Günter Kuhnke

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Günter Kuhnke as captain lieutenant

Günter Kuhnke (born September 7, 1912 in Elbing ; † October 11, 1990 in Schortens ) was a German naval officer , most recently rear admiral of the German Navy .

Life

Prewar years

Kuhnke joined the Reichsmarine on April 7, 1931 as a candidate for naval officers and was assigned to the 2nd Ship Mastery Division of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund for his infantry basic training. Then Kuhnke was transferred to the sailing training ship Niobe on June 30, 1931 , where he began his practical training on board. On October 17, 1931, he switched to further training on the light cruiser Karlsruhe , where he was promoted to sea ​​cadet on April 1, 1932 . On April 1, 1934, while being appointed ensign at sea , he began his ensign training course at the Mürwik Naval School in Flensburg - Mürwik . From March 29, 1934 to September 25, 1934, various courses followed (ensign's intelligence course, ensign's torpedo course, ensign's blocked weapons course, ensign's anti-aircraft machine weapons course and ensign's artillery course). He also completed two navigation instruction trips in June and October 1933 on board the Weser tender .

After completing his ensign training, Kuhnke was transferred to the ship of the line Hessen , where he completed his on-board training. He then served as a division lieutenant on the armored ship Admiral Scheer , where Kuhnke was promoted to Oberfähnrich zur See on January 1, 1935 and to Lieutenant at sea on April 1, 1935 . On September 30, 1935 he switched to the submarine weapon and attended the torpedo school in Flensburg - Mürwik until December 21, 1935, as well as a subsequent torpedo officer course. Thereafter, Kuhnke was kept "available" by the commander of the submarines . On June 24, 1936 his transfer was carried out as a deck officer for the 2nd U-boat Flotilla "Saltzwedel" with the use as the first watch on 27 & . After further special courses in Kiel-Wik, Kuhnke , promoted to first lieutenant on January 1, 1937 , became commander of U 28 on October 28, 1938 .

Use in World War II

Patrols

U 28

  1. August 19, 1939 to September 29, 1939 (1 ship of 4,955 GRT sunk)
  2. November 8, 1939 to December 18, 1939 (2 ships with 10,277 GRT sunk)
  3. February 18, 1940 to March 23, 1940 (2 ships with 11,215 GRT sunk)
  4. May 20, 1940 to July 6, 1940 (3 ships of 7,203 GRT sunk)
  5. August 11, 1940 to September 17, 1940 (4 ships with 9,945 GRT sunk)
  6. October 12, 1940 to November 15, 1940 (1 ship with 5,389 GRT sunk)

U 125

  1. July 15, 1941 to July 28, 1941
  2. August 12, 1941 to November 6, 1941

During the attack on Poland , Kuhnke had set out on a patrol with U 28 in the North Atlantic, in the course of which he was able to sink a ship with 4955 GRT . By the end of 1939 Kuhnke, promoted to captainleutnant on October 1, 1939 , ran out a second time, where he succeeded in sinking two more ships with 10,277 GRT. By November 15, 1940 U 28 ran under Kuhnke's command for four more enemy voyages, with a total of ten ships with 52,084 GRT sunk. Two ships with 14,255 GRT were damaged. On September 19, 1940 received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross .

He gave up command of U 28 on November 16, 1940 and was transferred on February 3, 1941 to the building instruction for the U 125 under construction , which he put into service on March 3, 1941. With U 125 he ran to two enemy voyages in the mid-Atlantic by November 21, 1941, where he could not find any targets. On January 15, 1942 he was appointed chief of the 10th U-Flotilla in Lorient , where he was promoted to Korvettenkapitän on March 1, 1943 . When the flotilla was dissolved on August 27, 1944, Kuhnke briefly took command of the last submarine U 853 to sail and reached Flensburg on October 14 . There he took over command of the 33rd U-Flotilla until May 1945 .

Post-war years and service in the German Navy

In July 1945, Kuhnke was reactivated and assigned to the German mine clearance service, where he was a staff officer from July 23, 1945 to April 15, 1946.

Kuhnke as Rear Admiral with Federal President Heinrich Lübke in 1967

On November 16, 1955, Kuhnke joined the German Navy . On June 16, 1956, he was promoted to frigate captain . Of 14 July 1959 to 15 November 1960 he was commander of the destroyer 2 , a destroyer of Class 119 . Then he switched to the command of the Bundeswehr . From October 16, 1962 to October 1, 1964, he was a sea ​​captain , with promotion to July 27, 1961, chief of the destroyer flotilla .

Kuhnke was promoted to Flotilla Admiral on January 28, 1965 and appointed Deputy Commander of the Fleet . On April 1, 1966 he was promoted to Rear Admiral Head of the Naval Office . From here he retired on September 30, 1972.

Awards

literature

  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939–1945 - The knight's cross bearers of the U-boat weapon from September 1939 to May 1945 . ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg, ISBN 3-8132-0515-0
  • Clemens Range : The knight's cross bearers of the Navy . Motorbuch, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-87943-355-0

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv Holdings BM 25 ( Memento of the original from March 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / startext.net-build.de
  2. ↑ Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv Holdings BM 10 ( Memento of the original from March 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / startext.net-build.de
  3. ↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 1939-1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 483.
predecessor Office successor
Albrecht Obermaier Head of the Naval Office
1966–1972 		Günter Luther
personal data
SURNAME Kuhnke, Günter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Elblag
DATE OF DEATH October 11, 1990
Place of death Schortens