Walther Franz

Walther Franz
Birth date	7 August 1880 (1880-08-07)
Place of birth	Mülheim an der Ruhr, Rhine Province, German Empire
Death date	19 January 1956 (1956-01-20) (aged 75)
Place of death	Schöningen, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Kaiserliche Marine Freikorps Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1897–1918 1919 1919–1930 1939–1944
Rank	Vice Admiral z. V.
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross War Merit Cross

Walther Rudolf Franz (7 August 1880–19 January 1956) was a German officer of the Kaiserliche Marine, the Freikorps, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine, finally Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) in WW II. He must not be confused with the Lieutenant General of the Luftwaffe Walther August Georg Franz.

Life

Paul von Hindenburg with naval officers of the Reichsmarine and others: Hermann Wilhelm Bauer (1), Hans Zenker (2), Walther Franz (3), Wilhelm Prentzel (4).

• Easter 1886 to September 1889 Volksschule in Cologne
• September 1889 to September 1894 Realgymnasium (the last year in the general Gymnasium) in Halberstadt
• September 1894 to Easter 1897 Matthias-Claudius-Gymnasium in Wandsbeck

Military career (chronology)

• Entered the Navy as a Kadett and Attended Basic-Training and on Board the School-Ship SMS Charlotte (07 Apr 1897-23 Apr 1898)
• On Board the School-Ship SMS Sophie (24 Apr 1898-09 Apr 1899)
• Attended Naval-School and Special-Briefings (10 Apr 1899-01 Oct 1900)
• On Board the Liner SMS Baden (02 Oct 1900-30 Sep 1901)
• Departed to East Asia (01 Oct 1901-02 Dec 1901)
• Watch-Officer on Board the Light Cruiser SMS Bussard (03 Dec 1901-24 Oct 1902)
• Watch-Officer on the Light Cruiser SMS Thetis (26 Oct 1902-19 Jun 1903)
• Returned Home from East Asia (20 Jun 1903-10 Aug 1903)
• Company-Officer, II. Shipyard-Division or II. Werftdivision (11 Aug 1903-30 Sep 1903)
• Company-Officer, Adjutant and Company-Leader, II. Sailor-Artillery-Battalion or II. Matrosen-Artillerie-Abteilung (01 Oct 1903-24 Aug 1906)
• Detached to the Inspection of Coastal Artillery and Mine Affairs (25 Aug 1906-30 Sep 1906)
• Watch-Officer on the Liner SMS Braunschweig (01 Oct 1906-05 Oct 1907)
• Watch-Officer on the Liner SMS Mecklenburg (06 Oct 1907-30 Sep 1909)
• Company-Officer with the II. Sailor-Artillery-Battalion (01 Oct 1909-03 Aug 1910)
• Artillery-Officer on the Liner SMS Braunschweig (15 Sep 1910-31 Jul 1912)
• Artillery-Officer on the Liner SMS Kaiser (01 Aug 1912-25 Aug 1913)
• 2nd Admiral-Staff-Officer, Staff of the Commander of Reconnaissance-Ships (26 Aug 1913-06 Feb 1916)
• 2nd Admiral-Staff-Officer, Command of the High Seas Fleet (07 Feb 1916-02 Sep 1918)
• Commandant of the Light Cruiser SMS Königsberg (03 Sep 1918-05 Mar 1919)
• Battalion-Commander, Volunteer Regiment Kiel (Bataillonskommandeur im Freiwilligen-Regiment Kiel) of the Freikorps (06 Mar 1919-30 Sep 1919)
• Artillery and Navigations Director, Reichs-Shipyard Wilhelmshaven; At the same time, Liaison-Officer of the Naval-Peace-Commission (01 Oct 1919-18 May 1923)
  • newly sworn-in on 5 February 1920
• Senior Shipyard Director, Naval-Shipyard (Marinewerft) Wilhelmshaven (19 May 1923-03 Oct 1928)
• Commander of the Sea-Forces of the North Sea and 2nd Admiral of the Liner-Division (11 Oct 1928-21 Dec 1929)
• Commander of Liners (pre-dreadnought battleships) or Befehlshaber der Linienschiffe (01 Jan 1930-27 Feb 1930)
  • 16 February 1930: applied for retirement
  • 27 February 1930: Erich Raeder approved
• Retired (24 March with effect from 31 March 1930)

Kriegsmarine

• Placed to the Disposal of the Kriegsmarine (24 May 1939)
• Reichs-Commissioner (Reichskommissar) at the Prize-Court (03 Sep 1939-16 Sep 1939)
  • The Prisenhof Wilhelmshaven was either very short-lived or did not become operational.
• Placed to the Disposal of the Commanding Admiral of the Naval Station of the North Sea (17 September 1939)
• Chief of the Naval-Printing-Administration, OKM (26 September 1941)
  • Karl Dönitz wrote Franz on 19 February 1944 and declared the intention to retire him at the end of May due to the personnel situation of the long war. Dönitz expressed his thanks and appreciation for the outstanding service.
  • On 7 May 1944, Dönitz released Franz from active military service with effect from 31 May 1944.
• Retired with the right to wear the uniform (31 May 1944)
  • Franz moved to Schöningen near Braunschweig to live with his brother. His large apartment in Berlin had been destroyed by an enemy bombing in December 1943, also destroyed: Soldbuch, uniforms, decorations, pictures, personal papers and so on.

Family

Walther was the son of teacher, later Gymnasialdirektor in Dortmund Rudolf Franz (d. 27 March 1917) and his wife Josephine, née Schneider (d. 27 September 1938).

Promotions

Imperial Navy

• Kadett (Officer Candidate) 7 April 1897
  • renamed Seekadett on 1 January 1899
• Seekadett (Officer Kadett) 27 April 1898
  • renamed Fähnrich zur See on 1 January 1899
• Leutnant zur See (2nd Lieutenant) 23 September 1900
• Oberleutnant zur (1st Lieutenant) 15 July 1902
• Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant Captain) 27 April 1907
• Korvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain / Lieutenant Commander) 22 March 1914

Reichsmarine

• Fregattenkapitän (Frigate Captain / Commander) 10 March 1920
• Kapitän zur See (Captain at Sea / Captain) 7 October 1921 with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 October 1921 and Salary Seniority (BDA) from 1 September 1918
• Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) 6 April 1927 with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 April 1927
• Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) 1 December 1928

Kriegsmarine

• Vizeadmiral z. V. of the Kriegsmarine 24 May 1939

Awards and decorations (small excerpt)

• Prussian Order of the Crown (Kronenorden), 4th Class on 22 December 1906
• South West African Campaign Medal (Südwestafrika-Denkmünze) in Steel (SwD2) in 1907
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class (24 January 1915)
  • 1st Class (15 February 1915)
• Oldenburg Friedrich-August-Kreuz, 2nd and 1st Class (OFA1/OK1) on 15 June 1916
• Saxon Albert Order (Albrechts-Orden), Knight 1st Class with Swords (SA3a⚔) on 23 June 1916
• Lübeck Hanseatic Cross (Lübeckisches Hanseatenkreuz; LübH/LüH) on 20 September 1916
• Bavarian Military Merit Order, 4th Class with Swords (BMV4⚔/BM4⚔) on 20 December 1916
• Crown to his Bavarian Military Merit Order 4th Class with Swords (BMV4mKr⚔/BM4mKr⚔) on 5 March 1917
• Ottoman Empire Gallipoli Star (Eiserner Halbmond; TH) on 15 August 1917
• Baden Order of the Zähringer Lion (Orden vom Zähringer Löwen), Knight's Cross I. Class with Swords (BZ3a⚔) on 3 May 1918
  • another source states 23 May, another even 24 May 1918
• Hamburg Hanseatic Cross (Hamburgisches Hanseatenkreuz; HH) on 6 September 1918 (another source states 17 September 1918)
• Merit Cross for War Aid (Verdienstkreuz für Kriegshilfe) on 14 September 1920
• Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz) on 12 December 1920
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords on 15 December 1934
• War Merit Cross (1939), 2nd Class with Swords on 1 September 1942