Paul Berndt (Vice Admiral)

Paul Berndt (born March 21, 1879 in Groß-Horst in Pomerania ; † September 10, 1941 in Ortwig im Oderbruch ) was a German naval engineer officer , most recently in the rank of a distinguished vice admiral in the Reichsmarine . He was one of the few German naval engineer officers who achieved this rank.

Career

Berndt joined the 2nd shipyard division of the Imperial Navy on October 1st, 1897 as a machinist apprentice . Until 1905 he went through various stations at the engineering and deck officers school and in on-board commands on ships of the high seas and on torpedo boats. This was followed by a use on the liner SMS Wettin from 1905 to 1906 as well as further courses at the engineering and deck officers school from 1906 to September 30, 1908, which were interrupted by an on-board command as a watch engineer of the 2nd Torpedo Division. The promotions during this period were: machinist (April 1, 1905), aspiring marine engineer (September 27, 1906) and aspiring marine engineer (October 1, 1907).

On October 1, 1908, Berndt was transferred to the 2nd Torpedo Division, where he was deployed as a chief engineer on various boats of the division from November 2 on. The promotion to marine engineer took place on November 10, 1908.

From October 1, 1911 to March 31, 1912, Berndt served as a company officer in the 2nd shipyard division and then traveled to East Asia until June 1912, where he held the position of chief engineer on the gunboat SMS Iltis for two years . During this time, on March 22, 1913, he was promoted to senior naval engineer. Immediately before the outbreak of World War I , Berndt returned to Germany and worked briefly on the small cruiser SMS Breslau after the outbreak of the war , before he was commanded as a flotilla engineer for the Turkish torpedo boat flotilla in Istanbul in September 1914 . He worked there until the end of the war and was promoted to naval staff engineer on April 26, 1917.

After the war, Berndt was until January 1921 for discussion provided. Nevertheless, during this time on October 18, 1919, he was promoted to lieutenant captain (Ing.). From January 1921 to September 8, 1923 Berndt belonged to the coastal defense department of the naval command and was promoted to Korvettenkapitän (engineer) on July 1, 1921 . This was followed by employment as an inspection engineer in the training department in the Reichsmarine until September 30, 1924. During this time, he was promoted to frigate captain (Ing.) On June 1, 1924. This was followed by a one-year service as a station engineer at the Baltic Sea station and then Berndt was a fleet engineer in the fleet command of the naval command until September 25, 1927. On November 1, 1925 he was promoted to captain at sea (Ing.). Until December 31, 1927, Berndt was available to the naval command and then took over the position of engineer officer in the naval command. At the same time he was also head of the military department for ship engine operations. During this period of service he was promoted to Rear Admiral (Ing.) On January 1, 1928. On September 28, 1933, Berndt was retired, and on September 30, he was given the status of Vice Admiral (Ing.).

Awards

During the First World War:

• Iron Cross , 2nd class (EK II)
• Iron Cross, 1st class (EK I)

Web links

• Short biography of Paul Berndt (in English). In: Axis Biographical Research. Retrieved September 16, 2017 .