Commander of the Bergen Sea Defense

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The Commandant of the Sea Defense Bergen , or Seekommandant Bergen for short , was a regional coastal commander of the German Navy during World War II .

history

Destruction in Bergen after the explosion of the Vorboode ammunition ship on April 20, 1944

After the German occupation of Norway in April 1940, the Navy set up the office of the sea ​​commander Bergen , whose headquarters were in the city of the same name. She was subordinate to the Admiral of the Norwegian west coast .

The naval commander's area of ​​command initially extended from Cape Stadlandet to the Hardangerfjord . The neighboring naval command offices were Molde in the north and Stavanger in the south. In the course of the war, the borders with the sea commander Stavanger were adjusted several times in order to improve the uniform command of the coastal artillery.

On April 20, 1944, there was an explosion of explosives on an ammunition transporter in the port of Bergen, in which the sea commander Rear Admiral Walther Oehler was seriously wounded and an officer of his staff was killed.

Subordinate departments and associations

Kvarven fortress

The following units and offices were subordinate to the sea commander:

  • Port Captain Maaloey
  • Port Captain Floröy
  • Port Captain Askevold
  • Port captain / commander Bergen
  • Port Captain Leirvik ( Stord )
  • Port captain / -commander Haugesund, in the course of the war from sea commander Stavanger and back in 1945
  • Port captain Kopervik ( Karmøy ), from sea commander Stavanger during the war and back in 1945
  • Bergen harbor protection flotilla
A 28 cm gun from the battleship Gneisenau is transported to Fjell Fortress (1942/43)
  • Naval artillery department 504 (Gravdal), set up in April 1940 as the Bergen naval artillery department, from June 1940 naval artillery department 304 , final designation from July 1940
  • 31st Marine Flak Regiment (Bergen) from June 1940 to November 1940
    • Naval Flak Division 801 (Bergen), from Naval Flak Division 301
    • Navy Flaka Department 802 (Bergen)
  • Marine Flaka Division 801 (Bergen) from November 1940, merged with Marine Flaka Division 802 in January 1944
  • Navy Flaka Division 802 (Bergen) from November 1940, merged with Navy Flaka Division 801 in January 1944
  • 31st Marine Flak Regiment (Bergen), from October 1944
    • Merged Marine Flak Division 801 (Bergen) and Marine Flak Division 802 (Bergen)
    • Navy Flaka Department 822 (Bergen), from November 1944
    • 31st Marine Fog Division (Bergen), from November 1944
  • Marineartilleriezeugamt Bergen, from 1943 naval artillery arsenal
  • Marine equipment center in Bergen, part of the Bergen Navy shipyard from spring 1941

Further naval offices in the command area of ​​the sea commander Bergen

A number of naval offices were located in the area of ​​the sea commander Bergen that were not under his service, including:

  • Kriegsmarinewerft Bergen (→ Section Kriegsmarinewerft Bergen ) (at the Admiral of the Norwegian west coast)
  • Submarine Defense School, moved from Gofenhafen to Bergen from 1943 (later with the commander of the security forces)
  • Marine Hospital Bergen
  • Sea transport headquarters in Bergen (at the head of sea transport Norway)
  • Marine Intelligence Command Bergen
  • Naval Intelligence Officer Bergen

Bergen Navy Shipyard

After the occupation of Bergen, the Navy first set up a naval equipment station in Bergen , which was subordinate to the sea commander Bergen. In May 1941, the Bergen Navy Shipyard was founded and the naval equipment center was incorporated. She was subordinate to the Admiral of the Norwegian west coast . In June 1943 the shipyard was again converted into a Bergen Navy Arsenal, with part of the tasks being transferred to the Danzig shipyard.

The following officers were employed as chief shipyard director and from 1943 as arsenal commander:

Naval commanders

High officers, including the sea commander Bergen, frigate captain Dr. Moraht (2nd from left), visit the Fjell fortress

The following officers had the post of sea commander Bergen:

  • Sea captain Heinrich Ruhfus , April - August 1940
  • Captain Walther Strasser, August 1940 - May 1942
  • Sea captain Wilibald Schmidt, May - September 1942, later in command of the Tromso sea defense
  • Frigate Captain Robert Moraht , September 1942 - December 1943
  • Rear Admiral Walther Oehler, December 1943 - August 1944
  • Sea captain Ludolf von Hohnhorst , April - August 1944 (entrusted with the supervision)
  • Sea captain Georg Wildemann (later Chief of Staff at the Admiral of the Norwegian West Coast), August - September 1944 (deputy)
  • Rear Admiral Clamor von Trotha , September 1944 - January 1945
  • Sea captain Oskar Schomburg (former chief of staff at the Admiral of the Norwegian West Coast), January 1945 - dissolution of the agency

literature

  • Walter Lohmann , Hans H. Hildebrand: The German Navy 1939-1945 . Compilation in three volumes. OO 1956. Volume II, main chapter XII, chapter 3

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Walter Lohmann, Hans H. Hildebrand: The German Navy 1939-1945 . Compilation in three volumes. OO 1956. Volume II, main chapter XII, chapter 3, p. 5 f.
  2. ↑ Kulturminnesok, Kvarven fort og Kvarven luftvernbatteri (Norwegian) , accessed on April 23, 2020
  3. ↑ a b Walter Lohmann, Hans H. Hildebrand: The German Navy 1939-1945 . Compilation in three volumes. OO 1956. Volume II, main chapter XII, chapter 3, p. 4