Friedrich Ruge
| Friedrich Ruge | |
|---|---|
Friedrich Ruge visiting a Minensuchflottille
|
|
| Born |
24 December 1894 Leipzig, German Empire |
| Died | 3 July 1985 (aged 90) Tübingen, West Germany |
| Allegiance |
 German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany (to 1945) West Germany
|
| Service/branch |
 Kaiserliche Marine Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine German Navy
|
| Years of service | 1914–45, 1955–61 |
| Rank | Vizeadmiral |
| Battles/wars |
World War II |
| Awards |
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Great Cross of Merit |
| Relations | Peter von Zahn |
Friedrich Oskar Ruge (24 December 1894 – 3 July 1985) was an officer in the German Navy and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, awarded by Nazi Germany to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He served as the first commander (Inspector of the Navy) of the post-war German Navy.
Friedrich Ruge was the son and grandson of German educators. Joining the Imperial German Navy as a cadet in March 1914, he was soon a participant in the 1914, 1915, and 1916 Baltic Sea operations. In 1917 and 1918, he sailed with the destroyer raids in the North Sea and English Channel.
After the armistice, Ruge was an officer aboard the German destroyer B-112, interned at Scapa Flow and in June 1919, he played a role in the scuttling of the German Fleet.
Returning to Germany to continue his naval career in the service of the new Weimar Republic, for the next two decades he concentrated on mines and mine warfare. From 1921 to 1923, he commanded a minesweeper. In the UK during the 1930s he met an ex British sailor at a regatta, Lt Aubrey Grey, whose ship, the HMS Partridge was sunk in 1917 by the SMS V100, the ship that Ruge had been serving on. The V100 was the ship that rescued Grey from the water after the sinking and the pair became friends after meeting, their friendship only interrupted by World War II. After studies at Berlin Institute of Technology, he was the senior officer of a flotilla of minesweepers, and, in 1937, achieved the top post in that division.
In World War II, he was a part of the Polish Campaign in 1939 and the North Sea-English Channel operations during 1940. From 1940 to 1943, he was stationed in France, rising through the upper ranks to become Vice Admiral in 1943. Sent to Italy in 1943, he served as Senior German Naval Officer until mid-summer. He was appointed as Naval Advisor to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in November 1943 to supervise the defense of northern France from the predicted Allied invasion. He had no faith in land mines and artillery shells struck underwater, but the marine mines he wanted weren't available. In August 1944, he became the Kriegsmarine's Director of Ship Construction, a position in which he served till the end of World War II.
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