Wilhelm Meisel

Wilhelm Meisel
Born	4 November 1891 Zwickau
Died	7 September 1974 (aged 82) Mülheim
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1919)  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kaiserliche Marine  Reichsmarine  Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1913–45
Rank	Admiral
Unit	SMS Hertha SMS Moltke SMS Stralsund SMS Kaiserin Augusta
Commands held	heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Wilhelm Meisel (4 November 1891 – 7 September 1974) was an Admiral of the Kriegsmarine during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Biography

Meisel was born in Zwickau and joined the Navy as a midshipman in 1913. During the First World War he served on the battlecruiser SMS Moltke, the light cruiser SMS Stralsund and the SMS Möwe. He later served as a staff officer on Torpedo boats and was interned in Scapa Flow. After the scuttling of the High Seas Fleet he was held as a POW by the British and repatriated in 1921.

During the 1920s Meisel commanded a torpedo boat flotilla and held several staff posts and commanded the German cruiser Karlsruhe in 1929.

During World War II Meisel commanded a destroyer flotilla in the Polish Campaign of 1939 and was appointed commander of the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper in 1940. He was made Chief of Staff of Naval Group west in 1943 and Chief of Naval staff in 1943.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class (17 March 1915)^[1]
  • 1st Class (15 April 1917)^[1]
• Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg (June 1916)^[1]
• Albert Order of Saxony, 2nd Class with Swords (May 1916)
• The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (December 1934)^[1]
• Spanish Cross in Silver (6 June 1939)^[2]
• Sudetenland Medal
• Memel Medal
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (26 October 1939)^[1]
  • 1st Class (8 May 1940)^[1]
• Destroyer War Badge (July 1941)^[2]
• High Seas Fleet Badge (1 November 1941)^[2]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 26 February 1941 as Kapitän zur See and commander of the heavy cruiser "Admiral Hipper"^[3][4]
• Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class (Japan)^[2]

References

Citations

1. Dörr 1996, p. 54.
2. Dörr 1996, p. 55.
3. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 307.
4. Scherzer 2007, p. 535.

Bibliography

• Dörr, Manfred (1996). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine—Band 2: L–Z [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Surface Forces of the Navy—Volume 2: L–Z] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2497-6.
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Navy]. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-87943-355-1.
• 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.