Otto Schulz (admiral)

Otto Schulz
Born	12 March 1900 Darmstadt
Died	28 March 1974 (aged 74) Bad Wildungen
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kaiserliche Marine  Reichsmarine  Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1916–45
Rank	Konteradmiral
Unit	SMS Freya SMS Thüringen SMS Oldenburg Leipzig
Commands held	Seekommandant Krim
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Otto Schulz (12 March 1900 – 28 March 1974) was a Konteradmiral with the Kriegsmarine (the German navy) during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Otto Schulz received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 17 May 1944 for the evacuation of the 17. Armee (17th Army) from the Crimean peninsula. The actions of the Kriegsmarine in the evacuation of the Crimea were thoroughly investigated after the operation, and the commanders-in-chief of the Heeresgruppen (Army Groups) and Armies gave the Kriegsmarine a negative performance evaluation. The commander-in-chief of the 17th Army, General der Infanterie (General of the Infantry) Karl Allmendinger, described the presentation of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross to Schulz and to Vizeadmiral (Vice-Admiral) Helmuth Brinkmann as a bitter outrage to every German soldier who had fought on the Peninsula. In a letter to the Heeresgruppe Südukraine (Army Group South Ukraine), they accused the naval leadership of providing deliberate misinformation, of panicking and disorganization.^[1]

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class
  • 1st Class
• Honour Cross for Combatants
• Anschluss Medal
• Sudetenland Medal with Prague Castle Bar
• Spanish Cross in Bronze
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (15 April 1940)^[2]
  • 1st Class
• War Merit Cross 1st Class with Swords (30 January 1942)^[3]
• Naval Artillery War Badge (1944)^[3]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 17 May 1944 as Konteradmiral and Seekommandant Krim (sea commander Crimea)^[4]

References

Citations

1. "Helmuth Brinkmann". Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 (in German). Retrieved 28 November 2012.
2. Dörr 1996, p. 248.
3. Dörr 1996, p. 249.
4. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 393.

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.
• Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Navy]. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-87943-355-1.
• 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 Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2..

External links

• Otto Schulz @ Deutsche Marinearchiv
• Otto Schulz @ Axis Biographical Research at the Wayback Machine (archived January 16, 2011)