Günther Lütjens

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Günther Lütjens
25 May 1889(1889-05-25) — 27 May 1941 (aged 52)

Place of birth Wiesbaden, Hesse-Nassau
Place of death Atlantic Ocean
48°10′N, 16°12′W
Allegiance Flag of German Empire German Empire (to 1918)
Flag of Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
Flag of Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
Years of service 1907–1941
Rank Admiral
Commands held Gneisenau (flagship) and Scharnhorst 1940-1941. Bismarck
Battles/wars Wars: World War One and World War Two
Campaigns: Battle of the Atlantic
Operations: Operation Berlin, Operation Weserübung and Operation Rheinübung
Battles: Battle of the Denmark Strait
Last battle of the battleship Bismarck
Awards Ritterkreuz

Günther Lütjens (25 May 1889 – 27 May 1941) was a German Admiral whose military service spanned three decades. Lütjens is most well known for his actions during World War II, primarily his command of the Bismarck and her consort Prinz Eugen during the Operation Rheinübung sortie.

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[edit] Early career

Gunther Lütjens was born in Wiesbaden and entered the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in 1907[1]. He spent his initial years on the light cruiser SMS Freya. After receiving his commission he served on board the battleship SMS Elsaß until 1910, and from 1910 to 1913 aboard the armed cruiser SMS König Wilhelm.

[edit] World War I

In 1913 until the end of World War I Lütjens was commander of torpedo boats along the Flemish coast, leading raids against Dunkerque. On 24 May 1917 Lütjens was promoted to Lieutenant Commander.

[edit] Inter War Service

After the war, he worked as an officer at the Warnemünde Ship Transportation Agency from 1918 until 1921, when he returned to the newly reorganized German Navy, by that time with the rank of Commander. Lütjens served until 1925 in the 3rd Torpedo Boat Flotilla and eventually became its commanding officer. In 1933 he received command of the Light Cruiser Karlsruhe. In 1936 Lütjens was appointed Chief of Personnel of the Kriegsmarine. In 1937 he became Führer der Torpedoboote (Chief of Torpedo Boats) and was promoted to Rear Admiral.[2]

In November 1938 Lütjens was one of only three flag officers who protested in writing against the anti-Jewish "Kristallnacht" programs.[3].

[edit] World War II

[edit] Operation Weserübung

At the outbreak of World War II Lütjens was Commander of Scouting Forces. In April 1940, during the invasion of Denmark and Norway (Operation Weserübung), he served as Vice Admiral, commanding the distant cover forces in the North Sea that consisted of the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and fighting an inconclusive battle with HMS Renown. In June 1940 he became Commander of Battleships and the third Flottenchef (Fleet Commander) 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 Lütjens. Since the first Flottenchef had been removed for similar reasons, Lütjens was determined to follow his orders to the letter to avoid suffering the same fate.

[edit] Operation Berlin

On 28 December 1940 Lütjens commanded the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau in an attempted Atlantic raid, however due to weather the German force had to return to port, (Gneisenau to Kiel and the Scharnhorst to Gdynia). during which he destroyed over 115,000 tons of Allied merchant shipping before returning to Brest, France.

On 22 January 1941 the mission was renewed. Lütjens selected Gneisenau as his flagship. Gneisenau and Scharnhorst sank and captured 22 vessels, including six on 15 March and ten on 16 March. Lütjens, although sighted by HMS Rodney, HMS Ramillies and HMS Ark Royal managed to evade British warships. The Operation lasted exactly two months, and the journey of 17,800 nautical miles in 59 days was a record for German capital ships.[4]

[edit] Operation Rheinübung

Plans were then made for Lütjens to command Operation Rheinübung, taking all four German battleships and battlecruisers -- Bismarck, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and the new battleship Tirpitz -- on a raid into the Atlantic. 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 heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen.

After rounding Iceland, Lütjens encountered a British squadron in the Denmark Strait comprising the battlecruiser HMS Hood and the battleship HMS Prince of Wales in the early hours of 24 May 1941. During the brief "Battle of the Denmark Strait" that followed, HMS Hood was sunk with nearly all hands lost, and HMS Prince of Wales was hit seven times and badly damaged on the bridge. The Prince of Wales was also suffering gun malfunctions. Lütjens decided to let her escape, obeying his orders to "avoid engagements with equal or superior forces unless forced to by the enemy". The Prinz Eugen was subsequently ordered to initiate commerce raiding on her own.

In subsequent maneuvering, the Bismarck was able to elude the British, although her 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. Unaware that the British cruisers had "lost" him, and in spite of the Bismarck's Captain Lindemann's objections, Lütjens transmitted a half-hour radio message which was intercepted by the British and used to locate the ship. The Bismarck was subsequently spotted by a reconnaissance aircraft flying from Northern Ireland.

On 25 May, at 11:25 Lütjens received a birthday message from Adolf Hitler. It read: "Best wishes on your birthday. Adolf Hitler".[5] Gerhard Junack, a survivor, confirmed Lütjens' distaste for Hitler, reporting that the Admiral just screwed up the paper and stuffed it in his pocket.[6] At this point Bismarck had every chance of evading the chasing British, but Lütjens adopted a fatalist attitude, Junack recalled. In a speech to the crew Lütjens said:

Seamen of the battleship Bismarck! You have covered yourself with glory! The sinking of the battle cruiser Hood has not only military, but psychological value, for she was the pride of England. Henceforth the enemy will to try to concentrate his forces and bring them into action against us. I therefore released Prinz Eugen at noon yesterday so that she could conduct commerce warfare on her own. She has managed to evade the enemy. We, on the other hand, because of the hits we have received, have been ordered to proceed to a French port. On our way there the enemy will gather and give us battle. The German people are with you, and we will fight until our gun barrels glow red-hot and the last shell has left the barrels. For us, seamen, the question is victory or death.[7]

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. Divers were put over the side but reported they could not clear the damage as the sea was then too rough. The crew were still able to steer the Bismarck somewhat by adjusting the revolution speed of her propellers, but it reduced her speed to 7 knots. Throughout the following night she was the target of incessant torpedo attacks by the Tribal Class destroyers HMS Cossack, HMS Sikh, HMS Maori and HMS Zulu, along with the Polish destroyer Piorun.

At 23:58, on 27 May, Lütjens transmitted to Group West, the Naval HQ:

To the Führer of the German Reich, Adolf Hitler. We will fight to the last in our trust in you, my Führer, and our firm confidence in Germany's victory.[8]

Hitler replied at 01:53:

I thank you in the name of the whole German nation - Adolf Hitler. To the crew of the battleship Bismarck: all Germany is with you. What can be done will be done. Your devotion to your duty will strengthen our people in the struggle for their existence - Adolf Hitler[9]

Just before Bismarck's final battle, Lütjens sent a request for a U-Boat to pick up Bismarck's war diary. In this last transmission Lütjens included: "Ship no longer manoeuvrable. We fight to the last shell. Long live the Führer".[10]

The battleships HMS King George V and HMS Rodney, accompanied by several cruisers and destroyers, inflicted severe damage on the Bismarck. Although the Bismarck's upper works were almost completely destroyed, her engine rooms were still functioning but filling up with smoke; therefore, rather than risk her being captured, one of the remaining senior officers gave the order to scuttle and then abandon ship. Many of the crew went into the water, but a few sailors from the lower engine spaces also got out alive. 118 crew members were saved, while 2106 died; many hundreds who had survived the sinking of the ship were left to die in the water by the British because of concerns that German U-boats might be in the vicinity.[11] Lütjens was among those who lost their lives -- probably killed when a 14-inch salvo fired by HMS King George V destroyed the bridge, killing many senior officers.

[edit] Ship named after Lütjens

The guided missile destroyer FGS Lütjens (D185) of the German navy was named after Günther Lütjens; it was decommissioned in 2003.

[edit] Film Portrayal in Sink the Bismarck!

In the 1960 film, Sink the Bismarck!, Lütjens is portrayed as egotistic, overconfident, and a Nazi enthusiast angered over Germany's humiliation and his own lack of recognition at the end of the First World War. In reality, Lütjens was pessimistic of the chance of success of the Bismarck's mission, and did not agree with Nazi policies; he was one of the few officers who refused to give the Nazi salute when Hitler visited the Bismarck before its first and final mission, substituting it for the traditional naval salute.[12] Lütjens also wore by choice the dirk of the Kaiserliche Marine, rather than the more modern Kriegsmarine dirk which bore a swastika. The film also makes a mistake in the sequence of events aboard the Bismarck, showing Lutjens ordering Captain Ernst Lindemann to open fire on the Hood and Prince of Wales. In the event, Lütjens actually ordered Lindemann to avoid engaging the Hood, but Lindemann disobeyed and ordered the ship's gun crews to open fire on the Hood and Prince of Wales.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bismarck: A portrait of the Men Involved
  2. ^ Bismarck: A portrait of the Men Involved
  3. ^ Bismarck: A portrait of the Men Involved
  4. ^ Operation Berlin
  5. ^ Jackson 2002, p. 91.
  6. ^ Ballard 1990, p. 105.
  7. ^ Ballard 1990, p.104.
  8. ^ Jackson 2002, p. 91.
  9. ^ Jackson 2002, p.91.
  10. ^ Jackson 2002, p. 49.
  11. ^ [See: Bekker, Cajus, Hitler's Naval War, Zebra Books, New York NY, 1977, and Mullenheim-Rechberg, Baron Burkard von, Battleship Bismarck, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD, 1980 [3rd Printing, with corrections, 1985]; Mullenheim-Rechberg was the highest ranking officer to be rescued by the English and therefore survive the sinking)
  12. ^ Ballard 1990, p. 32