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Günter Hessler
Günter Hessler (14 June 1909 – 4 April 1968) was a German naval officer during World War II. He commanded the Type IXB U-boat , sinking twenty-one ships on three patrols, totalling of Allied shipping. Hessler was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and was commissioned after the war to write an account of the U-boat war by the British Ministry of Defence. Military career Günter Hessler joined the ''Reichsmarine'' of the Weimar Republic on 5 April 1927 as a member of "Crew 1927" (the incoming class of 1927). He underwent basic military training in the 8th company, 2nd department of the standing ship division of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund (5 April 1927 – 3 July 1927). Hessler was then transferred to the training ship SSS ''Niobe'' (4 July 1927 – 31 October 1927), attaining the rank of ''Seekadett'' (midshipman) on 1 October 1927. After more than 16 months aboard the light cruiser (1 November 1927 – 17 March 1929) he underwent officer c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steinhöfel
Steinhöfel is a municipality in the Oder-Spree district, in Brandenburg, Germany. Since the beginning of 2019 it belongs to the collective municipality " Amt Odervorland" In 1774, the Prussian Minister of War and Treasury Joachim von Blumenthal purchased the estate of Steinhöfel, including a manor that was later expanded into a castle. When von Blumenthal died, the estate was inherited by his daughter Charlotte von Massow, whose husband the Court Marshal Valentin von Massow commissioned a rebuilding of the manor by the architect David Gilly. The property was inherited in turn by the couple's son Valentin von Massow who had served with Wellington in Spain and as one of his adjutants at Waterloo. During the Seven Years' War, the castle's surroundings saw a brief visit by Frederick the Great resting his troops prior to the Battle of Kunersdorf. Later recreational visitors included Frederick William III of Prussia and Theodor Fontane who expressed considerable enthusiasm about the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Light Cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to this smaller cruisers had been of the protected cruiser model, possessing armored decks only. While lighter and smaller than other contemporary ships they were still true cruisers, retaining the extended radius of action and self-sufficiency to act independently around the world. Through their history they served in a variety of roles, primarily as convoy escorts and destroyer command ships, but also as scouts and fleet support vessels for battle fleets. Origins and development The first small steam-powered cruisers were built for the British Royal Navy with HMS ''Mercury'' launched in 1878. Such second and third class protected cruisers evolved, gradually becoming faster, better armed and better protected. Germany took a lead in small crui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oberleutnant Zur See
''Oberleutnant zur See'' (''OLt zS'' or ''OLZS'' in the German Navy, ''Oblt.z.S.'' in the ''Kriegsmarine'') is traditionally the highest rank of Lieutenant in the German Navy. It is grouped as OF-1 in NATO. The rank was introduced in the Imperial German Navy by renaming the former rank of ''Premier Lieutenant'' in 1890. Within the navy officers of this rank were simply addressed as ''Herr Oberleutnant''. To distinguish naval officers from those of the army, the suffix ''zur See'' (at sea) was added in official communications, sometimes shortened to ''z.S.'' (''Oblt.z.S.''). The rank has since been used by the ''Reichsmarine'', ''Kriegsmarine'', and ''Bundesmarine''. In the ''Volksmarine'' the rank was originally used in the same way until the suffix ''zur See'' was dropped. In the ''Kriegsmarine'' engineers (''Ingenieur – Ing.'') of the same rank were distinguished as ''Oberleutnant (Ing.)''. See also * Ranks of the German Bundeswehr The ranks of the German Armed Forces, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
U-boat Arm
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the and the , of the , the German armed forces from 1935 to 1945. In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, the grew rapidly during German naval rearmament in the 1930s. The 1919 treaty had limited the size of the German navy and prohibited the building of submarines. ships were deployed to the waters around Spain during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) under the guise of enforcing non-intervention, but in reality supported the Nationalists against the Spanish Republicans. In January 1939, Plan Z, a massive shipbuilding program, was ordered, calling for surface naval parity with the British Royal Navy by 1944. When World War II broke out in September 1939, Plan Z was shelved in favour of a crash building program for submarines (U-boats ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north. It is more than long and wide, covering . It hosts key north European shipping lanes and is a major fishery. The coast is a popular destination for recreation and tourism in bordering countries, and a rich source of energy resources, including wind and wave power. The North Sea has featured prominently in geopolitical and military affairs, particularly in Northern Europe, from the Middle Ages to the modern era. It was also important globally through the power northern Europeans projected worldwide during much of the Middle Ages and into the modern era. The North Sea was the centre of the Vikings' rise. The Hanseatic League, the Dutch Republic, and the British each sought to gain command of the North Sea and access t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naval Mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any vessel or a particular vessel type, akin to anti-infantry vs. anti-vehicle mines. Naval mines can be used offensively, to hamper enemy shipping movements or lock vessels into a harbour; or defensively, to protect friendly vessels and create "safe" zones. Mines allow the minelaying force commander to concentrate warships or defensive assets in mine-free areas giving the adversary three choices: undertake an expensive and time-consuming minesweeping effort, accept the casualties of challenging the minefield, or use the unmined waters where the greatest concentration of enemy firepower will be encountered. Although international law requires signatory nations to declare mined areas, precise locations remain secret; and non-complying individ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia established it on 17 March 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars (EK 1813). The award was backdated to the birthday (10 March) of his late wife, Queen Louise. Louise was the first person to receive this decoration (posthumously). Recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War (EK 1870), World War I (EK 1914), and World War II (EK 1939). During the 1930s and World War II, the Nazi regime superimposed a swastika on the traditional medal. The Iron Cross was usually a military decoration only, though there were instances awarded to civilians for performing military functions, including Hanna Reitsch, who received the Iron Cross, 2nd class, and Iron Cross, 1st Class, and Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, who received ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Battleship Gneisenau
''Gneisenau'' () was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of Nazi Germany's '' Kriegsmarine''. She was the second vessel of her class, which included her sister ship, . The ship was built at the ''Deutsche Werke'' dockyard in Kiel; she was laid down on 6 May 1935 and launched on 8 December 1936. Completed in May 1938, the ship was armed with a main battery of nine 28 cm (11 in) C/34 guns in three triple turrets. Plans were approved, once construction had started, to replace these weapons with six 38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 guns in twin turrets, but as this would involve a lot of redesign, construction continued with the lower calibre guns. The intent was to make the upgrade in the winter of 1940–41, but the outbreak of World War II stopped this. ''Gneisenau'' and ''Scharnhorst'' operated together for much of the early portion of World War II, including sorties into the Atlantic to raid British merchant shipping. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the Chancellor of Germany, chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of in 1934. During his dictatorship, he initiated European theatre of World War II, World War II in Europe by invasion of Poland, invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of Holocaust victims, about six million Jews and millions of other victims. Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz. He lived in Vienna later in the first decade of the 1900s and moved to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his Military career of Adolf Hitler, service in the German Army in Worl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Aviso Grille (1935)
''Grille'' was an aviso built in Nazi Germany for the ''Kriegsmarine'' (literally '''War Navy) in the mid-1930s for use as a state yacht by Adolf Hitler and other leading individuals in the Nazi regime. The ship received a light armament of three guns and was fitted to be capable of serving as an auxiliary minelayer. Completed in 1935, her experimental high-pressure steam turbines, which were installed to test them before they were used in destroyers, required significant modifications and the ship finally entered service in 1937. Over the next two years, she was used in a variety of roles, including as a training vessel and a target ship, in addition to her duties as a yacht. After the start of World War II in September 1939, ''Grille'' was used as a minelayer and as a patrol vessel in the Baltic Sea, tasked with searching for enemy merchant vessels. She collided with a German transport ship in January 1940 and after repairs, resumed minelaying duties in the North Sea, therea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aviso
An ''aviso'' was originally a kind of dispatch boat or "advice boat", carrying orders before the development of effective remote communication. The term, derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word for "advice", "notice" or "warning", an ''aviso'', was later adopted by the French and Portuguese navies to classify their medium-sized warships designed for colonial service. The term continued to be used in the French Navy to classify the patrol frigates until 2012, when the remaining ships of the class were reclassified as offshore patrol ships. It is equivalent to the modern use of "sloop" in other countries. Description The ''Dictionnaire de la Marine Française 1788–1792'' (by Nicolas-Charles Romme) describes ''avisos'' as "small boats designed to carry orders or dispatches". This use became obsolete with the development of means of communicating detailed information at a distance. French ''avisos'' used during World War I and World War II had displacements of 300–7 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-3956-05A, Frankreich, Lorient, U-107
, type = Archive , seal = , seal_size = , seal_caption = , seal_alt = , logo = Bundesarchiv-Logo.svg , logo_size = , logo_caption = , logo_alt = , image = Bundesarchiv Koblenz.jpg , image_caption = The Federal Archives in Koblenz , image_alt = , formed = , preceding1 = , preceding2 = , dissolved = , superseding1 = , superseding2 = , agency_type = , jurisdiction = , status = Active , headquarters = PotsdamerStraße156075Koblenz , coordinates = , motto = , employees = , budget = million () , chief1_name = Michael Hollmann , chief1_position = President of the Federal Archives , chief2_name = Dr. Andrea Hänger , chief2_position ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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