__NOTOC__ Oskar Kummetz (21 July 1891 – 17 December 1980) was an admiral with the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He also served in the

Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Kummetz was awarded 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' ...

for his actions in the

Battle of Drøbak Sound The Battle of Drøbak Sound took place in Drøbak Sound, the northernmost part of the outer Oslofjord in southern Norway, on 9 April 1940. It marked the end of the " Phoney War" and the beginning of World War II in Western Europe. A German fle ...

, during which his command, the , was hit in the superstructure by two 28 cm shells from Norwegian fortress Oscarsborg, 15 cm shells from Kopås fortress and 5,7 cm gunfire from Husvik fortress. From Kaholmen ''Blücher'' was hit by two torpedoes and she sank 84 meters below the sound. Along with hundreds of other survivors, including ''

Generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-s ...

Erwin Engelbrecht Erwin Engelbrecht (12 November 1891 in ''Wildpark'' Potsdam – 8 April 1964 in Munich) was a German military officer. Career In January 1939 Engelbrecht was promoted to General, in September 1942 to General of the Artillery. During 1939-1942 h ...

, Kummetz was detained by Norwegian

guardsmen Guardsman is a rank used instead of private in some military units that serve as the official bodyguard of a sovereign or head of state. It is also used as a generic term for any member of a guards unit of any rank. Canada In the Canadian Fo ...

at a farm near

Drøbak Drøbak is a town and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Viken county, Norway. The city is located along the Oslofjord, and has 13,409 inhabitants. History Drøbak and Frogn was established as a parish on its own through a royal decre ...

on 9 April, before the Germans arrived and they were abandoned by their captors. His next command, the unsuccessfully attacked a British convoy during the

Battle of the Barents Sea The Battle of the Barents Sea was a World War II naval engagement on 31 December 1942 between warships of the German Navy (''Kriegsmarine'') and British ships escorting convoy JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the USSR. The action took place in the Bare ...

, and the ''Hipper'' was damaged by British cruisers, while his escort, the was sunk with all hands by . On March 1, 1944, Kummetz became the Commander-in-Chief of Naval High Command

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

in Kiel. On September 16, 1944 he was promoted to '' Generaladmiral''. In the final months of the war, Kummetz was responsible for

Operation Hannibal Operation Hannibal was a German naval operation involving the evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from the Courland Pocket, East Prussia, West Prussia and Pomerania from mid-January to May 1945 as the Red Army advanced during th ...

, the evacuation of German refugees and military personnel from

Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia ...

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kin ...

and

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

through the Baltic Sea. British-Navy-takes-over-at-Kiel-352042830525

Oskar Kummetz died on 17 December 1980 at the age of 89.

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 (30 June 1916) & 1st Class (27 September 1919)Dörr 1995, p. 380. * Honour Cross for Combatants (January 1935) *

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 ...

1st to 4th Class (2 October 1936) * ''Magyar Köztársasági Érdemrend'' (Commander of the Hungarian Order of Merit) (20 August 1938) *

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 (14 October 1939) & 1st Class (12 April 1940) * Memel Medal (14 March 1940) *

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 ...

(5 February 1942) *

on 18 January 1941 as ''

Konteradmiral ''Konteradmiral'', abbreviated KAdm or KADM, is the second lowest naval flag officer rank in the German Navy. It is equivalent to ''Generalmajor'' in the '' Heer'' and ''Luftwaffe'' or to '' Admiralstabsarzt'' and '' Generalstabsarzt'' in the ' ...

'' and leader of the

Kampfgruppe In military history, the German term (pl. ; abbrev. KG, or KGr in usage during World War II, literally "fighting group" or "battle group") can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the of Nazi Germ ...

OsloScherzer 2007, p. 484.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Dörr, Manfred (1995). ''Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine, Band 1: A-K'' (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag. . * * 1891 births 1980 deaths People from Działdowo County Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I Reichsmarine personnel General admirals of the Kriegsmarine Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross World War II prisoners of war held by Norway German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom People from East Prussia {{germany-navy-bio-stub