Friedrich Hüffmeier (Kunersdorf, 14 June 1898 - Münster, 13 January 1972) was a German Vice Admiral in the Kriegsmarine.

Military career

Hüffmeier joined the Imperial Navy during World War I on 16 September 1914, initially as a naval cadet at the

Mürwik Naval School The Naval Academy Mürwik (german: Marineschule Mürwik) is the main training establishment for all German Navy officers and in 1910 replaced the German Imperial Naval Academy in Kiel. ( which is now the seat of government or ''Landeshaus'' of ...

. He continued his training on board the large cruiser SMS Freya, and in December 1914 came on the battleship SMS Lothringen, where he was promoted to ensign at sea in 1915 and served until January 1916. Between September 1916 and March 1918, he was assigned to SMS Augsburg. Towards the end of the War, he served during 3 months as watch officer on the U-19. In the Second World War, Hüffmeier commanded the light cruiser Köln (from 1 May 1941 to 1 March 1942) and later the battleship Scharnhorst (from 31 March 1942 to 13 October 1943) with which he participated in

Operation Zitronella Operation Zitronella (Operation Lemon Flavour), also known as (Operation Sicily), was an eight-hour German raid on Spitzbergen, in the Svalbard Archipelago, on 8 September 1943. The battleships (in its only offensive action) and , plus nine de ...

. In October 1943, he was promoted

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

and was appointed until June 1944 head of the office of the ''Wehrgeistiger Führungsstab'' at the high command of the Kriegsmarine. This post, which could be compared to that of Political commissar in the Red Army, was responsible for maintaining morale and the National Socialist spirit among sailors. From 25 July 1944 to 26 February 1945, he was Island commander of the Channel Island

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

(''Inselkommandant Guernsey''). On 26 February 1945 until the end of the War, he succeeded his superior Lieutenant General

Rudolf Graf von Schmettow __NOTOC__ Rudolf Graf von Schmettow (8 January 1891 – 28 June 1970) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II, who was Commander of the German occupation forces of the Channel Islands and commander of the 319th Infantr ...

as fortress commander (''

Wehrmachtbefehlshaber The () was the German chief military position, in countries occupied by the Wehrmacht which were headed by a civilian administration. The main objective was military security in the area, and command the defense in case of attack or invasion. Th ...

'') of the Channel Islands.
Hüffmeier was involved in the planning of the Granville Raid, which took place on the night of 9 March 1945. He surrendered to the British Army on 9 May 1945 and remained in British captivity until 2 April 1948.

Sources

Special Camp 11
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hüffmeier, Friedrich 1898 births 1972 deaths Vice admirals of the Kriegsmarine Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I Reichsmarine personnel