Theodor Detmers (22 August 19024 November 1976) was a German naval officer and captain of the German auxiliary cruiser ''Kormoran'' 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 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 ...

. Detmers commanded the commerce raider ''Kormoran'' when it sunk the Australian light cruiser in a mutually destructive battle.

Career

Detmers joined 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 '' ...

'' in 1921 and served on the battleships and . He was educated on the sail training ship ''Niobe'' and also served on . Detmers became a sublieutenant on the cruiser . From 1926 to 1928, he served on the ''Albatross''. In 1927, he was promoted to lieutenant. From 1930 to 1932, he served as staff officer and was then stationed on the cruiser , on which he visited Australia in 1933. In 1934, he served on

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s and destroyers of the Reichsmarine. In October 1938, he was in command of the destroyer ''Hermann Schoemann'' and participated in Operation ''Weserübung'' in April to June 1940.

HSK ''Kormoran''

In July 1940, Detmers became captain of the commerce raider ''Kormoran'', and captured or destroyed 11 enemy merchant ships. On 19 November 1941 ''Kormoran'' was intercepted by . Detmers tried to pose as a Dutch merchant ship. He allegedly lacked the necessary naval codes, however, and was finally forced to engage ''Sydney''. He sank the Australian cruiser in battle off

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. His own ship was severely damaged and had to be

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

, after which Detmers was captured and became a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

(POW). In December 1941, Detmers was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and in 1943, was promoted to the rank of ''

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 ...

''. He had earlier received the first 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 ...

Prisoner of war and later life

From 1941 to January 1947, Detmers was held as a POW at

HM Prison Dhurringile HM Prison Dhurringile is a minimum security prison located in Dhurringile, Victoria, Australia. Situated 160 km north of Melbourne near Murchison, it is based around the historic Dhurringile estate. Facilities The Dhurringile mansion ...

. While a prisoner, he wrote a coded account of the battle between HMAS ''Sydney'' and German auxiliary cruiser ''Kormoran'' that survived the war. Detmers tried to escape Australian captivity with other members of his crew, through a tunnel and then hoped to capture a sailboat to get to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

; however, the attempt was unsuccessful. Later during his imprisonment, he suffered a stroke. Detmers returned to Germany in 1947 and was released from British captivity in Munster. Due to his stroke, he was incapacitated for service in the post-war

German navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

. In the early 1950s he married Ursula Reinhardt, daughter of a Protestant pastor. They had no children and he died in Rahlstedt,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in 1976. Detmers wrote a book about his ''Kormoran'' experiences, which has been translated into English.

Awards and decorations

* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 4 December 1941 as

Fregattenkapitän Fregattenkapitän, short: FKpt / in lists: FK, () is the middle field officer rank () in the German Navy. Address In line with ZDv 10/8, the official manner of formally addressing military personnel holding the rank of ''Fregattenkapitän'' ...

and commander of auxiliary cruiser Kormoran (HSK-8)

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Detmers, Theodor 1902 births 1976 deaths German prisoners of war in World War II Kriegsmarine personnel People from the Province of Westphalia People from Witten Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Reichsmarine personnel World War II prisoners of war held by Australia Military personnel from North Rhine-Westphalia