Robert Weber (naval officer)

Robert Weber (born January 17, 1905 in Schwanheim ; † November 12, 1944 off Tromsö ) was a German naval officer, most recently sea ​​captain and commander of the battleship Tirpitz in World War II .

Life

Family and education

Robert Weber was the second child of the Protestant pastor Paul Weber and his wife Anna, née Cuntz. After successfully passing his Abitur, Weber applied for a maritime officer candidate in the Reichsmarine at the end of March 1924 . Growing up near a large river, he developed a love for water and shipping as a child. After passing the entrance exam at the naval school, Weber was then assigned to the coastal defense department in Wilhelmshaven. There he was trained in field guns and in street fighting with hand grenades. On September 28th of the same year he came to the old ship of the line Braunschweig for his first practical on-board training . After six months the training was continued on the sailing training ship Niobe . The first foreign port, the Swedish Kalmar was called. But on July 12, 1925 Weber and most of the other pupils were transferred to the small cruiser Berlin . On September 9, the cruiser set out on a multi-month trip abroad to South America. Berlin was the first German warship to sail through the Panama Canal . The officer cadets received the equator baptism on the west coast of America. On the way south, the workplaces of the German East Asia Squadron under Vice Admiral v. Spee from the 1st World War visited. A wreath with the Iron Cross was handed over to the sea near the Falkland Islands, the place where the squadron sank. The return journey went via Buenos Aires , Montevideo , Rio de Janeiro to Vigo in Spain, where the written ensign examination was taken. Kiel was reached on March 22, 1926. A few days later, the oral ensign examination took place at the Mürwik naval school near Flensburg . Weber passed and was promoted on April 1st. This was followed by a year of training at the Mürwik Naval School. From March 24, 1927, he attended various weapons schools, followed by an infantry course in Stralsund and, finally, a special course - as a civilian - in Kiel / Holtenau to gain an insight into the conditions of sea flying. At the beginning of January 1928 he was transferred to the old ship of the line Alsace , promoted to senior ensign on May 1, and on October 1, 1928 appointed lieutenant at sea .

Military career

During his time in Alsace, Weber visited the Norwegian cities of Ulvik and Bergen in July 1928. In the severe winter that followed, the ship provided ice breaker services in the central Baltic Sea and freed dozen merchant ships trapped by the ice. As part of the fleet, the liner undertook a training voyage in Spanish waters and the Atlantic in April 1929. Weber left the ship on September 26, 1929 to become a company officer in the 1st Marine Artillery Department for two years. During this time he was promoted to first lieutenant at sea (July 1, 1930). He was then officer on watch for two years on the T 158 torpedo boat in the 2nd torpedo boat semi-flotilla. From September 30, 1933 to September 30, 1935 Weber taught as a teacher at the ship artillery school in Kiel-Wik. From this point on, he started his career as an artilleryman. Consequently, his next on-board command was the cruiser Königsberg , the flagship of the Commander of the Reconnaissance Forces (BdA). In February 1936 the ship moved to the artillery inspection and was used there as a school cruiser at the ship artillery school. Kapitänleutnant (since May 1, 1935) Weber was a watch and artillery officer on board the cruiser. In the summer of 1936, the Königsberg visited Helsingfors and temporarily took part in the exercises of the BdA Association in June. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War forced the Navy to use their school cruisers there. The cruiser left Kiel on November 25th and equipped u. a. the Spanish cities of El Ferrol , Cadiz , Tangier and Melilla . On January 15, 1937, the ship returned to Kiel and served again at the ship artillery school. In the summer of 1937 a training voyage took place in Norwegian waters. To change jobs in autumn, Weber left the cruiser to work as a teacher at the ship artillery school in Kiel until shortly after the outbreak of war. From September 6, 1939 to December 16, 1939 he was available for the inspection of the naval artillery. Then Korvettenkapitän (since August 1, 1939) Weber took over the post of 1st artillery officer on board the recently renamed cruiser Lützow .

In World War II

Corvette Captain Weber had his first martial test as part of the " Weser Exercise " company. The heavy cruiser Lützow was assigned to Warship Group 5, which had the occupation of the Norwegian capital Oslo as its goal. Lützow received three hits from artillery, which temporarily restricted the ship's combat readiness. There were six dead and 25 wounded on board. The first artillery officer, Korvettenkapitän Weber, fired a total of ten volleys with 27 shells of 28 cm caliber at the Oscarsborg fortress and the batteries in Dröbak . On the march back to Germany, the cruiser received a torpedo hit by a British submarine. The ship was badly damaged and towed to the shipyard in Kiel for repairs. After Weber's detachment, he served from May 27, 1940 to June 20 of the same year in the staff of Naval Artillery Regiment 24. After that, he was 1st Admiral Staff Officer at the Naval Commander-in-Chief in Northern France until December 3, 1940.

1st artillery officer and 1st officer of the battleship Tirpitz

One day later he was ordered to take a building instruction on the new battleship Tirpitz in Wilhelmshaven , in order to later hold the post of 1st artillery officer. On February 25, 1941, the newest and largest German battleship was solemnly put into service in Wilhelmshaven in heavy snowstorms by the commander, Captain zur See Topp . Robert Weber remained on board as first artillery officer until November 14, 1943. Up until then he took part in all of the ship's operations: the relocation of the Tirpitz to Trondheim in Norway in January 1942, the ship's attack on an Allied convoy in early March, during which it was attacked by several British carrier torpedo aircraft, and the operation against the Convoy PQ 17 in early July of the same year. Also in September of the next year in the attack on Svalbard, in which the battleship used its 38 cm heavy artillery against land targets for the first and last time. The guns were never used against sea targets. Two weeks later, Tirpitz in the Altafjord / Northern Norway was badly damaged by four ground mines laid by British micro-submarines and was not fully operational for several months. Probably for this reason, Frigate Captain (since June 1, 1943) Weber was posted on November 15, 1943 as a consultant for the naval artillery to inspect the naval artillery. From January 1944 he was admiral staff officer with Admiral Nordmeer. On May 5, 1944, he returned to the battleship Tirpitz. He took over the post of chief officer. In this function he was responsible for discipline on board and at the same time deputy to the commander. The ship has been continuously attacked by Royal Navy carrier aircraft since April and repeatedly hit by bombs. Repairs were completed in June, but more air strikes followed throughout the summer. After that, only the RAF attacked the ship with Lancaster bombers and special bombs weighing 5.4 tons, so-called " Tallboys ". Tirpitz was so badly damaged on September 15, 1944 that it was no longer seaworthy afterwards. Tirpitz moved to Tromso to be used as a stationary "floating battery" to repair the damage suffered. For this reason, material that was no longer required was taken off board. Mainly ship-technical personnel got out of the crew. From November 2nd, the subsoil began to be filled with rubble to prevent the ship from capsizing. The idea was that when hit Tirpitz would simply sink deeper into the bottom of the fjord.

Commander of the battleship Tirpitz and death

On November 4, 1944, Captain Wolf Junge left the Tirpitz and handed over command to his previous chief officer, Captain Robert Weber (since October 1, 1944). On November 12, 1944, the largest German battleship capsized, with high personnel losses, as part of Operation "Catechism" after hits by 5.4 ton bombs, thrown by Lancaster bombers of the 9th and 617th Squadron, under the command of Wing Commander JBTait. As a result of at least two direct hits, Tirpitz began to capsize to port. After the list had exceeded 70 degrees, Captain Weber gave the order “All hands off the ship!”. Immediately afterwards he tried to leave the battleship himself with the crew of the front battle command post. But the heavy armored bulkheads could not be opened. Only one officer of the estate managed to escape. The others, including the commandant, died a sailor's death.

reference

• Jens Grützner, sea ​​captain Ernst Lindemann - the Bismarck commander , Zweibrücken 2010, ISBN 978-3-86619-047-4 , pages 217-225
• Personnel file Robert Weber, German Office (WASt) Berlin
• Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, Hans-Otto Steinmetz "The German Warships", Ratingen without year

Individual evidence

1. ^ Jochen Brennecke “Battleship Tirpitz”, 4th edition, page 186, Herford 1982