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Engelbert Endrass
Engelbert Endrass (german: Engelbert Endraß) (2 March 1911 – 21 December 1941) was a German U-boat commander in World War II. He commanded the and the , being credited with sinking 22 ships on ten patrols, for a total of of Allied shipping, to purportedly become the 23rd highest claiming U-boat commander of World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. It was Germany's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to Endrass. Early life and career Endrass began his naval career in April 1935. After some months on the cruiser and service on escort ships, he was assigned in October 1937 to the U-boat force. He joined in December 1938 as ''Leutnant zur See''. World War II Engelbert Endrass was Watch Officer when his commanding officer, Günther Prien penetrated the defences at Scapa Flow attack and sank the battleship in October 1939. The snorting bull emblem on ''U-47''s conning tower was painted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bamberg
Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. Cited as one of Germany's most beautiful towns, with medieval streets and Europe's largest intact old city wall, the old town of Bamberg has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. From the 10th century onwards, Bamberg became a key link with the Slav peoples, notably those of Poland and Pomerania. It experienced a period of great prosperity from the 12th century onwards, during which time it was briefly the centre of the Holy Roman Empire. Emperor Henry II was also buried in the old town, alongside his wife Kunigunde. The town's architecture from this period strongly influenced that in Northern Germany and Hungary. From the middle of the 13th century onwards, the bishops were princes of the Empire and ruled Bamberg, overseeing the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auxiliary Cruiser
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in long distance and high value trade. In more modern times, auxiliary cruisers were used offensively as merchant raiders to disrupt trade chiefly during both World War I and World War II, particularly by Germany. While armed merchantmen are clearly inferior to purpose-built warships, sometimes they have scored successes in combat against them. Examples include East Indiamen mimicking ships of the line and chasing off regular French warships in the Battle of Pulo Aura in 1804, and the sinking the Australian light cruiser in their battle in 1941, although ''Kormoran'' was also destroyed and had to be scuttled. Pre-20th century East Indiamen of various European countries were heavily armed for their long journeys to the Far East. In parti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convoy HG 76
HG 76 (19 to 23 December 1941) was an Allied convoy of the HG (Homeward from Gibraltar) series, during the Second World War. It was notable for the destruction of five German U-boats (the true total was not known to the British until after the war). Two Focke-Wulf Condor long-range reconnaissance aircraft were shot down by Martlet fighters. The fighter cover was provided by the escort carrier , which was sunk during the voyage along with a destroyer and two merchant ships. Despite the loss of the escort carrier, it was regarded as the first big convoy victory for the Allies in the Battle of the Atlantic. Background The attack on HG 76 was the last in a series of U-boat pack attacks on Gibraltar convoys which had started in the summer of 1941. Before this the U-boat Arm (, UBW) had only enough boats operational to form one patrol line at a time and their focus was on the North Atlantic convoy route. Gibraltar convoys had suffered only occasional adventitious attacks by indivi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kętrzyn
Kętrzyn (, until 1946 ''Rastembork''; german: link=yes, Rastenburg ) is a town in northeastern Poland with 27,478 inhabitants (2019). Situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (since 1999), Kętrzyn was previously in Olsztyn Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Kętrzyn County. The town was named after historian Wojciech Kętrzyński in 1946. The first settlement was established in 1329 and Rastenburg was granted town rights and privileges in 1357. Over the centuries it was part of the Teutonic State, Poland and East Prussia in Germany. The town is known for the surrounding Masurian Lakeland and numerous monuments of historical value such as the Wolf's Lair in nearby Gierłoż, where an assassination attempt against Hitler was made in 1944. History The original inhabitants of the region were the Balt tribe of the Aesti, mentioned by Tacitus in his ''Germania'' (AD 98). The town, known in German as ''Rastenburg'' and in Polish as ''Rastembork'', was establish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolf's Lair
The ''Wolf's Lair'' (german: Wolfsschanze; pl, Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II. The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the small village of Görlitz in Ostpreußen (now Gierłoż), about 8 kilometres (5 miles) east of the small East Prussian town of Rastenburg (now Kętrzyn), in present-day Poland. Being one of the most heavily guarded places in the world, the central complex and the ''Führer'''s bunker was surrounded by three security zones guarded by two SS units: the ''SS-Begleitkommando des Führers'', and the ''Reichssicherheitsdienst''. The ''Wehrmacht''s armoured ''Führerbegleitbrigade'' was held in readiness nearby but, as a part of the '' Heer'''s elite ''Großdeutschland'' Division, was used to counter-attack Red Army break-throughs in Army Group Centre's front and rescue cut-off ''Heer'', ''Luftwaffe'' '' Fallschirmjager'' and SS panzer troops. The most notable event that oc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Führer Headquarters
The ''Führer'' Headquarters (german: Führerhauptquartiere), abbreviated FHQ, were a number of official headquarters used by the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and various other German commanders and officials throughout Europe during the Second World War.Raiber, Richard, ''Guide to Hitler's Headquarters, After The Battle, No. 19'', Introduction and p. 1. The last one used, the ''Führerbunker'' in Berlin, where Hitler committed suicide on 30 April 1945, is the most widely known headquarters. Other notable headquarters are the ''Wolfsschanze'' (Wolf's Lair) in East Prussia, where Claus von Stauffenberg in league with other conspirators attempted to assassinate Hitler on 20 July 1944, and Hitler's private home, the '' Berghof'', at Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden, where he frequently met with prominent foreign and domestic officials. Introduction At the beginning of World War II there were no permanent headquarters constructed for the ''Führer''. Hitler visited the frontlines using ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convoy HX 79
HX 79 was an Allied North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It suffered major losses from a U-boat attack, and, with the attack on convoy SC 7 the previous day, represents the worst two days shipping losses in the entire Atlantic campaign. Prelude HX 79 was an east-bound convoy of 50 ships which sailed from Halifax on 8 October 1940 making for Liverpool. On 19 October, 4 days from landfall, HX 79 was entering the Western Approaches, and had caught up with the position of SC 7, which was under attack. The escort for the crossing had been meagre, being provided by two armed merchant cruisers against the possibility of attack by a surface raider, but these had departed when HX 79 was sighted by , commanded by ''Kapitänleutnant'' Günther Prien. At this point HX 79 was unescorted; Prien sent a sighting report and set to shadowing the convoy, while ''Konteradmiral'' Karl Dönitz ordered the pack to assemble. Those U-b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convoy SC 7
SC 7 was the code name for a large Allied World War II convoy of 35 merchant ships and six escorts, which sailed eastbound from Sydney, Nova Scotia, for Liverpool and other United Kingdom ports on 5 October 1940. While crossing the Atlantic, the convoy was intercepted by one of the first ''Kriegsmarine'' submarine wolfpacks. During the ensuing battle, the escort was completely overwhelmed and 20 of the 35 cargo vessels were sunk and 2 more damaged, with 141 lives lost. The disastrous outcome of the convoy demonstrated the German submarines' potential of being able to work more efficiently using wolfpack tactics and the inadequacy of British anti-submarine tactics at the time. Ships of the convoy The slow convoy SC 7 left Sydney, Nova Scotia on 5 October 1940 bound for Liverpool and other British ports. The convoy was supposed to make but several merchant ships were much slower, necessitating a further reduced speed. The convoy consisted of older, smaller ships, mostly with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Harvester (H19)
HMS ''Harvester'' was an H-class destroyer originally ordered by the Brazilian Navy with the name ''Jurua'' in the late 1930s, but bought by the Royal Navy after the beginning of World War II in September 1939. Almost immediately after being commissioned, in May 1940, the ship began evacuating Allied troops from Dunkirk and other locations in France. Afterwards she was assigned to the Western Approaches Command for convoy escort duties. ''Harvester'' and another destroyer sank a German submarine in October. She was briefly assigned to Force H in May 1941, but her anti-aircraft armament was deemed too weak and she was transferred to the Newfoundland Escort Force in June 1941 for escort duties in the North Atlantic. The ship was returned to the Western Approaches Command in October 1941 and was converted to an escort destroyer in early 1942. ''Harvester'' was torpedoed and sunk in March 1943 by a German submarine after having rammed and sunk another submarine the previous d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mull Of Kintyre
The Mull of Kintyre is the southwesternmost tip of the Kintyre Peninsula (formerly ''Cantyre'') in southwest Scotland. From here, the Antrim coast of Northern Ireland is visible on a calm and clear day, and a historic lighthouse, the second commissioned in Scotland, guides shipping in the intervening North Channel. The area has been immortalised in popular culture by the 1977 hit song "Mull of Kintyre" by Kintyre resident Paul McCartney's band of the time, Wings. Etymology The name is an anglicisation of the Gaelic Maol Chinn Tìre (), in English: "The rounded r bareheadland of Kintyre", where chinn and tìre are the genitive forms of ceann ''head'' and tìr ''land, country'' respectively. The English variant ''Cantyre'' derives from the phrase ceann tìre "head land". Mull as a geographical term is most commonly found in southwest Scotland, where it is often applied to headlands or promontories, and, often more specifically, for the tip of that promontory or peninsula. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.24 million. On the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, Liverpool historically lay within the ancient hundred of West Derby in the county of Lancashire. It became a borough in 1207, a city in 1880, and a county borough independent of the newly-created Lancashire County Council in 1889. Its growth as a major port was paralleled by the expansion of the city throughout the Industrial Revolution. Along with general cargo, freight, and raw materials such as coal and cotton, merchants were involved in the slave trade. In the 19th century, Liverpool was a major port of departure for English and Irish emigrants to North America. It was also home to both the Cunard and White Star Lines, and was the port of registry of the ocean li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Dunbar-Nasmith
Admiral Sir Martin Eric Dunbar-Nasmith, (1 April 1883 – 29 June 1965) was a Royal Navy officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was born Martin Eric Nasmith, adding "Dunbar" to his surname in 1923. Early life and education Nasmith was born on 1 April 1883 at 136 Castelnau in Barnes, which was then in the county of Surrey and is now in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Early career Educated at Eastman's Royal Naval Academy in Winchester and HMS ''Britannia'' at Dartmouth, Nasmith joined the Royal Navy in 1898. On 8 May 1912, King George V was in HMY ''Victoria and Albert'' in Weymouth Bay to witness Fleet manoeuvres. Because of heavy fog, the programme was disrupted, and the King expressed the desire to dive in a submarine. He embarked on HM Submarine ''D4'', under then Lieutenant Nasmith's command, and (in the words of ''The Times'' of 10 Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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