Erich Bey

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Erich Bey bigraphy, stories - German admiral

Erich Bey : biography

23 March 1898 – 26 December 1943

Erich Bey (23 March 1898 – 26 December 1943), was a German naval officer who most notably served as a commander of the Kriegsmarine’s destroyer forces and commanded the battleship Scharnhorst in the Battle of the North Cape on 26 December 1943, during which the German ship was sunk. He was killed during that action. Bey was also a 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.

Awards

  • Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class
  • Hanseatic Cross, Hamburg
  • Preußische Rettungsmedaille am Band
  • Cross of Honor
  • Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th to 2nd Class
  • Memel Medal
  • Sudetenland Medal
  • Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
    • 2nd Class (16 October 1939)Dörr 1995, p. 40.
  • Iron Cross (1939)
    • 1st Class (20 November 1939)
  • Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 May 1940 as Kapitän zur See and chief of the 4. Zerstörer-FlottilleFellgiebel 2000, p. 132.
  • Destroyer War Badge (October 1940)
  • Narvik Shield (1940)
  • Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 27 December 1943

Reference in the Wehrmachtbericht

Date Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording Direct English translation
27 December 1943 Am 26. Dezember hat ein Verband deutscher Seestreitkräfte unter Führung des Konteradmirals Bey im Nordmeer einen für die Sowjetunion bestimmten Geleitzug angegriffen und ihm sowie den feindlichen Sicherungsstreitkräften schwere Schäden zugeführt. In lang anhaltenden Gefechten mit weit überlegenen englischen Seestreitkräften ist das unter dem Kommando des Kapitäns zur See Hintze stehende Schlachtschiff "Scharnhorst" nach heldenhaftem Kampf, bis zur letzten Granate feuernd, gesunken.Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939-1945 Band 2, p. 634 A German sea task force under the leadership of Counter Admiral Bey attacked a convoy heading for the Soviet Union and damaged it and its security forces severely on 26 December. The battleship "Scharnhorst" under the command of Captain at Sea Hintze sank in prolonged and heroic combat, firing to the last shell, with superior British sea forces.

Career

Bey joined the Kaiserliche Marine on 13 June 1916 and served in its destroyer arm. Following the end of World War I, Bey stayed in the weakened German Navy, now known as the Reichsmarine. He continued his career with the rise of the Nazi Party in power in Germany, and by the start of World War II was a Commander.

Battle of Narvik

As a Commander in the Kriegsmarine, Bey led the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, consisting of the destroyers Z11 Bernd von Arnim, Z12 Erich Giese and Z13 Erich Koellner, as part of Commodore Friedrich Bonte’s force that carried General Eduard Dietl’s mountain troops for the occupation of Narvik during the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940. In the following Battles of Narvik on 10 April and 13 April, Bey distinguished himself by leading a small group of destroyers in a brave though doomed action against a superior Royal Navy force that included the battleship HMS Warspite.

Due to his distinguished service at Narvik, Bey was awarded with the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 May 1940. The next day he was promoted to Captain and appointed commander of the German destroyer force (Führer der Zerstörer), succeeding Commodore Bonte, who had been killed on 10 April in the first Battle of Narvik.

Operation Cerberus

Captain Bey then commanded the destroyer screen protecting the ships of the Brest Group (Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Prinz Eugen) during Operation Cerberus (the “Channel Dash”) in February 1942. Of the three, Scharnhorst suffered extensive damage, having struck a naval mine laid off the Dover Straits.