Bernd Klug

Bernd Klug
File:BerndKlug.jpg
Born	(1914-12-12)12 December 1914 Wuppertal
Died	15 June 1975(1975-06-15) (aged 60) Kiel
Allegiance	Nazi Germany (to 1945) 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 1. Schnellbootflottille
Commands held	5. Schnellbootflottille
Battles/wars	Spanish Civil War World War II Battle of Lyme Bay
Awards	Spanish Cross in Bronze Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Bernd Georg Wilhelm 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 is also a recipient of the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Korvettenkapitän Klug led E-boats (Schnellboote) 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.

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. Here he was promoted to Seekadett (Midshipman) on 23 September 1933. He was then transferred to the light cruiser Karlsruhe on 24 September 1933.

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. While stationed on Karlsruhe, he advanced in rank to Gefreiter on 1 April 1934.

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. During his vacation he was promoted to Fähnrich zur See (officer cadet) on 1 July 1931. 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).

Battle of Lyme Bay

S-204 on 13 May 1945, similar to those led by Klug.

On 28 April 1944 Klug led six E-boats of the 5th Schnellbootflottille across the English Channel. The Germans had received signals of Allied naval operations in the Lyme Bay. Klug led the attack in groups of two, S-100 and S-143, S-140 and S-142, and S-136 and S-138. His force was augmented by additional three boats from the 5th Schnellbootflottille, S-130, S-145 and S-150, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Götz Freiherr von Mirbach.

Awards

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class (31 March 1937)
• Spanish Cross in Bronze without Swords (6 June 1939)
• Sudetenland Medal (1 September 1939)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (10 April 1940)
  • 1st Class (7 August 1940)
• Wound Badge (1939)
  • in Black (25 April 1940)
• Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty 4th Class (10 July 1941)
• Fast Attack Craft War Badge (16 December 1940)
  • with Diamonds (1 January 1944)
• 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
  • 361st Oak Leaves on 1 January 1944 as chief of the 5. Schnellbootflottille
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 28 April 1944
• Commanders Cross of the French Legion of Honour (1960)

References

Citation

Bibliography

• Dörr, Manfred (1995). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine—Band 1: A–K (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2453-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert; Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1990). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe. Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart. (10 Bände) (in German). Vol. 3. Mundus Verlag. ISBN 3-7822-0211-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• 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 (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Thomas, Franz (1997). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 1: A–K (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 3, 1. Januar 1944 bis 9. Mai 1945 (in German). München, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)

External links

• "Kopf unter". Der Spiegel (in German). 1987. Retrieved 10 May 2014.