Paul Wenneker

Paul Wennecker
Born	(1890-02-27)February 27, 1890 Kiel, Germany
Died	October 17, 1979(1979-10-17) (aged 89) Bergstedt, Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kaiserliche Marine  Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1909-1945
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	German torpedo boat T 109 German minesweeper M 2 German minesweeper M 30 German minesweeper M 132 German pocket battleship Deutschland

Paul Werner Wenneker (27 February 1890 – 17 October 1979) was a German admiral and diplomat. Born in Kiel, Wenneker died in Bergstedt, Hamburg.

Having joined the Kaiserliche Marine in 1909, Wenneker twice served as German Naval Attaché to Japan, first from 1935 to 1937 and again from 1940 to 1945.^[1]:235 In-between these terms, from 1937 to 1940, he was commanding officer of the German pocket battleship Deutschland.

As Naval Attaché, Wenneker advocated the use of U-Boats to disrupt American supply routes, but his advice went largely unheeded by the Japanese.

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross of 1914, 1st and 2nd class
• Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords
• War Merit Cross (1939), 1st and 2nd class with Swords
• German Cross in Silver (24 April 1944)
• Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords (18 January 1945)
• Order of the Rising Sun, 1st Class (Japan)

References

• Hildebrand, Hans; Henriot, Ernest (1990). P — Z. Deutschlands Admirale : 1849-1945 : die militärischen Werdegänge der See-, Ingenieur-, Sanitäts-, Waffen- und Verwaltungsoffiziere im Admiralsrang (in German). 3. Osnabrück: Biblio-Verl. pp. 530—531. ISBN 3764814993. 

External links

• WW2DB: Paul Wenneker
• Profile of Wenneker
• In depth career history, with photos at the Wayback Machine (archived October 29, 2009)