Hans Michahelles

Hans Michahelles (born May 18, 1899 in Nuremberg , † June 14, 1975 in Hamburg ) was a German naval officer , most recently rear admiral in World War II .

Life

Michahelles joined the Imperial Navy on April 10, 1917 as an officer candidate and initially completed his training at the Mürwik Naval School in Flensburg - Mürwik and on the great cruiser SMS Freya . On September 14, 1917 he was transferred to the large liner SMS Baden and his appointment as ensign at sea on February 15, 1918. From June 10, 1918, Michahelles was sent to further courses at the naval school and was initially on leave after the end of the First World War . He then joined the 3rd Marine Brigade .

On July 1, 1920 he was taken over by the Reichsmarine and assigned to the ship master division of the Baltic Sea. From January 1, 1920 to September 30, 1923 he was there as a company officer in the service. In the meantime, they had Michahelles on July 30, 1920, Ensign , and on 1 April 1923, Lieutenant promoted. For six months he was a watch officer on the liner Hanover and then came to March 22, 1926 as a training officer on the small cruiser Berlin . From March 23 to September 22, 1926 Michahelles was used as commandant of the T 154 tender . He was then transferred to the 1st Torpedo Boat Flotilla in Swinoujscie as an officer on watch . From there he came to the Mürwik Naval School as a trainer and group officer from October 1, 1928 to March 31, 1929. This was followed by his transfer to Wilhelmshaven to inspect the naval artillery . Here he acted as a consultant to the inspector and as adjutant and came to the Eckernförde torpedo testing facility on September 24, 1929. There Michahelles was promoted to lieutenant captain on April 1, 1930 . From September 29, 1929 to October 3, 1933, he was a member of the 3rd torpedo boat semi-flotilla and subsequently commanded the torpedo boats Iltis and Wolf . Until March 31, 1937 Michahelles worked as a consultant for the inspection of torpedoes and mines as well as the inspection of torpedoes and was promoted to corvette captain on January 1, 1936 in the meantime . From June 2, 1937 to May 5, 1938 he acted as a navigational officer on the Schleswig-Holstein liner and was then transferred to the Navy Department of the High Command of the Navy as a consultant or general consultant . There he was promoted to frigate captain on August 1, 1939 and to sea captain on April 1, 1941 .

On August 28, 1943 Michahelles was appointed commander of the Gascony naval defense and promoted to rear admiral on October 1, 1944. In this position he was also from September 29 to October 8, 1944 fortress commander Gironde Estuary South and from October 9, 1944 to April 17, 1945 fortress commander Gironde Estuary North ( Royan ). On this day he fell into French captivity when the "fortress" fell , from which he was released on August 2, 1950. Shortly before the end of the war, on April 30, 1945, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his resistance .

literature

• Hans H. Hildebrand and Ernest Henriot: Germany's Admirals 1849-1945, Volume 2: HO (Habicht bis Orth) , Osnabrück 1989, ISBN 3-7648-2481-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 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. 543.