Helmuth Brinkmann (12 March 1895 – 26 September 1983) was a ''
Vizeadmiral
(abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German (language), German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral.
Austria-Hungary
In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (al ...
'' in the ''
Kriegsmarine'' during
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 opposing ...
who captained the
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 T ...
. Prior to World War II he commanded the
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 ...
,
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 le ...
's state yacht. He was also a recipient of the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of
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 ...
. Brinkmann surrendered to British troops in 1945 and was held until 1947.
Operation ''Rheinübung''
Goal
The goal of
Operation ''Rheinübung'' (Rhine Exercise) was for ''Prinz Eugen'' and the
battleship , under the command of Brinkmann's Crew 1913 classmate Captain
Ernst Lindemann
Otto Ernst Lindemann (28 March 1894 – 27 May 1941) was a German ''Kapitän zur See'' ( naval captain). He was the only commander of the battleship during its eight months of service in World War II.
Lindemann joined the German Imperial Navy ...
, to break into the Atlantic and attack Allied shipping. Grand Admiral
Erich Raeder
Erich Johann Albert Raeder (24 April 1876 – 6 November 1960) was a German admiral who played a major role in the naval history of World War II. Raeder attained the highest possible naval rank, that of grand admiral, in 1939, becoming the f ...
's orders to the task force commander, Admiral
Günther Lütjens
Johann Günther Lütjens (25 May 1889 – 27 May 1941) was a German admiral whose military service spanned more than thirty years and two world wars. Lütjens is best known for his actions during World War II and his command of the battleship d ...
, the Chief of Fleet aboard the ''Bismarck'', were that "the objective of the ''Bismarck'' is not to defeat enemies of equal strength, but to tie them down in a delaying action, while preserving combat capacity as much as possible, so as to allow ''Prinz Eugen'' to get at the merchant ships in the convoy" and "The primary target in this operation is the enemy's merchant shipping; enemy warships will be engaged only when that objective makes it necessary and it can be done without excessive risk."
Events
At 02:00 on 19 May 1941, ''Bismarck'' and ''Prinz Eugen'' left
Gotenhafen
Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...
and proceeded through the Baltic Sea and out towards the Atlantic. Unknown to Lütjens, the British had intercepted enough signals to infer that a German naval operation might occur in the area. The German task force was first encountered by the Swedish seaplane-cruiser on 20 May heading north-west, past
Göteborg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a p ...
. The
British Admiralty was informed through a Norwegian officer in Stockholm who had learned of the sighting from a Swedish military intelligence source. Alerted by this report, British Admiralty requested air reconnaissance of the Norwegian coast. A
Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
reconnaissance aircraft found and photographed the German task force in the Grimstad fjord (), near
Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...
, at 13:15 on 21 May. On the evening of 23 May at 19:22, the German force was detected by the heavy cruisers and that had been patrolling the Denmark Strait in the expectation of a German breakout. ''Bismarck'' fired five
salvos without scoring a direct hit. The heavily outgunned British cruisers retired to a safe distance and shadowed the enemy until their own heavy units could draw closer. However, ''Bismarck''s forward radar had failed as a result of vibration from the heavy guns firing during this skirmish, and Lütjens was obliged to order ''Prinz Eugen'' to move ahead of ''Bismarck'' in order to provide the squadron with forward radar coverage.
Battle
The
hydrophone
A hydrophone ( grc, ὕδωρ + φωνή, , water + sound) is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a piezoelectric transducer that generates an electric potenti ...
s on ''Prinz Eugen'' detected a foreign ship to port at 05:00. The Germans sighted the smokestacks of two ships at 05:45. The British ships started firing at the German task force at 05:53. Vice-Admiral
Lancelot Holland
Vice-Admiral Lancelot Ernest Holland, (13 September 1887 – 24 May 1941) was a Royal Navy officer who commanded the British force in the Battle of the Denmark Strait in May 1941 against the German battleship ''Bismarck''. Holland was lost ...
planned on targeting ''Bismarck'' first, but due to the reversed battle order, and opened fire on the ''Prinz Eugen'' instead. The commander of the ''Prince of Wales'', Captain
John Leach, detected this error and ordered his guns swung around to fire on ''Bismarck''. The German task force was still waiting for the order to commence firing, which Admiral Lütjens did not give immediately. Two minutes into the battle ''Bismarck'' and ''Prinz Eugen'' started firing at ''Hood''. At 05:57 ''Hood'' was hit by ''Prinz Eugen'', igniting reserve ammunition stored on deck, and starting a fire. The fifth salvo by ''Bismarck'', fired at a range of about at 06:01, was seen to hit ''Hood'' abreast her mainmast. It is likely that one shell struck somewhere between Hood's mainmast and 'X' turret aft of the mast. A huge jet of flame burst out from ''Hood'' from the vicinity of the mainmast. This was followed by a devastating magazine explosion that destroyed the aft part of the ship. This explosion broke the back of ''Hood'', and she sank in only three minutes, her nearly vertical bow last to descend into the water.
Afterwards
Following the explosion, ''Prince of Wales'' was targeted by both German ships and disengaged from combat after seven direct hits, four by ''Bismarck'' and three by ''Prinz Eugen'', at about 06:09. In the afternoon of 24 May, Admiral Lütjens, ordered ''Prinz Eugen'' to break away from the battleship ''Bismarck'' and operate independently against the enemy's merchant shipping. ''Prinz Eugen'' and ''Bismarck'' separated at 18:14 that evening. ''Bismarck'' was sunk by the concentrated effort of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
on 27 May 1941 while ''Prinz Eugen'' arrived safely at
Brest, France
Brest (; ) is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French m ...
on 1 June 1941.
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 es ...
(1914) 2nd Class (10 October 1915) & 1st Class (24 July 1920)
[Dörr 1995, p. 95.]
*
Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (german: Das Ehrenkreuz des Weltkrieges 1914/1918), commonly, but incorrectly, known as the Hindenburg Cross or the German WWI Service Cross was established by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, Presiden ...
(15 October 1934)
* Commander of the
Order of the Crown of Italy () (8 October 1937)
*
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 & 1st Class (9 June 1941)
*
High Seas Fleet Badge (5 April 1942)
*
Order of Michael the Brave
The Order of Michael the Brave ( ro, Ordinul Mihai Viteazul) is Romania's highest military decoration, instituted by King Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign of the First World War, and was again awarded in the Second Wo ...
3rd Class (30 May 1944)
*
German Cross
The War Order of the German Cross (german: Der Kriegsorden Deutsches Kreuz), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repe ...
in Gold on 25 March 1942 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 ...
'' on heavy cruiser ''Prinz Eugen''
*
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 17 May 1944 as ''
Vizeadmiral
(abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German (language), German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral.
Austria-Hungary
In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (al ...
'' and commander of the Black Seas Fleet
[Scherzer 2007, p. 244.]
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
Boyne, Walter (1997). ''Clash of Titans: World War II at Sea''. New York: Simon & Schuster. .
*
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*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brinkmann, Helmuth
1895 births
1983 deaths
Military personnel from Lübeck
Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I
Reichsmarine personnel
Vice admirals of the Kriegsmarine
Recipients of the Gold German Cross
Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom