Naval Commander Denmark

The Naval Commander-in-Chief of Denmark was established in April 1940 after the German occupation of Denmark in World War II as the command authority of the Navy with its headquarters in Copenhagen . In March 1943 she was named Commanding Admiral Denmark , and in April 1944 she was renamed Commanding Admiral Skagerrak . The commander was subordinate to the naval station of the Baltic Sea in Kiel .

history

The naval commander was initially only responsible for the location matters of the navy troops stationed in Denmark, which were otherwise subordinate to the naval stations of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea depending on their location . In the course of the war this double subordination was abandoned, and the forces were subordinated to the Naval Commander in Chief Denmark in all respects.

After the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht on May 8, 1945, the office initially remained. The commanding admiral acted on instructions from the Allies as the commander of the German naval forces in Denmark until August 4, 1945 and was responsible for their repatriation.

Subordinate departments

The navy forces stationed in Denmark were initially divided into the two sections of the Danish west coast and northern Jutland. In addition, there were some directly subordinate port masters. In October 1942 the third section of South Jutland and the Danish Islands was formed.

After the reorganization in October 1942, the command area of ​​the naval commander in chief or commanding admiral was structured as follows:

• Directly subordinate departments
  • Naval fortress pioneer staff Denmark (Copenhagen / Esbjerg / Frederikshavn ) from 1943
  • Kriegsmarine Dienststelle Copenhagen , transformed into sea transport chief Skagerrak in 1944
    • Department Aarhus
    • Aalborg Navy Service
  • 7th flight reporting department (Copenhagen / Aarhus) from 1944
• Sections (1942–1944)
  • Section of the Danish west coast
  • North Jutland section
  • South Jutland and Danish Islands section

In April 1944, the sections were converted into naval command offices and re-cut:

• Commander of the Maritime Defense of South Jutland
• Commander of the North Jutland Naval Defense
• Commander of the Danish Islands Naval Defense

Navy commanders and commanding admirals

The following flag officers were entrusted with the management of the service:

• Admiral Raul Mewis from April 1940 Naval Commander Denmark , from February 1943 Commanding Admiral Denmark
• Vice Admiral / Admiral Hans-Heinrich Wurmbach from March 1943 Commanding Admiral Denmark , from April 1944 Commanding Admiral Skagerrak until August 1945

Known relatives

• Friedrich Wilhelm Lübke , later Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, from 1942 to 1945 head of the Aarhus department of the Copenhagen Navy Department with the rank of lieutenant commander .

literature

• Walter Lohmann , Hans H. Hildebrand: The German Navy 1939-1945 . Compilation in three volumes. OO 1956

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Walter Lohmann, Hans H. Hildebrand: The German Navy 1939-1945 . Compilation in three volumes. OO 1956. Volume II, main chapter XI, p. 1 ff.