Hellmuth von Ruckteschell

Helmuth von Ruckteschell (Mar 22 1890, Eilbek - Jun 24 1948, Hamburg) was an officer in the German navy, serving in both World War I and World War II. He was one of the most successful merchant raider commanders, serving as the captain of the German commerce raiders Widder and Michel during World War II. He was, however, ruthless in the execution of his duty, and after the war was convicted of war crimes.

Pre-World War II

Born in 1891, he joined the German navy in 1910; in 1916, with the rank of Oberleutnant zur See, he transferred to the U-boat Arm. He served as Watch Officer on U-3 and U-57, before being given his own command in July 1917, first of UB-34, then, in March 1918, of U-54. He earned a reputation as an overly aggressive commander, which caused him to be placed on a black-list of officers that the Allied powers considered to have breached the laws of war. This contrasted with his artistic and cultured nature - he was an avid reader and loved classical music.

After the war, he left Germany to escape the harassment suffered by former submariners at the hands of the victor nations. He lived in Sweden and Lapland for several years, earning a living as a lumberjack and a surveyor, before returning to Germany in the early 1930s.

World War II

Von Ruckteschell was recalled to duty in the Kriegsmarine in 1939 and placed in command of an auxiliary minelayer. When he took command of the Widder and sailed out into the Atlantic Ocean on May 6, 1940, he commenced a cruise (finally ending on October 31, 1940) that would sink or capture a total of ten vessels. When Widder returned to Brest, Ruckteschell denied the Naval Command's order to take the ship to Hamburg, because he estimated the transfer through British controlled waters to be too risky. After returning to Germany, he took command of the commerce raider Michel on its first cruise (March 9 1942 to March 1 1943), in which fifteen ships were sunk or captured. Von Ruckteschell was then relived at his own request for health reasons.

Raider career

Ruckteschell was one of the more successful raider captains. The measure of a commerce raiders success is both the tonnage destroyed and the time spent at large. Ruckteschell accounted for 152,727 Tons GRT (second only to Kruder of Pinguin ) and stayed at large for 538 days, (second only to Rogge of Atlantis ); however, this was over two voyages.
Out of 13 voyages by 10 raiders, Michel and Widder claimed 15 ships of 94,363 tons, and 10 ships of 58,464 tons respectively (4th and 6th highest), and stayed at large for 358, and 180 days respectively ( 4th and 9th longest).

War Crimes Trial

Von Ruckteschell was regarded by the British as a war criminal because of his aggressive and ruthless approach to his duties, and was put on trial as such at Hamburg in May 1947.

There were charges relating to four incidents:-

1) Regarding SS Davisian, which was attacked on 10 July 1940 by Widder.
The charge was that he continued to fire after the radio was knocked out and the signal to surrender acknowledged.
The defence maintained no signal had been seen or received; that Davisian's crew were thought to be manning the ship's gun.

2) Regarding SS Anglo-Saxon, attacked on 21 August 1940 by Widder.
The charge was that he fired on the lifeboats, and failed to ensure the crew's survival.
The defence maintained he was firing over heads at the ship; and that the boats attempted to escape and were lost in the dark.

3) Regarding SS Beaulieu, attacked on 4 August 1940 by Widder.
The charge was that he failed to ensure the safety of the survivors.
The defence maintained it was dark, and that Widder searched for them for 2½ hours, without success.

4) Regarding SS Empire Dawn, attacked on 11 September 1942 by Michel.
The charge was that he continued to fire after she had surrendered.
The defence maintained that the surrender signal was not seen; also that there was confusion on the bridge of Michel whether the ship using a radio.

The verdict of the Tribunal : charges 1, 2, 3 were upheld; charge 4 was rejected. The sentence was 10 years imprisonment, however the confirming Judge rejected charge 3 and also reduced the sentence to 7 years.

It is worth noting that the charges relate to 3 of the 10 ships attacked by Widder, and 1 of the 15 ships attacked by Michel. In the other cases, ships were not fired on once they were subdued, and survivors were picked up. It’s also worth noting that to strike without warning, and depart without regard to survivors, not unique to these incidents; almost every submarine commander on every side behaved in the same way; in this von Ruckteschell was behaving like a U-boat commander.

Fate

He died in the Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel prison on June 24 1948, shortly after hearing that he was to be released due to his deteriorating heart condition.

External links

• Bio on a page on German commerce raiders
• Trial report in page on the ship MIchel
• Extensive bio (in German on a Russian website)
• service record (in German)

References

• August Karl Muggenthaler : German Raiders of World War II (1977) ISBN 0 7091 6683 4
• Paul Schmalenbach  : German Raiders 1895-1945 (1977 ) !SBN 0 85059 351 4
• Stephen Roskill : The War at Sea 1939-1945 Vol I (1954) ISBN (none)