Oskar Kummetz

Oskar Kummetz
Born	(1891-07-21)21 July 1891 Illowo in the district of Neidenburg, East Prussia, German Empire
Died	17 December 1980(1980-12-17) (aged 89) Neustadt an der Weinstraße, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Imperial German Navy Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1910–45
Rank	Generaladmiral
Commands	Kampfgruppe "Oslo"
Battles / wars	World War I World War II Battle of Drøbak Sound Battle of the Barents Sea Operation Rösselsprung Operation Doppelschlag Operation Hannibal
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Oskar Kummetz (21 July 1891 – 17 December 1980) was an admiral with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He also served in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I. Kummetz was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions in the Battle of Drøbak Sound, during which his command, the Blücher, was hit in the superstructure by two 28 cm shells from Norwegian fortress Oscarsborg, 15 cm shells from Kopås fortress and 5.7 cm gunfire from Husvik fortress. From Kaholmen Blücher was hit by two torpedoes and she sank 84 metres below the sound.

Along with hundreds of other survivors, including Generalmajor Erwin Engelbrecht, Kummetz was detained by Norwegian guardsmen at a farm near Drøbak on 9 April, before the Germans arrived and they were abandoned by their captors.

His next command, the Admiral Hipper, unsuccessfully attacked a British convoy during the Battle of the Barents Sea, and the Hipper was damaged by British cruisers, while his escort, the Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt was sunk with all hands by HMS Sheffield (C24).

On 1 March 1944, Kummetz became the Commander-in-Chief of Naval High Command Baltic Sea in Kiel. On 16 September 1944 he was promoted to Generaladmiral. In the final months of the war, Kummetz was responsible for Operation Hannibal, the evacuation of German refugees and military personnel from Courland, East Prussia, West Prussia and Pomerania through the Baltic Sea.

Kummetz (3rd right) leaving a British ship after the British takeover of Kiel, 1945

Oskar Kummetz died on 17 December 1980 at the age of 89.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (30 June 1916) & 1st Class (27 September 1919)
• Honour Cross for Combatants (January 1935)
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 1st to 4th Class (2 October 1936)
• Magyar Köztársasági Érdemrend (Commander of the Hungarian Order of Merit) (20 August 1938)
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (14 October 1939) & 1st Class (12 April 1940)
• Memel Medal (14 March 1940)
• High Seas Fleet Badge (5 February 1942)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 18 January 1941 as Konteradmiral and leader of the Kampfgruppe Oslo

References

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) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• 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 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.