__NOTOC__ {{refimprove|date=March 2017}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = |name = Wilhelm Meisel |honorific_suffix = |image = Wilhelm Meisel.jpg |image_upright = |alt = |caption = Meisel in 1941 |native_name = |native_name_lang = |birth_name = |other_name = |nickname = |birth_date = {{birth date|1891|11|4|df=y}} |birth_place = Zwickau |death_date = {{death date and age|1974|9|7|1891|11|4|df=y}} |death_place = Mülheim |burial_place = |burial_label = |burial_coordinates = <!--{{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}}--> |allegiance = German Empire<br />Weimar Republic<br />Nazi Germany |branch = Imperial German Navy<br />''Reichsmarine''<br />''Kriegsmarine'' |branch_label = Branch |service_years = 1913–1945 |rank = ''Admiral'' |service_number = |unit = SMS ''Hertha''<br />SMS ''Moltke''<br />SMS ''Stralsund''<br />SMS ''Kaiserin Augusta'' |commands = Heavy cruiser ''Admiral Hipper'' |battles = World War I ---- World War II |battles_label = |awards = Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |memorials = |spouse = <!--Add spouse if reliably sourced--> |children = |relations = |other_work = |signature = |signature_size = |signature_alt = |website = <!--{{URL|example.com}}--> |module = }}
'''Wilhelm Meisel''' (4 November 1891 – 7 September 1974) was an Admiral of the ''Kriegsmarine'' of Nazi Germany during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
Meisel was born in Zwickau and joined the Navy as a midshipman in 1913. During the First World War he served on the battlecruiser {{SMS|Moltke}}, the light cruiser {{SMS|Stralsund}} and the {{SMS|Möwe|1914|6}}. He later served as a staff officer on Torpedo boats and was interned in Scapa Flow. After the scuttling of the High Seas Fleet he was held as a POW by the British and repatriated in 1921.
During the 1920s Meisel commanded a torpedo boat flotilla and held several staff posts and commanded the {{Ship|German cruiser|Karlsruhe}} in 1929.
During World War II Meisel commanded a destroyer flotilla in the invasion of Poland of 1939 and was appointed commander of the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper in 1940. He was made Chief of Staff of Naval Group west in 1943 and Chief of Naval staff in 1943.
== Awards == * Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (17 March 1915) & 1st Class (15 April 1917)<ref name="Dörr p54">Dörr 1996, p. 54.</ref> * Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg (June 1916)<ref name="Dörr p54" /> * Albert Order of Saxony, 2nd Class with Swords (May 1916) * The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (December 1934)<ref name="Dörr p54" /> * Spanish Cross in Silver (6 June 1939)<ref name="Dörr p55">Dörr 1996, p. 55.</ref> * Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (26 October 1939) & 1st Class (8 May 1940)<ref name="Dörr p54" /> * Destroyer War Badge (July 1941)<ref name="Dörr p55" /> * High Seas Fleet Badge (1 November 1941)<ref name="Dörr p55" /> * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 26 February 1941 as ''Kapitän zur See'' and commander of the heavy cruiser "Admiral Hipper"<ref>Fellgiebel 2000, p. 307.</ref><ref>Scherzer 2007, p. 535.</ref> * Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class (Japan)<ref name="Dörr p55" />
==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 |last=Fellgiebel |first=Walther-Peer |year=2000 |orig-date=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 |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'' Günther Lütjens | after = ''Kapitän zur See'' Friedrich Bonte | title = Acting Führer der Torpedoboote (F.d.T.) 1933–1939 | years = 21 October 1939 – 25 October 1939 }} {{succession box | before=Admiral Kurt Fricke | after= Chief of the ''Seekriegsleitung'' | title=Chief of Staff of the ''Seekriegsleitung'' | years=21 February 1943 – 30 April 1944 }} {{s-end}}
{{Chiefs of Staff of the Wehrmacht}} {{Authority control}} {{Subject bar | portal1=Biography }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meisel, Wilhelm}} Category:1890s births Category:1974 deaths Category:Admirals of the Kriegsmarine Category:German military personnel of the Spanish Civil War Category:German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom Category:Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I Category:Military personnel from Saxony Category:Military personnel of the Kingdom of Saxony Category:People from Zwickau Category:Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Category:Recipients of the Hanseatic Cross (Hamburg) Category:Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class Category:Reichsmarine personnel