
The identity of these officers will give you the ship, the date and also the location
Notice that the Fuhrer is extending a ''proper Nazi salute'' also and not the more usual ''Hitler wave'' of extending his right forearm upwards and bent back with open hand.....as seen on Hitler's visit to the Bismarck, behind turret Dora.Terje Langoy wrote:
I’m figuring that the Gneisenau must have been passing another ship (possibly the flagship Graf Spee) at this very moment and that Schönermark, acting as the commander, so forth is the only one required to salute.
Yup, I guess he would be sounding some signal alright. The trumpeter is one of two observations that instantly had me thinking about the Graf Spee, the other clue being Kpt.s.Z. Förste which appears to be looking straight forward while they salute. This would to me indicate that the officers here are saluting someone at a relatively equal height.RF wrote:...what exactly is the rating on the right of the top brass doing, is he holding what looks like a bugle?
Perhaps we could describe these variations as the Formal (executed on the photo) and the more Personal (as described in your post) salutes of Hitler. The latter could have been frequent at "face distance" whereas the former was the proper salute for longer distances?RF wrote:...Notice that the Fuhrer is extending a ''proper Nazi salute'' also and not the more usual ''Hitler wave'' of extending his right forearm upwards and bent back with open hand.....as seen on Hitler's visit to the Bismarck, behind turret Dora.
From the top of my head, I instantly think of two photos where Hitler can be seen saluting properly ... when he visited the Bismarck in Gotenhafen. Note that this occured not when he was already aboard but as he responded to the ship's crew greeting him as he arrived by the ship, hence my earlier statement of distances.RF wrote:Most pictures of Hitler giving a salute are of the ''Hitler wave'' version. Are there any pictures of Hitler actually giving a correct military salute in the accepted fashion - even General Tojo saluted ''properly.''
Could someone clarify on this point, in what context would AGS be the flagship, I would have thought the largest ship present would have served that function?Terje Langoy wrote:
I’m figuring that the Gneisenau must have been passing another ship (possibly the flagship Graf Spee) at this very moment
Well, technically speaking you're right that the Graf Spee was not the largest ship present. However Gneisenau was, by the time of this photo, not yet ready to become the flagship. She was still undergoing trials, she was still in a gradual process with regards to completion of her fitting out. The July month of 1938 had the Gneisenau busy conducting trials with her onboard seaplanes, the He 114 and Fw 62, as well as exercising with the Hein'sche Landing Sail - which was soon to be substituted by purpose manouvring instead, (the ship would steer in a circle to create a "docking pond") This month also had the last of her four spherical AA range finders (st.bd. aft) mounted at a proper height to its cylindrical base. Earlier, during the ships maiden voyage, this was found at level with the boat deck.RF wrote:Could someone clarify on this point, in what context would AGS be the flagship, I would have thought the largest ship present would have served that function?