The 1. Schnellbootflottille was the oldest and most prestigious Schnellboot unit of the Kriegsmarine, originating from the secret UZ(S)-Versuchsgruppe of the Reichsmarine formed in March 1932 and officially redesignated the 1. Schnellbootshalbflottille before becoming the 1. Schnellbootflottille in June 1935 upon the commissioning of S 9 at Kiel. Equipped initially with early experimental craft and later with modern Diesel-powered boats supported by tenders such as Tsingtau and Carl Peters, the flotilla began the Second World War in the Baltic Sea, laying mines and engaging Polish naval forces off Gdynia in September 1939 under Kapitänleutnant Kurt Sturm. In April 1940 it participated in Unternehmen Weserübung as part of Kriegsschiffgruppe 3, operating against Bergen and in Norwegian fjords under Kapitänleutnant Carl-Heinz Birnbacher, who commanded from November 1939 until August 1942. After transferring to the Channel coast the flotilla conducted intensive Feindfahrten against British coastal convoys and warships in 1940–1941, scoring notable successes that produced several Ritterkreuz recipients including Werner Töniges and Bernd Klug. In mid-1941 the flotilla returned briefly to the Baltic and Finnish waters before six of its boats were laboriously transferred via the Elbe, overland and the Danube to the Black Sea in 1942. From bases at Constanța, Iwan Baba and later Anapa the 1. Schnellbootflottille operated against the Soviet Black Sea Fleet and coastal traffic until heavy losses to air attack in 1944 forced the survivors to withdraw overland. Reformed and re-equipped in the Baltic by March 1945 under Korvettenkapitän Hermann Büchting, the flotilla escorted evacuation transports from Kurland and East Prussia, performing its final mission from Libau to the Geltinger Bucht on 9 May 1945 before entering captivity. Throughout the war successive Flottillenchefs including Georg-Stuhr Christiansen maintained the unit’s reputation as a cadre formation that trained many of the Kriegsmarine’s most successful Schnellboot commanders.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Korvettenkapitän Werner Töniges (1910-1995) was born on 7 January 1910 in Oberhausen as the son of a mining director and transferred from the Handelsmarine to the Kriegsmarine in 1935, receiving promotion to Leutnant zur See in 1937. He served aboard the Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee during the Spanish Civil War before transferring to the Schnellbootwaffe, where he commanded the boats S 24, S 26 and later S 102 of the 1. Schnellbootflottille. In the early months of the Second World War he conducted numerous Feindfahrten in the English Channel, achieving several sinkings that earned him the Eisernes Kreuz second and first class in 1940. On 25 February 1941, after completing eighty-eight combat patrols as Oberleutnant zur See und Kommandant of S 102, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for his successes against Allied shipping, which by that time included several freighters and steamers. Continuing operations with the same boat, Töniges later transferred with elements of the flotilla to the Black Sea, where he sank additional Soviet vessels, among them the passenger ship Belostok and other transports evacuating troops from Sevastopol and the Taman Peninsula. By the autumn of 1942 his cumulative record stood at eighteen war and merchant ships plus two U-Boot-Jäger sunk for a total of approximately 86,200 BRT after 281 Feindfahrten. For these achievements he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 13 November 1942 as Kapitänleutnant, becoming the first Schnellboot-Kommandant to earn this distinction. Shortly beforehand he had been posted as Kompaniechef to the 1. Abteilung of the Marineschule Mürwik in Flensburg-Mürwik, where he also received the Schnellboot-Kriegsabzeichen mit Brillanten. From September 1943 he served as Ausbildungsoffizier and Referent in the Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine and was promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 January 1945. After the war he worked as an independent merchant in Witten and died in Essen on 25 January 1995.
Korvettenkapitän Georg Christiansen (1914-1997) was born on 21 October 1914 in Flensburg and joined the Reichsmarine in 1934 as an Offiziersanwärter. After training as a Flak and Torpedo officer he was promoted to Leutnant zur See on 1 April 1937 and assigned to the newly formed Schnellbootwaffe. He commanded S-18 in 1938, then S-23, and finally S-101 of the 1. Schnellboot-Flottille. The Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes was awarded to him on 8 May 1941 as Oberleutnant zur See and Kommandant of S-101 for outstanding successes during the Norwegian campaign and subsequent operations off the English coast: he personally sank seven merchant ships totaling 30 000 GRT from strongly escorted convoys, destroyed one enemy torpedo boat, and, acting in concert with another boat, accounted for two destroyers, all while demonstrating exceptional seamanship, tactical skill and courageous leadership under fire. After the loss of S-101 he took command of the 8. S-Flottille in Arctic waters before assuming leadership of the 1. Schnellbootsflottille in the Black Sea in August 1942. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 March 1943, he received the 326th Eichenlaub on 13 November 1943 as Chef of the 1. Schnellbootsflottille for the flotilla’s decisive campaign against Soviet supply lines: under his command the unit sank 49 vessels exceeding 60 000 GRT together with one torpedo boat, while Christiansen himself took part in more than fifty sorties and consistently led from the front as an example of fighting spirit. Later transferred to the staff of the Führer der Schnellboote, he ended the war as 2. Admiralstabsoffizier of the Schnellbootwaffe. His further decorations included the Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse (20 April 1940), Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse (29 May 1940), Schnellboot-Kriegsabzeichen (16 December 1940) and Kubanschild (8 December 1944). He died on 14 June 1997 in Krusau, Denmark.
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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER
Korvettenkapitän Bernd Klug (1914-1975) was born on 12 December 1914 in Barmen and entered the Reichsmarine in 1933, receiving training as an artillery officer and later serving on Schnellboote. By the outbreak of the Second World War he commanded S 18 and subsequently S 28 in the 1. Schnellbootsflottille. As Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of S 28 he conducted numerous operations against strongly defended enemy convoys near the English coast and off Norway, sinking a destroyer as well as seven armed merchant vessels totalling 46 500 GRT and damaging several more; for these successes, achieved with consistent courage and combat readiness, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 12 March 1941. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 March 1943, he had already taken command of the 5. Schnellbootsflottille in the summer of 1941. While personally leading 56 sorties as flotilla chief, his boats sank sixteen freighters of 36 400 GRT, three destroyers, four patrol vessels and two other warships, with his own command boat contributing a large share of the results. For this outstanding leadership he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 1 January 1944 as the 361st recipient, becoming the first Schnellboot officer so honoured. His other awards included the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse and 1. Klasse, the Schnellboot-Kriegsabzeichen later with Diamonds, the Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz, and the Finnish Vapaudenristin 4. luokka. After serving as 1. Admiralstabsoffizier on the staff of the Führer der Schnellboote from mid-1944, he ended the war in captivity and was released in 1946. He later joined the Bundesmarine, rising to the rank of Flottillenadmiral before retiring, and died in Kiel on 15 June 1975.
Source :
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Schnellootsflottillen/1Flot.htm
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