Karl-Heinz Marbach

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Karl-Heinz Gerhard Albin Marbach (born July 5, 1917 in Kolberg , Pomerania Province , † September 27, 1995 in Bonn ) was a German naval officer in World War II . Most recently he had the rank of lieutenant captain . As commander of U 953, he sank a ship with 1,927 ts on eight patrols. From 1950 to 1959 he headed from West Berlin a network financed by the Central Intelligence Agency for the production and distribution of propaganda magazines in East Germany.

education

Marbach joined the Navy on April 3, 1937 as a sea ​​officer candidate and received his infantry basic training in the 2nd Company of the 2nd Ship Mastery Department of the Baltic Sea. From June 16, 1937, his practical on-board training began on the sailing training ship Horst Wessel , on which he was appointed sea ​​cadet on September 21, 1937 . This was followed by on-board training on the light cruiser Emden from September 24, 1937 . There Marbach was promoted to senior seaman on October 4, 1937 and to senior staff officer on January 1, 1938. On April 30, 1938, he began the ensign course at the Mürwik Naval School , and on May 1, 1938, he was promoted to ensign at sea . After completing the course on November 25, 1938, Marbach completed a navigation instruction trip on board the training ship Paul Benecke . From January 5, 1939 to February 22, 1939, he completed various courses, such as the ensign communication course, the ensign torpedo course, the ensign blocking course and the ensign artillery course, followed by a renewed on-board command on the light cruiser Leipzig . On April 12, 1939, he temporarily switched to the light cruiser Nürnberg , but returned to the Leipzig on June 5, 1939 , where he was promoted to Oberfähnrich zur See on July 1, 1939 and to Lieutenant at sea on August 1, 1939 .

Second World War

Patrols

U 101

  1. May 28, 1941 to July 4, 1941 as II. WO
  2. August 7, 1941 to September 4, 1941 as II. WO
  3. October 4, 1941 to November 16, 1941 as II

U 953

  1. May 13, 1943 to July 22, 1943
  2. October 2, 1943 to November 17, 1943
  3. December 26, 1943 to February 20, 1944
  4. March 30, 1944 to April 1, 1944
  5. April 23, 1944 to April 26, 1944
  6. May 22, 1944 to May 28, 1944
  7. June 6, 1944 to June 18, 1944
  8. June 24, 1944 to July 22, 1944 (1 merchant ship with 1,927 ts sunk)

As part of the attack on Poland in September 1939, Marbach was involved in two companies in the North Sea on board the Leipzig , from September 3 to 7 and from September 18 to 20, 1939. The priority of the Leipzig was laying mine barriers Involved in the east coast of England and the trade warfare in Skagerrak and Kattegat . From September 30, 1939, Marbach was temporarily employed as an assistant clerk at the Fleet Command, but was transferred to the battleship Gneisenau in October 1939 , on which he served until June 21, 1940. Then Marbach switched to the submarine weapon.

On October 15, 1940, he began his training with the 1st submarine training division in Flensburg-Mürwik and then completed various special courses in torpedo, intelligence and artillery. Then Marbach was commanded as a second watch officer on U 101 , which was under the command of lieutenant commander Ernst Mengersen . On the three patrols in which Marbach took part on this boat, two ships with 11,644 GRT and a destroyer with 1,190 ts were sunk in the North Atlantic. On September 1, 1941, Marbach was promoted to lieutenant at sea . At the end of 1941 Mengersen left U 101 and Marbach, meanwhile 1st officer on watch, acted from January 1, 1942 to February 3, 1942, representing the commander on board U 101 . There were no patrols during this time. Friedrich-Wilhelm Bothe became commander of U 101 on February 4, 1942 and held this position until March 31, 1942. On April 1, 1942, Marbach left U 101 and became a commanding student of the 24th U-Flotilla and then commander of the U training boats 28 and U 29 .

On November 30, 1942, Marbach was delegated to the building instruction for U 953 , whose commander he became on December 17, 1942. In a total of eight patrols, Marbach was only able to sink one ship, on July 5, 1944 in the English Channel the British merchant ship Glendinning with 1,927 GRT . On July 22, 1944, Marbach received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross . While he was in Berlin to receive the Knight's Cross from the BdU , Brest and the submarine base there were surrounded by American troops so that he could not return to his boat; Oberleutnant zur See Herbert A. Werner took over the boat.

On September 1, 1944, Marbach was promoted to captainleutnant , and on September 20, 1944, he began building instruction for U 3014 at AG Weser in Bremen , of which he was appointed commander on December 17, 1944. U 3014 was a new Type XXI boat, but did not go on patrols until the end of the war. The boat was self-scuttled by its crew on May 3, 1945 , according to the long-standing Rainbow Order . Marbach came into British captivity in Horten ( Norway ) on May 9, 1945 , from which he was released on February 21, 1948.

Psychological warfare

From 1950 Marbach acted as head of the West Berlin front company Cramer Werbung , which produced propaganda publications based on East German weekly and monthly magazines and distributed them via a network in East Germany. Code name of u. a. LCCASSOCK was the project supported by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1956 with US $ 3000 per month . After the end of funding from the CIA, which in the end carried 76% of the project costs, Marbach worked briefly for the Federal Intelligence Service in 1960 and then for 20 years for the Federal Ministry of Defense as a consultant in the field of psychological warfare .

Working group for national defense

Marbach was a member of the national defense working group , and in 1983 its managing director.

Awards

literature

  • Manfred Dörr: The knight's cross bearers of the submarine weapon 1939–1945 Volume II, letters K – Z, pp. 98–100

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b LCCASSOCK BASIC PAPERS AND FINANCIAL VOL. 2_0029.pdf. Central Intelligence Agency , October 19, 1956; accessed February 22, 2015 .
  2. ^ Meeting with AFL business manager Karl-Heinz Marbach. Central Intelligence Agency , May 10, 1983, accessed February 22, 2015 .
  3. ↑ HQS traces on Karl-Heinz Marbach. Central Intelligence Agency , May 26, 1983, accessed February 22, 2015 .
  4. ^ Working Group for National Defense (AFL). Central Intelligence Agency , February 10, 1983, accessed February 22, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Marbach, Karl-Heinz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Marbach, Karl-Heinz Gerhard Albin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH July 5, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Kolberg , Pomerania Province
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 1995
Place of death Bonn