Helmuth von Ruckteschell

Helmuth von Ruckteschell (22 March 1890, Eilbek - 24 June 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 ruthless in the execution of his duty, and after the war was convicted of war crimes.

Pre-World War II
Born in 1890, 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 SM U-3 and SM U-57, before being given his own command in July 1917, first of SM UB-34, then, in March 1918, of SM 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, and was a student of Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy.

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 GERMAN AUXILIARY CRUISER Widder and sailed out into the Atlantic Ocean on 6 May 1940, he commenced a cruise (finally ending on 31 October 1940) that would sink or capture a total of ten vessels. When Widder returned to Brest, Ruckteschell refused 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 GERMAN AUXILIARY CRUISER Michel on its first cruise (9 March 1942 to 1 March 1943), in which fifteen ships were sunk or captured. Von Ruckteschell was then relieved 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 Ernst-Felix Krüder of Pinguin ) and stayed at large for 538 days, (second only to Bernhard 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
Ruckteschell was the subject of one of the first war crimes investigations undertaken by the British Admiralty. It was alleged that on several occasions the warships commanded by Ruckteschell had continued firing on merchant vessels after they had surrendered. Since such behavior contravened the laws of naval warfare, the Admiralty requested that Ruckteschell and his crew members be detained for interrogation.

At the end of World War II Ruckteschell was on the staff of the German naval attaché in Japan and he was eventually located in an internment camp near Kobe from where he was brought back to Germany for trial.

According to the British charges submitted to the United Nations War Crimes Commission, the evidence revealed "at least one clear case of mass murder and several equally clear cases of the sinking of vessels whose crew were on the vessels when they were fired on, and were not picked up subsequently when on boats, rafts and in the water."

Charges

 * 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. It was claimed that the Widder's gunners continued to fire for eight minutes after a signal was sent indicating that the Davisian crew were abandoning ship.
 * The defence maintained no signal had been seen or received and that three seamen on board the Davisian were seen heading towards her gun.


 * 2. Regarding SS Anglo Saxon (1929), attacked on 21 August 1940 by Widder.
 * The charge was that he fired on the lifeboats, and failed to ensure the crew's survival. Able Seaman Robert Tapscott of the Anglo Saxon, although unavailable to attend Ruckteschell’s trial, testified that the Widder had opened fire on the boats and rafts as they moved away from the sinking ship.
 * The defence maintained he was firing over heads at the ship; and that the boats attempted to escape and were lost in the dark.
 * Ruckteschell was found guilty of "not providing for the safety of the crew".


 * 3. Regarding SS Beaulieu, attacked on 4 August 1940 by Widder.
 * The charge was that he failed to ensure the safety of the survivors. Ruckteschell chose to leave 28 of them adrift over 1200 mi from the nearest land.
 * The defence maintained it was dark, and that  Widder searched for them for 2½ hours without success.
 * He was initially found guilty on this charge, but was later acquitted on appeal in August 1947.


 * 4. Regarding MV 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 was using a radio.

Trial
The trial was held in Hamburg between 5 and 21 May 1946. Ruckteschell chose as his defence counsel Dr. Otto Zippel, who had earlier represented Karl-Heinz Moehle. Zippel tried to define the limitations of international law, called Vizeadmiral Bernhard Rogge as an expert witness, and questioned the testimony of the British sailors. In closing, he asserted that "the law has recognized that in matters of sea even clever people are more liable to commit an error than in other walks of life".

The British military court convicted Ruckteschell on three of the four charges - Charges 1, 2, and 3 were upheld, while Charge 4 was rejected - and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment. Three years were later remitted from his sentence on 30 August 1947.

The trial raised serious concerns about further war crimes trials involving naval affairs, since only one junior naval officer had sat as a judge during the trial, and army officers could not be expected to have a good knowledge of naval warfare; Zippel opined during the appeal that "a court composed of experienced sea officers would have arrived at a different judgment in the case". Royal Navy officers acknowledged that there was a real chance of a miscarriage of justice and the naval authorities actually discouraged further naval-related war crimes trials due to the difficulty of finding suitable naval officers to take part in them, and Ruckteschell's trial was the last held under the Royal Warrant on behalf of the Royal Navy.

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

Awards and decorations

 * Iron Cross (1914)
 * 2nd Class (10 October 1915)
 * 1st Class (3 November 1916)
 * Hanseatic Cross
 * of Hamburg (29 May 1916)
 * of Bremen (29 December 1917)
 * Knight's Cross of the House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords (13 August 1918)
 * Cross of Honor
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (22 June 1940)
 * 1st class (?)
 * Auxiliary Cruiser Badge
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
 * Knight's Cross on 31 October 1940 as Korvettenkapitän der Reserves and commander of auxiliary cruiser "Widder" (HSK-3)
 * 158th Oak Leaves on 23 December 1942 as Kapitän zur See der reserves and commander of auxiliary cruiser "Michel" (HSK 9)
 * War Badge for auxiliary cruiser (30 December 1942)
 * Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd class