew 1911 ) , completed his basic training on the large cruiser SMS Hertha and then went to the Mürwik naval school . There he was appointed ensign at sea on April 15, 1912 and after the successful visit was transferred to the liner SMS Lothringen . Here he stayed after the outbreak of the First World War and was promoted to lieutenant at sea on August 3, 1914 .

Weichold reported to the submarine weapon and completed from December 1, 1915 to May 6, 1916 training at the submarine school. He was then used as a watch officer on UB 11 , U 4 , UC 20 and UB 50 . As Oberleutnant zur See (since April 26, 1917), he was given command of UC 22 on July 21, 1918 . With this boat he was able to sink three enemy ships with approx. 11,000 GRT by the end of the war .

Weichold was then taken over into the Reichsmarine and initially used as an assistant to the mine test command. He acted from June 1, 1920 to October 9, 1921 as the commander of the torpedo boat T 141 , then as the commander of the T 139 , in order to be transferred to the staff of the commander of the naval forces of the Baltic Sea as a third admiral staff officer. As a lieutenant captain (since February 1, 1921), Weichold was assigned to the naval archives from January 1, 1922 to March 14, 1923 . Then he was in command of the G 8 torpedo boat in the 1st Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla in Swinoujscie . From October 1, 1923 to September 11, 1925, he was transferred to the I. Torpedo Boat Flotilla, also stationed in Swinoujscie, where he was deployed as a flag lieutenant and as the commander of the torpedo boat S 18 . Weichold spent the next two years as a company officer in the ship master's division of the Baltic Sea and during this time worked for three months on the liner Schleswig-Holstein as the second navigation officer. Then he completed the pilot's assistant training from October 6, 1927 to March 23, 1929 , was then placed at the disposal of the chief of the naval command and, with his promotion to corvette captain on July 1, 1929, was transferred as a navigation officer to the liner Silesia . From October 3, 1930 to September 14, 1931 he was then in the same position on the liner Schleswig-Holstein and spent the time until April 27, 1934 as a military teacher at the Naval Academy. There he was appointed as the deputy head of the facility at the same time and was finally appointed head on April 28, 1934. In this position, on October 1, 1934, he was promoted to frigate captain and on October 1, 1936 to sea captain . As such, underwent Weichold from January 1 to February 26, 1937 the Baubelehrung destroyers and was then chief of the 1st Destroyer Division. After its dissolution, Weichold acted as First Admiral Staff Officer of the Fleet Command from October 27, 1938, and as such remained in this position beyond the beginning of the Second World War.

On November 2, 1939, Weichold moved to the Wehrmacht High Command for the Special Staff for Trade and Economic Warfare, where he served as chief of staff. He was then on June 28, 1940 chief of the German liaison staff at the Admiral Staff of the Royal Italian Navy and as such was promoted to Rear Admiral shortly afterwards on July 1, 1940 . Weichold held the post of German Admiral at the Admiral Staff of the Italian Navy from August 16, 1941 to March 4, 1943, and from November 22, 1941 was also the commander of the German Navy Command Italy . In this role, he was responsible, among other things, for supplying the Africa Corps by sea.

Due to a falling out over the Mediterranean question with his friend Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz , he was relieved and transferred to the naval high command , where he was used as a special representative of the naval command . His last post was from April 1, 1944 to May 8, 1945 that of the Chief of the Naval Staff in the High Command of the Navy.

With the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht , Weichold found himself in Allied captivity from May 8, 1945 , from which he was released in 1947.

Awards

literature

  • Hans H. Hildebrand and Ernest Henriot: Germany's Admirals 1849–1945 Volume 3: P – Z , Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-2482-4 , pp. 526–527

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dieter Hartwig : Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz - Legend and Reality , Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2010, ISBN 978-3-506-77027-1 , p. 70
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Ranking list of the German Reichsmarine , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1929, p. 44
  3. ↑ Klaus D. Patzwall and Veit Scherzer : Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941-1945, History and Proprietor Volume II , Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt 2001, ISBN 3-931533-45-X , p. 124
personal data
SURNAME Weichold, Eberhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer, most recently vice admiral in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH August 23, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Dresden
DATE OF DEATH December 19, 1960
Place of death Bremen