Information AboutGunther Lutjens |
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Admiral Günther Lütjens ( 25 May 1889 - 27 May 1941 ) was a German Naval commander during World War II . Günther Lütjens was born in Wiesbaden , Germany, and entered the Imperial German Navy ( Kaiserliche Marine ) school in 1907. He spent his formative years on the light cruiser SMS Freya. After graduation he served on board SMS Elsass until 1910, from 1910 to 1913 he served aboard the battleship SMS König Wilhelm, and from 1913 to 1914 he served as the commander of the 4th Flotilla. During World War I Lütjens served on torpedo boats along the Flemish coast, leading raids against Dunkerque . After the war, he worked as an officer at the Wernemünde Ship Transportation Agency from 1918 until 1921, when he returned to the newly reorganized German Navy again as a Fleet Commander. Lütjens served until 1925 in the 3rd Torpedo Flotilla. He was later promoted to commander of the flotilla. By 1936 Lütjens was Chief of Personnel in the Kriegsmarine . During the Norwegian Campaign , Lütjens served as Vice Admiral , commanding the battlecruisers ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' during which he fought an inconclusive battle with HMS ''Renown'' . In June 1940 he became the third ''Flottenchef'' of the Kriegsmarine in World War II , a position comparable to the British ''Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet ''. His predecessor Vice Admiral Wilhelm Marschall had repeated differences with the German High Command over the extent the ''Flottenchef'' should be bound to orders while operating at sea. Operating from the ''Scharnhorst'' and the ''Gneisenau'', Marschall had realized the Allies were retreating from Norway and ignored his original orders by attacking the retreating British forces, sinking the carrier HMS Glorious and its escorting destroyers HMS ''Acasta'' and HMS ''Ardent'', but also receiving a Torpedo hit on the ''Scharnhorst''. This failure to follow orders, resulted in Marschall being replaced by Lutjens. Since the first ''Flottenchef'' had been removed for similar reasons, Lutjens was determined to follow his orders to the letter to avoid suffering the same fate. In early 1941 he commanded the ''Scharnhorst'' and the ''Gneisenau'' in an Atlantic raider attack, during which he destroyed over 115,000 tons of British merchant marine ships before returning to Brest, France . Because of this success he was appointed commander of Operation Rheinübung, which called for the sending out of a powerful battle fleet into the Atlantic Ocean . Plans were made to send out the battleships ''Bismarck'' and ''Tirpitz'' , with the ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' as well. For various reasons, the ''Tirpitz'' and the two battlecruisers could not be made ready for the operation, so it proceeded with only the ''Bismarck'' and the German cruiser Prinz Eugen . After sailing out with his two ships, Lütjens encountered a British squadron comprising of HMS ''Hood'' and HMS ''Prince Of Wales'' in the early hours of May 24, 1941. During the combat that followed, HMS ''Hood'' was sunk with nearly all hands lost, and HMS ''Prince of Wales'' was heavily damaged. Lütjens decided to let her escape, applying his orders to ''avoid engagements with equal or superior forces unless forced to by the enemy''. In subsequent maneuvering, the ''Bismarck'' was able to elude the British, although its crew was unaware of this, since they could detect British radar but did not know that the return signals were too weak to be monitored. In spite of the ''Bismarck's'' Captain Lindemann 's objections, Lütjens transmitted a half-hour radio message which was intercepted by the British. The ''Bismarck'' was also spotted by a reconnaissance aircraft flying from Northern Ireland . This caused the enemy to pinpoint the ''Bismarck's'' location. On 26 May, at dusk, she was attacked by British Swordfish torpedo planes from the aircraft carrier HMS ''Ark Royal'' . One torpedo jammed her rudder and steering gear, rendering her largely unmaneuverable. The Germans were still able to steer the ''Bismarck'' somewhat by adjusting the revolution speed of her propellers. Throughout the following night she was the target of incessant torpedo attacks by the destroyers HMS ''Cossack'', HMS ''Sikh'', HMS ''Maori'' and HMS ''Zulu'', with the Polish ''Piorun''. The battleships HMS ''King George V'' and HMS ''Rodney'' accompanied by several cruisers and destroyers finally sunk the ''Bismarck'' on May 27th, 1941. Lütjens was probably killed when a salvo fired by HMS ''King George V'' destroyed the bridge, together with the central armament control tower, killing many senior officers. The guided missile destroyer FGS Lütjens (D185) of the Deutsche Marine was named after Günther Lütjens. |
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