Rolf Hans Wilhelm Karl Carls (29 May 1885 – 24 April 1945) was a high-ranking German admiral during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany.
Carls served as Flottenchef (Fleet Commander), the highest ranking administrative officer of the Kriegsmarine and member of the Oberkommando der Marine (High Command of the Navy). Carls was instrumental in planning German naval operations during Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Denmark and Norway. When Grand Admiral Erich Raeder resigned as commander-in-chief of the Kriegsmarine in early 1943, he suggested Carls as a potential candidate to succeed him. After Admiral Karl Donitz succeeded Raeder instead, Carls was discharged from the navy. Carls was killed in a British air raid on the town of Bad Oldesloe on 24 April 1945.
Early life and career
Rolf Carls was the son of Lieutenant Friedrich Wilhelm Anton Carls and his wife Martha Victoria Wilhelmine Anna Sophie, née Pogge. He was baptized on 18 July 1885 in the Rostock garrison church. Carls joined the Imperial German Navy as a sea cadet on 1 April 1903 and received his shipboard training on the corvette, SMS Stein. In 1905 he was assigned to the East Asia Squadron, where he was promoted to lieutenant on 28 September 1906. He served until 1907 on the large cruiser SMS Fürst Bismarck and afterwards the torpedo boat Taku. After his return to Germany in October 1907, he was deployed on various ships before being assigned to the Mediterranean Division in 1914.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Carls served as a captain lieutenant on the cruiser SMS Breslau. On 4 August 1914 the Mediterranean Division, consisting of Breslau along with the battlecruiser SMS Goeben, was pursued by Royal Navy forces but avoided capture after they passed through the Dardanelles to the friendly Ottoman Empire on 7 August 1914. After the Breslau was handed over to the Ottoman Navy, Carls remained on board the cruiser, which was renamed Midilli, serving as First Artillery Officer. For his service with the Ottoman Navy in the Black Sea against the Russian Empire, Carls was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross, the Gallipoli Star, the Imtiaz Medal in Silver with Saber, and the Order of Osmanieh IV Class.
In mid-January 1917 he was transferred back to Germany and completed his training as a submarine commander on 15 April 1917. He received the first command of his own ship, the U-9 on 31 March 1918, before taking over the [[SM U-124|U-124]] on 21 July 1918, which he commanded until the end of the war.
Interwar period
After the war, Carls joined the freikorps division Marine-Brigade von Loewenfeld, serving as a company commander and battalion commander. In 1922, Carls was transferred to the Reichsmarine of the newly established Weimar Republic. From 18 March 1927 onwards Carls served in various positions in the Naval Administration. On 1 October 1930 Carls served as Chief of Staff of the Naval Command, where he became one of Admiral Erich Raeder's closest aides. Carls was appointed as commander of the pre-dreadnought battleship Hessen on 27 September 1932. On 3 October 1933 he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Fleet. On 29 September 1934 Carls was appointed as Commander of the Linienschiff, he retained this position after his command was renamed to Commander of the Panzerschiffe until 24 November 1936.
Carls acted as commander of the German naval forces off Spain during the Spanish Civil War until September 1936. On 2 August 1936, the cruiser Deutschland and the torpedo boat Luchs under the command of Carls visited the Nationalist-held port of Ceuta. There, Carls had long secret meetings with Francisco Franco and other Nationalist military chiefs in which procedures for further German military aid were coordinated. On 19 August 1936, under the leadership of British Rear Admiral James Somerville, British, Italian, and German warships formed a single squadron to evacuate from the harbour of Palma de Mallorca after Republican authorities announced an imminent naval bombardment of that port. The experience prompted Carls to signal to Somerville that "it would be much better if the nations of Europe could cooperate with each other much as their ships have sailed together here." Somerville's reply affirmed that hope.