Hans Erdmenger

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Hans Otto Erdmenger (born October 29, 1903 in Gersthofen , † December 28, 1943 in the Bay of Biscay ) was a German naval officer , most recently sea ​​captain in World War II and bearer of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross .

Life

Reichsheer and Reichsmarine

Erdmenger joined the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment in Munich on April 1, 1922 . Just one year later, on May 1, 1923, he moved to the 2nd Ship Mastery Department of the Reichsmarine . He received his on-board training on the sailing training ship Niobe and from July 2, 1924 on the small cruiser Berlin . During this time he was promoted to private (naval officer candidate) on October 1, 1923 . From March 30, 1924 to March 31, 1925, Erdmenger completed the main ensign course at the Mürwik Naval School , and on April 1, 1924 he was promoted to ensign at sea . From November 1, 1925, he served on the Kleiner Kreuzer Berlin , where he was promoted to lieutenant at sea on October 1, 1926 . On November 20, 1926, he was transferred to the light cruiser Emden , on which he served until December 31, 1929 and with which he was on his first long trip abroad (November 14, 1926 to March 14, 1928: Atlantic, Cape Town, Cocos Islands , Japan, Alaska, Cape Horn, Rio de Janeiro, Azores, Spain). During this time, on July 1, 1928, he was promoted to lieutenant at sea . From January 1, 1929, he served on the torpedo boat Kondor in the II. Torpedo Boat Flotilla. On November 5, 1930 Erdmenger was transferred to the staff of the commander of the ships of the line. After that, from November 4, 1932, he was a teacher and company officer at the torpedo and communication school in Flensburg - Mürwik . On June 1, 1934 Erdmenger was promoted to lieutenant captain.

Navy

On November 1, 1935, Erdmenger became the commander of the torpedo boat Jaguar and a year later, on November 1, 1936, the commander of the sister ship Wolf . Erdmenger was entrusted with security tasks in Spanish coastal waters with the Wolf in the course of the Spanish Civil War . From April to October 1937 he commanded the torpedo boat Albatros . On November 1, 1937, Erdmenger switched to the Torpedo-Erprobungs-Kommando as a consultant, where he was promoted to Corvette Captain on January 1, 1938 . From March 14th to June 9th, 1939 he took part in the building instruction for the destroyer Z 21 Wilhelm Heidkamp , whose first commander he became after the launch on June 10th, 1939.

At the German company Weserübungen , Z 21 belonged under Erdmenger to "Warship Group 1" under Commodore Friedrich Bonte and brought 200 mountain troops to Narvik on April 9, 1940 . During the first British counterattack on the port of Narvik on April 10, 1940, Z 21 was sunk by a torpedo hit by a British destroyer. 81 men on board died in the previous artillery battle, including Commodore Bonte. Erdmenger and the rest of his crew formed the "Marine Battalion Erdmenger" and occupied the port section from the "Malmkai" (Erzkai) to the general cargo port in Fagernes. From April 14, when the last of the ten German destroyers in Narvik had been destroyed, all of the approximately 2,600 remaining naval members were called in to defend the port and the ore railway from Sweden to Narvik, the majority of them in the Berger Marine Regiment .

Before the end of the fighting for Narvik, Erdmenger was transferred to the North Sea naval station on May 31, 1940 . On June 2, 1940, he became a consultant in the Torpedo Weapon Office Group in the Navy High Command . On November 3, 1940 Erdmenger was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his service in the Battle of Narvik on water and on land.

From July 22, 1941 he took part in the building instruction for the destroyer Z 28 , of which he became commander on August 9, 1941. With Z 28 he operated in the northern North Sea and off Norway. On March 1, 1942, he was promoted to frigate captain.

On March 18, 1943 Erdmenger became chief of the 8th destroyer flotilla, and his promotion to captain at sea took place on June 1, 1943. On December 28, 1943 he was on Z 27 in association with four other destroyers of his flotilla and six torpedo boats Photo of the Alsterufer blockade breaker in the Bay of Biscay . The formation was sighted by the British cruisers HMS Glasgow and HMS Enterprise and a battle broke out. The Z 27 and the two torpedo boats T 25 and T 26 were sunk. Erdmenger was also among the fallen.

Awards

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ In 1929 his report was published by the publishing house “Offene Wort”: Die Weltreise der neue “Emden” 1926–1928 .
  2. ↑ However, the ship had been sunk by Allied aircraft the day before.

literature

  • Manfred Dörr: The knight's cross bearers of the surface forces of the Navy 1939–1945. Volume I, letters A – K, pp. 147–149
personal data
SURNAME Erdmenger, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Erdmenger, Hans Otto (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer and commander of two destroyers in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH October 29, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Gersthofen
DATE OF DEATH December 28, 1943
Place of death Bay of Biscay