Ernst Benno von Studnitz

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Ernst von Studnitz
Ernst Benno von Studnitz.jpg
Birth name Ernst Benno von Studnitz
Birth date 5 May 1898
Place of birth Kiel, Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date 2 December 1943 (aged 45)
Place of death Glücksburg, Gau Schleswig-Holstein, Province of Schleswig-Holstein, German Reich
Resting place North Cemetery Kiel
Allegiance  German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 National Socialist Germany
Service/branch  Kaiserliche Marine
 Reichsmarine
 Kriegsmarine
Years of service 1915–1943
Rank Rear Admiral
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Iron Cross
War Merit Cross
Relations ∞ 1921 Agnes Eleonore Gräfin von Baudissin-Zinzendorf-Pottendorf

Ernst Benno von Studnitz (5 May 1898 – 2 December 1943) was a German naval officer, finally Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) of the Kriegsmarine in World War Two.

Life

Father
Gravesite (Kiel)
  • Entered the Navy as a War-Volunteer with Aspiring Officer Service, Attended Naval-School in Mürwik and Basic-Training (01 Jul 1915-07 Aug 1915)
  • On Board the Heavy Cruiser Freya (08 Aug 1915-23 Oct 1915)
  • On Board the Heavy Cruiser Moltke (24 Oct 1915-10 Jul 1916)
  • Ships-Cadre Königsberg (11 Jul 1916-11 Aug 1916)
  • On Board the Small Cruiser Königsberg (12 Aug 1916-16 Jun 1917)
  • Course on the Heavy Cruiser Kaiserin Augusta (17 Jun 1917-06 Aug 1917)
  • On Board the Small Cruiser Königsberg (07 Aug 1917-18 Jun 1918)
  • Attended Naval-School in Mürwik (19 Jun 1918-21 Sep 1918)
  • Attended Submarine-School (22 Sep 1918-13 Oct 1918)
  • Detached to the Staff of the Command of the High Seas Forces (14 Oct 1918-30 Nov 1918)
  • Placed to the Disposal of the Chief of the Naval-Station of the Baltic Sea (01 Dec 1918-04 Dec 1918)
  • Watch-Officer on the Special-Ship Pfeil (05 Dec 1918-17 Dec 1918)
  • Placed to the Disposal of the I. Naval-Inspection (18 Dec 1918-06 Jan 1918)
  • Watch-Officer (W.O.) on the Torpedo-Boat T 91 (07 Jan 1919-30 Apr 1919)
  • Detached to the Naval-Supply-Office Swinemünde (01 May 1919-24 May 1919)
  • Watch-Officer on the Torpedo-Boat T 160 (25 May 1919-31 May 1919)
  • Watch-Officer on the Torpedo-Boat T 140 (01 Jun 1919-18 May 1920)
  • Watch-Officer on the Torpedo-Boat T 149 (19 May 1920-07 Jan 1921)
  • Company-Officer in the Training-Battalion of the I. Flotilla (08 Jan 1921-30 Sep 1921)
  • Course at the Torpedo-School (01 Oct 1921-03 Jan 1922)
  • Watch-Officer in the 1st Half-Flotilla (04 Jan 1922-17 Sep 1922)
  • Platoon-Leader in the Coastal-Defence-Battalion III (18 Sep 1922-24 Sep 1923)
  • Adjutant in the Staff of the Naval-Station of the Baltic Sea (25 Sep 1923-17 Mar 1926)
  • Watch-Officer on the Torpedo-Boat G 7 (18 Mar 1926-22 Sep 1926)
  • Commandant of the Torpedo-Boat G 7 (23 Sep 1926-22 Sep 1928)
  • Commandant of the Torpedo-Boat S 18 (22 Sep 1928-02 Oct 1928)
  • Boat-Commandant in the Test-Formation of the Barrier-Test-Command (03 Oct 1928-22 Sep 1931)
  • Company-Leader in the Naval-School Friedrichsort (23 Sep 1931-27 Sep 1934)
  • Land-Training Gorch Fock and Construction-Indoctrination (28 Sep 1934-19 May 1935)
  • First Officer (I.O.) on the Aviso Grille (20 May 1935-15 Oct 1936)
  • Navigations-Officer on the Armoured-Ship Deutschland (16 Oct 1936-03 Apr 1938)
  • Commander of the 2nd Naval-NCO-Instruction-Battalion (08 Apr 1938-18 Feb 1940)
  • Commander of the 1st Naval-NCO-Instruction-Battalion (19 Feb 1940-26 Mar 1941)
  • Commandant of the Light Cruiser Nürnberg (28 Mar 1941-06 Jun 1943)
  • At the same time, Commandant of the pre-dreadnought battleship Schlesien (15 Jan 1942-30 Jun 1942)
  • Commandant of Sea-Fortifications Salonika (16 Jun 1943-25 Jul 1943)
  • Commandant of Sea-Fortifications Attica (26 Jul 1943)
    • Established in February 1941 at the Commanding Admiral Aegean in Piraeus. The command area extended from south of Volos to Corinth including the offshore islands.[1]

Death

Rear Admiral von Studnitz had fallen ill and was transported from Greece to a military hospital (Lazarett) at Glücksburg in northern Germany. He died there as a result of appendicitis (ruptured appendix) on 2 December 1943. He was buried in the North Cemetery Kiel with military honours. He rests there with his fallen son Karl-Ludwig and his beloved wife, who died 1987.

Family

Ernst was the son of Frigate Captain Ernst Andreas Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Benno von Studnitz (1862–1907) and his wife Helene Fanny, née Gräfin von Beust (1876–1957). His paternal grandfather was the cavalry officer Major General Ernst Friedrich Benno von Studnitz (1830–1916), Veteran of the Second Schleswig War, the Brothers War of 1866 and the German-Franco War. Ernst's uncle Oswald Wilhelm Georg Andreas von Studnitz (1871–1963), Captain at Sea, commandant of the SMS "München" and Knight of Justice (Rechtsritter) of the Johanniter-Orden.

One of his many cousins was the physiologist and zoologist Prof. Dr. phil. Gotthilft Benno Ernst Oswald Georg von Studnitz (1908–1994). He developed a number of medications for Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine to improve the eye's light-dark adaptation and, from 1951, as successor to Ludwig Benick and director, rebuilt the Natural History Museum of the City of Lübeck.

Ernst had three siblings, two sisters (Elisabeth und Frieda Helene) and brother Joachim (1899–1953), an officer of the army and later supplemental officer (Ergänzungsoffizier) of the Luftwaffe in WWII (Captain in 1939, Major in 1940/41 and Lieutenant Colonel on 1 September 1942 in the GL/Verbindungsstelle Paris[2]).

Marriage

On 1 October 1921 in Rantzau, 2nd Lieutenant von Studnitz married his fiancée Agnes Eleonore Anna Luise Elisabeth Gräfin von Baudissin-Zinzendorf-Pottendorf (1901–1987). They had six children, twice having twins.[3] Their oldest son fell as an officer in WWII, two other sons became commanders of the German Navy of the Bundeswehr.

  • Karl-Ludwig Benno Ernst Achim (b. 17 August 1922 in Rantzau), naval officer
    • Leutnant zur See (2nd Lieutenant) Karl-Ludwig was in Italy with the 1st Assault Boat Flotilla in 1944 and was ⚔ on 18 September 1944 when destroyers of the U.S. Navy attacked San Remo in two nights. The volleys hit the harbor and surrounding houses, and many civilians were also killed.[4]
  • Ernst-Bernhard Wolf Otto (b. 4 August 1924 in Rantzau), naval officer and author
  • Inge Nora Elisabeth (b. 4 August 1924 in Rantzau)
  • Helga Ingeborg Helene (b. 5 May 1935 in Kiel)
  • Eckart Ernst Adolf (b. 25 January 1940 in Wesermünde)
  • Dieter Ernst Friedrich (b. 25 January 1940 in Wesermünde)

Promotions

  • 1 July 1915 Kriegsfreiwilliger und Offizieranwärter[5] (War Volunteer and Officer Candidate)
  • 19 April 1916 Fähnrich zur See (Officer Cadet)
  • 17 September 1917 Leutnant zur See (2nd Lieutenant) without Patent (ernannt)[6]
  • 1 January 1921 Oberleutnant zur See (1st Lieutenant)[7]
  • 1 May 1928 Kapitänleutenant (Lieutenant Captain)
  • 1 April 1935 Korvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain)
  • 1 April 1938 Fregattenkapitän (Frigate Captain; Commander)
  • 1 January 1940 Kapitän zur See (Captain at Sea)
  • 1 September 1943 Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral)

Awards and decorations

References

  1. ↑ Kommandant der Seeverteidigung Attika
  2. ↑ Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section S-Z
  3. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Adeligen Häuser, Teil A, 1942, p. 506
  4. ↑ Seekrieg, September 1944, 17.– 18.9.1944 Mittelmeer / Liguisches Meer
  5. ↑ von Studnitz, Ernst Benno
  6. ↑ Rangliste der Deutschen Reichsmarine 1918, p. 83
  7. ↑ Rangliste der Deutschen Reichsmarine 1934, p. 198
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