Fritz Conrad
Heinrich Friedrich (Fritz) Conrad (born April 18, 1883 in Schwedt / Oder ; † January 1, 1944 in Greifswald ) was a German naval officer , most recently rear admiral in World War II and head of research.
Life
Conrad was the son of a high school professor and, after graduating from high school at the Hohenzollern high school in Schwedt / Oder, joined the Imperial Navy as a midshipman on April 10, 1901 . In the following 30 years, up to his retirement from the Reichsmarine , he served on many ships in domestic and overseas waters, including many on vehicles for the surveying service. By introducing new methods, he made a significant contribution to improving ocean surveying.
For twelve years he was the chief officer of the coastal survey in local waters and in the former German South Pacific colonies . In the winter of 1913/14 he received additional training in astronomical positioning , oceanography , meteorology and compass theory at the Deutsche Seewarte in Hamburg. Before and after the First World War , he carried out measurements in German waters from 1913 to 1924 as the commander of the survey vessels Hyäne , Triton and Panther . He was thus in close contact with the Hydrographic Service of the Navy . He then belonged to the nautical department of the naval management in Berlin from 1924 to 1926 as the head of the nautical chart and surveying department . In this position he promoted the German (South) Atlantic Expedition on the research ship Meteor . After two years as the commander of the small cruiser Nymphe and three years as the fortress commander of Swinoujscie , he was released from the Imperial Navy in 1931 with the rank of rear admiral.
In addition to his service, he attended lectures on astronomy, geodesy , mathematics and physics at the University of Kiel and at the Technical University of Berlin-Charlottenburg from 1918 to 1924 .
He also dealt with the development of special meteorological instruments. An example is the demand for and promotion of the marine radiosonde for measuring and radio reporting of aerological parameters (e.g. temperature, air pressure and humidity) and the development of instruments for the wind measurement method on a radar-like basis. A practical application of this technology was the secret weather station "Weather Radio Land-26".
From 1931 to 1933 he devoted himself mainly to the study of geophysical subjects Oceanography and Meteorology at the University of Berlin and received his doctorate in 1933 magna cum laude for Dr. phil. with the work “Astronomical location determination and depth measurement at sea”. In the same year he was reappointed as a scientific department head to the nautical department of the naval management in Berlin. There he was later appointed head of the nautical and scientific department and head of the naval weather service (later the German weather service) as well as rear admiral zV.
Conrad died on January 1st, 1944 in Greifswald after a short, severe illness.
Honors
Because of his merits in nautical science, the asteroid (1528) Conrada and a mountain range in the Antarctic Conrad Mountains ( Neuschwabenland ) were named after him.
Awards
- Order of the Crown IV class
- Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st class
- Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with swords
- Navy wounded badge in black
- Prussian service award cross
- Hanseatic Cross Hamburg
- Friedrich-August-Kreuz II. And I. Class
Career history
| year | date | position |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 17th of May | Midshipman on training ship 'MOLTKE' |
| 1903 | 30. September | Officer cadets on the ship of the line 'KAISER KARL DER GROßE' |
| December 14th | Transfer to the liner 'MECKLENBURG' | |
| 1904 | September 29th | Promotion to lieutenant at sea |
| October 1 | Company and watch officer in the II Torpedo Battalion | |
| 1906 | March 30 | Promotion to lieutenant at sea |
| October 1 | First lieutenant at sea on the light cruiser 'MÜNCHEN' | |
| 1908 | October 1 | Transfer to the Reichsmarineamt |
| 1909 | April 1st | Until September 29, 1909 navigation and surveying officer on the survey ship 'MÖWE' |
| 30. September | Business trip to the South Seas | |
| December 18th | Until December 17, 1910 navigation and surveying officer on the survey ship 'PLANET'. | |
| 1911 | February 18 | Inspection officer and instructor at the engineering and deck officers school |
| 1912 | April 1st | First Officer on the Aviso 'GRILLE' |
| October 1 | Officer on watch on the ship of the line 'HELGOLAND' | |
| 1913 | 30. September | Command on the survey ship 'HYÄNE' |
| 1914 | April 1st | Transfer to the nautical department of the Reichsmarinamt |
| August 2nd | Artillery and prize officer on the auxiliary cruiser 'A' | |
| 12. August | Navigation and torpedo officer on the coastal defense ship 'SIEGFRIED' | |
| November 1st | Chief of the 3rd Marine Engineer Company in the Flanders Marine Corps | |
| 1917 | March, 20th | Command of the III. battalion |
| June 11th | Command of the 2nd Battalion and Commander of the Engineers of the Marine Corps | |
| 1918 | November 1st | Referent to the staff of the naval station "Baltic Sea" at the inspector of the submarine nature |
| 1919 | January 7th | Head of the surveying officers until April 4, 1919 |
| 5th of May | Commander of the survey ship 'HYÄNE' | |
| October 1 | Commander of the survey ship 'TRITON' | |
| 1920 | February 5th | Appointment as corvette captain |
| 1921 | 10th of July | Commander on the survey ship 'PANTHER' |
| 1924 | October 6th | Consultant for nautical charts and surveying at the nautical department of the naval management |
| 1926 | April 1st | Appointment as frigate captain |
| 21st September | Commander of the cruiser 'NYMPHE' | |
| 1928 | April 1st | Appointment as captain at sea on the cruiser 'NYMPHE' |
| 30. September | Fortress commander of Swinoujscie | |
| 1931 | September 27th | Farewell to the active service |
| 1933 | October 1 | Reactivation as a consultant in the nautical department of the naval management |
| 1939 | November 2 | Head of the Nautical and Scientific Department and Chief of the Naval Weather Service in the High Command of the Navy |
| 1941 | February 1st | Promotion to rear admiral |
literature
- Dermot Bradley (ed.): Germany's generals and admirals. Part 1: Hans H. Hildebrand, Ernest Henriot: Germany's Admirals 1849–1945. The military careers of naval, engineering, medical, weapons and administrative officers with admiral rank. Volume 1: A-G. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1988, ISBN 3-7648-2480-8 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Directory of German names in the Antarctic ( memento of January 23, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on May 11, 2010
- ↑ a b c d e f g Ranking list of the German Reichsmarine , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1929, p. 40
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Conrad, Fritz |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Conrad, Heinrich Friedrich (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German naval officer, most recently rear admiral in World War II |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 18, 1883 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Schwedt / Oder |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 1, 1944 |
| Place of death | Greifswald |