Otto Kähler

This article is about the German admiral. For the Austrian physician, see Otto Kahler.

Otto Kähler
Otto Kähler
Born	(1894-03-03)3 March 1894 Hamburg, German Empire
Died	2 November 1967(1967-11-02) (aged 73) Kiel, Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kaiserliche Marine Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1914–1945
Rank	Konteradmiral
Unit	SMS Hansa SMS Roon SM UB-30 German cruiser Karlsruhe
Commands held	Gorch Fock German auxiliary cruiser Thor
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Action of 4 April 1941 Battle for Brest
Awards	Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves

Otto Kähler (3 March 1894 – 2 November 1967) was a Konteradmiral with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He commanded the German auxiliary cruiser Thor, a merchant raider, on two combat patrols and sank or captured 12 ships, for a combined tonnage of 96,547 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (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. Kähler relinquished command of Thor on 20 July 1941 to Günther Gumprich, who would also received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross as commander of Thor.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class (1 October 1915)
• U-boat War Badge (1918)
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 1st Class
• Auxiliary Cruiser Badge
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 22 December 1940 as Kapitän zur See and commander of auxiliary cruiser Thor (HSK 4)
  • 583rd Oak Leaves on 15 September 1944 as Konteradmiral and sea-commander of the fortress Brest

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Dörr, Manfred (1995). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine—Band 1:A–K (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag. ISBN 3-7648-2453-0.
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
• Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 3-87943-355-0.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). 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.

External links

• "Deutsches Marinearchiv". Otto Kähler. Retrieved 23 November 2010. 
• "Lexikon der Wehrmacht". Otto Kähler. Retrieved 23 November 2010.