Hellmuth Guido Alexander Heye (9 August 1895 – 10 November 1970) was a German admiral in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and politician in post-war

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. 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' ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Naval career

Heye graduated from high school in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in early 1914 and immediately joined the Imperial Navy. From April 1939 to September 1940 he commanded the Heavy Cruiser ''Admiral Hipper''. While taking his ship to

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

in April 1940 to land invasion troops there (

Operation Weserübung Operation Weserübung (german: Unternehmen Weserübung , , 9 April – 10 June 1940) was Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. In the early morning of 9 Ap ...

), he encountered the British destroyer and sank it. Heye sent a message to the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

through the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

praising the gallantry of ''Glowworms commander and crew, and this contributed to LtCdr Gerard Roope receiving the earliest

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, although the award was not made until 1945. Heye received the

on 18 January 1941. In 1942 he was promoted to vice admiral, and from September to November 1942 he was commanding admiral of the German naval forces in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

. From April 1944 onward he was commanding admiral of the small naval combat forces, which included mini-submarines, combat divers, etc.

Civilian career

After the war Heye published a number of works on naval strategy, history and warfare as a member of the

Naval Historical Team The Naval Historical Team (NHT) was established by the U.S. Navy in 1949. It was a group of German naval officers under American orders to reappraise the naval war history of World War II from the German perspective. The group was under control of t ...

. He subsequently advised the German government on issues concerning the establishment and organization of a new military. In 1953 he joined the centrist party CDU (Christian Democratic Union) of Chancellor

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a Germany, German statesman who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the fir ...

and represented this party in the Federal Parliament (''

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

'') from 1953 to 1961, elected for the district of Wilhelmshaven-Friesland. On 8 November 1961 the ''Bundestag'' elected him unanimously as its Ombudsman for the Military (''Wehrbeauftragter''). In the autumn of 1964, Heye published a series of articles in the German news journal

Quick Quick, as an adjective, refers to something moving with high speed. Quick may also refer to: In business * Quick (restaurant), a Belgian fast-food restaurant chain * Quick (sportswear), a Dutch manufacturer of sportswear * Quick (automobile) ...

, warning of a risk of the German military once again drifting into isolation from society at large. This triggered a vigorous and sharply worded debate between him and the ministry of defense. Frustrated by what he perceived to be inadequate support from Parliament, Heye resigned his position on 10 November 1964.

Awards

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 est ...

(1914) 2nd Class (14 February 1918) & 1st Class (15 March 1922)Dörr 1995, p. 240. *

Friedrich August Cross The Friedrich-August Cross was a German decoration of the First World War. It was set up on 24 September 1914 by Frederick Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg, with two classes, for (to quote its citation) "all persons of military or civilian st ...

, 2nd Class (14 February 1918) *

U-boat War Badge The U-boat War Badge (german: U-Boot-Kriegsabzeichen) was a German war badge that was awarded to U-boat crew members during World War I and World War II. History The ''U-boat War Badge'' was originally instituted during the First World War on Feb ...

(20 November 1926) *

Wehrmacht Long Service Award The Wehrmacht Long Service Award () was a military service decoration of Nazi Germany issued for satisfactory completion of a number of years in military service. History On 16 March, 1936, Adolf Hitler ordered the institution of a service awar ...

4th to 2nd Class (2 October 1936) * Commander of the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( it, Ordine della Corona d'Italia, italic=no or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for civi ...

(13 December 1937) *

Sudetenland Medal The 1 October 1938 Commemorative Medal (german: Die Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938), commonly known as the Sudetenland Medal was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded during the interwar period, and the second in a series of Occupa ...

(22 May 1939)(2 October 1936) *

Memel Medal The Return of Memel Commemorative Medal (''Medaille zur Erinnerung an die Heimkehr des Memellandes''; 22. März 1939) was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded during the interwar period, the last in a series of Occupation Medals. Description G ...

(26 October 1939)(2 October 1936); 1st Class (11 February 1939) *

Clasp to the Iron Cross The Clasp to the Iron Cross (Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz) was a white metal medal clasp displayed on the uniforms of German Wehrmacht personnel who had been awarded the Iron Cross in World War I, and who again qualified for the decoration in World W ...

(1939) 2nd Class (23 February 1940) & 1st Class (14 April 1940) *

on 18 January 1941 as ''

Kapitän zur See Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide include ...

'' and commander of

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...

''Admiral Hipper''Scherzer 2007, p. 389. *

High Seas Fleet Badge The High Seas Fleet Badge (), also known as High Seas Fleet War Badge, was a World War II German military decoration awarded for service to the crews of the ''Kriegsmarine'' High Seas Fleet, mainly of the battleships and cruisers, but also those s ...

(16 February 1942) * Officer of the

Order of the Crown of Romania The Order of the Crown of Romania is a chivalric order set up on 14 March 1881 by King Carol I of Romania to commemorate the establishment of the Kingdom of Romania. It was awarded as a state order until the end of the Romanian monarchy in 1947. ...

(15 January 1943)

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heye, Hellmuth 1895 births 1970 deaths People from the Rhine Province People from Merzig-Wadern Vice admirals of the Kriegsmarine Military Ombudspersons in Germany Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Officers of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Members of the Bundestag for Lower Saxony Reichsmarine personnel Naval Historical Team members Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany German military writers Military personnel from Saarland