Bernd Klug

Bernd Klug (12 December 1914 – 15 June 1975) was an admiral in the West German Navy. During World War II, he served in the Kriegsmarine and was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany.

Bernd Klug
Born	12 December 1914 Wuppertal
Died	15 June 1975 (aged 60) Kiel
Allegiance	Nazi Germany  West Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine German Navy
Years of service	1933–1945, 1956–1968
Rank	Flottillenadmiral
Battles/wars	Spanish Civil War World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Career

Klug joined Nazi Germany's Reichsmarine on 1 April 1933. He received his training aboard the school ship SSS Gorch Fock and the light cruiser Karlsruhe.[1] Klug sailed on Karlsruhe's third training cruise. Karlsruhe left Wilhelmshaven on 14 October 1933 returning to Kiel on 16 June 1934.[2] While stationed on Karlsruhe, he advanced in rank to Gefreiter on 1 April 1934.[3]

He was posted to the Naval Academy at Mürwik on 28 June 1934.[1] During his vacation he was promoted to Officer Cadet on 1 July 1934.[3] 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).[1]

Klug led E-boats 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.[4]

Awards

• Spanish Cross in Bronze without Swords (6 June 1939)[3]
• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (10 April 1940) & 1st Class (7 August 1940)[3]
• Wound Badge (1939) in Black (25 April 1940)[3]
• Fast Attack Craft War Badge (16 December 1940); with Diamonds (1 January 1944)[3]
• 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[5]
  • Oak Leaves on 1 January 1944 as chief of the 5. Schnellbootflottille[5]
• Commanders Cross of the French Legion of Honour (1960)[3]

References

Citation

1. Dörr 1995, p. 339.
2. Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz 1993, v. 5., p. 89.
3. Dörr 1995, p. 340.
4. Hoyt 1999, p. 97.
5. Scherzer 2007, p. 451.

Bibliography

• Dörr, Manfred (1995). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine—Band 1: A–K [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Surface Forces of the Navy—Volume 1: A–K] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2453-2.
• Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert; Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1990). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe. Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart. (10 Bände) [The German Warships. Biographies - a Mirror of Naval History from 1815 to the Present. (10 Volumes)] (in German). 3. Mundus Verlag. ISBN 3-7822-0211-2.
• 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 [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.

External links

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