Karl von Bodecker

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Karl Friedrich Georg von Bodecker (born January 29, 1875 in Friedenthal , Osterode district in East Prussia , † October 20, 1957 in Bückeburg ) was a German naval officer , most recently Rear Admiral of the Navy .

Career

Imperial Navy and First World War

Bodecker joined the Imperial Navy as a cadet on April 16, 1894 . After basic training on the training ship SMS Stosch , he was appointed sea ​​cadet on May 13, 1895 . This was followed by his further ship training until April 14, 1896 on the training ship SMS Moltke and then theoretical training until September 30, 1897 at the naval school in Kiel. From October 1, 1897, Bodecker was on duty on the ironclad Oldenburg . On October 25, 1897 he was promoted to Unterleutnant zur See (renamed Lieutenant zur See on January 1, 1899). In the period from September 19, 1898 to March 25, 1899, he was initially a company officer in the 1st Sailor Artillery Battalion and then a watch officer on the training ship Moltke . On June 18, 1900 he was promoted to first lieutenant at sea . After his employment with SMS Moltke ended on March 25, 1901, Bodecker became an adjutant and inspection officer at the naval school. This was followed by a command as an officer on watch on the coastal armored ship SMS Hildebrand from September 30, 1902. From July 30, 1903 to September 17, 1903, Bodecker then briefly served as an officer on watch on the armored ship SMS Heimdall and then returned until September 23, 1904 back to SMS Hildebrand . Immediately afterwards, Bodecker was appointed head of the naval department in Berlin, and at the same time he was a lecturer at the high school fireworks. He held this post until September 30, 1907. In the meantime, on March 21, 1905, he was promoted to lieutenant captain.

This was followed by a period of service from October 1, 1907 to September 28, 1908 as second artillery officer on the large cruiser SMS Roon .

From September 29, 1908 to September 21, 1910, Bodecker was a teacher and company commander at the ship artillery school in Sønderborg . During this time he led briefly also the armored cruiser SMS Prinz Heinrich as commander (from 27 September to 2 October 1909). Two more ship uses followed. First from September 22, 1910 as a navigation officer on the liner SMS Elsass and then from October 3, 1911 to March 31, 1912 as a navigation officer or first officer on the liner SMS Schlesien . In the meantime he had been promoted to Corvette Captain on November 11, 1911 .

On April 10, 1914, Bodecker then traveled with the steamer Patricia to East Asia , where he took over the gunboat SMS Tiger as commandant on June 4, 1914 . During the mobilization at the beginning of the First World War , Bodecker switched to the gunboat SMS Jaguar on August 4th .

Together with the KuK cruiser Kaiserin Elisabeth , the jaguar was used during the siege by Japanese troops , for example when shelling Japanese positions. On October 4th, she got a direct hit in the bow. During these missions, Bodecker personally rescued a sailor from distress at sea, but then fell ill and was admitted to the hospital.

When the city's surrender could no longer be averted, the Jaguar was the last ship to be blown up in the port of Tsingtau on November 7, 1914. The crew was taken prisoner by Japan and was brought to Asakusa and transferred to the Narashino camp on Sept. 7, 1915 . Bodecker remained in the military hospital and then came with the main transport of the wounded on January 27, 1915, first to the hospital and later to the Osaka camp . On February 17, 1917, he was transferred to the Ninoshima camp.

Imperial Navy

In December 1919 he was released and in January 1920 he was appointed transport leader for German prisoners of war to Germany. He was promoted to frigate captain on January 30th (patent: October 14th, 1917) and on February 5th, 1920 to sea captain (patent: probably November 30th, 1919).

The transport began on January 28th and reached Germany on April 1st, 1920. As a result, Bodecker was initially briefly released and taken over into the Reichsmarine on July 9th . He initially served as a coastal district inspector in Wilhelmshaven and temporarily there as port captain (February 9 to March 31, 1921). From April 1, 1921 to August 15, 1921 he was first deputy commander , then later commander, of the personnel office of the North Sea naval station . Subsequently, from February 20, 1922 to September 27, 1923, he was employed as head of the Reichsmarinedienststelle Bremen . After that Bodecker stood for the use of the chief of the naval command and was finally retired on October 31, 1923 , at the same time he was given the character of rear admiral.

After his military career, Bodecker was temporarily head of the Bremen shipping company Weserlinie . From 1929 to 1937 he was golf director in Bad Eilsen . In 1938 he lived in Cologne and from 1939 in Bückeburg.

Navy

During the Second World War , after the German occupation of Ukraine , Bodecker was initially z. V. and was employed from July 15, 1941 as head of the building supervision for the shipyards Nikolajew , Cherson and Otschakow . From December 1, 1941, Bodecker was head of the Ostland Oberwerftstab in Reval and Riga . On July 1, 1942, he was named Rear Admiral z. V. and decommissioned on February 28, 1943. He then lived in Bückeburg, where he died in 1957.

Private

Bodecker married Gertrud Hoppenstedt (1888–1969) on July 28, 1921, and the couple had three children.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Seitz, Ludwig; The Tsingtau Post in Japanese Captivity: 1914-1920; Berlin 1998, p. 93
personal data
SURNAME Bodecker, Karl von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bodecker, Karl Friedrich Georg von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German rear admiral
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Friedenthal , Osterode district in East Prussia
DATE OF DEATH October 20, 1957
Place of death Buckeburg