Years of service 1912–45 Name Theodor Krancke | Rank Admiral | |
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Born 30 March 1893Magdeburg ( 1893-03-30 ) Commands held battleship Admiral Scheer Battles/wars World War IWorld War II Books Pocket Battleship: The Story of the Admiral Scheer | ||
Theodor Krancke (30 March 1893 – 18 June 1973) was a naval commander (admiral) of Nazi Germany during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.
Under the command of Krancke, during the five-month-long raiding cruise, the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer sank 13 merchant ships, one armed merchant cruiser HMS Jervis Bay, and captured three merchant ships representing 115,195 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied and neutral shipping.
During the Allied Invasion of Normandy Krancke, as Commander-in-Chief of Navy Group Command West headquartered in Paris, controlled all German naval vessels in France, as well as the various land-based naval units and the naval coastal artillery and anti-aircraft batteries along the French Atlantic coast.