Rudolf Petersen (Kapitän zur See)

Rudolf Petersen (15 June 1905 – 2 January 1983) was a German naval officer during World War II. Petersen, in his role as Commodore, was the head of the court of what might have been the last desertion-trial of Nazi Germany. Matrose Fritz Wehrmann, age 26 from Leipzig, Funker Alfred Gail, age 20 from Kassel, and Obergefreiter Martin Schilling, age 22 from Ostfriesland were executed on board Buéa on 10 May 1945 two days after the unconditional surrender of Germany.

Rudolf Petersen
Born	15 May 1905
Died	2 January 1983 (aged 77) Flensburg
Allegiance	Nazi Germany  West Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine Bundesnachrichtendienst
Rank	Kommodore
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

The accused had received news of the German capitulation to the British forces on 4 May 1945. On 6 May 1945 they left their stations on Svendborg on Fünen to get to the mainland. They were caught by the Danish Police and handed over to the German authorities on Fünen.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (1940) & 1st Class (28 May 1940)[1]
• Fast Attack Craft War Badge (19 March 1942) with Diamonds (13 June 1944)[2]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 4 August 1940 as Korvettenkapitän and chief of the 2. Schnellbootflottille[3]
  • Oak Leaves on 13 June 1944 as Kapitän zur See and leader of the Schnellboote (FdS)[3]

References

Citations

1. Thomas 1998, p. 148.
2. Dörr 1996, p. 120.
3. Scherzer 2007, p. 590.

Bibliography

• Dörr, Manfred (1996). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine—Band 2: L–Z [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Surface Forces of the Navy—Volume 2: L–Z] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2497-6.
• 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.
• Thomas, Franz (1998). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 2: L–Z] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2300-9.

External links

• Berliner Zeitung Article about the desertion trial
• Newspaper clippings about Rudolf Petersen in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW