Rolf Carls

Rolf Carls
Born (1885-05-29)29 May 1885
Rostock
Died 24 April 1945(1945-04-24) (aged 59)
Bad Oldesloe
Allegiance  German Empire (to 1919)
 Weimar Republic (to 1933)
 Nazi Germany
Service/branch  Kaiserliche Marine
 Reichsmarine
 Kriegsmarine
Years of service 1903–43
Rank Generaladmiral
Unit SMS Stein
SMS Mars
SMS Fürst Bismarck
SMS Breslau
Commands held SM U-124
SMS Hessen
Battles/wars

World War I

World War II
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Rolf Hans Wilhelm Karl Carls (29 May 1885 – 24 April 1945) was a Generaladmiral of the Kriegsmarine during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership and is one of the highest military leadership awards.

Career

At the start of the World War I, Carls was a member of the crew of the cruiser Breslau. He later served on the battleship König and then commanded two u-boats, first U-9 and then U-124.

After the war, Carls was made Chief of the Training Division at the Supreme Naval Command of the resurrected German navy and was then given command of the old battleship Hessen.

In 1933, Carls was made Chief of Staff of the Fleet Command, and a year later Commander-in-Chief Battleships.

Carls was Fleet Commander from 1937 to 1938 and then became Commanding Admiral for the Baltic. At the same time he held the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Group Command East. Still later he became Chief of the larger Naval Group Command North.[1]

Early in 1943, Erich Raeder resigned as the commander of the Kriegsmarine after a dispute with Hitler. Raeder nominated either Carls or Karl Dönitz to succeed him, and Hitler chose Döntiz. Carls later resigned, possibly to prevent friction among the naval leadership.

Admiral Carls was killed in an air raid on Bad Oldesloe on 24 April 1945.[Notes 1] Carls together with 29 other people were killed in the cellar of the Vocational school in the Königstraße.[4]

Awards

Notes

  1. ↑ Some sources claim that he was killed on 15 April 1945 while another source indicates that the aerial attack on Bad Oldesloe was on 24 April 1945.[2][3]
  2. ↑ According to Scherzer as commander-in-chief of Marinegruppenkommando Ost.[3]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.feldgrau.com/kmsorg.html
  2. ↑ "60 Jahre nach dem Feuersturm auf Hamburg: Kreisarchiv Stormarn erhält einmaligen Fotofund". Kreis Stormarn (in German). Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  3. 1 2 Scherzer 2007, p. 257.
  4. ↑ Hitler's Navy: The Ships, Men and Organisation of the Kriegsmarine 1935 - 1945
  5. 1 2 3 4 Dörr 1995, p. 119.
  6. 1 2 Dörr 1995, p. 120.
  7. ↑ Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 72.
  8. ↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 152.

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. 
  • 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. 
  • Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8. 
  • 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 1, 1. September 1939 bis 31. Dezember 1941 [The Wehrmacht Reports 1939–1945 Volume 1, 1 September 1939 to 31 December 1941] (in German). München, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2. 
Military offices
Preceded by
Admiral Richard Foerster		 Chief of Fleet of the Kriegsmarine
21 December 1936 – 31 October 1938 		Succeeded by
Admiral Hermann Boehm
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