Theodor Krancke

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.

Theodor Krancke
Krancke (left) with General Walther Buhle and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Born	(1893-03-30)30 March 1893 Magdeburg, German Empire
Died	18 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 service	1912–45
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	Cruiser Admiral Scheer
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	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

• Fähnrich zur See – 12 April 1913
• Leutnant zur See – 22 March 1915
• Oberleutnant zur See – 25 December 1917
• Kapitänleutnant – 1 September 1922
• Korvettenkapitän – 1 October 1930
• Fregattenkapitän – 1 November 1935
• Kapitän zur See – 1 April 1937
• Konteradmiral – 1 April 1941
• Vizeadmiral – 1 April 1942
• Admiral – 1 March 1943

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (May 1915) & 1st Class (27 September 1919)^[1]
• Sudetenland Medal 1939^[1]
• High Seas Fleet Badge 1941^[1]
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (29 October 1939) & 1st Class (20 April 1940)^[1]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 21 February 1941 as Kapitän zur See and commander of heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer^[2]
  • 614th Oak Leaves on 18 October 1944 as Admiral and commander in chief of Marinegruppenkommando West (Navy Group Command West)^[2]

References

Citations

1. Dörr 1995, p. 358.
2. 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 by Generaladmiral Wilhelm Marschall	Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine Group Command West 20 April 1943 – 20 October 1944	Succeeded by Kriegsmarine High Command West
Preceded by Kriegsmarine Group Command West	Commander-in-Chief of Kriegsmarine High Command West 20 October 1944 – 18 April 1945	Succeeded by none
Preceded by Admiral Otto Ciliax	Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine High Command Norway 26 April 1945 – 26 August 1945	Succeeded by none