Bernd Klug
Bernd Klug | |
---|---|
Born |
Wuppertal | 12 December 1914
Died |
15 June 1975 60) Kiel | (aged
Allegiance |
Nazi Germany West Germany |
Service/branch |
Kriegsmarine German Navy |
Years of service | 1933–1945, 1956–1968 |
Rank |
Korvettenkapitän (Wehrmacht) Flottillenadmiral (Bundeswehr) |
Unit |
SSS Gorch Fock Karlsruhe Nürnberg Köln |
Battles/wars | |
Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves |
Bernd Klug (12 December 1914 – 15 June 1975) was a [Korvettenkapitän]] with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and later a Flottillenadmiral with the Bundesmarine. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany.
Career
Klug joined the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1933 as a member of "Crew 1933" (the incoming class of 1933) where he received his basic military infantry training with the II. Schiff-Stamm-Abteilung der Ostsee (2nd department of the standing ship division) of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund. He was transferred to the school ship SSS Gorch Fock on 30 June 1933 for his on board training.[1] Here he was promoted to Midshipman on 23 September 1933.[2] He was then transferred to the light cruiser Karlsruhe on 24 September 1933.[1]
Klug sailed on Karlsruhe's third training cruise. Karlsruhe left Wilhelmshaven on 14 October 1933. The ship first sailed to the Mediterranean Sea and then to East Asia where they stopped at Kalkutta, Padang and Soerabaja. The journey went on to Brisbane and Apia, via Honolulu and Tacoma to San Diego in the United States, then through the Panama Canal to Boston and A Pobra do Caramiñal, Spain. Karlsruhe returned to Kiel on 16 June 1934.[3] While stationed on Karlsruhe, he advanced in rank to Gefreiter on 1 April 1934.[2]
He was then posted to the Naval Academy at Mürwik on 28 June 1934. Following a brief vacation, he started the main cadet course at the Naval Academy in Mürwik on 12 July 1934.[1] During his vacation he was promoted to Officer Cadet on 1 July 1931.[2] The main cadet course lasted until 18 April 1935 and was interrupted by two navigational training cruises, the first on the tender Nordsee (10–16 October 1934) and the tender Saar (31 January – 6 February 1935).[1]
Klug led E-boats on 28 April 1944 in an attack against Convoy T-4 consisting of LSTs during the Allied large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, dubbed Exercise Tiger. During the attack, German E-boats sank USS LST-507 and 531, and damaged 289, resulting in the deaths of 749 American servicemen.[4]
Awards
- Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class (31 March 1937)[2]
- Spanish Cross in Bronze without Swords (6 June 1939)[2]
- Sudetenland Medal (1 September 1939)[2]
- Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (10 April 1940) & 1st Class (7 August 1940)[2]
- Wound Badge (1939) in Black (25 April 1940)[2]
- Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty 4th Class (10 July 1941)[2]
- Fast Attack Craft War Badge (16 December 1940); with Diamonds (1 January 1944)[2]
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
- Knight's Cross on 12 March 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of Schnellboot S-28 in the 1. Schnellbootflottille[5]
- 361st Oak Leaves on 1 January 1944 as chief of the 5. Schnellbootflottille[5]
- Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 28 April 1944
- Commanders Cross of the French Legion of Honour (1960)[2]
References
- Citation
- Bibliography
- Dörr, Manfred (1995). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine—Band 1: A–K [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Surface Forces of the Navy—Volume 1: A–K] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2453-2.
- Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert; Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1990). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe. Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart. (10 Bände) [The German Warships. Biographies - a Mirror of Naval History from 1815 to the Present. (10 Volumes)] (in German). 3. Mundus Verlag. ISBN 3-7822-0211-2.
- Hoyt, Edwin P. (1999). The Invasion Before Normandy: The Secret Battle of Slapton Sands. Lanham, Md: Scarborough House. ISBN 978-1-4617-0631-1.
- Lawrence, Wendy Susan (2013). Exercise Tiger: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Silent Few. Stroud: Fonthill Media. ISBN 978-1-78155-110-3.
- Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
- Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 3, 1. Januar 1944 bis 9. Mai 1945 [The Wehrmacht Reports 1939–1945 Volume 3, 1 January 1944 to 9 May 1945] (in German). München, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2.
External links
- "Kopf unter". Der Spiegel (in German). 1987. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
Military offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by none |
Commander of 5. Schnellbootflottille 15 July 1941 – 1 June 1944 |
Succeeded by Kapitänleutnant Kurt Johannsen |
Preceded by Carl-Heinz Birnbacher |
Commander of Kommando der Schnellboote 1962 – 1964 |
Succeeded by Jens Matzen |
Preceded by Kapitän zur See Karl Schneider-Pungs |
Commander of the Naval Academy Mürwik 1 October 1966 – 31 March 1968 |
Succeeded by Kapitän zur See Reinhard Ostertag |