Wilhelm Marschall (30 September 1886 – 20 March 1976) was a German admiral 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 ...

. He was also a recipient of the ''

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eag ...

'' which he received as commander of the German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The ''Pour le Mérite'' was the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

s highest military order for German officers until the end of World War I.

Biography

Marschall was born in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

, in 1886. In 1906, he entered 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 ...

as a

Seekadett ''Seekadett'' (short SKad or SK; ,Langenscheidt´s Encyclopaedic Dictionary of the English and German language: „Der Große Muret-Sander“, Part II German-English, Second Volume L–Z, 8th edition 1999, ; p. 1.381 ) is a military rank of the B ...

. During

he served as a

watch officer Watchkeeping or watchstanding is the assignment of sailors to specific roles on a ship to operate it continuously. These assignments, also known at sea as ''watches'', are constantly active as they are considered essential to the safe operation o ...

on . In 1916, he was trained as a

commander and captained both and by war's end. He sank 41 merchant ships and two troopships, for a total of 119,170 GRT, and was awarded the

Pour la Mérite Pour may refer to these people: * Kour Pour (born 1987), British artist of part-Iranian descent * Mehdi Niyayesh Pour (born 1992), Iranian footballer * Mojtaba Mobini Pour (born 1991), Iranian footballer * Pouya Jalili Pour (born 1976), Irania ...

, Germany's highest military honour. While in the

Reichsmarine The ''Reichsmarine'' ( en, Realm Navy) was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the ''Reichswehr'', existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it became known as the '' ...

, Marschall served primarily as a ''Vermessungsoffizier'' (surveying officer) and in different staff positions. At the end of 1934 he became commander of the pocket battleship ''Admiral Scheer''. As a

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 ' ...

in 1936, he joined the Naval High Command and headed the operations division. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

Marschall commanded the German naval forces off of the Spanish coast. He was promoted to Admiral and

Flottenchef The Fleet commander of the Kriegsmarine (''Flottenchef'') was the highest ranked administrative officer in the organization of the Kriegsmarine, and served as a member of the ''Oberkommando der Marine''. The fleet commander did not actually serv ...

(fleet commander) in 1939. Admiral Marschall, flying his flag in battleship ''Gneisenau'', led the German naval force which intercepted and sank the British auxiliary cruiser on 23 November 1939, while on patrol off

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

.Garzke, William H.; Dulin, Robert O. (1985). Battleships: Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II. Naval Institute Press, p. 135. On 8 June 1940, during the latter part of the Norwegian Campaign, Marschall and part of his force (flagship ''Gneisenau'', and her sister-ship ''Scharnhorst'') fell in with British aircraft carrier and two destroyers ( and ) about 280 miles west of

Harstad ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the town of Harstad, the most populous town in Central Hålogalan ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. In a two-hour action, ''Glorious'' and her accompanying destroyers were all sunk, in exchange for damage to ''Scharnhorst'' (struck by one of ''Acasta's''

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

es, and one shell from each of the destroyers). To this day it is still not known why Marschall abandoned over 1600 Royal Navy sailors from the sinking of the 3 RN ships to their deaths, despite there being no other RN assets in the area. Although the battle resulted in a German victory, Marschall had engaged ''Glorious'' despite orders to avoid action. Marschall's differences with the High Command on this subject, and the severe damage to ''Scharnhorst'' during the engagement, ensured that Marschall was replaced as ''Flottenchef'' by 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 ...

. Marschall led the inspection of naval education for two years beginning in the summer 1940. In 1942, Marschall was named commanding admiral of

occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

and replaced

Alfred Saalwächter Alfred Saalwächter (10 January 1883 – 6 December 1945) was a high-ranking German U-boat commander during World War I and General Admiral during World War II. Early life Saalwächter was born in Neusalz an der Oder, Prussian Silesia, as the ...

as commander of Marinegruppenkommando West. On 1 February 1943 he was promoted to Generaladmiral, but was replaced as western commander by Theodor Krancke and deactivated later that spring. During the remainder of the war, Marschall was reactivated twice, once as Sonderbevollmächtigter (special agent) for the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

, and once as commander of the Marineoberkommando West shortly before the end of the war. From 1945–47 he was held as a prisoner of war. Marschall died in Mölln,

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, in 1976.

Awards

(4 July 1918) *

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 ...

2nd and 1st Class *

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 ...

2nd and 1st Class *

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 (23 March 1942)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marschall, Wilhelm 1886 births 1976 deaths Military personnel from Augsburg People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Reichsmarine personnel Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I General admirals of the Kriegsmarine U-boat commanders (Imperial German Navy) Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Imtiyaz Medal Recipients of the Liakat Medal German military personnel of the Spanish Civil War Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class German prisoners of war in World War II