Rolf Thomsen

Rolf Thomsen (born May 6, 1915 in Berlin ; † March 26, 2003 in Bonn ) was a German flotilla admiral in the German Navy .

Life

Navy / Air Force

Thomsen entered the Navy on April 1, 1936 as a candidate for sea officer . His infantry basic training took place at the 2nd ship master department of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund . Immediately afterwards, he began his practical on-board training on board the Schleswig-Holstein liner and the M 89 minesweeper . In the meantime, Thomsen completed several weapons and specialty courses and an ensign course at the Mürwik Naval School . On May 1, 1937 he was promoted to ensign at sea .

From October 1, 1938 to August 30, 1939, Thomsen, who has meanwhile been appointed senior midshipman for the sea with effect from July 1, 1938 , completed training as a sea pilot at the Bug Aviation School on Rügen . On October 1, 1938, he was promoted to lieutenant at sea . With the beginning of the Second World War on September 1, 1939, Thomsen became an aircraft observer of the coastal flight squadron 1./106 and took part in enemy flights against England and the occupation of Norway . During one of these flights he was slightly wounded by enemy fire. In between, from October 1, 1939, Thomsen also took on the role of 1st Admiral Staff Officer at the Air Command in Wilhelmshaven - Sengwarden . In this capacity he was also appointed lieutenant at sea on October 1, 1940 .

In the Balkan campaign on April 1, 1941, Thomsen became deputy commander and 1st admiral staff officer in Coastal Aviation Group 125 of Air Fleet 1 . After the attack on the Soviet Union , the area of ​​operations of this coastal aviation group expanded to the Crimea . During this time Thomsen experienced the battle for Sevastopol and the freezing of the fronts in the winter crisis of 1941/1942. On April 1, 1942, Thomsen was transferred to Norway, where he was appointed agent for the air torpedo weapon . Under his leadership, parts of Kampfgeschwader 26 were converted into torpedo squadrons. In this capacity, Thomsen was promoted to captain of the Luftwaffe on July 1, 1942 .

On March 1, 1943, Thomsen was transferred back to the Navy by the Air Force and at the same time was appointed lieutenant captain. From April 1, 1943, he completed submarine training in Norway, followed by boat training from January 27, 1944, in order to become commander of U 1202 from September 1944 . Thomsen went on two patrols with U 1202 .

The first from October 30, 1944 to January 1, 1945 did not involve any sinking. Thomsen was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on January 4, 1945 for his achievements in the Navy and the Air Force . On its second and last patrol from March 3 to April 26, 1945, U 1202 was able to sink a ship with 7,146 GRT. On April 29, 1945 he received the oak leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. From April 26, 1945 to June 2, 1945 Thomsen acted as head of the submarine base in Bergen . He was then interned from June 3, 1945 to February 9, 1946 in a British POW camp near Bergen.

armed forces

Thomsen joined the Blank office on June 1, 1952 as a marine advisor and became a member of the permanent delegation of the Interim Committee of the European Defense Community . In 1955 he became one of the first soldiers in the newly founded Bundeswehr and was appointed corvette captain on November 9, 1955 . After a brief activity as assistant officer for naval aviation issues in the Federal Ministry of Defense in Bonn , he was transferred to the navy on January 2, 1956, at SHAPE , based in Paris , where he served on the staff of the German military representative and was promoted to frigate captain on March 21, 1957 has been. Following his work in Paris, Thomsen returned to Germany and transferred to the Baltic Sea Section Command.

From 1 January 1961 to October 1, 1963 Thomsen was first again auxiliary officer in the Ministry of Defense, was then a staff officer with the Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces to then adjutant of the Federal Defense Minister Kai-Uwe von Hassel to be. Promoted to Flotilla Admiral on January 6, 1966 , Thomsen returned to Paris, where he became head of German representatives on the NATO Special Committee . At the same time he was head of the German delegation of the nuclear planning group . On October 1, 1966, Thomsen was transferred to the NATO SHAPE command, where he acted as the German national representative. In the last two years of his service, Thomsen was commander of the North Sea Marine Division from April 1, 1970 to March 31, 1972 , only to be retired on April 1, 1972. He was the holder of the Great Federal Cross of Merit .

literature

• Manfred Dörr: The knight's cross bearers of the submarine weapon 1939-1945. Volume II: L-Z. Pp. 307-309.