Hermann Kraushaar

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lieutenant Captain Hermann Kraushaar

Hermann Kraushaar (born May 23, 1881 Voerde , German Empire ; † June 14, 1917 near Vlieland , Netherlands ) was a German naval officer and airship commander. He was a bearer of the Iron Cross, first and second class.

history

Hermann Kraushaar was born on May 23, 1881 in Haus Ahr in Voerde. He embarked on an officer career in the German Navy. 1909 created Lieutenant Hermann Kraushaar of the book Aerial warfare ( Air War ) of the English author Richard Patrick Hearne an authorized translation. At that time he was an adjutant at the 1st Marine Artillery Department in Kiel . On March 22, 1910 he was promoted to lieutenant captain. From 1913 he served as an auditor on the SMS Hansa .

During the First World War , Lieutenant Hermann Kraushaar took command of various zeppelins . His first officer was always Lieutenant at Sea Ernst Zimmermann. They operated from bases in Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel , Hage , Tønder , Friedrichshafen and Ahlhorn . They completed their 56 trips with the following airships:

  • L 6 from April 15, 1916 to May 1, 1916 (9 trips)
  • L 9 from June 10, 1916 to July 14, 1916 (14 trips, from July 2 from Tønder)
  • L 17 from August 10, 1916 to December 28, 1916 (22 trips from Tønder)
  • L 43 from March 15, 1917 to June 14, 1917 (11 trips)

Bombing of Nottingham

On the night of 23 to 24 September 1916, Kraushaar flew an attack on England in the Zeppelin L 17 . Between 22 and 23 o'clock he reached the coast of Lincolnshire . At around 1 a.m. he bombed Nottingham . The lighting at the Midland Railway station helped locate a suitable destination. 34 incendiary bombs were dropped in the attack. Three residents died and sixteen were injured. Several houses and a Methodist church were destroyed. The Haddon factory and a warehouse were also affected. The L 17 turned over Lincoln and returned to the base. In his report, Kraushaar is said to have stated that he bombed Sheffield , which is 50 km north of Nottingham.

Naval battle

On May 4, 1917, Kraushaar attacked an anti-submarine patrol with the Zeppelin L 43 off the Scottish coast, which consisted of the four English destroyers HMS Obdurate , HMS Nepean , HMS Pelican and HMS Pylades and the English light cruiser HMS Dublin and the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney . In order not to be hit by the anti-aircraft guns , the zeppelin flew at a very high altitude out of the range of the guns. For this reason, the bombs dropped also missed their target. After both the zeppelin and the ships had completely used their ammunition, the fight ended without a hit on either side.

Last drive

On the night of June 13-14, 1917, Kapitänleutnant Kraushaar set off on its last journey in the Zeppelin L 43. On June 14th at 5:36 am he reported that he had reached the lightship off the island of Terschelling . A short time earlier, at 5:15, the English Lieutenant Basil Deacon Hobbs took off from Felixstowe in a Curtiss H12 seaplane . On board were the gunner Sub-Lieutenant Robert Frederick Lea Dickey, the radio operator HM Davies and the engineer AW Goody. When they reached Vlieland at 8:40 a.m., they were flying at 500 feet. They discovered the Zeppelin L 43 at 1,500 feet (approx. 450 m), which was flying north. They got up and headed for the stern. The L 43 took them under fire with tracer ammunition . As they passed the stern, Dickey fired the Lewis machine gun loaded with Brock-and-Pomeroy ammunition into the hull of the zeppelin. After two hits, the zeppelin exploded. Hermann Kraushaar and his 23-man crew died.

Works

  • The aerial warfare , Berlin 1909

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hermann Kraushaar's tombstone at grabsteine-ostfriesland.de
  2. ^ Airship commanders of the German Empire
  3. ^ Research on SMS Hansa at Marine Archiv
  4. ^ Leutnant zur See Ernst Zimmermann
  5. ↑ Lieutenant Hermann Kraushaar
  6. ↑ http://www.frontflieger.de/2-l043.html
  7. ↑ CHESTERFIELD WFA NEWSLETTER Number 19 , September 2016, pp. 25–26 ( online )
  8. ↑ HMAS Sydney versus a Zeppelin
  9. ^ Jon Guttman: Zeppelin vs British Home Defense 1915-18 , March 2018, ISBN 978-1472820334 , p. 60
personal data
SURNAME Kraushaar, Hermann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer and airship commander
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Voerde , German Empire
DATE OF DEATH June 14, 1917
Place of death near Vlieland , Netherlands