serviceyears branch commands death_place death_date birth_place allegiance awards battles birth_date rank article_title name
1910 -- 45 german empire weimar republic nazi germany german ub-34 2 sm u-54 2 auxiliary cruiser widder german auxiliary cruiser michel sm prison hamburg-fuhlsbüttel 24 september 1948 hamburg german to 1933 -rrb- nazi germany -lrb- to 1945 -rrb- empire -lrb- to 1918 -rrb- weimar republic -lrb- knight leaves 's cross of the iron cross with oak world war i world war ii 23 march 1890 kapitän zur see of the reserves helmuth von ruckteschell
 hellmuth von ruckteschell
helmuth von ruckteschell

hellmuth max von ruckteschell -lrb- 22 march 1890 , eilbek - 24 june 1948 , hamburg -rrb- was an officer in the kaiserliche marine and the kriegsmarine , serving in both world war i and world war ii .
he was one of the most successful merchant raider commanders , serving as the captain of the german commerce raiders `` widder '' and `` michel '' during world war ii .
however , he was ruthless in the execution of his duties , and after the war was convicted of war crimes .
