- Alfred Saalwächter
Infobox Military Person
name=Alfred Saalwächter
born=birth date|1883|1|10|df=y
died=death date and age|1945|12|6|1883|1|10|df=y
placeofbirth=Neusalz an der Oder
placeofdeath=Moscow
caption=
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|German EmpireGerman Empire (to 1918)
flagicon|GermanyWeimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi GermanyNazi Germany
branch=navy|German Empire
navy|Weimar Republic
navy|Nazi Germany
serviceyears=1901–1945
rank=General Admiral
commands=U-25, U-46, U-94
unit=SMS "Moltke"
SMS "Hertha"
SMS "Hessen"
SMS "Friedrich der Große"
SMS "Braunschweig"
SMS "Gneisenau"
battles=World War I World War II
*Operation Cerberus
awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
laterwork=Alfred Saalwächter (
10 January 1883 –6 December 1945 ) was a GermanU-boat commander duringWorld War I andGeneral Admiral duringWorld War II .Early life
Saalwächter was born in Neusalz an der Oder,
Prussian Silesia , as the son of a factory manager. He entered theKaiserliche Marine as aSeekadett on10 April 1901 , and was trained on the SMS "Moltke" and the SMS "Hertha". On29 September 1904 he was promoted toLeutnant zur See .Saalwächter then served with "
Bordkommando " units, first with the 2. Matrosen-Division, then on the SMS "Hessen" with the 2. Werft-Division. He was promoted toOberleutnant zur See on10 March 1906 ; until 1908, he served with the 2. Torpedo-Division as adjutant to the I.Abteilung . Saalwächter also served on the SMS "Gneisenau".Saalwächter served on the SMS "Hannover" in 1910 and later on the SMS "Westfalen" as "Flaggleutnant" to Vice Admiral
Hugo von Pohl , commander of the I. Marine-Geschwader. Saalwächter was promoted toKapitänleutnant on10 April 1911 and joined the admiralty inBerlin . He remained in the admiralty until 1915, with his last position there being head of the operations department. In 1912 he received theOrder of the Red Eagle .World War I
On
31 March 1915 duringWorld War I , Saalwächter became Flaggleutnant on the SMS "Friedrich der Grosse", the flagship of theHigh Seas Fleet . In February 1916 he entered theU-boat service. After graduating from submarine school, he commanded "U 25", "U 46", and "U 94" from September 1916 to March 1918. He was awarded for his success with theIron Cross 1st Class and the Knight's Cross of theHouse Order of Hohenzollern .Interwar era
In 1920 Saalwächter was named a
Korvettenkapitän of theReichsmarine . He also served on the "Braunschweig" as an admiralty officer. On1 October 1926 he became commander of the light cruiser SMS "Amazone", and, a year later,Fregattenkapitän in command of the battleship "Schlesien. Promoted toKapitän zur See on15 October 1928 , Saalwächter was chief of staff for Vice AdmiralIwan Oldekop for two years. On1 October 1932 he became aKonteradmiral and head of theMarinewehrabteilung .On
2 October 1933 Saalwächter was named inspector for naval instruction. During the following five years he had a strong influence on the development of the young officer corps. He was promoted to Vizeadmiral on1 April 1935 andAdmiral on1 June 1937 . Saalwächter was named commanding admiral of theNorth Sea naval station atWilhelmshaven , one of the highest positions in theKriegsmarine at the time, on28 October 1938 .World War II
With the outbreak of
World War II in September 1939, Saalwächter received command of Marine-Gruppenkommando West and was responsible for operations in the North Sea, which lead to disputes between himself and the fleet commanders, Vice AdmiralsHermann Boehm ,Wilhelm Marschall , andGünther Lütjens .On
1 January 1940 Saalwächter was promoted toGeneraladmiral . Along with AdmiralRolf Carls , Saalwächter had tactical command ofOperation Weserübung , the invasion ofNorway . He was recognized with theKnight's Cross on9 May 1940 . Beginning in summer 1940, Saalwächter led German surface operations in theNorth Atlantic and theEnglish Channel , such asOperation Cerberus in February 1942. On20 September of that year, he was replaced as head of Navy Group West by Marschall, who was himself replaced byTheodor Krancke in April 1943. Saalwächter resigned from active service on30 November 1942 .Saalwächter was imprisoned by the
Soviet Union onJune 21 1945 . He was convicted by a Soviet military tribunal of war crimes on17 October and executed by firing squad inMoscow on6 December . After the fall of the Soviet Union, Saalwächter was exonerated by a Russian court in 1994.Awards
* "Siamesischer Orden der Krone" Knight's Cross (1 November 1905)
* "St. Annenorden" IV. Klasse (9 May 1910)
*Order of the Red Eagle 4th Class (7 November 1912)
*Order of the Red Eagle 3rd Class (12 May 1914)
* Crown to theOrder of the Red Eagle 4th Class (1 August 1916)
*Order of the Iron Crown 3rd Class with War Decoration
*Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st Class
*House Order of Hohenzollern , Knight's Cross with Swords
*U-boat War Badge (1918)
*Cross of Honor
* "Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. bis I. Klasse"
*Hanseatic Cross , Hamburg
* Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
*Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (9 May 1940)
*German Cross in Gold (14 December 1942)References
*German|Alfred Saalwächter|
15 July 2008
* Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. "Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945". Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
* Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. "Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II". Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.
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