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Theodor Krancke
Krancke (left) with General Walther Buhle and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Born(1893-03-30)30 March 1893
Magdeburg, German Empire
Died18 June 1973(1973-06-18) (aged 80)
Wentorf bei Hamburg, West Germany
Allegiance German Empire (to 1919)
 Weimar Republic (to 1933)
 Nazi Germany
Service/branch Imperial German Navy
 Reichsmarine
 Kriegsmarine
Years of service1912–45
RankAdmiral
Commands heldCruiser Admiral Scheer
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Theodor Krancke (30 March 1893 – 18 June 1973) was a naval commander (admiral) of Nazi Germany during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

Under the command of Krancke, during the five-month-long raiding cruise, the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer sank 13 merchant ships, one armed merchant cruiser HMS Jervis Bay, and captured three merchant ships representing 115,195 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied and neutral shipping.

During the Allied Invasion of Normandy Krancke, as Commander-in-Chief of Navy Group Command West headquartered in Paris, controlled all German naval vessels in France, as well as the various land-based naval units and the naval coastal artillery and anti-aircraft batteries along the French Atlantic coast.

Dates of Rank

Awards

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Dörr 1995, p. 358.
  2. ^ a b Scherzer 2007, p. 470.

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.
  • 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.
Military offices Preceded byGeneraladmiral Wilhelm Marschall Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine Group Command West 20 April 1943 – 20 October 1944 Succeeded byKriegsmarine High Command West Preceded byKriegsmarine Group Command West Commander-in-Chief of Kriegsmarine High Command West 20 October 1944 – 18 April 1945 Succeeded bynone Preceded byAdmiral Otto Ciliax Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine High Command Norway 26 April 1945 – 26 August 1945 Succeeded bynone
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