Commander of the Naval Defense Reval

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The commandant of the naval defense Reval , in short Seekommandant Reval (first Seekommandant Q , later Seekommandant Estonia and Seekommandant Baltic Islands ), was a regional coastal commander of the German Navy during World War II .

history

Unloading of supplies in the port of Reval, 1941
Soviet conquest of the islands of Moon and Ösel in 1944

In the spring of 1941, the Navy made organizational preparations for the German attack on the Soviet Union ( Operation Barbarossa ). For this purpose, the staffs of several sea ​​command offices were set up, which were initially only designated with a letter and without geographical reference. For this, the department of belonging commander of the naval defense Q , in turn, the Marine commander D was assumed. The staff was set up in the Danzig area, relocated to Cranz in East Prussia in June 1941 and to Reval in October / November 1941 , combined with the renaming of Seekommandant Reval , and finally to Haljala , east of Reval.

The area of ​​command extended from the Latvian - Estonian border along the Baltic coast to Hungerburg on the Narva . It included the Baltic islands .

The subordination changed in November 1941 under the newly established Admiral Ostland , from February 1943 commanding Admiral Ostland , and from February 1944 under the commanding Admiral Eastern Baltic Sea .

After the incorporation of the Maritime Command R in February 1944, the staff was renamed Commandant of the Naval Defense Estonia . With this merger, the area of ​​responsibility expanded to the east to the main battle line . In the further course of the war the Estonian mainland was lost until September 1944. Therefore, the staff was renamed Commandant of the Sea Defense Baltic Islands at that time and moved to Arensburg Castle and later briefly to Mõntu . With the loss of these islands, the agency was dissolved in December 1944.

Subordinate departments and associations

The port of Reval on the day of the German occupation on September 1, 1941

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

  • Port Commander Reval
  • Marine Artillery Department 530 (Reval, temporarily subordinate to Maritime Commander R)
  • Naval Artillery Department 531 (from around September 1944)
  • Marine artillery department 532 (Reval from April 1942, temporarily subordinated to sea commander R)
  • Marine-Flak -Abteilung 239 (October 1941 - April 1942 Reval; change of position under Seekommandant R, relocation to Tytärsaari , relocation in February 1944, retreat to Ösel)
  • Marine Flak Division 711 (Reval)
  • Reval Naval Equipment Station
  • Naval Artillery Arsenal Reval (from September 1942, initially Marine Artillery Department)
  • Naval Operations Department Ostland (from around September 1944, dissolved December 1944)

Naval commanders

  • Frigate Captain Robert Terfloth, May - November 1941 (suicide)
  • Sea captain Heinrich Jörss, November 1941 - November 1943
  • Sea captain Erich von Dresky, representation in February 1944
  • Sea captain Walter Mulsow, February - December 1944

literature

  • Walter Lohmann , Hans H. Hildebrand: The German Navy 1939-1945 . Compilation in three volumes. OO 1956. Volume I, main chapter VIII, chapters 7 and 9

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 VIII, chapter 7, p. 7 f.
  2. ↑ a b Walter Lohmann, Hans H. Hildebrand: The German Navy 1939-1945 . Compilation in three volumes. OO 1956. Volume II, main chapter VIII, chapter 9, p. 4 f.