Kurt Fricke

Kurt Fricke
Born	(1889-11-08)8 November 1889 Berlin
Died	2 May 1945(1945-05-02)(aged 55) Berlin
Allegiance	German Empire(to 1919) Weimar Republic(to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Imperial German Navy Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1910–45
Rank	Admiral
Unit	SMSHertha SMSMoltke
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Kurt Fricke(8 November 1889 – 2 May 1945) was anAdmiralwith theKriegsmarine(navy) ofNazi GermanyduringWorld War IIand a recipient of theKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Biography

Fricke entered theKaiserliche Marineas a cadet on 1 April 1910. He served onSMSHerthaduring his cadetship and graduated from theNaval Academy at Mürwik.After graduating he was posted to the battlecruiserSMSMoltke.On 27 September 1913 Fricke was promoted to lieutenant. During World War I, Fricke served at theBattle of Dogger Bank.Fricke was promoted toOberleutnant zur Seein 1916 and transferred to torpedo boats. He served onG103andG101.On 7 March 1918 he became an aide-de-camp to the commander of the torpedo boats, in which position he ended the war.

After the war he served in the administration of the German navy as adjutant to the commander in chief of the navy. From 1922 to 1924 he served on theI. Flottille,in which he commanded destroyersT139andT148.In September 1924, Fricke became a company officer in a coastal defence unit. Fricke was promoted toKorvettenkapitän(corvette captain) in 1928. He served three years as a marine adjutant to theReichswehrminister.

In 1929 Fricke was made commander of half a squadron of torpedo boats. On 16 September 1931 he became commander of theI. Torpedobootsflottille(1st Torpedo-boat Flotilla). In 1933 he becameFührer der Torpedoboote(commander of the torpedo-boat branch). On 1 April 1934 Fricke was promoted toFregattenkapitän(frigate captain). Fricke then was posted as chief of staff to the inspectorate of destroyer and mine-warfare in the rank ofKapitän zur See(captain at sea) (1935). From October 1936 to September 1937 he served at theWehrmacht-Akademie.After this academic posting, Fricke served on theOberkommando der Marineas Chief of the Operations department of theSeekriegsleitung(Naval War Staff). On 30 April 1939 Fricke became liaison officer to the commander-in-chief of theLuftwaffe,Hermann Göring.

After the start of the Second World War, Fricke was promoted toKonteradmiral(rear admiral) on 1 November 1939 andVizeadmiral(vice admiral) on 1 June 1941. From 13 June 1941 to 20 February 1943 Fricke was Chief of Staff of theSeekriegsleitung.Promoted toAdmiralon 1 April 1942, Fricke was named commander of theMarinegruppenkommando Süd(21 March 1943 – 11 December 1944). In December 1944 Fricke was placed in theFührerreserve.Fricke was killed on 2 May 1945 during theBattle of Berlin.

Awards

• Iron Cross(1914)
  • 2nd Class (4 January 1915)
  • 1st Class (28 June 1916)
• Friedrich August Cross(Oldenburg)
  • 2nd Class (25 May 1916)
  • 1st Class (3 April 1918)
• Hanseatic Cross,Hamburg (14 June 1916)
• Knight's Cross of theHouse Order of Hohenzollernwith Swords (5 March 1918)
• Knight's Cross, First Class of theOrder of the Sword(Sweden, 12 July 1930)
• The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/19181914/1918 (1934)
• Sudetenland Medal(22 May 1939)
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award,1st with 4th Class (2 October 1936)
• Order of Naval Merit,3rd class in White (Spain, 21 August 1939)
• Clasp to the Iron Cross(1939)
  • 2nd Class (1 October 1939)
  • 1st Class (27 November 1939)
• Memel Medal(26 October 1939)
• Order of the Yugoslav Crown,2nd class with Star (9 November 1939)
• Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria),1st class with War Decoration (Bulgaria, 1942)
• Order of the Cross of Liberty,1st class with Oak Leaves and Swords (Finland, March 25, 1942)
• Order of Michael the Brave,3rd class (1 September 1942)
• Grand Cross of theOrder of the Crown of King Zvonimirwith swords (Croatia, 26 September 1942)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Crosson 1 October 1942 asAdmiraland chief-of-staff inNaval Operations(Seekriegsleitung) in theNaval High Command(Oberkommando der Marine)
• Grand Cross of theOrder of the Star of Romaniawith swords and military band of virtue (7 October 1942)

References

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.ISBN978-3-7648-2453-2.
• 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.ISBN978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Range, Clemens (1974).Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine[The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Navy]. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag.ISBN978-3-87943-355-1.
• 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.ISBN978-3-938845-17-2.