Years of service 1903–43 | Name Rolf Carls Rank Generaladmiral | |
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Born 29 May 1885Rostock ( 1885-05-29 ) Battles/wars World War IWorld War II Unit SMS Stein, SMS Mars, SMS Furst Bismarck, SMS Breslau | ||
Rolf Carls (29 May 1885 – 24 April 1945) was a German admiral during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany.
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Career
At the start of the World War I, Carls was a member of the crew of the cruiser Breslau. He later served on the battleship König and then commanded two u-boats, first U-9 and then U-124. After the war, Carls was made Chief of the Training Division at the Supreme Naval Command of the resurrected German navy and was then given command of the old battleship Hessen. In 1933, Carls was made Chief of Staff of the Fleet Command, and a year later Commander of Liners.
Carls was commander of German naval forces, during the Spanish Civil War, and then became Commanding Admiral for the Baltic. At the same time he held the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Group Command East. Still later he became Chief of the larger Naval Group Command North. Early in 1943, Erich Raeder resigned as the commander of the Kriegsmarine after a dispute with Hitler. Raeder nominated either Carls or Karl Dönitz to succeed him, and Hitler chose Dönitz. Carls later resigned, possibly to prevent friction among the naval leadership.
Admiral Carls was killed in an air raid on Bad Oldesloe on 24 April 1945. Carls together with 29 other people were killed in the cellar of the Vocational school in the Königstraße.