Gerhard Wagner (Admiral)
Gerhard Wagner (born November 23, 1898 in Schwerin ; † June 26, 1987 in Altenkirchen ) was a German naval officer , most recently rear admiral of the German Navy .
Life
Wagner joined the Imperial Navy on July 4, 1916 during the First World War as a volunteer with the prospect of a career as a naval officer . He was initially at the Naval School Mürwik , completed his basic training and came on November 1, 1916 on the large-scale ship SMS Prinzregent Luitpold . There, Wagner was on 26 April 1917. Midshipman appointed and on 18 September 1918 Ensign promoted. He spent the last weeks of the war on SMS König Albert .
From January to June 1919 Wagner was active in the Freikorps Potsdam and then took a leave of absence from military service. On April 1, 1921, he was accepted into the Reichsmarine as an orderly officer of the II. Division of the North Sea ship master division . After various assignments, Wagner joined the naval command at the end of July 1933 and was later a member of the naval command as a consultant in the operations department . At the same time, Wagner was also a member of the German-Italian military mission in Spain in November / December 1936. On October 4, 1937, as corvette captain, he was given command of the destroyer Z 1 Leberecht Maass .
Wagner action
At the beginning of the Second World War , Wagner was a naval attaché in Madrid . The Wagner campaign was named after him: From January to August 1940, 300 tons of strategic raw materials, mainly tungsten , were exported from Spain to the German Reich . The export was offset against weapons, mercenary and transport services supplied by the German Reich by SOFINDUS . After September 1, 1939, aircraft parts were still delivered to Spain. The export share to the German Empire from Spain, which increased during the Spanish Civil War , was mainly exported by sea. When the war began, the Allies tried to block this sea transport. During the Wagner campaign, ships of the merchant navy of the German Empire that were in Spanish ports were flagged out and some of them were transferred to Juan March .
surrender
During the Second World War, Wagner became head of the operations department of the naval command . At the end of the war, Wagner and the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Hans Georg von Friedeburg, visited the British Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery , and after authorization from the last Reich President, Karl Dönitz, agreed the partial surrender of the Wehrmacht for northwest Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands on May 4, 1945.
post war period
In the post-war period, Wagner was a member of the Naval Historical Team in Bremerhaven, which worked on the war experience of German naval forces for the US Navy . In this context, the report Soviet anti-submarine warfare potential (A historical summary of soviet anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations during World War II) was created in 1949 , in which he describes the operations of the German submarines U 9, U 18, U 19, U 20, U 23, U 24, U 576, U 752, U 986 and U 997 in the years from 1942 to 1945. In 1951, Critique on Vice-Admiral Eberhard Weichold 's essay on 'German surface ships - policy and operations in World War II' was written (promulgated in ONI GHS / 4) . In this context, two studies, known as the Bremerhaven or Wagner memoranda, arose on the establishment of a new German navy ( establishment of a German naval contingent as part of German participation in the defense of Western Europe , so-called Wagner memorandum, March 1951, and statements by the German naval expert, rear admiral ret. Gerhard Wagner on questions relating to the German naval contribution , February 8, 1952).
Federal Navy
In the German Navy, Wagner was deputy to inspector Friedrich Ruge . He was the first flag officer to hold the integrated NATO position of Commander Naval Forces Baltic Approaches (COMNAVBALTAP) (1961 to 1962), initially Commander Allied Naval Forces Northern Area Central Europe (COMNAVNORCHENT). In this function he held the temporary rank of Vice Admiral .
literature
- Dermot Bradley (eds.), 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 3: P-Z. Biblio Publishing House. Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-2482-4 , pp. 500-501.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Christian Leitz Economic Relations Between Nazi Germany and Franco's Spain Page 120
- ↑ Chris The Royal Navy and German Naval Disarmament, 1942–1947 p. 120.
- ↑ Evidence ( Memento of the original from April 25, 2012 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. of the reports for the Naval Historical Team in the Federal Archives , on startext.net-build.de, viewed June 24, 2010
- ↑ Proof ( memento of the original from September 25, 2015 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. of the writings for the amphibious group in the Federal Archives, on startext.net-build.de, seen June 24, 2010
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wagner, Gerhard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German naval officer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 23, 1898 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Schwerin |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 26, 1987 |
| Place of death | Altenkirchen (Westerwald) |