Walter Lohmann (Vice Admiral)

Rear Admiral Lohmann (1939)

Walter Georg Lohmann (born December 11, 1891 in Siegen , † April 13, 1955 in Hamburg-Bergedorf ) was a German naval officer, most recently vice admiral in World War II.

Life

He was the son of the later Secret Upper Government Council and Chamber President Ernst Lohmann . On April 1, 1910, Lohmann joined the Imperial Navy as a midshipman . After his basic training on land and on the large cruiser SMS Freya , he graduated from the Mürwik Naval School . In 1911 he became an ensign in the sea and in 1913 a lieutenant in the sea . After the outbreak of World War I , Lohmann was an adjutant and signal and radio telegraph officer on board the large cruiser SMS Prinz Heinrich until the end of August 1915 . He was then transferred to the submarine department and completed training at the submarine school. In the further course of the war, Lohmann was promoted to first lieutenant on March 22, 1916 , had various on-board commands and served from June 14, 1916 to November 10, 1917 as a flag lieutenant on the staff of the submarine commander. Briefly made available to the Second Submarine Flotilla, Lohmann went as an officer on watch from November 28, 1917 on the SM U 46 . On June 17, 1918, he was transferred to the staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the U-Boats as Second Admiral Staff Officer , where Lohmann served beyond the armistice . For his achievements during the war he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross , the U-Boat War Badge and the Hanseatic Cross of the City of Hamburg.

In the post-war months, Lohmann was initially involved in winding up the submarine commander's office, after a brief leave of absence he was assigned to the staff of the Baltic Sea Station and on September 10, 1920, he was transferred to the Mürwik Naval School as an inspection officer. Here he was promoted to lieutenant captain on January 1, 1921 and used as a company commander from March 17, 1922 to March 31, 1924 . Subsequently, Lohmann was transferred as an assistant to the Eckernförde torpedo testing facility. From mid-May to the end of September 1924, Lohmann was deputy adjutant and consultant for the Navy's educational inspection department . He came to the torpedo school , completed a course and was assigned to the Hessian ship tribe . With the return of the old ship of the line to service , Lohmann came on board as a torpedo officer and made various trips abroad in order to once again serve at the torpedo research institute for two years from September 21, 1926. Then Lohmann came to the naval training department (A III) in the naval command office (A) as a consultant for offspring officers and training issues and became a corvette captain on December 1, 1928 . He was transferred to the light cruiser Königsberg on September 26, 1931 and served as first officer for two years . Then he was transferred to the Reichsmarinstelle Hamburg. He was promoted to frigate captain on July 1, 1934 and to sea captain on January 1, 1936 .

From August 26, 1936 to June 19, 1937, Lohmann was in command of the light cruiser Emden , with which he traveled abroad for several months for training purposes. As part of the seventh training trip of the "Emden" as a cadet training ship with Commander Lohmann, the visit to the port city of Varna in Bulgaria took place from October 28 to November 1, 1936.

After that, he was head of the Königsberg Navy Department for three months and then became head of the Naval Budget Department (E) in the Navy High Command . After the beginning of the Second World War , Lohmann changed on October 13, 1939 as commander to the Naval School Mürwik and was promoted in this position to rear admiral on January 1, 1940 and vice admiral on March 1, 1942. From October 1, 1942 to February 22, 1945, Lohmann was Admiral of the Navy Service in Hamburg and at the same time commander of the Naval Aircraft Brigade North . He was then made available to the Commander-in- Chief of the Northern Naval Command and retired from active military service on April 30, 1945. On March 11, 1945, Lohmann received the German Silver Cross in recognition of his achievements .

Lohmann was married to Marguerite, nee Gruson.

Works

In the 1950s, together with Hans H. Hildebrand, he compiled the collective work Die deutsche Kriegsmarine 1939-1945 , in which he fully documents the organization and staffing of the Kriegsmarine:

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

See also

• List of commanders of the naval school (Kiel and Mürwik)

literature

• Dermot Bradley (eds.), Hans H. Hildebrand, Ernest Henriot: Germany's Admirals 1849-1945. The military careers of naval, engineering, medical, weapons and administrative officers with admiral rank. Volume 2: HO. Biblio Publishing House. Osnabrück 1989. ISBN 3-7648-1499-3 . Pp. 393-394.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ranking list of the German Reichsmarine , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium . ES Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1929. p. 44.
2. ↑ Klaus D. Patzwall , Veit Scherzer : The German Cross 1941-1945. History and owner. Volume II. Publishing house Klaus D. Patzwall. Norderstedt 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X . P. 549.