Wilhelm Meisel

Wilhelm Meisel
Born 4 November 1891(1891-11-04)
Zwickau
Died 7 September 1974(1974-09-07) (aged 82)
Mülheim
Allegiance German Empire (to 1919)
Weimar Republic (to 1933)
Nazi Germany
Service/branch  Kaiserliche Marine
 Reichsmarine
 Kriegsmarine
Years of service 1913–1945
Rank Admiral
Unit SMS Hertha
SMS Moltke
SMS Stralsund
SMS Kaiserin Augusta
Commands held heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Wilhelm Meisel (4 November 1891 – 7 September 1974) was an Admiral of the Kriegsmarine during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Biography

Meisel was born in Zwickau and joined the Navy as a midshipman in 1913. During the First World War he served on then battlecruiser SMS Moltke, the light cruiser SMS Stralsund and the auxiliary cruiser SMS Mowe. He later served as a staff officer on Torpedo boats and was interned in Scapa Flow. After the scuttling of the High Seas Fleet he was held as a POW by the British and repatriated in 1921.

During the 1920s Meisel commanded a torpedo boat flotilla and held several staff posts and commanded the light cruiser Karlsruhe in 1929.

During World War II Meisel commanded a destroyer flotilla in the Polish Campaign of 1939 and was appointed commander of the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper in 1940. He was made Chief of Staff of Naval Group west in 1943 and Chief of Naval staff in 1943.

Awards

References

Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e f Dörr 1996, p. 54.
  2. ^ a b c d Dörr 1996, p. 55.
  3. ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 535.
Bibliography
  • Dörr, Manfred (1996). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine—Band 2:L–Z (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag. ISBN 3-7648-2497-2.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
  • Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 3-87943-355-0.
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). 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 (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
Military offices
Preceded by
Admiral Kurt Fricke		 Chief of Staff of the Seekriegsleitung
21 February 1943 – 30 April 1944		 Succeeded by
Chief of the Seekriegsleitung
Chiefs of the Generalstab of the Wehrmacht
Chiefs of general staff of the Army

Ludwig Beck · Franz Halder · Kurt Zeitzler · Heinz Guderian (acting) · Hans Krebs (acting) · Alfred Jodl (acting)
Chiefs of the general staff of the Luftwaffe
Chiefs of staff of the Seekriegsleitung of the Kriegsmarine

Otto Schniewind · Kurt Fricke · Wilhelm Meisel