Gustav Kleikamp

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Gustav Kleikamp
Gustav Kleikamp.jpg
Birth date 8 March 1896(1896-03-08)
Place of birth Fiddichow, Kreis Greifenhagen, Province of Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date 13 September 1952 (aged 56)
Place of death Mülheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
Allegiance  German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 National Socialist Germany
Service/branch  Kaiserliche Marine
Freikorps Flag.jpg Freikorps
 Reichsmarine
 Kriegsmarine
Years of service 1913–1918
1919–1920
1920–1935
1935–1945
Rank Vice Admiral
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Iron Cross
Hanseatic Cross
German Cross in Gold
Relations ∞ 1920 Alix von Kaisenberg

Gustav Kleikamp (8 March 1896 – 13 September 1952) was a German officer of the Kaiserliche Marine, the Freikorps, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine, finally Vice Admiral in World War II.

Life

Danzig Forest Cemetery, 5 September 1939: Captain at Sea Kleikamp gives the memorial speech for the fallen in the battle for the peninsula "Westerplatte" on 1 September 1939.
Konteradmiral Gustav Kleikamp, Commanding Admiral in the Netherlands, and General der Flieger Hans Siburg, Commanding General and Commander in Air District Holland, in Amsterdam on 27 June 1943

On 1 April 1913, after his Abitur, Kleikamp joined the German Navy as an officer candidate. He received the typical initial training on land and training aboard ships. As a radio officer with the 1st Reconnaissance Group in WWI, he participated in the battles at Dogger Bank and Skagerrak. From 1919 to 1920, he served with the naval Freikorps (II. Marine-Brigade „Ehrhardt“) and was taken over by the Reichsmarine.

He was teacher at the Flensburg-Mürwik Signal School from 1 October 1923 to 31 March 1925. On 26 September 1935, Kleikamp was made first officer on the old pre-dreadnought Deutschland-class battleship "Schleswig-Holstein", now a training ship for naval cadets. From 1 April 1938 to 23 April 1939, he was head of the Department Technical Signals Affairs (Gruppe Technisches Nachrichtenwesen, OKM). On 26 April 1939, he was given command of "Schleswig-Holstein", which had returned from a tour to South America a few weeks earlier. "Schleswig-Holstein" was slated to be retired and converted into a remotely controlled target ship, but preparations for the Poland Campaign saw the ship assigned a war mission.

Late in August 1939, the training ship was sent to Danzig on a friendship visit, in place of the cruiser "Königsberg". The visit was a ruse to bring a landing force to Danzig in order to neutralize Polish occupation fortifications in the harbour. For this purpose "Schleswig-Holstein" had received 60 men with five 2 cm AA guns and six machine guns. While en route, "Schleswig-Holstein" rendezvoused with the German minesweeper M-1 and other vessels, carrying the 225-men strong Marinestoßtruppkompanie (naval assault infantry) from Memel. On 1 September 1939 at 04:45, Kleikamp gave the order for the attack on the Westerplatte and two minutes later the first shells left the barrels of "Schleswig-Holstein"'s 28 cm guns. In April 1940, "Schleswig-Holstein" was flagship of Kriegsschiffgruppe 7, also commanded by Kleikamp, which was tasked with the occupation of the Danish ports Nyborg and Korsør during the Operation Weserübung.

  • Chief of Sea-Command-Office Calais or Chef der Seebefehlsstelle Calais (29 Aug 1940-27 Oct 1940)
    • At the same time Designated Chief of Transport-Flotilla ‘C’ (Chef der Transportflotte C) with Operation ‘Seelöwe’ (Sea Lion), the planned invasion of Britain (29 Aug 1940-10 Dec 1940)
  • Placed to the Disposal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine (28 Oct 1940-30 Dec 1940)
  • Chief of the Military Office-Group, Head-Office Warship-Construction (Chef der Militärischen Amtsgruppe, Hauptamt Kriegsschiffbau), OKM (31 Dec 1940-21 Feb 1943)
  • Commanding Admiral in the Netherlands (04 Mar 1943-31 Dec 1944)
  • Placed to the Disposal of the Commander-in-Chief of Naval-Group-Command North or Oberbefehlshaber des Marineoberkommandos Nord (01 Jan 1945-14 Mar 1945)
  • Commanding Admiral Deutsche Bucht (15 Mar 1945-07 May 1945)[1]

Kleikamp became a prisoner of war on 7 May 1945 and remained in British custody until 18 April 1947. In poor health, he was unemployed until Spring 1952, when he joined the international trading company "Hugo Stinnes GmbH" in Mülheim an der Ruhr.

Death

Vice Admiral (ret.) Gustav Kleikamp died on 13 September 1952.

Family

On 31 August 1920 in Hanover, 1st Lieutenant Kleikamp married his fiancée Alix Kornelie Anna Mathilde von Kaisenberg (1896–1957),[2] daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Max Louis Leopold von Kaisenberg (b. 3 April 1862 in Halberstadt) and his wife (∞ 1893 ) Kornelie Luise Mathilde, née von Hofmann. Alix's father was commander of the Grenadier-Regiment „Graf Kleist von Nollendorf“ (1. Westpreußisches) Nr. 6 and was ⚔ on 15 December 1916 in the last days of the Battle of Verdun. Gustav und Alix had (at least) one daughter:

  • Ingrid-Kornelie (1924–1994); ∞ 1951 Thomas Viktor Heinrich Nertus Wilhelm Giselher Karl Gero von Randow (1921–2009), Fallschirmjäger and sniper of the Wehrmacht in WWII, laster mathematician, science editor and author, 2 sons (Gero and Philipp)

Promotions

  • 1 April 1913 Seekadett (Officer Candidate)
  • 3 April 1914 Fähnrich zur See (Officer Cadet)
  • 18 September 1915 Leutnant zur See (2nd Lieutenant)
  • 14 May 1921 Oberleutnant zur See (1st Lieutenant) with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 7 January 1920
  • 1 February 1925 Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant Captain)
  • 1 October 1932 Korvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain / Lieutenant Commander)
  • 1 October 1936 Fregattenkapitän (Frigate Captain – Commander)
  • 1 April 1938 Kapitän zur See (Captain at Sea – Captain)
  • 1 April 1942 Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral)
  • 1 October 1943 Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral)

Awards and decorations

Writings (excerpt)

  • Intelligence in Cruiser Warfare, in: "Naval Review", VXV, 1927, pp. 844-851
    • English translation of the original from the German magazine „Marine-Rundschau“
  • Das Problem um den 20. Juli 1944, Institut für Zeitgeschichte, June 1951 (Archive)

References

  1. ↑ Vizeadmiral Gustav Kleikamp (Archive)
  2. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Adeligen Häuser, Teil B, 1930, p. 433
  3. ↑ Rangliste der Deutschen Reichsmarine, 1932, p. 45
  4. ↑ Rangliste der Kaiserlich Deutschen Marine für das Jahr 1918, p. 71
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