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Hellmuth Heye
Born	(1895-08-09)9 August 1895 Beckingen,German Empire
Died	10 November 1970(1970-11-10) (aged 75) Mittelheim,West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire  Weimar Republic  Nazi Germany
Service/ branch	Imperial German Navy  Reichsmarine  Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1914–45
Rank	Vice admiral
Commands	Admiral Hipper
Battles / wars	World War I World War II Operation Weserübung
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations	Wilhelm Heye (father)

Hellmuth Guido Alexander Heye (9 August 1895 – 10 November 1970) was a German admiral inWorld War II and politician in post-warGermany. He was a recipient of theKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross ofNazi Germany.

Heye graduated from high school inBerlin in early 1914 and immediately joined theImperial Navy. From April 1939 to September 1940 he commanded the Heavy CruiserAdmiral Hipper. While taking his ship toTrondheim in April 1940 to land invasion troops there (Operation Weserübung), he encountered the British destroyerGlowworm and sank it. Heye sent a message to theBritish Admiralty through theRed Cross praising the gallantry ofGlowworm's commander and crew, and this contributed to LtCdrGerard Roope receiving the earliestVictoria Cross ofWorld War II, although the award was not made until 1945.^[1]

Heye received theKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 18 January 1941. In 1942 he was promoted to vice admiral, and from September to November 1942 he was commanding admiral of the German naval forces in theBlack Sea. From April 1944 onward he was commanding admiral of the small naval combat forces, which included mini-submarines, combat divers, etc.

After the war Heye published a number of works on naval strategy, history and warfare as a member of theNaval Historical Team. He subsequently advised the German government on issues concerning the establishment and organization of a new military. In 1953 he joined the center-right partyCDU (Christian Democratic Union) of ChancellorKonrad Adenauer and represented this party in the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) from 1953 to 1961, elected for the district of Wilhelmshaven-Friesland.

On 8 November 1961 theBundestag elected him unanimously as its Ombudsman for the Military (Wehrbeauftragter). In the autumn of 1964, Heye published a series of articles in the German news journalQuick, warning of a risk of the German military once again drifting into isolation from society at large. This triggered a vigorous and sharply worded debate between him and the ministry of defense. Frustrated by what he perceived to be inadequate support from Parliament, Heye resigned his position on 10 November 1964.^[2]

• Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (14 February 1918), 1st Class (15 March 1922)^[3]
• Friedrich August Cross 2nd Class (14 February 1918)^[3]
• U-boat War Badge (20 November 1926)^[3]
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th to 2nd Class (2 October 1936)^[3]
• Commander of theOrder of the Crown of Italy (13 December 1937)^[3]
• Sudetenland Medal (22 May 1939)^[3]
• Memel Medal (26 October 1939) 1st Class (11 February 1939)^[3]
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (23 February 1940), 1st Class (14 April 1940)^[3]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 18 January 1941 asKapitän zur See and commander ofheavy cruiserAdmiral Hipper^[4][5]
• High Seas Fleet Badge (16 February 1942)^[3]
• Officer of theOrder of the Crown of Romania (15 January 1943)^[3]

• Hellmuth Heye in theGerman National Library catalogue
• "Hellmuth Guido Heye".Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Archived fromthe original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved27 November 2012.
• "Heye und kleine Fische—Bonn".Der Spiegel (in German). No. 40. 1961. Retrieved29 June 2013.
• "Hellmuth Heye".Der Spiegel (in German). No. 11. 1963. Archived fromthe original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved29 June 2013.
• "Der Fall Barth Die Geschichte der "Bier-Order 61"".Der Spiegel (in German). No. 12. 1963. Retrieved29 June 2013.
• "Hellmuth Guido Alexander Heye".Der Spiegel (in German). No. 46. 1964. Retrieved29 June 2013.

• 1895 births
• 1970 deaths
• Military personnel from the Rhine Province
• Politicians from the Rhine Province
• People from Merzig-Wadern
• Vice admirals of the Kriegsmarine
• Military Ombudspersons in Germany
• Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I
• Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class
• Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
• Officers of the Order of the Crown (Romania)
• Members of the Bundestag for Lower Saxony
• Reichsmarine personnel
• Naval Historical Team members
• Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany
• German military writers
• Military personnel from Saarland

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