Günter Kuhnke (7 September 1912 – 11 October 1990) was a German submarine commander during World War II 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 (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), 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. The Knight' ...

of Nazi Germany.

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 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

'' 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 In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

''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

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhnke, Gunter 1912 births 1990 deaths People from Elbląg People 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