Hans Rolshoven

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hans Rolshoven (born December 23, 1894 in Stralsund ; † May 6, 1918 near Dunkirk ) was a German naval aviator in the First World War .

career

Rolshoven had already passed his pilot's test on July 14, 1913 at the British Royal Aero Club . After the beginning of the First World War, he volunteered for the sea aviators and initially served as a midshipman at the sea flight station in Kiel-Holtenau . Towards the end of 1914 he reported to the front as a sea pilot in occupied Flanders , where OLt.zS Friedrich von Arnauld de la Perière had started the construction of the Flanders I seaplane station in Zeebrugge . There Rolshoven, meanwhile promoted to lieutenant at sea , flew numerous reconnaissance, bombing, salvage and rescue missions individually or as part of Seeflugstaffel III. After shooting down a British plane, he was officially awarded an aerial victory . On October 17, 1916, Rolshoven was seriously injured when he collided with another machine of his squadron. He used the long hospital stay that was required to write down his experiences at the Zeebrugge sea flight station and the sea flight squadron III. His notes were published as a book in 1937.

In September 1917, Rolshoven received the order to set up the new Seefrontstaffel I (Seefrosta I) as a squadron leader in Nieuwmunster (about 8 km south-west of Zeebrugge), which was intended to escort the heavy seaplanes. The first machines of the squadron made their first reconnaissance flight by October 21 at the latest. By October 28, the squadron already consisted of seven pilots, and 12 of its 15 aircraft were operational. They were fighter planes of the type Albatros DV , later the Fokker D.VII and Fokker D.VIII were added. Since all of the aircraft were wheeled, they had special inflatable floats in the hull in the event of a ditching at sea. Flight master Albin Bühl achieved the first victory in the air for a team member on December 18, 1917 .

Rolshoven died on May 6, 1918 when his plane crashed off Dunkirk in an accident in rough seas. He was buried in Zeebrugge. Leutnant zur See Reinhold Poss took over the command of the Seefrosta I. When the squadron was disbanded in August / September 1918 and divided into the newly established Marine Feldjasta IV and V, Poss became the leader of the Feldjasta IV.

Awards and honors

Rolshoven was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, Iron Cross 1st Class and the Hohenzollern Order with Swords .

The Air Force named an air traffic control ship launched in February 1937 after him, the Hans Rolshoven .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rolshoven obtained the “Aviators' Certificate” No. 560 on an Avro Tractor biplane at the Avro School at the Brighton-Shoreham Aerodrome ( The Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom, Official Notices to Members , August 2, 1913, p. 847 ) and was the first pilot ever to acquire his license there ( Shoreham's Awakening, in Flight , July 19, 1913, p. 790 ).
  2. ^ Norman LR Franks, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest: Above the Lines - The Ace and Fighter Units of German Air Service. Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914-1918. Grub Street, London, 1993, ISBN 0-948817-73-9

Web links

literature

  • Theo Emil Sönnichsen (ed.): Seeflieger in Flanders - from the diary sheets of Lieutenant Hans Rolshoven. Mittler and Son, Berlin, 1937
personal data
SURNAME Rolshoven, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval aviator in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH December 23, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Stralsund
DATE OF DEATH May 6, 1918
Place of death near Dunkirk , France