Werner Löwisch

Werner Löwisch (born February 22, 1894 in Eisenach , † June 6, 1971 in Neuchâtel ) was a German naval officer , most recently Vice Admiral of the Navy in World War II .

Career

Imperial Navy and First World War

Löwisch occurred on 1 April 1912 as a midshipman in the Imperial Navy ( Crew 12 ) a. He completed basic training and then basic training by March 31, 1913 on the large cruiser SMS Hansa used as a training ship . On April 12, 1913, he was appointed ensign at sea . He then went to the naval school in Flensburg - Mürwik for further training and, from April 1, 1914, completed special courses in artillery, infantry and torpedo. Training was by the outbreak of World War I interrupted and Löwisch knew from August 2, 1914 as a service on the scout ship in the Baltic Sea used Great cruiser SMS Roon . On March 22, 1915 he was promoted to lieutenant at sea . Then he was used from January 27, 1916 on the liner SMS Preußen . From September 3, 1916, he then took part in submarine training at the submarine school in Neustadt in Holstein and was made available to the II. U-Flotilla. From December 28, 1916, Löwisch was then officer on the watch on the submarine SM U 24 of the III. Commanded U-Flotilla. From October 28, 1917, he served on the SM U 4 , a boat of the U-Boot School, and from December 5, 1917, finally on the SM U 108 of the IV. U-Flotilla, each also as an officer on watch. On December 25, 1917 he was promoted to first lieutenant . Löwisch stayed on U 108 until the end of the war.

Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine

After the end of the war, Löwisch was initially made available to the IV. U-Flotilla from November 21, 1918, later made available for the inspection of the submarines. He then did again as an officer on watch from January 26, 1919, this time with the 7th Torpedo Half Flotilla. From March 1, 1919 to June 15, 1919 he took on the same position on the torpedo boat T 158 , which at the time was assigned to the 1st minesweeping semi-flotilla of the Baltic Sea. Then he led the command of this boat until July 13, 1920 and was then made available to the commander of the Baltic Sea forces and the ship cadre of the III. Assigned to flotilla. From August 23, 1920, he led a unit of the 6th half flotilla, later the 5th half flotilla, and then completed a course to become a surveyor on the survey ship Panther . From April 1, 1922, Löwisch then served on the ship as a watch, navigation and surveying officer . During this period of service, he was promoted to lieutenant captain on June 1, 1922. He then served from July 23, 1925 as adjutant to the chief of the naval command, Hans Zenker , before moving to the Alsace liner on September 28, 1927 as an officer on watch . He was then employed from September 23, 1929 to September 14, 1931 as an instructor at the Naval School in Mürwik. During this time he also served as a company commander at the naval school from September 23, 1929 to November 16, 1930 and was promoted to corvette captain on August 1, 1930 . After that, Löwisch was employed as a navigation officer on the liner Schleswig-Holstein from September 15, 1931 and was then appointed to the staff of the North Sea naval station from September 25, 1934 as 1st Admiral Staff Officer . From March 16 to August 26, 1936, Löwisch was also deputy chief of staff at this naval station. In this post he was promoted to frigate captain on October 1, 1935 and to sea captain on February 1, 1937 . From October 2, 1937, Löwisch took over the light cruiser Leipzig as commandant and was then from April 3, 1939 naval attaché at the German embassy in Rome . The beginning of the Second World War and the conference in Merano on February 13 and 14, 1941, at which leading officers of the Navy met with the Italian Admiralty for the first time to agree on joint naval warfare, also fell into this position. Löwisch was among the participants in this conference. On April 1, 1941, Löwisch was also promoted to Rear Admiral. From September 14, 1943, Löwisch was then made available to the German naval command in Italy and from October 3, assigned to the Croatian Naval Liaison Staff. In this position on July 1, 1944, he was promoted to Vice Admiral. From July 4 to 16, 1944, Löwisch was Commanding Admiral Adria , but was subsequently appointed commander of the German Naval Command in Italy. From January 1, 1945, he was still Commander-in-Chief of the Naval High Command South . On May 2, 1945, Löwisch was taken prisoner by the Allies, from which he was released on June 25, 1947.

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 .

Web links

• Short biography of Werner Löwisch (in English). In: Axis Biographical Research. Retrieved November 17, 2016 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ludwig Walter Regele: Meran and the Third Reich: A reading book. StudienVerlag. Innsbruck. 2007. Chapter: Naval War Command and Supermarina - the naval summit in Merano 1941 . ISBN 978-3-7065-5773-3 .