Otto Ciliax (30 October 1891 – 12 December 1964) was a German naval officer who served in the navies of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

, the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

and

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 ...

. As an

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

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 opposin ...

, he commanded the German

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

s. 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' ...

Early life and career

Ciliax was born on 30 October 1891 in

Neudietendorf Neudietendorf (''New Dietendorf'') is a village and a former municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, central Germany. Since 1 December 2009, it has been part of the municipality Nesse-Apfelstädt, of which it is an ''Ortschaft ...

, at the time part of

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, links=no ), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-d ...

. He joined the military service of the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...

on 1 April 1910 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 ...

'' of "Crew 1910" (the incoming class of 1910). He started his first naval infantry training course with the sea cadet detachment on on 7 April 1910.sea cadet detachment —''Seekadettendetachement'' Onboard training on ''Victory Louise'' began on 13 May before he was transferred to the

Naval Academy Mürwik A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includ ...

on 1 April 1911 for the main cadet and officer course.cadet course—''Lehrgang für Fähnriche''officer course—''Lehrgang für Offiziere''Dörr 1995, p. 128. Afterwards, starting on 1 October 1912 he served on the battleship and was promoted to ''

Leutnant zur See ''Leutnant zur See'' (''Lt zS'' or ''LZS'') is the lowest officer rank in the German Navy. It is grouped as OF1 in NATO, equivalent to an Ensign in the United States Navy, and an Acting Sub-Lieutenant in the British Royal Navy. The rank was int ...

'' (acting sub-lieutenant/ensign) on 27 September 1913.

World War I

Ciliax was still serving on ''Hannover'' when

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 ...

broke out on 28 July 1914. He was a watch officer on when it sank the cruiser on 19 August 1916. After completing submarine commander's training, he was given in June 1918 and in September that year.

Between the wars

He remained with 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 ''K ...

'' after the German collapse of 1918, serving as torpedo boat commander and staff officer, heading the operations department (''Operationsabteilung'') of the Naval High Command (''

Oberkommando der Marine The (; abbreviated OKM) was the high command and the highest administrative and command authority of the ''Kriegsmarine''. It was officially formed from the ''Marineleitung'' ("Naval Command") of the ''Reichswehr'' on 11 January 1936. In 1937 ...

'') in 1936. In 1936 he was given command of the (22 September 1936 – 30 October 1938) and served as the Commander of the Sea-Force () from 22 March 1938 to 26 June 1938 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, lin ...

. He commanded the when war broke out in September 1939.

World War II

In June 1941 he became Type Commander, Battleships (''Befehlshaber der Schlachtschiffe''). In this position he commanded Operation ''Cerberus'', better known as "the

Channel Dash The Channel Dash (german: Unternehmen Zerberus, Operation Cerberus) was a German naval operation during the Second World War. (Cerberus), a three-headed dog of Greek mythology who guards the gate to Hades. A (German Navy) squadron comprising ...

", when German

battleships A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

'' Scharnhorst'' and '' Gneisenau'' and 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 Tr ...

'' Prinz Eugen'' and a number of other smaller vessels were transferred from

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

to their respective home bases in Germany for planned deployment to Norwegian waters in February 1942. Ciliax flew his flag on ''Scharnhorst''. Although the success of the operation was seen as an embarrassment to the British because the ships were able to pass through the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

almost undetected (though both ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' struck a minefield en route), the transfer from Brest to Germany eliminated the threat they had posed to Allied shipping in the Atlantic. From March 1943 until April 1945 Ciliax was Commander-in-Chief of German naval forces in Norway (''Marinekommando Norwegen'').

Awards

Admirał Otto Ciliax podczas inspekcji w Norwegii

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 (13 June 1916)Dörr 1995, p. 129. ** 1st Class (6 November 1916) * Knight's Cross Second Class of the Ducal

Saxe-Ernestine House Order The Saxe-Ernestine House Order (german: link=yes, Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden)Hausorden
Herz ...

with SwordsDörr 1995, p. 130. * Military Merit Cross 3rd class with war decoration (Austria-Hungary) *

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 ...

(1918) *

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 1st Class (2 October 1936) *

Spanish Cross The Spanish Cross (german: Spanien-Kreuz) was an award of Nazi Germany given to German troops who participated in the Spanish Civil War, fighting for nationalist general, later Spanish caudillo, Francisco Franco. History With the outbreak o ...

in Gold with Swords (6 June 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 (January 1940) ** 1st Class (April 1940) * Commander's Cross 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 ...

(11 March 1941) *

Medal for the Campaign of 1936−1939 A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

(Spain) *

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 20 November 1941 as ''

Vizeadmiral (abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral. Austria-Hungary In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (also spelled ''Kont ...

'' and commander of the battleships *

on 21 March 1942 as ''Vizeadmiral'' and commander of the battleshipsScherzer 2007, p. 260. * High Seas Fleet Badge (1941)

Promotions

Translation notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ciliax, Otto 1891 births 1964 deaths People from Gotha (district) People from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha U-boat commanders (Imperial German Navy) Admirals of the Kriegsmarine German military personnel of the Spanish Civil War 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 Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I Military personnel from Thuringia