Günter Kuhnke (7 September 1912 – 11 October 1990) was a German submarine commander during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and later a Konteradmiral with the Bundesmarine, West Germany's navy. He was a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

Career

Kuhnke commanded the , and , sinking eleven ships on nine patrols, for a total of of Allied shipping plus the special service vessel HMS ''Prunella''. He commanded '' 10th U-boat Flotilla'' from January 1942 until October 1944, then ''

33rd U-boat Flotilla ''33rd U-boat Flotilla'' ("33. Unterseebootsflottille") was a front-line unit of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. The flotilla was founded at Flensburg in September 1944 under the command of ''Korvettenkapitän'' Georg Schewe ...

'' until May 1945. Kuhnke joined Bundesmarine in 1955. commanded the destroyer ''Z-2'' (D171) (formerly USS ''Ringgold'' (DD-500)) from 14 July 1959 until 15 November 1960. In 1966, he was promoted to Konteradmiral (rear admiral) in 1966. Kuhnke retired from service in September 1972.

Awards

* Wehrmacht Long Service Award, 4th class (2 October 1936)Busch and Röll 2003, p. 67. * Iron Cross (1939) ** 2nd Class (29 September 1939) ** 1st Class (1 October 1939) * War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords (30 January 1944) *

on 19 September 1940 as '' Kapitänleutnant'' and commander of ''U-28''Fellgiebel 2000, p. 279. * Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (26 June 1969)Busch and Röll 2003, p. 68. * Grand Merit Cross with Star of the Federal Republic of Germany (30 September 1972)

References

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Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhnke, Gunter 1912 births 1990 deaths People from Elbląg Military personnel from West Prussia U-boat commanders (Kriegsmarine) Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Bundesmarine admirals Counter admirals of the German Navy