__NOTOC__
Rudolf Petersen (15 June 1905 – 2 January 1983) was a German naval officer during
World War II. Petersen, in his role as
Commodore, was the head of the court of what might have been the last
desertion
Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ar ...
-trial of
Nazi Germany. ''Matrose'' Fritz Wehrmann, age 26 from
Leipzig, ''Funker'' Alfred Gail, age 20 from
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
, and ''Obergefreiter'' Martin Schilling, age 22 from
Ostfriesland
East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...
were executed on board on 10 May 1945 two days after the
unconditional surrender of Germany.
The accused had received news of the German capitulation to the British forces on 4 May 1945. On 6 May 1945 they left their stations on
Svendborg on
Fünen to get to the mainland. They were caught by the Danish Police and handed over to the German authorities on Fünen.
Awards
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Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (1940) & 1st Class (28 May 1940)
[Thomas 1998, p. 148.]
*
Fast Attack Craft War Badge (19 March 1942) with Diamonds (13 June 1944)
[Dörr 1996, p. 120.]
*
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
** Knight's Cross on 4 August 1940 as ''
Korvettenkapitän
() is the lowest ranking senior officer in a number of Germanic-speaking navies.
Austro-Hungary
Belgium
Germany
Korvettenkapitän, short: KKpt/in lists: KK, () is the lowest senior officer rank () in the German Navy.
Address
The offici ...
'' and chief of the 2. Schnellbootflottille
[Scherzer 2007, p. 590.]
** Oak Leaves on 13 June 1944 as ''
Kapitän zur See'' and leader of the Schnellboote (FdS)
References
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
Berliner ZeitungArticle about the desertion trial
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petersen, Rudolf
1905 births
1983 deaths
Reichsmarine personnel
Kriegsmarine personnel of World War II
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
People from Sønderborg Municipality