Robert Eyssen

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Robert Eyssen (born April 2, 1892 in Frankfurt am Main , † March 31, 1960 in Baden-Baden ) was a German naval officer and rear admiral .

Life

Youth and entry into the Imperial Navy

Eyssen came from a patrician family in Frankfurt and joined the German Imperial Navy in 1911 as a midshipman . After the sinking of the small cruiser SMS Karlsruhe on November 4, 1914, he and the other 145 survivors were able to start the journey home with the escort ship Rio Negro under the leadership of the chief officer, Lieutenant Ferdinand Studt. Eyssen later served on torpedo and minesweepers as well as on the research vessel Meteor .

Second World War and command of the auxiliary cruiser Komet

When the Second World War broke out , he was a member of the High Command of the Navy , where he was head of the military department. On June 2, 1940, he took command of ship 45 (auxiliary cruiser Komet) in Hamburg as sea ​​captain . Eyssen had volunteered for this. On July 3, 1940, he set sail from Gotenhafen . He came to the Pacific through the Northeast Passage . There the ship crossed and operated, among other things, together with the Orion . After a meeting with the auxiliary cruiser Atlantis in the Pacific, the Komet set out on her return voyage, circumnavigated Cape Horn and arrived in Cherbourg, France , on November 26, 1941 . Then she crossed the English Channel and reached Hamburg on November 30th after 516 days. During this pirate voyage , the Komet participated in the sinking or landing of several ships, including the New Zealand passenger ship Rangitane . This results in a total of 64,540 GRT for the combat operations of the Comet and Orion together , or 43,162 GRT for the Komet alone. Furthermore, on December 27, 1940 , the Komet shelled the phosphate loading facilities on Nauru . Promoted to rear admiral in January 1941, he became a naval liaison officer to Luftflotte IV (Black Sea) in 1942. From August 1942 to July 1944 he was chief of the Oslo Naval Office. After that, until he left on April 30, 1945, he was in command of the Military District Command III in Vienna.

Eyssen received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on November 29, 1941 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Clemens Range: The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Navy (1974, page 70)
  2. ^ Jochen Brennecke: Black ships, wide seas - The mysterious journeys of German blockade breakers. 4th edition, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1975, ISBN 3-453-00103-6 , p. 36.
personal data
SURNAME Eyssen, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer and rear admiral
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH March 31, 1960
Place of death Baden-Baden