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Wolfpack Eisbär
(Group Polar Bear) was a force of German U-boats that operated from 23 August 1942 in the South Atlantic during the Second World War. The group was to operate off Cape Town, which was considered to be vulnerable. Some of the most experienced U-boat commanders including Harald Gelhaus, Werner Hartenstein and Carl Emmermann participated in the operation. During the voyage south, the group temporarily was diverted to attack Convoy SL 119 that had been attacked by . sank (5,941 GRT) on 27 August and sank the liner on 12 September, which began the Laconia Incident. ''U-156'' was replaced in by and the group was redirected to the waters around South Africa. The Allies were preoccupied with Operation Torch and the campaign in north-west Africa, giving priority to the protection of troop convoys that left the Allied navies with few escort vessels to reinforce the South Atlantic Station. Merchant ships were sent to Durban instead of Cape Town and routed far to the south, across the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harald Gelhaus
__NOTOC__ Harald Gelhaus (24 July 1915 in Göttingen – 2 December 1997 in Bochum) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. As commander of and Gelhaus is credited with the sinking of 19 ships (including ) for a total of and further damaging one ship of . Awards * Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class (5 April 1939)Busch & Röll 2003, p. 328. * Iron Cross (1939) ** 2nd Class (31 October 1940)Busch & Röll 2003, p. 329. ** 1st Class (24 February 1941) * U-boat War Badge (1939) (31 December 1940) * U-boat Front Clasp in Bronze (1 October 1944) * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 26 March 1943 as ''Kapitänleutnant'' and commander of ''U-107''Scherzer 2007, p. 331. * War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross () was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming Chancellor of Germany#Nazi Germany (1933–1945), the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of in 1934. His invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 marked the start of the Second World War. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of Holocaust victims, about six million Jews and millions of other victims. Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and moved to German Empire, Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in the First World War, receiving the Iron Cross. In 1919 he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and in 1921 was app ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Befehlshaber Der U-Boote
The ''Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote'' or BdU (Eng: "Commander of the U-boats") was the supreme commander of the German Navy's U-boat Arm (''Ubootwaffe'') during the First and Second World Wars. The term also referred to the Command HQ of the U-boat arm. The title was established in June 1917, replacing the role of "Leader of the U-boats" ('' Führer der Unterseeboote'', or FdU) for the High Seas Flotillas. The first incumbent was ''Kapitan zur See/Kommodore'' Andreas Michelsen, previously head of the High Seas Fleet’s destroyer force. The post was abolished with the end of the war. It was revived on 17 October 1939, when Karl Dönitz was promoted to rear admiral (''Konteradmiral''). His previous title had been FdU, a position he had held from January 1936. On 31 January 1943 Dönitz was promoted to grand admiral Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, the highest rank in the several European navies that used it. It is best known for its use in Germany as . A comparabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seekriegsleitung
The ''Seekriegsleitung'' or SKL (Maritime Warfare Command) was a higher command staff section of the Kaiserliche Marine and the Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ... of Germany during the World Wars. World War I The SKL was established on August 27, 1918, on the initiative of Admiral Reinhard Scheer, who became its first commander, simultaneously to being the Chief of the German Imperial Admiralty Staff. It led the planning and execution of naval combat and directed the distribution of naval forces. Up to this point, that was done by several staffs and the individual theater commanders. When the war ended, the SKL was absorbed into the admiralty. World War II The SKL was reestablished in 1937 and deeply linked in the Naval High Command, the Commander-i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and environments ranging from savannas to rainforests. As of the 2023 census, Sierra Leone has a population of 8,460,512. Freetown is its capital and largest city. Sierra Leone is a presidential republic, with a unicameral parliament and a directly elected president. It is a secular state. Its Constitution of Sierra Leone, constitution provides for the separation of state and religion and freedom of conscience. Muslims constitute three-quarters of the population, and there is a significant Christian minority. Notably, religious tolerance is very high. Sierra Leone's current territorial configuration was established in two phases: in 1808, the coastal Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate, Sierra Leone Colony was founded as a place to resettle retu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freetown
Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and political centre, as it is the seat of the Government of Sierra Leone. The population of Freetown was 1,347,559 as of the 2024 census. The city's economy revolves largely around its harbour, which occupies a part of the estuary of the Sierra Leone River in one of the world's largest natural deep water harbours. Although the city has traditionally been the homeland of the Sierra Leone Creole people, the population of Freetown is ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse. The city is home to a significant population of all of Sierra Leone's Ethnic groups in Sierra Leone, ethnic groups, with no single ethnic group forming more than 27% of the city's population. As in virtually all parts of Sierra Leone, the Krio language ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cagni-class Submarine
The ''Cagni'' or ''Ammiraglio Cagni'' class was a class of submarines built for Italy's ''Regia Marina'' during World War II. Design These submarines were designed as commerce raiders for oceanic operations. They had high endurance and a large torpedo load for extended patrols. A smaller torpedo was chosen, rather than the standard , as the Italians believed this was adequate to deal with merchant ships. The boats were designed to have the range to sail non-stop from Italy to Kismayu, Italian Somaliland, where a new submarine base was to be built. In order to operate in the Indian Ocean Monsoon the submarines were fitted with large conning towers and armed with two / 47 caliber guns. The large conning towers were rebuilt to a smaller German style as a result of war experience. ''Ammiraglio Cagni'' carried out a -month patrol in the South Atlantic during 1942–43. The other three boats were used as transport submarines to supply Italian forces in North Africa. Ships All ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Durban
Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South Africa, on the Natal Bay of the Indian Ocean, Durban is the Port of Durban, busiest port city in sub-Saharan Africa and was formerly named Port Natal. North of the harbour and city centre lies the mouth of the Umgeni River; the flat city centre rises to the hills of the Berea, Durban, Berea on the west; and to the south, running along the coast, is the Bluff, KwaZulu-Natal, Bluff. Durban is the seat of the larger eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which spans an area of and had a population of 4.2million in 2022 South African census, 2022, making the metropolitan population one of Africa's largest on the Indian Ocean. Within the city limits, Durban's population was 595,061 in 2011 South African census, 2011. The city has a humid subtr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Atlantic Station
The Commander-in-Chief South Atlantic was an operational commander of the Royal Navy from 1939. The South American area was added to his responsibilities in 1960, and the post disestablished in 1967. Immediately before the outbreak of the Second World War, the designation of Commander-in-Chief, Africa was changed to Commander-in-Chief South Atlantic, '..and the Admiral transferred his flag from Simonstown to Freetown, Sierra Leone, and assumed general naval control over British movements in the whole of the South Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, the South American Division of the America and West Indies Station, comprising the cruisers Exeter and Ajax, was transferred to the new South Atlantic Station.' It was sometimes referred to as the South Atlantic Station. History The South Atlantic Station existed during and after the Second World War having been changed from the Commander-in-Chief, Africa. Its area of responsibility covered the Atlantic Ocean south of a line drawn b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Torch
Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the opportunity to begin their fight against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on a limited scale. The French colonies were aligned with Germany via Vichy France but the loyalties of the population were mixed. Reports indicated that they might support the Allies. The American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied forces in Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II, Mediterranean theater of the war, approved plans for a three-pronged attack on Casablanca (Western), Oran (Centre) and Algiers (Eastern), then a rapid move on Tunis to catch Axis forces in North Africa from the west in conjunction with the British advance from Egypt. The Western Task Force encountered unexpected ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laconia Incident
The ''Laconia'' incident was a series of events surrounding the sinking of a British passenger ship in the Atlantic Ocean on 12 September 1942, during World War II, and a subsequent aerial attack on German and Italian submarines involved in rescue attempts. , carrying 2,732 crew, passengers, soldiers, and prisoners of war, was torpedoed and sunk by , a German U-boat, off the West African coast. Operating partly under the dictates of the old prize rules, the U-boat's commander, Werner Hartenstein, immediately commenced rescue operations. ''U-156'' broadcast her position on open radio channels to all Allied powers nearby, and was joined by several other U-boats in the vicinity. After surfacing and picking up survivors, who were accommodated on the foredeck, ''U-156'' headed on the surface under Red Cross banners to rendezvous with Vichy French ships and transfer the survivors. En route, the U-boat was spotted by a B-24 Liberator bomber of the US Army Air Forces. The ai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
