Wilhelm Meendsen-Bohlken

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Wilhelm Meendsen-Bohlken (born June 25, 1897 in Brake , † August 20, 1985 in Cologne ) was a German naval officer , most recently Vice Admiral in World War II , and commander of the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer .

Life

Meendsen-Bohlken began his military career on January 4, 1915 when he joined the I. Marine Division of the Imperial Navy as a war volunteer and officer candidate . He completed his ship training from February 4 to March 19 on the large cruiser SMS Freya and then from March 20, 1915 on the liner SMS Hessen . There he was appointed ensign at sea on September 18, 1915 and took part in the Battle of the Skagerrak with the ship . At the end of December 1916 he switched to the liner SMS Schlesien and on August 15, 1917, he was assigned as a lieutenant to the sea (since January 13, 1917) for a navigation course at the Mürwik naval school . From there, Meendsen-Bohlken switched to the submarine weapon and, after attending the submarine school and a mine course, was transferred to the 1st submarine flotilla on January 28, 1918, and was an officer on watch until March 6, 1918 SM U 80 used.

He spent the following time on various courses before he was again an officer on watch on June 4, 1918, this time on the SM U 117 . He remained there until November 23, 1918. After the end of the war, he was made available to the 1st submarine flotilla and released into the reserve on March 27, 1919 .

On November 11, 1919, he was reactivated and used as an officer on watch on the V 116 torpedo boat . In the same function Meendsen-Bohlken was commanded to the 1st half flotilla on September 1, 1920 and promoted to first lieutenant on January 10, 1921 . He stayed there until October 9, 1923, was at the same time flotilla adjutant from February 19, and on October 10, 1923, he moved to Swinoujscie as a naval intelligence officer . From there he came on September 21, 1924 as an adjutant to Coast Defense Division I and was transferred to the II. Torpedo Boat Flotilla on January 15, 1926. Subsequently, on September 23, 1926, he was assigned to the 4th torpedo boat semi-flotilla and was promoted to lieutenant captain on May 1, 1927 . As commander, Meendsen-Bohlken took over the torpedo boat Seeadler on September 27, 1928 and then took over the torpedo boat Wolf in the same function . From October 1, 1929 to March 31, 1931, he completed a guide assistant course and was then transferred to the naval command as a consultant in the air raid protection group in Berlin . On September 27, 1933, he took over the 3rd torpedo boat semi-flotilla as its boss and was promoted to corvette captain on October 1, 1934 . From October 3, 1935 to August 24, 1936, he was assigned to the Wehrmacht Academy, and on August 25, 1936, he began his service as 1st Admiral Staff Officer at the Staff Commander of the Reconnaissance Forces . Here on October 1, 1937, he was promoted to frigate captain . He was transferred to the High Command of the Wehrmacht as head of the Armaments Department on May 16, 1938, remained in this position after the outbreak of World War II and was promoted to captain on October 1, 1939 .

Meendsen-Bohlken was appointed commander of the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer on June 12, 1941 . As part of the Wunderland company in August 1942, the heavy cruiser only sank the old Arctic freighter Sibirjakow and shot at the Soviet naval base at Port Dikson with almost no effect . The company's actual goals were thus not achieved. On November 28, 1942, he gave up command and moved to the North African theater of war as Naval Commander Tunisia . There he received his promotion to rear admiral on February 1, 1943 and shortly afterwards on March 5, 1943 his appointment as commander of the German naval command in Italy . From May 18 to August 12, 1943, he was placed at the disposal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and then reinstated in his old position as Commander of the Italian Navy Command until July 16, 1944. He was promoted to Vice Admiral on June 1, 1944 and from July 31, 1944 until the end of the war, Meendsen-Bohlken worked as a fleet commander in the fleet command .

With the German surrender , he was taken prisoner by the US , from which he was released on December 5, 1946.

In 1949 Meendsen-Bohlken became head of administration of the Federal Association of German Industry in Cologne, which was being established at the time, and built up the department for defense matters there from 1952 to 1963.

Awards

literature

  • Hans H. Hildebrand, Ernest Henriot: Germany's Admirals 1849–1945. Volume 2: HO . Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1989, ISBN 3-7648-1499-3 , p. 454-455 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 533.
personal data
SURNAME Meendsen-Bohlken, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer and vice admiral in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH June 25, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Brake (Lower Weser)
DATE OF DEATH August 20, 1985
Place of death Cologne