Friedrich Grattenauer

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Friedrich Grattenauer (born March 20, 1895 in Breslau , † October 10, 1944 in Knjaževac ) was a German naval officer. As a sea captain , he was most recently sea ​​commander of Transnistria . He fell in Knjaževac on October 10, 1944.

Life

Friedrich Grattenauer was born in Breslau as the son of an auxiliary judge at the Higher Regional Court and grew up in Hirschberg and Stettin together with two brothers. After graduating from high school in autumn 1913, he spent the winter of 1913/14 in England.

Imperial Navy

On April 1, 1914, he joined the Imperial Navy in Flensburg- Mürwik . The oldest on the site was his uncle, Lieutenant General Max von Kluge , division commander in Flensburg . In May 1914 he got his first command on board SMS Victoria Louise and drove through the Baltic Sea , Belt , Kattegat and Skagerrak to Norway . Soon after the outbreak of war he was transferred to the liner SMS Westfalen , on which he took part in the Battle of the Skagerrak . In December 1914 he was promoted to ensign at sea . In September 1917 Grattenauer was transferred to the submarine school. He was trained in Kiel , Eckernförde and Flensburg and in March 1918 became 2nd officer on watch on SM U 54 . He took part in three trips to the Irish Sea , the Cornwall coast, the western exit of the English Channel and the North Biscay . Among the sunk steamers was the largest ship sunk in the First World War , the Justitia (approx. 34,000 GRT). At the end of the war he had reached the rank of lieutenant captain .

Interwar period

After the end of the war, Grattenauer initially served in the Ehrhardt Marine Brigade and was deployed in Munich , Berlin and Upper Silesia . Then he went to Stettin for the Reich water protection department (until 1922).

In the commercial life that he led afterwards, he worked in a wood shop, at the Girozentrale of the province of Pomerania and from 1925 in a porcelain wholesaler. He was active in the naval club and in the naval youth.

Navy in World War II

After Hitler came to power , Grattenauer immediately reported back to the Reichsmarine and in August 1933 became 2nd adjutant at the Swinoujscie fortress command . In autumn 1934 he went to the fortress commandant's office in Pillau as 1st adjutant . In October 1934 he was promoted to corvette captain. From April to September 1939 he worked on the staff of the fortress command in Kiel , and from September 1939 to February 1944 as chief of staff " Coast Commander Western Baltic Sea ". In this position he was promoted to frigate captain in October 1939 . In July 1940 he received the Iron Cross, 2nd class. In September 1941 he was promoted to sea captain. In April 1942 he received the War Merit Cross, First Class.

In March 1943 he was appointed Sea Commander Caucasus , based in Kerch , in September 1943 then Sea Commander East Crimea, where he received the Iron Cross 1st Class in October 1943. In February 1944 he was appointed naval commander of Transnistria . When retreating from this area he commanded the "Kampfgruppe Grattenauer". He fell in Knjaževac in October 1944 .

literature

  • Waltraut Peter, b. Grattenauer: A guardian angel flew with me . Memories 1922–2007 . Altenholz: private printing 2007, pp. 301–323

Similarity of names

The aforementioned should not be confused with Carl Wilhelm Friedrich Grattenauer , an early anti-Semite in the circles around Hartwig Hundt .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The German and Romanian Navy in the Black Sea 1943/1944 . In: Working group for defense research (editor): "Wehrwissenschaftliche Rundschau", ES Mittler, 1955, p. 119.
personal data
SURNAME Grattenauer, Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer
DATE OF BIRTH March 20, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 1944
Place of death Knjaževac