{{Infobox military person |name=Karl Smidt |birth_date={{birth date|1903|8|30|df=y}} |death_date={{death date and age|1984|1|11|1903|8|30|df=y}} |birth_place=Neuenhaus, German Empire |death_place=Rendsburg, West Germany |image= |caption= |nickname= |allegiance={{flag|Nazi Germany}}<br />{{flag|West Germany}} |branch=Kriegsmarine<br />German Navy |service_years=1922–45<br/>1956–63 |rank=Kapitän zur See<br/>Konteradmiral (Bundesmarine) |commands={{ship|German torpedo boat|Jaguar||2}}<br />destroyer Z12 ''Erich Giese''<br />destroyer Z27 |unit= |battles=Spanish Civil War<br />World War II <!----*Battles of Narvik *Battle of the Atlantic---> |awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |other_work= }}
'''Karl Ernst Smidt''' (30 August 1903 – 11 January 1984{{refn|According to Dörr date of death is 10 January 1984, according to Scherzer 11 January 1984; his death announcements and obituaries in German newspapers proof that it was 11 January.<ref>Dörr 1996, p. 261.</ref><ref name="Scherzer p708">Scherzer 2007, p. 708.</ref>|group="Note"}}) was a German naval commander who reached the rank of Konteradmiral with the West German Navy. He served during World War II and was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. From 1961 to 1963, he was the NATO Commander-in-Chief of the German Fleet of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
==Early life and pre-war service== Smidt was born in Neuenhaus, district of Grafschaft Bentheim, in the Province of Hanover on 30 August 1903, the son of pastor Reinhard Petrus Wolbertus Smidt. He began his naval career with the Reichsmarine on 31 March 1922 as a member "Crew 1922" (the incoming class of 1922) after graduation from the ''humanistische Gymnasium'' (humanities-oriented secondary school) in Hameln with his ''Abitur'' (diploma). Smidt married Ruth Kühl in 1930.
The marriage produced two daughters and a son, Antje, Hilke, and Wolbert Klaus, former First Director with the Federal Intelligence Service ({{Lang|de|Bundesnachrichtendienst}}). Smidt joined the Confessing Church ({{Lang|de|Bekennende Kirche}}) with pastor Hermann Steen in Holthusen, district of Weener, after making an official visit to the Emsland concentration camp Esterwegen near Papenburg in 1935.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ostfriesischelandschaft.de/fileadmin/user_upload/BIBLIOTHEK/BLO/Smidt_Karl.pdf|title=Karl Ernst Smidt|work=Ostfriesische Landschaft|author=Alfred de Zayas|author-link=Alfred de Zayas|language=German|accessdate=1 January 2012}}</ref>
==Awards== * Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th and 3rd Class (2 October 1936)<ref name="Dörr p262">Dörr 1996, p. 262.</ref> * Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords (6 June 1939)<ref name="Dörr p262"/> * Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (6 November 1939) & 1st Class (8 December 1939)<ref name="Dörr p262"/> * Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy (11 March 1941)<ref name="Dörr p262"/> * German Cross in Gold on 20 November 1941 as ''Korvettenkapitän'' on Z27/8. Zerstörer-Flottille<ref>Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 447.</ref> * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 15 June 1943 as ''Kapitän zur See'' and commander of Z27<ref name="Scherzer p708"/><ref>Fellgiebel 2000, p. 402.</ref> * Commander Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (14 August 1963)<ref name="Dörr p262"/>
==Notes== {{Reflist|group="Note"}}
==References==
===Citations=== {{Reflist|25em}}
===Bibliography=== {{Refbegin}} * {{Cite book |last=Dörr |first=Manfred |year=1996 |title=Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine—Band 2: L–Z |trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Surface Forces of the Navy—Volume 2: L–Z |language=German |location=Osnabrück, Germany |publisher=Biblio Verlag |isbn=978-3-7648-2497-6 }} * {{Cite book |last1=Hildebrand |first1=Hans H. |last2=Röhr |first2=Albert |last3=Steinmetz |first3=Hans-Otto |title=Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe |volume=3 |year=1993 |location=Ratingen |publisher=Mundus Verlag |asin=B003VHSRKE |asin-tld=de |oclc= }} * {{Cite book |last=Fellgiebel |first=Walther-Peer |author-link=Walther-Peer Fellgiebel |year=2000 |orig-year=1986 |title=Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile |trans-title=The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches |language=German |location=Friedberg, Germany |publisher=Podzun-Pallas |isbn=978-3-7909-0284-6 }} * {{Cite book |last1=Patzwall |first1=Klaus D. |last2=Scherzer |first2=Veit |year=2001 |title=Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II |trans-title=The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2 |language=German |location=Norderstedt, Germany |publisher=Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall |isbn=978-3-931533-45-8 }} * {{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 }} {{Refend}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{succession box |before= Konteradmiral Rolf Johannesson |after= Vizeadmiral Heinrich Gerlach |title=Commander-in-Chief German Fleet (CINCGERFLEET) |years=1961 – 1963 }} {{s-end}}
{{Commander-in-Chiefs German Fleet}} {{Subject bar | portal1=Biography }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smidt, Alfred-Karl}} Category:1903 births Category:1984 deaths Category:Reichsmarine personnel Category:Kriegsmarine personnel Category:German military personnel of the Spanish Civil War Category:Bundesmarine admirals Category:Recipients of the Gold German Cross Category:Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Category:Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:People from Bentheim Category:Military personnel from the Rhine Province Category:Counter admirals of the German Navy Category:Military personnel from Lower Saxony