VADM Friedrich Ruge

Vice Admiral Friedrich Ruge

VADM F. Ruge and Capt. F.P. Mitchell
at Yorktown, NSMW, June, 1956

Vice Admiral Friedrich Ruge was born in Leipzig, Germany December 24, 1894. He was the son and grandson of German educators. Friedrich Ruge joined the German Imperial Navy as a cadet in March 1914. During World War I, he participated in the 1914, 1915, and 1916 Baltic Sea operations and in 1917 and 1918 destroyer raids in the North Sea and English Channel.

B-class Torpedo Boat

Following the 1918 Armistice, Admiral Ruge, as a young officer aboard the German destroyer B-112, was interned at Scapa Flow and there in June 1919, played a key role in the scuttling of the German Fleet.

By 1920, he had returned to Germany to continue his naval career, this time in the service of the new Weimar Republic. Most of Admiral Ruge's professional activities during the next two decades centered on mine warfare. From 1920 to 1923 and from 1928 to 1932 he was active in mine development work, which included duty as commanding officer of a minesweeper from 1921 to 1923. From 1924 to 1926 he attended the Berlin Technical College. From 1932 to 1934 he was senior officer of a minesweeping flotilla, and in 1937 became the Senior Officer Minesweepers in the German Navy.

With the coming of World War II, Admiral Ruge participated extensively in the Polish Campaign of 1939 and in the North Sea-English Channel operations of 1940. He remained in France from 1940 to 1943. In February 1940, he was promoted to the rank of Commodore, in 1942 to Rear Admiral and in 1943 to Vice Admiral.

Early in 1943 he was sent to Italy where he served as Senior German Naval Officer until mid-summer of that year. In November 1943, he was appointed naval advisor to Field Marshal Rommel who was just then entering upon his duties as one of the principal anti-invasion defenders of the Atlantic Wall.

From August 1944, until the end of the war Admiral Ruge served in Berlin as the Kriegsmarine's Director of Ship Construction.

After World War II, Admiral Ruge spent several months as a prisoner of war, and in 1946 he returned to Cuxhaven where he found employment as a writer, translator, and as a teacher of both English and German. From 1949 to 1952 he was one of four German flag officers who comprised the Naval Historical Team sponsored by the U.S. Navy at Bremerhaven. During this period he was also elected as a political independent to the town council of Cuxhaven.

With the entry of the Federal Republic of Germany into NATO and the establishment of the Bundesmarine, Admiral Ruge was called out of retirement and appointed Inspekteur der Bundesmarine, the equivalent of the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations. He held that post until his retirement in 1961.

Settling in 1961 in the South German university center of Tubingen, Admiral Ruge continued his active career as a writer and lecturer. In the latter capacity he served as a faculty member at Tubingen and at numerous other German centers. In 1967 he became associate professor in political science at the University of Tubingen.

In addition to his other activities Admiral Ruge was chairman of the Arbeiskreis fur Wehrforschung (Association for Military Historical Research) and was President of the League of the Veterans of the Bundeswehr. He was also an active member of Rotary International. Admiral Ruge's first visit to America was in 1926. He next came in 1952 when he was guest lecturer at the U.S.Naval War College at Newport. Later visits were made in 1956 (Yorktown, VA), 1959, 1960, 1961 and May 1964. He resided at Linsenbergstrasse 29, Tubingen, Germany and died in 1985.

He was quoted as saying: "Utilization of the Anglo-American air forces is the modern type of warfare, turning the flank not from the side but from above." -German Vice Adm. Friedrich Ruge, Rommel's naval aide, at Normandy.

Admiral Ruge portrayed himself in the movie, “The Longest Day” (1962) and acted as military consultant.

Vice Admiral Friedrich Ruge Papers

The Citadel purchased the papers of Vice Admiral Friedrich Ruge from Mr. William M. James of Winston Salem, North Carolina on March 18, 1974. Mr. James had compiled a collection of interviews, articles and correspondence with German and British officials of World War II. Admiral Ruge, who was one of Mr. James correspondents, gave many of his papers to Mr. James. The collection consists of 13.5 linear feet and was catalogued in 1985 by Jane Yates, archivist.

Vice Admiral Ruge's papers include his diaries 1940-1950, correspondence 1930-1974, speeches 1940-1974, books, articles, reviews and his U.S.Naval Institute Proceedings articles from 1952-1966. Photographs of Vice Admiral Ruge and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel are included.

Courtesy of
The Citadel Archives & Museum
171 Moultrie Street
Charleston, South Carolina 29409