Helmuth Brinkmann
Encyclopedia
Helmuth Brinkmann was a Vice Admiral in the Kriegsmarine
during the World War II
who captained the heavy cruiser
Prinz Eugen
. Prior to World War II he commanded the Aviso
Grille
, Adolf Hitler
's state yacht. He was also 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. Helmuth Brinkmann was captured by British troops in 1945 and was held until 1947.
(Rhine Exercise) was for Prinz Eugen and the battleship
Bismarck
, under the command of Brinkmann's Crew 1913 classmate Captain Ernst Lindemann
, to break into the Atlantic and attack Allied shipping. Grand Admiral Erich Raeder
's orders to the task force commander, Admiral Günther Lütjens
, the Chief of Fleet aboard the Bismarck, were that "the objective of the Bismarck is not to defeat enemies of equal strength, but to tie them down in a delaying action, while preserving combat capacity as much as possible, so as to allow Prinz Eugen to get at the merchant ships in the convoy" and "The primary target in this operation is the enemy's merchant shipping; enemy warships will be engaged only when that objective makes it necessary and it can be done without excessive risk."
At 02:00 on 19 May 1941 , Bismarck and Prinz Eugen left Gotenhafen and proceeded through the Baltic Sea and out towards the Atlantic. Unknown to Lütjens, the British had intercepted enough signals to infer that a German naval operation might occur in the area. The German task force was first encountered by the Swedish seaplane-cruiser on 20 May heading north-west, past Göteborg. The British Admirality was informed through a Norwegian officer in Stockholm who had learned of the sighting from a Swedish military intelligence source. Alerted by this report, British Admiralty requested air reconnaissance of the Norwegian coast. A Spitfire
reconnaissance aircraft
found and photographed the German task force in the Grimstad fjord (60°19.49′N 5°14.48′E), near Bergen
, at 13:15 on 21 May. On the evening of 23 May at 19:22, the German force was detected by the heavy cruisers and Norfolk
that had been patrolling the Denmark Strait in the expectation of a German breakout. Bismarck fired five salvo
s without scoring a direct hit. The heavily outgunned British cruisers retired to a safe distance and shadowed the enemy until their own heavy units could draw closer. However, Bismarcks forward radar had failed as a result of vibration from the heavy guns firing during this skirmish, and Lütjens was obliged to order Prinz Eugen to move ahead of Bismarck in order to provide the squadron with forward radar coverage.
The hydrophone
s on Prinz Eugen detected a foreign ship to port at 05:00. The Germans sighted the smokestacks of two ships at 05:45. The British ships started firing at the German task force at 05:53. Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland
planned on targeting Bismarck first, but due to the reversed battle order, HMS Prince of Wales and Hood opened fire on the Prinz Eugen instead. The commander of the Prince of Wales, Captain John Leach, detected this error and ordered his guns swung around to fire on Bismarck. The German task force was still waiting for the order to commence firing, which Admiral Lütjens did not give immediately. Two minutes into the battle Bismarck and Prinz Eugen started firing at Hood. At 05:57 Hood was hit by Prinz Eugen, igniting reserve ammunition stored on deck, and starting a fire. The fifth salvo by Bismarck, fired at a range of about 180 hm (18,000 m; 19,685 yd) at 06:01, was seen to hit Hood abreast her mainmast. It is likely that one adj=on 38 shell struck somewhere between Hood's mainmast and 'X' turret aft of the mast.Hood carried eight 42-calibre BL 15-inch Mark I guns. These guns were mounted in the hydraulically powered Mark II twin turrets which were designated 'A', 'B', 'X' and 'Y' from forward to aft. A huge jet of flame burst out from Hood from the vicinity of the mainmast. This was followed by a devastating magazine explosion that destroyed the aft part of the ship. This explosion broke the back of Hood, and she sank in only three minutes, her nearly vertical bow last to descend into the water.
Following the explosion, Prince of Wales was targeted by both German ships and disengaged from combat after seven direct hits, four by Bismarck and three by Prinz Eugen, at about 06:09. In the afternoon of 24 May, Admiral Lütjens, ordered Prinz Eugen to break away from the battleship Bismarck and operate independently against the enemy's merchant shipping. Prinz Eugen and Bismarck separated at 18:14 that evening. Bismarck was sunk by the concentrated effort of the Royal Navy
on 27 May 1941 while Prinz Eugen arrived safely at Brest, France
on 1 June 1941.
(17th Army) from the Crimean peninsula. The actions of the Kriegsmarine in the evacuation of the Crimea were thoroughly investigated after the operation, and the commanders-in-chief
of the Heeresgruppen (Army Groups) and Armies gave the Kriegsmarine a negative performance evaluation. The commander-in-chief of the 17th Army, General der Infanterie
(General of the Infantry) Karl Allmendinger, described the presentation of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross to Brinkmann and to Konteradmiral (Rear-Admiral) Otto Schulz
as a bitter outrage to every German soldier who had fought on the Peninsula. In a letter to the Heeresgruppe Südukraine
(Army Group South Ukraine), they accused the naval leadership of providing deliberate misinformation, of panicking and disorganization.
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
during the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
who captained the heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
Prinz Eugen
German cruiser Prinz Eugen
Prinz Eugen was an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser, the third member of the class of five vessels. She served with the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The ship was laid down in April 1936 and launched August 1938; Prinz Eugen entered service after the outbreak of war, in August 1940...
. Prior to World War II he commanded the Aviso
Aviso
An aviso , a kind of dispatch boat or advice boat, survives particularly in the French navy, they are considered equivalent to the modern sloop....
Grille
German aviso Grille (1935)
The Aviso Grille was ordered as Flottentender "C" and her keel was laid down in June 1934 at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany. She was built to be the official German State yacht in 1935....
, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's state yacht. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Helmuth Brinkmann was captured by British troops in 1945 and was held until 1947.
Operation Rheinübung
The goal of Operation RheinübungOperation Rheinübung
Operation Rheinübung was the sortie into the Atlantic by the new German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen on 18–27 May 1941, during World War II...
(Rhine Exercise) was for Prinz Eugen and the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
Bismarck
German battleship Bismarck
Bismarck was the first of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind the German unification in 1871, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched nearly three years later...
, under the command of Brinkmann's Crew 1913 classmate Captain Ernst Lindemann
Ernst Lindemann
Otto Ernst Lindemann was a German naval captain. He was the only commander of the battleship during its eight months of service in World War II....
, to break into the Atlantic and attack Allied shipping. Grand Admiral Erich Raeder
Erich Raeder
Erich Johann Albert Raeder was a naval leader in Germany before and during World War II. Raeder attained the highest possible naval rank—that of Großadmiral — in 1939, becoming the first person to hold that rank since Alfred von Tirpitz...
's orders to the task force commander, Admiral Günther Lütjens
Günther Lütjens
Günther Lütjens was a German Admiral whose military service spanned almost 30 years. Lütjens is best known for his actions during World War II, primarily his service as admiral of the squadron comprising and her consort, , during the Operation Rheinübung sortie.-Early career:Günther Lütjens was...
, the Chief of Fleet aboard the Bismarck, were that "the objective of the Bismarck is not to defeat enemies of equal strength, but to tie them down in a delaying action, while preserving combat capacity as much as possible, so as to allow Prinz Eugen to get at the merchant ships in the convoy" and "The primary target in this operation is the enemy's merchant shipping; enemy warships will be engaged only when that objective makes it necessary and it can be done without excessive risk."
At 02:00 on 19 May 1941 , Bismarck and Prinz Eugen left Gotenhafen and proceeded through the Baltic Sea and out towards the Atlantic. Unknown to Lütjens, the British had intercepted enough signals to infer that a German naval operation might occur in the area. The German task force was first encountered by the Swedish seaplane-cruiser on 20 May heading north-west, past Göteborg. The British Admirality was informed through a Norwegian officer in Stockholm who had learned of the sighting from a Swedish military intelligence source. Alerted by this report, British Admiralty requested air reconnaissance of the Norwegian coast. A Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
reconnaissance aircraft
Reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft is a manned military aircraft designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance.-History:The majority of World War I aircraft were reconnaissance designs...
found and photographed the German task force in the Grimstad fjord (60°19.49′N 5°14.48′E), near Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
, at 13:15 on 21 May. On the evening of 23 May at 19:22, the German force was detected by the heavy cruisers and Norfolk
HMS Norfolk (78)
HMS Norfolk was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy; along with her sister ship , she was part of a planned four-ship subclass.She served throughout the Second World War....
that had been patrolling the Denmark Strait in the expectation of a German breakout. Bismarck fired five salvo
Salvo
A salvo is the simultaneous discharge of artillery or firearms including the firing of guns either to hit a target or to perform a salute.Troops armed with muzzleloaders required time in which to refill their arms with gun powder and shot...
s without scoring a direct hit. The heavily outgunned British cruisers retired to a safe distance and shadowed the enemy until their own heavy units could draw closer. However, Bismarcks forward radar had failed as a result of vibration from the heavy guns firing during this skirmish, and Lütjens was obliged to order Prinz Eugen to move ahead of Bismarck in order to provide the squadron with forward radar coverage.
The hydrophone
Hydrophone
A hydrophone is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a piezoelectric transducer that generates electricity when subjected to a pressure change...
s on Prinz Eugen detected a foreign ship to port at 05:00. The Germans sighted the smokestacks of two ships at 05:45. The British ships started firing at the German task force at 05:53. Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland
Lancelot Holland
Vice Admiral Lancelot Ernest Holland, CB commanded the British force in the Battle of Denmark Strait in May, 1941 against the German battleship Bismarck. Holland was killed during the battle.-Early life:...
planned on targeting Bismarck first, but due to the reversed battle order, HMS Prince of Wales and Hood opened fire on the Prinz Eugen instead. The commander of the Prince of Wales, Captain John Leach, detected this error and ordered his guns swung around to fire on Bismarck. The German task force was still waiting for the order to commence firing, which Admiral Lütjens did not give immediately. Two minutes into the battle Bismarck and Prinz Eugen started firing at Hood. At 05:57 Hood was hit by Prinz Eugen, igniting reserve ammunition stored on deck, and starting a fire. The fifth salvo by Bismarck, fired at a range of about 180 hm (18,000 m; 19,685 yd) at 06:01, was seen to hit Hood abreast her mainmast. It is likely that one adj=on 38 shell struck somewhere between Hood's mainmast and 'X' turret aft of the mast.Hood carried eight 42-calibre BL 15-inch Mark I guns. These guns were mounted in the hydraulically powered Mark II twin turrets which were designated 'A', 'B', 'X' and 'Y' from forward to aft. A huge jet of flame burst out from Hood from the vicinity of the mainmast. This was followed by a devastating magazine explosion that destroyed the aft part of the ship. This explosion broke the back of Hood, and she sank in only three minutes, her nearly vertical bow last to descend into the water.
Following the explosion, Prince of Wales was targeted by both German ships and disengaged from combat after seven direct hits, four by Bismarck and three by Prinz Eugen, at about 06:09. In the afternoon of 24 May, Admiral Lütjens, ordered Prinz Eugen to break away from the battleship Bismarck and operate independently against the enemy's merchant shipping. Prinz Eugen and Bismarck separated at 18:14 that evening. Bismarck was sunk by the concentrated effort of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
on 27 May 1941 while Prinz Eugen arrived safely at Brest, France
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
on 1 June 1941.
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Helmuth Brinkmann received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 17 May 1944 for the evacuation of the 17. Armee17th Army (Germany)
The German Seventeenth Army was a World War II field army.-Commanding officers:* General der Infanterie Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel * Generaloberst Hermann Hoth...
(17th Army) from the Crimean peninsula. The actions of the Kriegsmarine in the evacuation of the Crimea were thoroughly investigated after the operation, and the commanders-in-chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of the Heeresgruppen (Army Groups) and Armies gave the Kriegsmarine a negative performance evaluation. The commander-in-chief of the 17th Army, General der Infanterie
General der Infanterie
General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer and refers to:* General of the Infantry * General of the Infantry...
(General of the Infantry) Karl Allmendinger, described the presentation of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross to Brinkmann and to Konteradmiral (Rear-Admiral) Otto Schulz
Otto Schulz (admiral)
Otto Schulz was a Konteradmiral with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
as a bitter outrage to every German soldier who had fought on the Peninsula. In a letter to the Heeresgruppe Südukraine
Army Group South Ukraine
Army Group South Ukraine was a German army group on the Eastern Front during World War II.Army Group South Ukraine was created on 31 March 1944...
(Army Group South Ukraine), they accused the naval leadership of providing deliberate misinformation, of panicking and disorganization.
Awards
- Iron CrossIron CrossThe Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
(1914)- 2nd Class (10 October 1915)
- 1st Class (24 July 1920)
- Honour Cross for CombatantsHonour Cross for CombatantsThe Honour Cross for Combatants was one of three versions of the Cross of Honor to be awarded.- Recipients :* Walther von Brauchitsch* Wilhelm Keitel* Günther von Kluge* Erwin Rommel* Albert Kesselring* Erwin von Witzleben* Erich von Manstein...
(15 October 1934) - Anschluss MedalAnschluss MedalThe Anschluss Commemorative Medal was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded in the interwar period.-Description:Instituted on May 1, 1938, the medal commemorated the return of Austria to the German Reich...
- Sudetenland MedalSudetenland MedalThe The Sudetenland Commemorative Medal was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded in the interwar period.-Description:...
- Commander of the Order of the Crown of ItalyOrder of the Crown of ItalyThe Order of the Crown of Italy was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861...
(8 October 1937) - Clasp to the Iron CrossClasp to the Iron CrossThe Clasp to the Iron Cross was a metal medal clasp displayed on the uniforms of German Wehrmacht personnel who had been awarded the Iron Cross in World War I. It was displayed on the uniforms of many high ranking officers during World War II as most had also served in World War I...
(1939)- 2nd Class (3 June 1941)
- 1st Class (9 June 1941)
- High Seas Fleet BadgeHigh Seas Fleet BadgeHigh Seas Fleet Badge is a German military decoration awarded for service to the crews of the High Seas Fleet, mainly of the battleships and cruisers, but also those ships that supported them operationally for which there was no other award...
(5 April 1942) - Order of Michael the BraveOrder of Michael the BraveThe Order of Michael the Brave is Romania's highest military decoration, instituted by King Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign of World War I, and was again awarded in World War II...
3rd Class (30 May 1944) - German CrossGerman CrossThe German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...
in Gold on 25 March 1942 as Kapitän zur See on heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen - Knight's Cross of the Iron CrossKnight's Cross of the Iron CrossThe Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
17 May 1944 as VizeadmiralVice AdmiralVice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
and commander of the Black Seas Fleet