Hans Bartels

For the German painter, see Hans von Bartels.

Hans Bartels
Kapitänleutnant and commander of Minensuchboot M-1 Hans Bartels, Norway 1940
Born	(1910-07-05)5 July 1910 Frankfurt
Died	near Rendsburg
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1931-45
Rank	Korvettenkapitän
Unit	sail training ship Niobe cruiser Karlsruhe battleship Schlesien destroyer Z-24
Commands held	Minesweeper M-1 Torpedo boat T-14
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Hans Bartels (5 July 1910 – 31 July 1945) was a Korvettenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

On 24 February 1940, without prior warning, M-1 rammed and sank four Esbjerg based Danish trawlers, Ejjam (E 92), Gerlis (E 456), Mercator (E 348) and Polaris (E 504) in the vicinity of the Dogger Bank. Bartels reported to his superiors that no one was rescued due to "military reasons"; 16 fishermen from the then neutral Denmark lost their lives.

He was transferred to command the Kleinkampfverbände (small combat units) and after a training course was appointed leader of the Kleinkampf-Flottille 261 (261st Biber flotilla), operating the midget submarine Biber, in August 1944. After the war ended Bartels was retained in British custody and was assigned to a Minenräumkommando (German Mine Sweeping Administration), where he was killed in an accident near Rendsburg on 31 July 1945.

Awards

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class (2 October 1936)
• Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1.10.38 (20 December 1939)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (19 February 1940)
  • 1st Class (11 May 1940)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 16 May 1940 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of M-1

References

Bibliography

• Dörr, Manfred (1995). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine—Band 1: A–K (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2453-2. CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
• Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-87943-355-1.
• Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2007). "Unterlassene Hilfeleistung an oder Erschießung von Schiffbrüchigen". Württembergische Landesbibliothek (in German). CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die 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. CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)

External links

• Deutsches Marinearchiv
• Lexikon der Wehrmacht