Theodor Krancke

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{{Infobox military person

|name=Theodor Krancke

|birth_date={{Birth date|1893|3|30|df=y}}

|death_date={{Death date and age|1973|6|18|1893|3|30|df=y}}

|birth_place=Magdeburg, Germany

|death_place=Wentorf bei Hamburg, West Germany

|image=Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-300-1863-35, Riva-Bella, Waffenvorführung Panzerwerfer, Rommel.jpg

|image_size=

|caption=Krancke (left) with General Walther Buhle and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

|nickname=

|allegiance=Germany

|branch={{navy|German Empire}}
{{navy|Weimar Republic}}
{{navy|Nazi Germany}}

|serviceyears=1912–45

|rank=Admiral

|commands=Cruiser Admiral Scheer

|unit=

|battles=World War I

----

World War II

|awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

|laterwork=}}

Theodor Krancke (30 March 1893 – 18 June 1973) was a naval commander and admiral of Germany during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

Under the command of Krancke, during the five-month-long raiding cruise, the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer sank 13 merchant ships, one armed merchant cruiser {{HMS|Jervis Bay|F40|6}}, and captured three merchant ships representing {{GRT |115,195|disp=long}} of Allied and neutral shipping.

During the Allied Invasion of Normandy Krancke, as Commander-in-Chief of Navy Group Command West headquartered in Paris, controlled all German naval vessels in France, as well as the various land-based naval units and the naval coastal artillery and anti-aircraft batteries along the French Atlantic coast.

Dates of Rank

Fähnrich zur See – 12 April 1913
Leutnant zur See – 22 March 1915
Oberleutnant zur See – 25 December 1917
Kapitänleutnant – 1 September 1922
Korvettenkapitän – 1 October 1930
Fregattenkapitän – 1 November 1935
Kapitän zur See – 1 April 1937
Konteradmiral – 1 April 1941
Vizeadmiral – 1 April 1942
Admiral – 1 March 1943

Awards

Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (May 1915) & 1st Class (27 September 1919)Dörr 1995, p. 358.
Sudetenland Medal 1939
High Seas Fleet Badge 1941
Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (29 October 1939) & 1st Class (20 April 1940)
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
Knight's Cross on 21 February 1941 as Kapitän zur See and commander of heavy cruiser Admiral ScheerScherzer 2007, p. 470.
614th Oak Leaves on 18 October 1944 as Admiral and commander in chief of Marinegruppenkommando West (Navy Group Command West)

References

=Citations=

=Bibliography=

{{Cite book

|last=Dörr

|first=Manfred

|year=1995

|title=Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine—Band 1: A–K

|trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Surface Forces of the Navy—Volume 1: A–K

|language=German

|location=Osnabrück, Germany

|publisher=Biblio Verlag

|isbn=978-3-7648-2453-2

}}

{{Cite book

|last=Scherzer

|first=Veit

|year=2007

|title=Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives

|trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives

|language=German

|location=Jena, Germany

|publisher=Scherzers Militaer-Verlag

|isbn=978-3-938845-17-2

}}

{{succession box

| before = Generaladmiral Wilhelm Marschall

| after = Kriegsmarine High Command West

| title = Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine Group Command West

| years = 20 April 1943 – 20 October 1944

}}

{{succession box