- Otto Ciliax
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Otto Ciliax Born 30 October 1891
Gotha-NeudietendorfDied 12 December 1964 (aged 73)
Lübeck-TravemündeAllegiance German Empire (to 1918)
Weimar Republic (to 1933)
Nazi GermanyService/branch Kaiserliche Marine
Reichsmarine
KriegsmarineYears of service 1911–1945 Rank Admiral Unit SMS Victoria Louise
SMS Hannover
SM U-52Commands held battleship Scharnhorst
Commander of the German BattleshipsBattles/wars World War I
Spanish Civil War
World War II- Operation Cerberus
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Otto Ciliax (30 October 1891 – 12 December 1964) was an admiral in the German Navy. 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.
Contents
Career
Otto Ciliax joined the military service of the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) on 1 April 1910 as a Seekadett. He completed a basic training course on board of SMS Victoria Louise before transferring to the Naval Academy Mürwik. Afterwards, starting on 1 October 1912 he served on the battleship SMS Hannover and was promoted to Leutnant zur See (second lieutenant) on 27 September 1913.
As the Watch-Officer of SM U-52 in World War I he sank the cruiser HMS Nottingham. He was a former captain of Scharnhorst. In February 1942, he commanded Operation Cerberus, better known as "the Channel Dash", when Germany's two battleships, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and a number of other smaller vessels were transferred from Brest to their respective home bases in Germany for planned deployment to Norwegian waters. Ciliax flew his flag on Scharnhorst. Although the success of the operation was seen as an embarrassment to the British because the ships were able to pass through the English Channel almost undetected (though both Scharnhorst and Gneisenau struck a minefield en route), the transfer from Brest to Germany eliminated the threat they had posed to Allied shipping in the Atlantic, that dissipated until Scharnhorst's chase for Convoy JW 55B, which eventually culminated in the Battle of North Cape and her demise at the hands of HMS Duke of York (17).
Further distinction eluded him for the remainder of World War II.
Awards
- Iron Cross (1914)
- 2nd Class (13 June 1916)
- 1st Class (3 November 1916)
- U-boat War Badge (1918)
- Order of the Crown of Italy
- Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords (6 June 1939)
- Spanish Medalla de la Campaña de España
- German Cross in Gold (20 November 1941)
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 21 March 1942 as Vizeadmiral and commander of the battleships[1]
- Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 13 February 1942
Reference in the Wehrmachtbericht
Date Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording Direct English translation Friday, 13 February 1942 Am 12. Februar kam es im Zuge von Operationen deutscher Seestreitkräfte im Kanal sowie in der westlichen Nordsee zu Gefechtsberührungen mit englischen Streitkräften. Durch den unter Führung des Vizeadmirals Ciliax stehenden Verband, der aus den Schlachtschiffen "Scharnhorst", "Gneisenau" und dem Kreuzer "Prinz Eugen" bestand, wurde nach der bisherigen Meldungen ein englischer Zerstörer versenkt und ein weiterer in Brand geschossen.[2] Combat between German sea forces and British forces occurred on 12 February during operations in the Channel as well as in the western North Sea. According to current information, the task force under the command of Vice Admiral Ciliax consisting of the battleships "Scharnhorst", "Gneisenau" and the cruiser "Prinz Eugen" sank a British destroyer and damaged another. References
- Citations
- Bibliography
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. 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.
- 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.
- Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 2, 1. Januar 1942 bis 31. Dezember 1943 (in German). München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1985. ISBN 3-423-05944-3.
External link
- "Otto Ciliax". Geocites. http://web.archive.org/web/20091029025827/http://geocities.com/~orion47/WEHRMACHT/KRIEGSMARINE/Admirals/CILIAX_OTTO.html. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
Military offices New creation Commander of the German Battleships
16 June 1941 – 2 June 1942disbanded Preceded by
Generaladmiral Hermann BoehmCommander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine High Command Norway
March 1943 – April 1945Succeeded by
Admiral Theodor KranckeThis biographical article related to the German Navy is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.