Helmuth Brinkmann

Helmuth Brinkmann (born March 12, 1895 in Lübeck , † September 26, 1983 in Dießen ) was a German vice admiral in World War II .

Life

Early years and World War I

After graduating from high school , Brinkmann joined the Imperial Navy as a midshipman on April 1, 1913 and, after completing his basic training , completed his practical on-board training on the great cruiser Vineta by March 1914 . Here he was appointed ensign at sea on April 3, 1914 . After attending an officers' course at the Mürwik Naval School , Brinkmann was transferred to the ship of the line Kaiser Friedrich III on August 7, 1914 after the outbreak of the First World War . detached, where he remained until January 1915. He then served on the liner Emperor Charlemagne until March 5, 1915 . Subsequently, until the end of October 1915, he was employed as a radio engineer on board the small cruiser Regensburg , where he was appointed lieutenant at sea on September 18, 1915 . On October 29, 1915, Brinkmann was transferred to the torpedo weapon , where he was deployed as an officer on watch on various torpedo boats until the end of the war and was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross .

Interwar years

In December 1918, Brinkmann transferred to the V 130 torpedo boat as a watch officer and adjutant , where he was promoted to first lieutenant in the sea of the Reichsmarine on January 7, 1920 . On July 31, 1920, he was promoted to commandant of the T 144 tender , which he then commanded until the end of September 1922. Then Brinkmann commanded the three torpedo boats G 7 , G 10 and S 18 of the I. Torpedo Boat Flotilla in Swinoujscie until February 1925 . On February 10, 1925, he was assigned as a company commander of the ship master division of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund , where he worked as a consultant from September 1926 to the beginning of October 1928. Here he was promoted to lieutenant captain on May 1, 1925 . From October 3, 1928 to November 5, 1930 Brinkmann served as Second Adjutant in the command of the Baltic Sea Naval Station in Kiel . On November 6, 1930, Brinkmann was posted to the light cruiser Königsberg , on which he served as a navigation officer until the end of 1932 . On January 1, 1933 to lieutenant commander promoted Brinkmann joined the Defense Ministry to Berlin , where he worked as a consultant until the end of March 1935th On May 20, 1935 Brinkmann was appointed commander of the Avisos Grille , which he commanded until May 6, 1938. In this position he was promoted to frigate captain on January 1, 1937 .

Second World War

On May 9, 1938, he was transferred to the High Command of the Navy (OKM), where Brinkmann served as head of the Navy Defense Department from October 1938 through the beginning of World War II until the end of July 1940. Here on October 1, 1938, he was promoted to captain at sea . On August 1, 1940, Brinkmann was appointed first in command of the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen . Under his command was the Prinz Eugen u. a. Involved in the company Rheinübungen and Cerberus . When Brinkmann wanted to speak to the Marine Group Command West in Paris after the Prinz Eugen returned to Brest , the entire staff, except for one officer, was excused. They wanted to wait and see how the naval war command would comment on Brinkmann's decision to break off the operation. At lunchtime, the commandant found the clip for the Iron Cross First Class under the napkin. Already appointed Rear Admiral on September 1, 1942 , Brinkmann was awarded the German Cross in Gold on March 25, 1942 . On August 4, 1942, Brinkmann gave command of the Prinz Eugen to Wilhelm Beck . The following day Brinkmann was appointed Chief of Staff at the Marine Group Command South .

On November 22, 1943, Brinkmann was appointed Commanding Admiral Black Sea . There he succeeded Gustav Kieseritzky and was initially a. a. responsible for supplying the army in the southern section of the eastern front . Later, his subordinate associations distinguished themselves in the evacuation of the Crimean peninsula and then took on security tasks on the Romanian coast . Here Brinkmann was promoted to Vice Admiral on February 1, 1944 and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on May 17, 1944 . After Romania's declaration of war on the German Reich on August 25, 1944, the area of ​​command around Brinkmann dissolved. The post of Commanding Admiral Black Sea was dissolved on November 9, 1944 in Pilsen and Brinkmann was appointed naval liaison officer of Mountain Army High Command the following day . He then held this post until December 21, 1944.

On January 6, 1945 Brinkmann was appointed 2nd Admiral of the Baltic Sea . At the same time he also acted as II. Admiral of the North Sea from April 20, 1945, as a result of the merger of these two departments into the new department II. Admiral of the Baltic Sea / North Sea. From May 31, 1945 to November 29, 1947 Brinkmann was in British captivity.

literature

• Dermot Bradley (eds.), Hans H. Hildebrand, Ernest Henriot, Markus Rövekamp: Germany's Admirals 1849–1945. The military careers of naval, engineering, medical, weapons and administrative officers with admiral rank. Volume I: A-G. Biblio-Verlag 1988, ISBN 978-3-7648-2480-8 , pp. 171-172.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Reichswehr Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsmarine. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1929, p. 46.
2. ↑ Hartmut Nöldeke: The medical service in the German fleet in the Second World War. Mittler Verlag 2003, ISBN 978-3-8132-0803-0 , p. 99. Outline available at google.books
3. ^ Paul Schmalenbach: Heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Heyne Verlag, 1978, p. 164.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 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. 244.