Harald Netzbandt

Harald Netzbandt (3 August 1892 in Berlin – died 27 May 1941 in the North Atlantic) was an officer of the Imperial German Navy, the Reichsmarine and later the Kriegsmarine.

Netzbandt completed high school in 1912 and shortly after, on 1 April 1912, joined the Imperial German Navy. After the one-month basic training at the Naval Academy Mürwik, he was transferred for sea training on the heavy cruiser SMS Victoria Louise.

He spent WWI mostly on torpedo boats. His most important engagement was the Battle of Jutland (31 May to 1 June 1916) as officer commanding vessel G103. He was involved in various other actions during the war: in October 1914 he was engaged in action against British submarines and on 17 August 1915 was involved in an action at Dogger Bank. By October 1917, he was in the Baltic Sea, still on G103, where he participated in the German Army's occupation of the Baltic Islands.

After the war and his involvement in the Freikorps Loewenfeld, he was appointed in the summer of 1920 as Oberleutnant zur see in the new German Navy. From 1 April until 5 October 1922, he headed a company in the Coastal Defense Department III. Subsequently he was commander (Kapitänleutnant from 1 May 1923) of torpedo boat T149 until 15 September 1924. Two years as an instructor at the Naval Artillery School in Kiel followed. On 27 March 1929 he was appointed as I. artillery officer on the light cruiser Berlin. From 28 March 1929 to 27 September 1932, he was Admiralstabsoffizier (Staff Officer) in command of the Baltic Sea naval station. Netzbandt was appointed Lieutenant Commander on 1 February 1931. After his Baltic Sea posting, he spent a year as I. Artillery Officer aboard the pre-dreadnought battleship Hessem followed by two years as staff officer in the fleet command, where he spent a year in the HR Department of the Navy's high command. Appointed Fregattenkapitän (Frigate Captain) on 1 April 1936 Netzbandt subsequently remained with the Navy’s high command and was head of the department of general and student affairs until 25 November 1939.

Promoted to Kapitän zur See from 1 October 1937 he was in command of the fleet flagship, the battleship Gneisenau, from 26 November 1939 to 1 August 1940. Subsequently, he was appointed chief of staff in the fleet command and was killed on 27 May 1941, aboard the new battleship Bismarck alongside Fleet Admiral Günther Lütjens and other staff officers.

On 30 April 1942, nearly a year after his death, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy awarded him the German Cross in Gold to supplement the Iron Crosses (First and Second Classes) that he had won on 23 February 1940 and 14 April 1940 respectively.

Awards

• German Cross in Gold on 30 April 1942 as Kapitän zur See with the OKM/Flottenkommando