Witold Rother
Witold Rother (born May 24, 1888 in Landsberg an der Warthe , † October 27, 1962 in Hameln ) was a German naval officer , most recently vice admiral in World War II .
Life
On April 1st, 1905, Rother joined the Imperial Navy as a midshipman and completed his basic training on the cruiser frigate SMS Stein . He then came to the Mürwik Naval School , where he was appointed ensign at sea on April 7, 1906 . From October 1, 1901 to September 14, 1910, service on board the ships of the line SMS Hessen and SMS Nassau followed . On September 28, 1908, he was promoted to lieutenant at sea . For two years Rother belonged to the II. Torpedo Division as a company officer; During this time he was repeatedly used as a watch officer on the torpedo boat V 185 . On September 5, 1911 he was promoted to first lieutenant at sea . On October 1, 1912, he was transferred to the mining department, where he served as commander of the torpedo boats S 74 and S 79 .
When the First World War broke out , he commanded the torpedo boat T 79 (ex S 79 ), which was renamed in September and served as a minesweeper. On April 24, 1916 he was promoted to lieutenant captain. From October 1, 1916 until after the end of the war, Rother was chief of the 11th minesweeping semi-flotilla. The 11th North Sea Minesweeping Half-Flotilla, later the 11th Half-Flotilla, was formed from the association, as its boss until September 24, 1921. He was then until September 26, 1923 2nd Admiral Staff Officer on the staff of the Commander in Chief of the Naval Forces of the North Sea. As a consultant, he was transferred to the inspection of torpedoes and mines as well as being promoted to corvette captain on January 1, 1925. From September 29, 1926 to September 25, 1928, Rother served as first officer on the small cruiser Amazone . He spent the next three years as a barrage officer in the Naval Weapons Department (BW) of the naval management . In this capacity he became a frigate captain on January 1, 1930 . From September 28, 1931 to May 20, 1937, Rother was the commander of the detachment attempt command in Kiel. During this time, he was promoted to captain at sea on April 1, 1932 and to rear admiral on January 1, 1937.
On May 21, 1937 he was appointed inspector of the barrage inspection . For a short time in August 1937 he was also appointed to represent the 2nd Admiral of the Baltic Sea Naval Station . Rother remained at his post after the beginning of World War II and was promoted to Vice Admiral on November 1, 1939 . On August 31, 1942, he was retired from active service, but the next day he was made available to the Navy and continued to be used as a civil servant officer. As such, Rother was active from October 19, 1942 as chief shipyard director or shipyard commander at the St. Nazaire naval shipyard . After the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht , Rother was taken prisoner in the United States , from which he was released on July 26, 1947.
Awards
- Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st class
- Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with swords
- Hanseatic Cross Hamburg
- War Merit Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st class with swords
- German cross in silver on September 22, 1942
literature
- Hans H. Hildebrand and Ernest Henriot: Germany's Admirals 1849–1945 Volume 3: P – Z (Packroß to Zuckschwerdt) , Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-2482-4
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Ranking list of the German Reichsmarine , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1929, p. 40
- ↑ Klaus D. Patzwall and Veit Scherzer : Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941–1945, History and Proprietor Volume II , Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt 2001, ISBN 3-931533-45-X , p. 554
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rother, Witold |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German naval officer, most recently vice admiral in World War II |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 24, 1888 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Landsberg on the Warta |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 27, 1962 |
| Place of death | Hamelin |