Hans Karl Meyer

Hans Karl Meyer (born December 1, 1898 in Stolzenhagen , † January 23, 1989 in Hamburg ) was a German naval officer , rear admiral of the navy and most recently flotilla admiral of the German navy .

Life

Meyer joined the Imperial Navy on January 2, 1917 as a volunteer with the prospect of a career as a naval officer during the First World War . After his basic and sea training, including on SMS Freya , he was transferred to the battle cruiser SMS Seydlitz in June 1917 , where he served until the end of the war . His achievements were honored by being awarded the Iron Cross II. Class and the Navy Wound Badge in black.

After the war, Meyer was initially placed at the disposal of the Navy's educational system and was given leave of absence from mid-December 1918 to early February 1919. He initially joined until the end of May 1919 the Freikorps "von Brandis" and was then a second time on leave. On September 10, 1919 he came to the III. Marine Brigade under Corvette Captain Wilfried von Loewenfeld and took part with her in battles in the Ruhr area . He lost his left arm from a serious wound. After the association was dissolved, it was taken over by the Reichsmarine on June 1, 1920 .

Meyer belonged to the ship's master detachment of the Baltic Sea for a few months, was promoted to lieutenant in the sea on July 30, 1920 , and on October 24, 1920, he was transferred to the staff of the Baltic Sea naval station as an orderly officer . This was followed from June 30, 1921 as an officer on watch with the 2nd torpedo boat semi-flotilla in Swinoujscie . In this function, Meyer became first lieutenant on April 1, 1923 . As such, he was a member of the Hessian ship tribe from December 29, 1924 to January 5, 1925 . He then acted as adjutant and FT officer on the liner . During this time Meyer took part in several training trips, which he a. a. to Spain , the Canaries and Portugal . On October 1, 1928, he was transferred to the 1st Torpedo Boat Semi-Flotilla, where he was subsequently used as commander of the G 10 and T 185 torpedo boats , and was promoted to lieutenant captain on January 1, 1930 .

Meyer was a consultant from September 29, 1930 to September 29, 1933 at the inspection of torpedoes and mines in Kiel and then completed his assistant driver training at the Naval Academy . After successful training, Meyer was appointed head of the 2nd torpedo boat flotilla and promoted to corvette captain on October 1, 1935. From July 15, 1937, he worked as a military teacher at the Naval Academy for two years and was then transferred to the staff of the Naval Group Command West as 1st Admiral Staff Officer . In this function Meyer advanced to frigate captain on August 1, 1939, and to sea captain on February 1, 1941 . He rose in the course of the Second World War on June 6, 1941 to Chief of Staff of the Naval Group Command West. On December 13, 1942, he took over as commander of the light cruiser Cologne . After a submarine attack, the ship had to be taken out of service for repairs. Meyer then gave up his command and was appointed commander of the battleship Tirpitz on February 25, 1943 . From May 1, 1944, he was briefly available to the Naval High Command of the Baltic Sea or the Naval War Command , was promoted to Rear Admiral on June 1, 1944 and was appointed Chief of the Operations Department of the Naval War Command at the Naval High Command on June 29, 1944 . Meyer held this position after the end of the war until July 22, 1945 and was then a prisoner of war , from which he was released on February 24, 1946.

He then worked as a hotel manager, among other things .

Meyer was one of six admirals in the Kriegsmarine who were accepted into the German Navy. On April 16, 1957, he began his service as a flotilla admiral in the Federal Ministry of Defense , where he was assigned to the Navy Department . This was followed by a year-long assignment as commander of the Naval Academy from mid-September 1957 . After their incorporation into the command academy of the Bundeswehr in Hamburg on October 1, 1958, Meyer was commander of the naval department there. He held this post until his departure on December 31, 1960.

Meyer later worked from October 21, 1966 to March 31, 1975 as deputy federal commissioner for the maritime offices .

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 2: HO. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1989, ISBN 3-7648-1499-3 , pp. 482-483.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Reichswehr Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsmarine. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1929, p. 48.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Werner Huck: Obituary. In: MOH-MOV-DMI-Nachrichten 5-1989. P. 34f.