title: Transformers: Devastation

text: The game is part of the "Transformers: Generations" line, though its visual design is most strongly inspired by the original "Transformers" TV series with elements from both the IDW comic series and the . The game's story is written by former "Transformers" comic writer and editor Andy Schmidt. Several of the surviving voice actors from the original show reprised their roles, including Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime), Dan Gilvezan (Bumblebee), Michael Bell (Sideswipe and Scrapper), Gregg Berger (Grimlock and Long Haul), and Frank Welker (Megatron and Soundwave). Original music was composed by "" composer Vince DiCola and "Angry Birds Transformers" co-composer Kenny Meriedeth.


title: Transformers: Devastation

text: A downloadable content bundle containing character skins based on Nemesis Prime, Red Alert, and Goldfire, along with three additional weapons, was offered as a pre-order incentive. This bundle was later made available for separate purchase.


title: Transformers: Devastation

text: "Transformers: Devastation" received "generally favorable" reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. Critics praised the game's nostalgia, graphics, and gameplay, while criticisms were directed towards the repetition, frustrating camera controls, and the game's short length.


title: Transformers: Devastation

text: GameSpot's Scott Butterworth stated that ""Devastation" recaptures [the "Transformers" franchise's] spirit and presents it anew."


title: Transformers: Devastation

text: Mike Fahey of "Kotaku" considers the game to be an answer to his 14-year-old inner child's Christmas list, saying that he "downloaded the game, started it up and spent several hours grinning like an idiot." He praises the gameplay as "brutal, lightning-fast war" in a "beautiful symphony of destruction" across a secret-packed "sprawling city map", with a "satisfying combat system that rewards timing and tenacity" based upon "silky-smooth melee combos". However, he found the camera system to be "a mess" and the gameplay to be repetitive. He summarized it as "the closest gaming has come to a playable Generation One "Transformers" cartoon".


title: Transformers: Devastation

text: Giving a score of 6.5 out of 10, Justin McElroy of Polygon called PlatinumGames "one of the industry’s best action developers" and called the game "Platinum’s love letter to old school "Transformers"". He said the game's "numerous shortcomings will likely warn away all but the most diehard G1 fans", who are nonetheless "in for a treat". He found frustration in the camera manipulation, the melee button-mashing, and the boss battles, concluding that the player's "only meaningful interaction with the world of "Transformers Devastation" is beating the living hell out of a whole lot of robots in disguise."


title: Transformers: Devastation

text: Giving a 7.7 out of 10, Jose Otero of IGN stated that the "high-octane action is a rad, over-the-top direction".


title: Transformers: Devastation

text: Destructoid awarded the game a score of 8.5 out of 10 and called it "charming", saying that it is "[n]ot perfect, but it's easy to ignore the rough spots when faced with so many engaging design decisions and entertaining moments. A memorable game that's hard not to like and recommend to others."


title: Battle of Aqaba

text: The Battle of Aqaba (6 July 1917) was fought for the Red Sea port of Aqaba (now in Jordan) during the Arab Revolt of World War I. The attacking forces, led by Sherif Nasir and Auda abu Tayi and advised by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), were victorious over the Ottoman Empire defenders.


title: Battle of Aqaba

text: Gilbert Clayton had already told Lawrence, "The move to Aqaba on the part of Feisal is not at present desirable..." This was due to the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence being superseded by the Sykes-Picot Agreement. Lawrence, however, decided to go his own way, without orders. Lawrence called it a private venture, void of British support, since "Feisal provided money, camels, stores and explosives."


title: Battle of Aqaba

text: The 600-mile desert journey was led by Sherif Nasir, while Lawrence was accompanied by Nesib el-Bekri and Auda Abu Tayi, leader of the northern Howeitat tribe of Bedouin. Total strength on 9 May 1917, when they embarked, was 45 Howeitat and Ageyl camel men.


title: Battle of Aqaba

text: Aqaba was surrounded by mountains north and east, and connected to the interior by Wadi Itm. The long and narrow gorge could be used by the Ottomans to bottle up any British invasion by sea, though it did not stop the Royal Navy from bombarding the site. By 1917, the Ottoman garrison had grown to 300 – mainly Ottoman-Arab gendarmerie – up from 100 in 1914. According to Neil Faulkner, "The British high command had long been anxious about Aqaba." The British feared that an Ottoman Aqaba would threaten Archibald Murray's flank, or Ottoman raids could develop into the Sinai, or that it could be used as a base for German submarines in the Red Sea.


title: Battle of Aqaba

text: According to T.E. Lawrence, "The Arabs needed Akaba: firstly, to extend their front, which was their tactical principle; and, secondly, to link up with the British." Lawrence also says, "I was working out with Auda abu Tayi a march to the Howeitat in their spring pastures of the Syrian desert. From them we might raise a mobile camel force, and rush Akaba from the eastward without guns or machine-guns. The eastern was the unguarded side, the line of least resistance, the easiest for us."


title: Battle of Aqaba

text: Newcombe and Lawrence contrived to deceive the Turkish army that their objective was an attack on Damascus and Aleppo, drawing attention away from their real goal of Aqaba. The expedition started moving towards Aqaba in May. They lost three men to attacks by snakes in the Wadi Sirhan region, while Nuri al-Shaalan was paid 6,000 pounds sterling in gold for the use of Wadi Sirhan as a base. While in Bair, Lawrence and Auda decided to attack the rail line in the area of Daraa, to convince the Turks the main Arab force was at Azrak in Sirhan. Finding no suitable targets that far north, Lawrence and Zaal ended up attacking the Atwi station south of Amman, before returning to Bair.


title: Battle of Aqaba

text: Three Howeitat clans on Nagb el Shtar, the Dhumaniyeh, the Darausha, and the Dhiabat, aided the effort to secure the pass of Aba el Lissan, along the Maan–Aqaba road. The Dhumaniyeh attacked the Fuweilah blockhouse at the pass while the Arab force under Auda and Lawrence attacked the Ghadir el Haj garrison along the rail line south of Maan, destroying ten bridges. However, the Dhumaniyeh were unable to keep control of the pass when a Turkish relief battalion under Niaz Bey arrived, occupying Aba el Lissan.


title: Battle of Aqaba

text: Auda personally led a charge of 50 horsemen against the Turkish troops on 2 July, while 400 camelmen under Nasir and Lawrence charged into their flank. The result was 300 Turkish casualties and only 160 prisoners, while the Arabs lost two dead. Lawrence was nearly killed in the action after he accidentally shot his camel in the head with his pistol. Auda was hit by six bullets, which destroyed his field glasses, holster, and scabbard; but left him unharmed.


title: Battle of Aqaba

text: Three more Turkish posts lay ahead on the way to Aqaba: Guweira, Kethera, and Khadra. Guweira was captured by Sheikh ibn Jad by the time Auda and Lawrence arrived, and the 120 soldiers in that Turkish garrison had become prisoners. Kethira was taken on the night of 4 July, aided by a lunar eclipse. Khadra, at the mouth of the Itm, and its 300-man garrison surrendered on the 6th. Four miles onward, Aqaba and the sea now lay open.


title: Battle of Aqaba

text: The Arab force had swelled to 2,000 Howeitat by the end of the engagement, and they had taken 700 prisoners, including 42 officers. Auda established an advance post at Guweira with 600 of his clan, which they held for the next month and a half, enough time for the gain of Aqaba to be consolidated, even though the Ottomans were able to retake Abu al-Lissan and Fuweilah. Arab outposts were also established at Nabathean Petra, Delagha, and Batra, along the Maan highlands.


title: Battle of Aqaba

text: Lawrence, accompanied by eight others, traveled 160 miles across the Sinai Peninsula via the Mitla Pass to Suez, in 49 hours. At Ismailia Station, Lawrence convinced Burmester and Admiral Wemyss to send HMIS "Dufferin" to Aqaba with food, bringing back the prisoners on the return trip. Lawrence then took a train to Cairo. In Cairo, Lawrence reported to Clayton and then Allenby, from whom Lawrence requested arms, supplies, an immediate 16,000 pounds in gold to pay debts incurred, and a further 200,000 sovereigns to support his plans to threaten communications with Jerusalem. Allenby promised Lawrence to do what he could, and subsequently told Robertson, "...even the partial success of Captain Lawrence's scheme would seriously disorganise Turkish railway communications south of Aleppo, while its complete success would destroy effectively his only main artery of communication..."


title: Battle of Aqaba

text: Aqaba became a major Royal Navy depot, supplying and transporting Feisal's forces upon his arrival on 23 August, as HMS "Euryalus" and then HMS "Humber" guarded the port. A landing strip was built at Kuntilla; and by August 4 the Royal Flying Corps was bombing Maan, Abu al-Lissan, and Fuweilah, supplementing continued attacks by Auda on the Hejaz railway. According to Lawrence, "In the next four months our experts from Akaba destroyed seventeen locomotives. Traveling became an uncertain terror for the enemy."


title: Battle of Aqaba

text: The campaign and battle was depicted in the film "Lawrence of Arabia", albeit with some creative liberties taken and events compressed.


title: NISHAD Party

text: The Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal is a political party in India. It was founded in 2016. The Nishad Party was formed for empowerment of Nishad, Kewats, Bind, Mallah, Sahani, Kashyap, Gond communities whose traditional occupations centred on rivers, such as boatmen or fishermen. Its founder is Sanjay Nishad, a former member of the Bahujan Samaj Party. According to Nishad, a separate party representing these communities was essential as they had played an integral role in the victories of BSP and Samajwadi Party.


title: NISHAD Party

text: The Nishad Party ran 100 candidates in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election in alliance with Peace Party of India, the Apna Dal and the Jan Adhikar Party. In the election swept by the BJP, the NISHAD party won only the Gyanpur constituency. Party leader Sanjay Nishad came third in Gorakhpur Rural polling 35,000 votes.


title: NISHAD Party

text: For the 2018 by-elections to Phulpur and Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seats, Samajwadi Party united with several smaller parties, including Nishad Party, to extend its social base beyond Yadavs and Muslims. Sanjay Nishad's son, Praveen Kumar Nishad was selected as the Samajwadi candidate in Gorakhpur, where the Nishad community is the second-largest demographic group. In a major upset, Praveen Nishad wrested the seat from BJP, which had not lost the seat since 1989. The victory margin was 21,000 votes.


title: NISHAD Party

text: In the recently concluded 2022 UP State Election, Nishad party fought in alliance with BJP and won 6 seats.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: The Avengers: United They Stand (also known simply as The Avengers) is an animated series based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Avengers. It consists of 13 episodes, which originally premiered on October 30, 1999, and was produced by Avi Arad. It was canceled on February 26, 2000.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: The series features two founding members of the team, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and introduces Wonder Man, Tigra, Hawkeye, Falcon, Vision and Scarlet Witch.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: The series features a team broadly based on the roster for the 1984 Avengers spin-off series, the West Coast Avengers, composed of the Wasp, Wonder Man, Tigra, Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch (Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch were also both in the "Iron Man" animated series as members of Force Works) led by Ant-Man/Giant-Man, with the Falcon and Vision joining in the opening two-parter. For undetermined reasons (perhaps due to their rights being tied up in planned movie projects), the Avengers' "Big Three" were not regular fixtures in the series – Captain America and Iron Man made only guest appearances in one episode each, while Thor did not appear outside of the opening titles (though he was intended to make an appearance in a future season if the show was renewed). Captain America appears in one episode "Command Decision". The story involves the Masters of Evil and a flashback to Captain America defeating Baron Zemo. Meanwhile, Iron Man in the episode "Shooting Stars", helps the Avengers thwart the Zodiac's plan to send a radioactive satellite crashing to Earth.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: The series features many of the Avengers' major comic book foes, including Ultron, Kang the Conqueror, Egghead, the Masters of Evil (consisting of Baron Helmut Zemo, Tiger Shark, Absorbing Man, Moonstone, Whirlwind, Boomerang, Cardinal, and Dragonfly) the Grim Reaper (this version wore full body armor and a helmet featuring a skull-like paint job and a scythe-like weapon on his armor; his ties to Wonder Man remained intact) and the Zodiac, as well as associated characters the Swordsman, the Circus of Crime, Namor, Attuma, Agatha Harkness, and the Salem's Seven.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: The show made several fan-friendly references to aspects of the characters' comic book history that were otherwise not expanded upon for the uninitiated; such as Falcon and Captain America's partnership, Hawkeye's partial deafness, or Namor's half-breed nature. Beyond this, the series bore little in the way of similarity to the comics, mainly due to its wholesale redesign of the cast, characterized by asymmetrical costume design and the most infamous element of the series – Ant-Man, Wasp, Hawkeye and Falcon all wore suits of battle armor. Also in this incarnation, Tigra is an athlete who underwent genetic treatments to give her a competitive edge. These treatments went awry, leaving her with the form and abilities of a tiger.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: In 1997, Roland Poindexter, the supervising executive in charge of animated series at Fox Kids Network, approached two "" (1992) animated series writers named Robert N. Skir and Marty Isenberg to develop a proposal for an "Avengers" cartoon. After creating a detailed Bible that included a 13-episode story arc, the network decided a "Captain America" series would be more suited to its schedule. But before Fox Kids could green light either series, Marvel went into bankruptcy, effectively ending the development process for all its shows. It wasn't until after the publisher's financial woes were resolved in late 1998 that Poindexter revived interest in the Avengers project, using the series bible written by Robert N. Skir and Marty Isenberg; because Skir and Isenberg were already committed to spearhead "Beast Machines: Transformers", the network approached former "X-Men" animated series story editor Eric Lewald and his wife, Julia, to come on board as story editors for the series. In January 1999, Fox finally gave the official go-ahead and Ron Myrick was hired to oversee the show's visual development.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: The Avengers roster for the cartoon is loosely based upon the roster for the 1984 Avengers spin-off series "The West Coast Avengers". Notably absent from the lineup are the traditional core members: Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, who were originally prohibited from appearing in the series due to licensing issues. Story editor Eric Lewald has commented on their absence and had said "We want this to be a team of Avengers, instead of making it 'Captain America and the Avengers' or 'Thor and the Avengers. We prefer to have a balanced team of superheroes rather than a superstar on the team." However, Captain America and Iron Man each made one guest appearance (in "Command Decision" and "Shooting Stars", respectively), while Thor did not appear outside of the opening sequence.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: The decision to pair Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man up as a couple was based upon the storyline then running in the Avengers comic in which Scarlet Witch resurrects Wonder Man to serve as her protector after an evil sorceress transforms the planet into a medieval world under her control. During their time together, the two fall in love and become a couple.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: In the promotional images of the series, and the action figure photos, Hawkeye didn't wear a mask. However, in the series and the final version of the figure, he wore a mask similar to that he wore during the "Avengers: The Crossing" storyline.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: This series was commissioned by Fox in the wake of the success of "Batman Beyond" (1999). In order to attempt to emulate "Batman Beyond", changes were made to the Avengers franchise as the series was set in the future. Myrick explained that they were "setting the series about twenty-five years in the future" and that "New York City will be a mix of future and contemporary looks, sort of the way the city looked in the movie "Blade Runner" (1982) but not as dark." The Avengers were also featured wearing elaborate armor costumes when they went into battle. Myrick explained, "The armor will give them the capability to go into different environments like extreme heat or cold, or underwater, or outer space, and it'll enhance their abilities." The Avengers also featured an "A" on their costumes that was like a "Star Trek" comlink, where they could hit it and communicate with each other and the mansion's computer.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: The following list reflects the correct viewing order of "The Avengers: United They Stand" episodes, according to Marvel's official site.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: Tentative plans for additional episodes featured Hawkeye's return to the carnival where he grew up as well as an episode exploring how the Scarlet Witch discovered her powers were made. Plans also included guest appearances by the X-Men, utilizing the Toronto-based cast from the 1990s series as a few of them already worked on this show. Other proposed episode plots include Bruce Banner appearing to help the team when Ant-Man fell ill to gamma radiation exposure during a fight with the villain Egghead, Thor and his brother Loki in a two-part episode (there was even a Thor toy made for the show's line of action figures). However, all plans were scrapped when the show had stopped production.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: On May 21, 2007 "Maximum Entertainment" released the complete series on Region 2 DVD in the UK. The 2-disc boxset features all 13 episodes of the series.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: Toy Biz released a line of action figures for the cartoon series. The figures included Ant-Man, Captain America, Falcon, Hawkeye, Kang, Tigra, Vision, Ultron, Wasp and Wonder Man. Air Glider and Sky Cycle vehicle toys were also produced. In the promotional images of the series, and the action figure photos, Hawkeye didn't wear a mask. However, in the series and the final version of the figure, he wore a mask similar to that he wore during the "Avengers: The Crossing" storyline.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: The "Avengers: United They Stand" comic book series by Ty Templeton and Derec Aucoin was published to accompany the series. Due to low sales it lasted only seven issues.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: The first two issues are set before the series premiere, "Avengers Assemble, Part 1 & 2". No. 1 has the Avengers injured by an early version of Ultron. This issue was used to explain the armor worn by Hawkeye, Wasp and the Falcon in the series, which uses Pym Particles to reduce the pain caused by injury. It is mentioned by Hawkeye that Hank built his own armor after his legs were broken by Dragon Man, and felt no pain in his legs until he removed the armor. No. 3 takes place after the premiere as the Vision is being interviewed about his membership. He is also briefed on how Wonder Man and Hawkeye joined the team.


title: The Avengers: United They Stand

text: The Black Panther would appear in No. 1 and 6–7 of the series. In No. 1 he is among the Avengers who are injured by Ultron. Because of that, he refuses to rejoin the team until Hank steps down from being leader. Captain America appears in #6–7 as well. Quicksilver is mentioned twice in the series. In issue 1, Wanda is shown writing a letter to him. Issue 3 shows him in the flashback alongside Captain America, Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 27 May 2018. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, the second round of voting was held on 17 June. Incumbent president Juan Manuel Santos was ineligible to seek a third term. Iván Duque, a senator, defeated Gustavo Petro, former mayor of Bogotá, in the second round. Duque's victory made him one of the youngest individuals elected to the presidency, aged 42. His running mate, Marta Lucía Ramírez, was the first woman elected to the vice presidency in Colombian history.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: The election was held following a peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016, ending over 50 years of conflict. The elections were the first to occur since congress passed legislation in 2015 modifying the presidential term limits, restricting presidents to one four-year term with a formal ban on re-election. The bill also granted the runner-up candidate in a presidential election a seat in the senate, whilst their running mate would become a member of the chamber of representatives.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Duque, a lawyer and protege of former president Álvaro Uribe, was the nominee for the Democratic Center party. Duque, who was mostly unknown to the public before the election, had a platform encompassing support for innovation, economic recovery and staunch opposition to the peace agreement.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Petro, a former AD/M-19 member and nominee for the Humane Colombia party, ran a progressive populist campaign that focused on reducing inequality and implementing universal healthcare and environmental protection. Petro narrowly surpassed centrist candidate Sergio Fajardo in the first round by just over 1%, permitting him to qualify for the run-off.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Duque was victorious in the second round, earning 54% of the vote to Petro's 41%. Duque won 24 of Colombia's 32 departments, performed well in the inland regions and received over 77% of the vote in the Andean department of Norte de Santander. Duque assumed office on 7 August. Meanwhile, Petro became a senator, whilst his running mate, Ángela Robledo, became a member of the chamber of representatives.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: During the previous election held in 2014, a second round was held as no candidate attained more than 50% of the vote. The candidates were incumbent president Juan Manuel Santos of the Party of the U and Óscar Iván Zuluaga of the Democratic Center. The election centred on the issue of how to continue peace negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In the run-off, Santos defeated Zuluaga, earning 50% of the vote to his opponent's 44%.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: In June 2015, both houses of congress approved legislation limiting presidents to a single four-year term with a formal ban on re-election, restoring the term limits that were in place before 2005. President Santos, who submitted the bill upon re-election in the 2014 presidential election, said the re-election ban would restore a balance of power in Colombia. The bill faced criticism from supporters and members of the Democratic Center party led by former president and rival of Santos, Álvaro Uribe. They argued the purpose of the bill's introduction was to prevent Uribe from seeking a non-consecutive third term to the presidency. Edward Rodríguez, a Democratic Center member of congress, described the re-election ban as "revenge against Uribe".


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: On 27 September 2016, the government signed a peace agreement with the FARC. A referendum took place on 12 October to ratify the deal; however, voters narrowly rejected it. President Santos then negotiated with staunch opponents of the agreement like Uribe and reentered into talks with the FARC. The FARC and the Colombian government agreed to a revised peace deal on 24 November. The modified agreement included changes, such as an agreement that the deal would not be part of the constitution. Rather than put the revised deal through another referendum for ratification, Santos sent the agreement to congress. The Senate voted to ratify the deal on 29 November, which was followed by the approval by the chamber of representatives. The ratification marked an end to 50 years of conflict.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Colombian Presidents are elected for four-year terms using a two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a runoff is held between the top two candidates. The Vice President is elected on the same ticket as the President. Presidents are limited to a single four-year term and Article 191 of the constitution requires candidates to be Colombian by birth and at least thirty years old.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: In line with the constitution, Colombian citizens by birth or by naturalization, aged eighteen or older have the right to vote. Several scenarios can cause the loss of the right to vote, as outlined in the constitution. Citizens in detention centers can vote from the establishments determined by the National Civil Registry. The civil registry inscription is not automatic, and citizens must go to the regional office of the Registry to register.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Legislative act # 2 of 2015 established that the runner-up in the presidential elections is given a seat in the Senate and their Vice President candidate will become a member of the House of Representatives.<ref name="ActoLegislativo02/2015"></ref>


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: The following lists display candidates in the order they appeared on the ballot and show the most recent political office they have held as of the time of the election.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: The Common Alternative Revolutionary Force withdrew its presidential aspiration on 9 March 2018, stating the health problems of its candidate Rodrigo Londoño, as the reason.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Juan Carlos Pinzón, who had previously served as defence minister and ambassador to the United States under president Juan Manuel Santos, launched his candidacy for Casa de Nariño in 2017. Pinzón withdrew from the race on 16 March 2018 to become Vargas Lleras' running mate.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Viviane Morales and her vice presidential candidate Jorge Leyva Durán, of the "Somos Región Colombia" party, retired their candidacy on 2 May 2018. After, Morales adhered to Iván Duque's campaign, while Leyva joined Germán Vargas Lleras' candidacy.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Two coalitions, the right-wing Great Alliance for Colombia and left-wing Social Inclusion for Peace, held primary elections concurrently with the legislative elections on 11 March.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Duque won the nomination, and following his victory, he selected the runner-up, Ramírez, to be the alliance's vice presidential nominee.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: The progressive Social Inclusion for Peace alliance was composed of Humane Colombia, the Indigenous and Social Alternative Movement, Patriotic Union and the List of Decency coalition. Two candidates sought the alliance's nomination:


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Petro secured the nomination by a large margin and won all departments, losing only in Caceido's home department of Magdalena. Following the primary election, Petro selected Ángela Robledo of the Green Alliance and a member of the chamber of representatives as his running mate.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: According to polling data, significant issues amongst voters were unemployment, healthcare, corruption and the FARC peace agreement.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Iván Duque, a lawyer, senator, protege of Uribe, and the nominee for the Democratic Center party, campaigned on promoting innovation, job creation, economic recovery, environmental preservation and opposing the FARC peace agreement. Before his nomination, most of the public was not familiar with Duque. He rose to prominence during the 2016 peace referendum due to his staunch opposition. However, he stated that Duque was still in favour of peace but aimed to keep the FARC out of Colombian politics and prosecute FARC and National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels. On narcotics, Duque expressed his support for the war on drugs and sought to eliminate all coca production. He emphasised a message of opposing corruption and implementing economic reform; for instance; he proposed a simplification of the tax code. Due to Duque's youth and light experience, opponents and critics painted him as unprepared to head the executive branch, leading some to claim further that the senator was a puppet of Uribe. Duque countered these claims by saying it was time for a new generation to take over, and whilst he did highlight his close ties to Uribe, he emphasised that he was "his own man". Critics also attacked Duque for his opposition to the peace agreement, his refusal to rule out fracking and alleged ties to paramilitary groups.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Economist Gustavo Petro of Humane Colombia, a former mayor of Bogotá and former M-19 guerilla who was previously a candidate in the 2010 presidential election, ran a populist campaign focusing on decreasing inequality and tackling climate change. Supported by a coalition of left and centre-left parties, Petro also emphasised workers' rights and campaigned to improve labour conditions in both urban and rural areas. He aimed to reduce poverty by implementing land reforms and establishing a "popular bank" that would offer loans to impoverished citizens. Petro supported the introduction of state-funded universal healthcare that would replace the unpopular private-funded system. Furthermore, he sought to restrict the use of fossil fuels and intended to ban any further exploration of mining and fracking in favour of renewable energy sources. Several months before the election, Petro survived an assassination attempt when a bullet pierced through his armoured van. He presented himself as a successor to prominent slain left-wing politicians such as Jorge Eliecer Gaitan and Luis Carlos Galán. Petro furthermore highlighted the need to end political persecution in the country. Petro's opponents claimed that he would "turn Colombia into another Venezuela", citing his prior support for former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. Critics said his policy proposals would not attract foreign investment and that his plans to abandon non-renewable energy, which accounted for 2-4% of Colombia's GDP, were not feasible at the time. Opponents also claimed that his policies would result in an economic disaster.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Veteran politician Humberto De la Calle, who served as vice president to Ernesto Samper, was the nominee for the Colombian Liberal Party. De la Calle played a crucial role in negotiating the peace deal with the FARC and campaigned on policies to assist the country post-conflict, including investments in job creation and regions that were heavily affected by the conflict. He entered the presidential race to keep Duque from winning the presidency. De la Calle supported increasing environmental protection and stricter criteria for the issue of mining licenses, both as a means of promoting ecotourism. Due to the high presence of labour inequality and gender-based violence, De la Calle announced his intention to establish a ministry of women to tackle these issues. He furthermore proposed a significant reform of the education sector, seeking to transform the financing and structure and change the ministry of education to the ministry of intelligence. De la Calle's proposals included other policies with broad support amongst the youth, such as modifying the unpopular student loan program and abolishing compulsory military service. Whilst on the campaign trail, De la Calle struggled to gain momentum and often trailed his opponents in the polls. The peace agreement, a controversial topic amongst voters, did not help boost support for De la Calle. His 30 years of political experience proved a double-edged sword; some voters saw this as a benefit, but others concluded that De la Calle was a part of the elite. The Liberal party's severe dis-unity and rupturing also hurt him. But De la Calle's campaign suffered a severe downturn when Liberal party leader and former president César Gaviria announced before the first round that the Liberal party would support Duque in the run-off, implying that the party had lost confidence in De la Calle's candidacy.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Sergio Fajardo, a mathematician, former mayor of Medellín, former governor of Antioquia and previously a vice presidential candidate in the 2010 presidential election, won the nomination of the Colombia Coalition, an alliance composed of the Alternative Democratic Pole, the Green Alliance and his Civic Compromise party. Fajardo's platform encompassed education and the environment. He intended to increase the education budget by 10% and boost enrollment nationwide to combat poverty. Fajardo supported the peace agreement, although he presented himself as a moderate centrist alternative to Duque and Petro. On the campaign trail, Fajardo expressed concern about vote buying and advocated for a transparent electoral and judicial process. Whilst he campaigned on being the fiscally reliable candidate, he faced criticism from opponents who highlighted a dramatic debt increase that occurred during his tenure as governor of Antioquia. Fajardo considered polarisation a threat to Colombian politics and sought to present himself as a middle-ground candidate. However, critics said this strategy risked Fajardo appealing to few voters.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Jorge Antonio Trujillo, a Christian pastor and former senator, was the nominee for the We Are All Colombia party. Trujillo, the founder of the gospel church of Casa de Reino, gained widespread attention in 2014 when he claimed that the winter wave the country experienced was a punishment from God and blamed President Santos, claiming that the president had previously travelled to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains where he made a "secret rite" and "handed over the country to the shamans and sorcerers." Whilst campaigning, Trujillo frequently mentioned that his most fundamental priorities were in the following order: God, family, the Church and the nation. An opponent of LGBT rights, Trujillo pledged to prevent LGBT couples from legally adopting children and outlaw same-sex marriage. Trujillo was opposed to the peace agreement, claiming it violated the constitution. Rarely holding public rallies, he instead preached his campaign messages through his church services. Trujillo performed poorly in opinion polls, although the pastor claimed to have faced discrimination from the national electoral council and pollsters. However, Trujillo assured voters he had faith that God would provide an "electoral surprise" in the first round and qualify for the run-off.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Germán Vargas Lleras of the conservative Radical Change party and vice president to Juan Manuel Santos resigned as second-in-command in March 2017 to be eligible to contest the presidency. Vargas Lleras ran as an independent; at a time when various members of his party were under investigation for corruption. Vargas Lleras led in many early polls and with the support of the Mejor Vargas Lleras coalition; the former vice


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: president campaigned on his experience, pledging to continue many policies of the Santos administration, for example, resuming the 4G road network infrastructure that he played a part in initiating. On the economy, the former vice president supported lowering income taxes to attract more foreign investment and promote entrepreneurs, differing from the policy of the Santos administration. Furthermore, Vargas Lleras highlighted the Crisis in Venezuela during the campaign and expressed staunch opposition towards the Nicolás Maduro. On the campaign trail, Vargas Lleras claimed he was the candidate that would prevent Colombia from descending into a crisis like in Venezuela. The former vice president advocated for an end to corruption; however, this was complicated when opponents attacked Vargas Lleras for the corruption investigations surrounding the Radical Change party. Critics said his tax reform proposal would risk increasing inequality throughout Colombia and that the support from president Santos would prove to be a double-edged sword due to the outgoing administration's unpopularity. Furthermore, Vargas Lleras did not fully support the FARC peace agreement.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: The Antioquia debate was characterised by the lack of attacks made by the candidates. Topics included public order, Venezuelan immigration, the peace treaties with FARC and LGBT couples' rights. Regional topics included the Antioquia railroad, regional connectivity and tourist industry development.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: The Caribe debate saw several disqualifications and confrontations between candidates, as well as incidents in the crowds between followers of different parties. Topics included the battle against corruption, the peace process with FARC, the environment and the country's relationship with Venezuelan. Regional topics included Electricaribe (an energy supplier in the Caribe region) and the decisions that the candidates would take to resolve the energy problem.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: The Pacific debate saw discussions on flaws in the healthcare system, illegal mining, education, FARC, illegal crops, the battle against corruption, infrastructure, culture, racism and the exploitation of biodiversity. The candidates Humberto de La Calle and Germán Vargas Lleras took advantage of the free questions to comment on absent candidate, Iván Duque.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: The Eje Cafetero debate was cancelled due to disturbances that prevented some candidates entering the Los Fundadores de Manizales theatre. Afterwards Iván Duque, Humberto de La Calle, Gustavo Petro and Germán Vargas Lleras met at the city's auditorium and held a closed-door debate. The most important topics were the coffee industry and tourism.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: During the first round, six parties ran for the presidency. These candidates were; Iván Duque, Gustavo Petro, Sergio Fajardo, Germán Vargas Lleras, Humberto De la Calle and Jorge Antonio Trujillo. As none of the candidates received the majority of votes, the elections moved to a runoff between the top two candidates, Iván Duque and Gustavo Petro, which was held on 17 June 2018.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Former candidate of Sergio Fajardo, leader of "Movimiento Compromiso Ciudadano", announced his blank vote for the second round, as well as former liberal candidate Humberto de La Calle, although his party joined Iván Duque's campaign. The Alternative Democratic Pole joined Gustavo Petro's campaign, but a minority sector led by Senator Jorge Robledo (MOIR) decided to vote blank too. The directive of the Green Alliance let their followers to choose between supporting Gustavo Petro or voting blank, but considered unacceptable to support Iván Duque. "Movimiento Mejor Vargas Lleras" and the Radical Change party sent their former candidate's program to Iván Duque, to consider it for a future government, although there was not an official adhesion. The "Partido de la U" and the Social Party of National Unity encouraged their followers choose freely to vote for their preferred option.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Turnout in the first round was 53.40%. Iván Duque won a plurality of votes in the first round, securing 39.36% of the vote. Because he failed to attain the 50% required to win an outright victory, Duque, along with the second-place candidate Gustavo Petro who received 25.09%, competed in a second round. Petro narrowly surpassed Sergio Fajardo, denying the Colombia Coalition ticket a spot in the runoff. Blank ballots made up 1.75% of the votes cast.


title: 2018 Colombian presidential election

text: Duque won a decisive victory in the run-off, earning 54.03%. Duque secured a majority of the vote in 23 departments and received a plurality in La Guajira, while his strongest showing was in Norte de Santander, where he earned 77%. Petro received 41% and won eight departments and Bogotá. He performed well in several coastal departments and received nearly 70% of the vote in the Amazonian department of Putumayo. Blank votes increased to 4.20%, whilst voter turnout was virtually identical to the first round at 53.11%. Duque became one of the youngest individuals elected to the presidency at age 42, whilst Marta Lucía Ramírez was the first woman elected vice president.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: Ralph Henry Baer (born Rudolf Heinrich Baer; March 8, 1922 – December 6, 2014) was a German-American inventor, game developer, and engineer.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: Baer's family fled Germany just before World War II and Baer served the American war effort, gaining an interest in electronics shortly thereafter. Through several jobs in the electronics industry, he was working as an engineer at Sanders Associates (now BAE Systems) in Nashua, NH, when he conceived the idea of playing games on a television screen around 1966. With support of his employers, he worked through several prototypes until he arrived at a "Brown Box" that would later become the blueprint for the first home video game console, licensed by Magnavox as the Magnavox Odyssey. Baer continued to design several other consoles and computer game units, including contributing to design of the "Simon" electronic game. Baer continued to work in electronics until his death in 2014, with over 150 patents to his name.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: Baer is considered "the Father of Video Games" due to his many contributions to games and helping to spark the video game industry in the latter half of the 20th century. In February 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology for "his groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development and commercialization of interactive video games, which spawned related uses, applications, and mega-industries in both the entertainment and education realms".


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: Ralph Baer was born in 1922 to Lotte (Kirschbaum) and Leo Baer, a Jewish family living in Germany, in Pirmasens, and was originally named Rudolf Heinrich Baer. At age 14, he was expelled from school due to anti-Jewish legislation implemented in Nazi Germany and had to go to an all-Jewish school. His father worked in a shoe factory in Pirmasens at the time. Baer's family, fearing increasing persecution, moved from Germany to New York City in 1938, just two months prior to Kristallnacht, while Baer was a teenager. Baer would later become a naturalized United States citizen.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: In the United States, he was self-taught and worked in a factory for a weekly wage of twelve dollars. After seeing an advertisement at a bus station for education in the budding electronics field, he quit his job to study in the field. He graduated from the National Radio Institute as a radio service technician in 1940. In 1943 he was drafted to fight in World War II and assigned to military intelligence at the United States Army headquarters in London. On returning from war duty in 1946, he presented a large collection of weaponry he had amassed (about ) to museums in Aberdeen, Maryland; Springfield, Missouri; and Fort Riley, Kansas. With his secondary education funded by the G.I. Bill, Baer graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Television Engineering, which was unique at the time, from the American Television Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1949.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: In 1949, Baer went to work as chief engineer for a small electro-medical equipment firm called Wappler, Inc. There he designed and built surgical cutting machines, epilators, and low frequency pulse generating muscle-toning equipment. In 1951, Baer went to work as a senior engineer for Loral Electronics in Bronx, New York, where he designed power line carrier signaling equipment, contracting for IBM. From 1952 to 1956, he worked at Transitron, Inc., in New York City as a chief engineer and later as vice president.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: He started his own company before joining defense contractor Sanders Associates in Nashua, New Hampshire (now part of BAE Systems Inc.) in 1956, where he stayed until retiring in 1987. Baer's primary responsibility at Sanders was overseeing about 500 engineers in the development of electronic systems being used for military applications. Out of this work came the concept of a home video game console. He would go on to create the first commercial video game consoles, among several other patented advances in video games and electronic toys. As he approached retirement, Baer partnered with Bob Pelovitz of Acsiom, LLC, and they invented and marketed toy and game ideas from 1983 until Baer's death.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: Baer was a Life Senior Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. His son, Mark, helped lead the nomination process to elevate him to become an IEEE Life Fellow, the highest level of membership within the organization.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: Baer married Dena Whinston in 1952; she died in 2006. They had three children during their marriage, and at the time of Baer's death, he had four grandchildren. Baer died at his home in Manchester, New Hampshire on December 6, 2014, according to family and friends close to him.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: Baer is considered to have been the inventor of video games, specifically of the concept of the home video game console. In 1966, while an employee at Sanders Associates, Baer started to explore the possibility of playing games on television screens. He first got the idea while working at Loral in 1951, another electronics company, however, they wanted nothing to do with it at the time. In a 2007 interview, Baer said that he recognized that the price reduction of owning a television set at the time had opened a large potential market for other applications, considering that various military groups had identified ways of using television for their purposes. Upon coming up with the idea of creating a game using the television screen, he wrote a four-page proposal with which he was able to convince one of his supervisors to allow him to proceed. He was given US$2,500 and the time of two other engineers, Bill Harrison and Bill Rusch. They developed the "Brown Box" console video game system, so named because of the brown tape in which they wrapped the units to simulate wood veneer. Baer recounted that in an early meeting with a patent examiner and his attorney to patent one of the prototypes, he had set up the prototype on a television in the examiner's office and "within 15 minutes, every examiner on the floor of that building was in that office wanting to play the game". The Brown Box was ultimately patented on April 17, 1973, given U.S. Patent No. 3728480, and became jointly owned by Ralph Baer and BAE Systems.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: Baer began seeking a buyer for the system, turning to various television manufacturers who did not see interest in the unit. In 1971, it was licensed to Magnavox, and after being renamed Magnavox Odyssey, the console was released to the public in May 1972. For a time it was Sanders' most profitable line, selling over 340,000 units, though many in the company looked down on game development. Baer is credited for creating the first light gun and game for home television use, sold grouped with a game expansion pack for the Odyssey, and collectively known as the "Shooting Gallery". The light gun itself was the first peripheral for a video game console.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: The success of the Odyssey led to competition from other companies, in particular Atari, Inc., led by Nolan Bushnell at the time. Bushnell saw Baer's successful devices and was able to create the first arcade machine in 1972 based on Baer's "Table Tennis" idea, resulting in "Pong". The success was very limited though, due to the high price and confusing advertising. Sanders and Magnavox successfully sued Atari, among numerous others, for patent infringement over Baer's original ideas, and Bushnell opted to settle and negotiated for a license Baer's patents, allowing him to continue Atari's developments in video games. Bushnell led Atari forward to become a leader in both home and arcade video games. This led to a lengthy conflict between Baer and Bushnell over who was the true "father of video games"; Baer was willing to concede this to Bushnell, though noted that Bushnell "has been telling the same nonsensical stories for 40 years". Baer would help both Magnavox and later Coleco to develop competitive units to Atari's products, including the Odyssey 100 and the Odyssey. Ultimately, the industry came to name Baer as the father of the home video game console, while crediting Bushnell with creating the concept of the arcade machine; Upon Baer's death, Bushnell stated that Baer's "contributions to the rise of videogames should not be forgotten".


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: Baer is also credited with co-developing three popular electronic games. Baer, along with Howard J. Morrison, developed "Simon" (1978) and its sequel "Super Simon" (1979) for Milton Bradley, electronic pattern-matching games that were immensely popular through the late 1990s. Simon was assigned Pat No. 4,207,087 in 1980. Baer also developed a similar pattern-matching game "Maniac" for the Ideal Toy Company (1979) on his own, though the game was not as popular as "Simon"; Baer considered that "Maniac" was "really hard to play" and thus not as popular as his earlier game.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: In 2006, Baer donated hardware prototypes and documents to the Smithsonian Institution. He continued to tinker in electronics after the death of his wife through at least 2013. By the time of his death, Baer had over 150 patents in his name; in addition to those related to video games, he had patents for electronic greeting cards and for tracking systems for submarines.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: In addition to being considered "The Father of Video Games", Baer was recognized as a pioneer in the video game field. His accolades include the G-Phoria "Legend Award" (2005), the IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award (2008), the Game Developers Conference Developers Choice "Pioneer" award (2008), and the IEEE Edison Medal (2014). Baer was posthumously given the Pioneer Award by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences at the 2015 Game Developers Conference.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: On February 13, 2006, Baer was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President George W. Bush in honor of his "groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development and commercialization of interactive video games". On April 1, 2010, Baer was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the United States Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. While Baer's contributions had generally been overlooked by more recent advances in video game technology development, Baer had stated "In view of the fact that the President of the United States of America hung the National Medal of Technology around my neck in a White House ceremony in 2006, and in view of my having been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, I really don't feel neglected."


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: On May 10, 2019, a statue was placed in his honor in Arms Park in Manchester, New Hampshire, and the area of downtown Manchester around it renamed as Baer Square.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: On April 8, 2021, the United States Mint announced that Baer and "Handball" would be honored as part of the American Innovation dollars program.


title: Ralph H. Baer

text: The memorial was funded through a Kickstarter fundraising campaign. On the floor in front of the Ralph Baer statue are stones with individual inscriptions. Donors of a certain amount were allowed to choose the text for their stone. One , translating to the ASCII codes for the word "Muir", the name of its donor, Kelley Muir.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Johann Günther Lütjens (25 May 1889 – 27 May 1941) was a German admiral whose military service spanned more than thirty years and two world wars. Lütjens is best known for his actions during World War II and his command of the battleship during her foray into the Atlantic Ocean in 1941.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Born in 1889, he entered into the German Imperial Navy () in 1907. A diligent and intelligent cadet, he progressed to officer rank before the outbreak of war, when he was assigned to a Torpedo boat Squadron. During World War I, Lütjens operated in the North Sea and English Channel and fought several actions against the British Royal Navy. He ended the conflict as a "Kapitänleutnant" (captain lieutenant) with the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class (1914) to his credit. After the war he remained in the service of the navy, now renamed the "Reichsmarine". He continued to serve in torpedo boat squadrons eventually becoming a commanding officer in 1925. In the Weimar Republic era, Lütjens built a reputation as an excellent staff officer.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: In 1935, after the Nazi Party came to power under Adolf Hitler in 1933, the navy was remodelled again and renamed the "Kriegsmarine". Lütjens soon became acquainted with Erich Raeder and Karl Dönitz; the two commanders-in-chief of the "Kriegsmarine" in World War II. His capability and friendship led to his promotion to "Kapitän zur See" (captain at sea) and a sea command at the helm of the cruiser . In the six years of peace he had risen to the rank of "Konteradmiral" (rear admiral), a promotion conferred upon him October 1937.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: In September 1939, World War II began with the German invasion of Poland. Lütjens received the Clasp to the Iron Cross 2nd Class (1939) three days later. His command of destroyer operations in the North Sea over the winter, 1939–1940, earned him the Clasp to the Iron Cross 1st Class. On 1 January 1940, he was promoted to "Vizeadmiral" (vice admiral). In April 1940 he was given temporary command of the entire German surface fleet during the initial landing phase of Operation Weserübung, the invasions of Denmark and Norway. His actions earned him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: In the aftermath of the campaign he was appointed the fleet commander of the German Navy and promoted to Admiral on 1 September 1940. He was involved in the tentative planning for Operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of the United Kingdom, but the plans were shelved after the Battle of Britain. German intentions turned to blockade and Lütjens made the German battlecruisers/battleships and the centerpiece of his battle fleet; using the latter vessel as his flagship. In January 1941, he planned and executed Operation Berlin, an Atlantic raid to support U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic by attacking British merchant shipping lanes. The operation was a tactical victory. It came to a close in March 1941, when the ships docked in German-occupied France after sailing some 18,000 miles; a record for a German battle group at the time.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: In May 1941, Lütjens commanded a German task force, consisting of the battleship "Bismarck" and the heavy cruiser , during Operation Rheinübung. In a repetition of "Berlin", Lütjens was required to break out of their naval base in occupied Poland, sail via occupied Norway, and attack merchant shipping. The operation went awry and the task force was soon spotted and engaged near Iceland. In the ensuing Battle of the Denmark Strait, was sunk and three other British warships were forced to retreat. The two German ships then separated. Three days later, on 27 May, Lütjens and most of the ship's crew lost their lives when "Bismarck" was caught and sunk.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: In 1955 the Federal Republic of Germany was remilitarised and entered NATO. The "Bundesmarine" was established the following year. In 1967 this organisation recognised Lütjens and his service by naming the destroyer after him.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Johann Günther Lütjens was born in Wiesbaden in Hesse-Nassau, a province of the Kingdom of Prussia, on 25 May 1889. He was the son of merchant Johannes Lütjens and his wife Luise, née Volz. Growing up in Freiburg im Breisgau, he graduated from the -Gymnasium with his diploma ("Abitur") aged seventeen.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: He entered the Imperial German Navy ("Kaiserliche Marine") as a "Seekadett" (midshipman) on 3 April 1907 at the German Imperial Naval Academy in Kiel, where he received his initial infantry training. He spent his initial year on (9 May 1907 – 1 April 1908) for his practical training on board and his first world cruise, before attending an officers course at the German Imperial Naval Academy in Kiel. His comrades nicknamed him "Pee Ontgens" after a character from the book "Das Meer" (The Sea) by Bernhard Kellermann, which was one of his favourite books. Lütjens graduated 20th of 160 cadets from his "Crew 1907" (the incoming class of 1907), and was thereafter promoted to "Fähnrich zur See" (ensign) on 21 April 1908. Starting on 1 April 1909, he underwent naval artillery training at the Naval Artillery School in Kiel-Wik and then participated in a torpedo course on board on 1 July 1909.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens then attended another infantry course with the 2nd Sea-Battalion before boarding on 1 October 1909. After receiving his commission as "Leutnant zur See" (second lieutenant) on 28 September 1910, he served on board (26 September 1910 – 1 April 1911), a harbour ship, and then (1 April 1911 – 1 April 1913). He then returned to the "König Wilhelm" (1 April 1913 – 1 October 1913), where he served as an instructor of cabin boys and later as an instructor of cadets. "König Wilhelm" at the time was a barracks ship based in Kiel and used as a training vessel for naval cadets. He then completed two further world cruises on "Hansa". Following these assignments, he was promoted to "Oberleutnant zur See" (sub-lieutenant) on 27 September 1913.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens' next assignment was with the 4th Torpedo-Boat-Flotilla, where he served as a watch officer. On 1 October 1913, he was appointed company officer with the I. Torpedodivision, and served as a watch officer on torpedo boat "G-169" of the 2nd Torpedo-Boat-Demi-Flotilla from 1 November. On 24 December 1913, he returned to his position as company officer with the I. Torpedodivision, before becoming a watch officer on "G-172" of the 2nd Torpedo-Boat-Demi-Flotilla on 15 March 1914.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, Lütjens was transferred to the Harbour Flotilla of the Jade Bight on 1 August 1914, followed shortly by his first command: torpedo boat of the 6th Torpedo-Boat-Demi-Flotilla on 4 September 1914. On 7 December 1914, he returned to the I. Torpedodivision, before attending a minesweeping course on 2 January 1915. After completion of this course, he was sent back again to the I. Torpdedivsion, where he took command of the training torpedo boat on 16 January. He served in this position until 14 March 1915, when he was posted back to the I. Torpedodivsion. On 5 May, he was transferred to the Torpedo-Boat-Flotilla "Flandern", serving as commander of torpedo boats "A-5" and "A-20". He was appointed chief of the A-Demi-Flotilla in the II. Torpedo-Boat-Flotilla "Flandern" in February 1916, and at the same time commanded torpedo boat . He held this position until the end of World War I on 11 November 1918, when he returned to Antwerp and Kiel.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens had been promoted to "Kapitänleutnant" (captain lieutenant) on 24 May 1917 during this assignment. As commander of torpedo boats along the Flemish coast, he led raids against Dunkirk on 23 March 1917. He was in combat with four British torpedo boats on 2 May 1917 and led five of his boats in actions against four French destroyers on 19 May 1917.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: For his service in World War I, he received the Knight's Cross of the House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords and the Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st Class, among other decorations and awards.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: After the war, Lütjens served as head of the Warnemünde (1 December 1918 – 24 January 1919 and 8 February 1919 – 10 March 1919) and Lübeck (24 January 1919 – 8 February 1919 and 8 July 1919 – 15 September 1919) Sea Transportation Agency. He was ordered to the German Imperial Naval Office on 10 March 1919 before again serving with the Sea Transportation Agency in Lübeck on 8 July 1919.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: As a result of the Treaty of Versailles, which was signed on 28 June 1919, the German Navy was downsized to 15,000 men, including 1,500 officers, while the German Imperial Navy was renamed the "Reichsmarine" in the era of the Weimar Republic. On 15 September 1919 his posting with the Sea Transportation Agency ended and he was posted to the Coastal Defence Department III and later IV in Cuxhaven-Lehe as a company leader. As of 1 January 1921 he was also subordinated to the Staff of the North Sea. Lütjens was posted to the Fleet Department of the Naval Command on 7 June 1921. His commanding officer here was Admiral Paul Behncke. Here Lütjens served as the head of the Fleet Department until the end of September 1923. In this position, Lütjens dealt with strategic and naval policy issues. This included the observation and analysis of the Washington Naval Conference and its disarmament agreements. On 4 October 1923 he returned to the torpedo force, taking command of the 3rd Torpedo-Boat-Demi-Flotilla.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: On 26 September 1925 he became 1st adjutant of the Marinestation der Nordsee. He served in this position until 2 October 1929. Here he was promoted to "Korvettenkapitän" (Corvette Captain) on 1 April 1926. This assignment was interrupted for a posting to the sailing yacht "Asta" (1–31 August 1926) and again for a short torpedo course for staff officers at the torpedo school in Mürwik (5–9 December 1927). On 21 April 1928 he participated in a training exercise on , then under the command of Alfred Saalwächter, which ended on 28 April. From 14 to 18 August 1928 he boarded "Schlesien" again for a torpedo firing exercise. On 3 October 1929 Lütjens took command as head of the 1st Torpedo-Boat-Flotilla in Swinemünde, present-day Świnoujście, which he commanded until 17 September 1931. This posting was interrupted by a number of training courses, the first for staff officers (9–12 January 1930), a torpedo course (3–8 February 1930), for commanders and staff officers in leadership positions (2–7 February 1931) and lastly a navigation course (16–21 February 1931).


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens was called by Admiral Erich Raeder into the Naval Command of the Ministry of the Reichswehr on 17 September 1931. Shortly after he was assigned to the Ministry of the Reichswehr he was promoted to "Fregattenkapitän" (Frigate Captain) on 1 October 1931. In the Naval Command Lütjens first served as Department Head of the Fleet- and Naval Officer Personnel Department. On 26 September 1932 he was appointed chief of this department, a function that Lütjens held until the mid-September 1934. Here he advanced in rank to "Kapitän zur See" (Captain at Sea) on 1 July 1933.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: On 30 January 1933, the Nazi Party, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, came to power in Germany, and began to rearm the navy. In 1935, the "Reichsmarine" was renamed the "Kriegsmarine".


title: Günther Lütjens

text: On 16 September 1933, Lütjens received command of and sailed around the world for good will visits. Burkard Freiherr von Müllenheim-Rechberg, the most senior officer to survive "Bismarck"s last battle, was an officer cadet on "Karlsruhe" at the time of Lütjens' command. Lütjens took "Karlsruhe" on its fourth training cruise. "Karlsruhe" left Kiel on 22 October 1934. The ship sailed via Skagen, the Azores and Trinidad on the east coast of South America, passed the Cape Horn, up the west coast of South, Middle and North America to Vancouver. At Callao (25 January – 6 February 1935) they joined in the 400-year celebration of Peru. "Karlsruhe" returned to Kiel on 15 June 1935, travelling through the Panama Canal to Houston, Charlestown and Vigo, Spain.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens first met Karl Dönitz, future Commander-in-Chief of the "Kriegsmarine" in Vigo in June 1935. At that point, Dönitz had been entrusted with the rebuilding of the U-boat Arm but had spent the summer at sea commanding . After arriving at port, he met with Raeder. Raeder informed Dönitz that:


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens is to become chief of the Officer Personnel Branch at Naval Headquarters with the task of forming an officer Corps for the new Navy we are about to build.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: In 1936, Lütjens was appointed Chief of the Personnel Office of the "Kriegsmarine", an office which he had served in 1932–34, and in 1937, he became "Führer der Torpedoboote" (Chief of Torpedo Boats), with as his flagship, and was promoted to "Konteradmiral" in October 1937. While in command of personnel department he did nothing to enforce the Nuremberg Laws on race in the "Kriegsmarine". In November 1938, Lütjens was one of only three flag officers, including Dönitz, who protested in writing to Raeder, Commander-in-Chief of the navy, against the anti-Jewish "Kristallnacht" pogroms.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: His successor at the "Marinepersonalamt" , described Lütjens as a dedicated naval officer who put his service to the nation ahead of the ruling party. He also described him as a difficult man to know. Austere, rather forbidding, he said little and when he did, confined his remarks to the essentials. Patzig said of him "one of the ablest officers in the service, very logical and shrewd, incorruptible in his opinions and an engaging personality when you got to know him." Few did. Lütjens's dedication to his officer principles meant he did not marry until he was 40, adhering to a code that an officer would marry only when he was able to support a wife.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: At the outbreak of World War II, Lütjens was Commander of Scouting Forces—"Befehlshaber der Aufklärungsstreitkräfte" (B.d.A.)—made up of German destroyers, torpedo boats and cruisers. On 1 September 1939 Germany invaded Poland and two days later, Lütjens sailing aboard his flagship, Z1 "Leberecht Maass" and Z9 "Wolfgang Zenker" took part in an attack on the Polish ships and in Gdynia harbour. Lütjens attacked from a range of 14,000 yards south-east of the harbour. The Poles replied effectively and forced the German destroyers to make evasive manoeuvres and to lay a smoke screen to throw off the aim of the Polish gunners. "Leberecht Maass" was hit in the superstructure by a shell from the coast defence battery at Hel that killed four crewmen and wounded another four men. Lütjens ordered the action broken off 40 minutes later as the German fire was ineffective. Lütjens ordered the group to Pillau to refuel and the "Leberecht Maas" sailed to Swinemünde for repairs.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: On 17 October 1939 Lütjens led a raiding sortie into the North Sea. On board his flagship Z21 "Wilhelm Heidkamp", he led six destroyers laden with naval mines. His own ship did not carry any mines and acted as cover. They reached the Humber Estuary undetected and departed unseen. Within days shipping losses began occurring among British transports in the area. Lütjens did not repeat the operation. He was promoted to vice admiral and moved with his staff to the cruiser "Nürnberg".


title: Günther Lütjens

text: In April 1940, during the invasion of Denmark and Norway (Operation Weserübung), he served as "Vizeadmiral" (vice admiral), commanding the distant cover forces in the North Sea—which consisted of and . His superior, "Vizeadmiral" Wilhelm Marschall, had fallen ill just before the operation, so he assumed command of the Narvik and Trondheim landings.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens was to lead "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau", with his flag in the latter, on escort operation for a force of 10 destroyers commanded by "Führer der Zerstörer" (Leader of Destroyers) Friedrich Bonte. The fleet was laden with soldiers belonging to the "3. Gebirgs-Division" under the command of Eduard Dietl. The division was to seize Narvik. Lütjens briefed his officers aboard "Gneisenau" on 6 April in the presence of Raeder. Lütjens had his doubts about the wisdom of the entire operation but he showed no sign of his feelings to his subordinates. Lütjens hoped for bad weather to shield the fleet from Allied aircraft. The skies were clear and the ships were twice attacked by RAF Coastal Command bombers without result. The British airmen reported their position and surprise was now gone. Nevertheless, Lütjens remained on schedule and delivered the force to Narvik. On two occasions a sailor was swept overboard but Lütjens' operations officer, Heinrich Gerlach, noted: "No rescue attempts were made. On no account was there to be any interruption of the time schedule."


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens' mission then was to draw British units away from Narvik and facilitate the landings there and prevent the Royal Navy from attacking the destroyers and landing craft. During the landing phase, his forces were approached by a Royal Navy task-force led by the battlecruiser . The British ship engaged at 05:05 and Lütjens was forced to fight an inconclusive battle with "Renown". Lütjens succeeded in extracting the German vessels without incurring major battle damage. He viewed his operation as a success. Lütjens nearly changed his mind during the battle, believing a pitched fight may bring relief to the German destroyer force at Narvik—a force which he had effectively been forced to abandon in the face of enemy sea superiority. But the prospect of running into , now known by German naval intelligence to be in the vicinity, was too much of a risk. In the resultant Battles of Narvik 10 German destroyers were sunk and the campaign for the port lasted until June. Bonte was killed when his command ship, "Wilhelm Heidkamp" exploded.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: It may have been possible for him to turn on and sink "Renown" by attacking from different directions, using "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau", but the accompanying British destroyers were well placed to join the fight had he done so. His Commander-in-Chief, Raeder, endorsed his actions which would have placed him against a clear eastern horizon as opposed to an enemy that was positioned against a darkened western horizon. Action at that time would have given the enemy a clearer silhouette to aim at while obscuring the British ships somewhat. Moreover, if either German ship had been immobilised by "Renown" they would have been vulnerable to a torpedo attack by the British destroyers. Under those circumstances, Raeder felt the British would have had a tactical advantage. Lütjens later rendezvoused with the cruiser and reached Wilhelmshaven on 12 April, having avoided a major fleet action.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens was indirectly involved in another battle. The Trondheim force was led by the heavy cruiser "Admiral Hipper" who detached the German destroyers and to search for a man that had been washed over board. In the heavy fog they ran into . "Glowworm" outmatched the lighter German vessels and they disengaged and called for help. Lütjens ordered "Hipper" to assist. The heavy cruiser sank the "Glowworm", but not before the British ship had rammed her larger assailant and caused her considerable damage. When Lütjens stepped ashore at Wilhelmshaven, his decision to abandon Bonte's destroyer group at Narvik weighed heavily on his mind. In the wake of Lütjens return, he learned Marschall had recovered to assume command.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: In June and July 1940, he became Commander of Battleships and the third "Flottenchef" (Fleet Commander) of the "Kriegsmarine", a position comparable to the British Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet. His predecessor—"Vizeadmiral" Wilhelm Marschall—had had repeated differences with Raeder over the extent the "Flottenchef" should be bound by orders while operating at sea. Marschall led "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" to intercept Allied naval forces withdrawing from Norway against orders. On 8 June 1940 he engaged and sank the aircraft carrier and her escorting destroyers and . During the battle "Scharnhorst" was heavily damaged by a torpedo. Marschall was dismissed by Raeder because the Commander-in-Chief of the "Kriegsmarine" deemed the episode unacceptable. Raeder viewed the sinkings as "target practice" and the damage to "Scharnhorst", and consequently "Gneisenau", offset this victory in his view.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Ten days later Lütjens was given command of the fleet on a temporary basis. Raeder regarded Lütjens as a sound tactician, excellent staff officer and a leader with all-important operational and battle experience. After the war Raeder was candid about his decision to elevate Lütjens through the chain of command. Raeder said of his progression, "He had also experience in staff work, and as my Chief of Personnel he had won by special confidence in years of close association." Raeder expressed his confidence that Lütjens displayed wise judgment and was unlikely to act rashly. When at sea, he allowed him to take command of the situation and make operational decisions at his own discretion. Although described as reserved and unapproachable toward subordinates, he was held to be "of manifest integrity and reliability." Hitler expressed his gratitude to Lütjens for "preparing and leading the Navy into action", and awarded him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 14 June 1940.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: "Scharnhorst" had been forced to make for Trondheim in the aftermath of the action for emergency repairs. Flying his flag in "Gneisenau", Lütjens took command of his first voyage as "Flottenchef" aboard a capital ship. On 20 June 1940 he sailed in company with "Admiral Hipper", toward the North Sea in the hope of diverting attention from "Scharnhorst" while it made the perilous trek from Norway to Germany. The operation succeeded, but "Gneisenau" was torpedoed by the submarine and severely damaged.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: In July 1940 Hitler ordered the preparation for Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of the United Kingdom after the victory in France. While the "Luftwaffe" engaged the Royal Air Force (RAF) in what became known as the Battle of Britain to clear the skies the German naval command began planning for an assault in southern England. Lütjens, as fleet commander, was responsible for carrying out sea operations based upon the strategies devised by his superior Saalwächter, who commanded Naval Group West. Saalwächter answered to the commander-in-chief, Raeder.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens was to be heavily involved in the planning of the sea landings. The navy wished to land on a narrow front because of its limited resources and Lütjens planned accordingly. He established himself in the fashionable market-town of Trouville near Le Havre. The enormous logistical effort that required the navy to move personnel command structures and personnel to France meant that his command post did not become fully operational until August 1940. Friedrich Ruge was appointed to the mine command by Lütjens with the task of clearing British naval minefields and laying German mine zones to impede the operations of the Royal Navy. Meanwhile, Lütjens scoured the continent for the 1,800 river barges, 500 tugs, 150 steamships and 1,200 motor boats deemed necessary for the operation. Some 24,000 men were seconded from other services and trained as landing craft crewman.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens was handicapped by the lack of firepower in the German navy. He authorised Ruge to organise the landings. The Advanced Detachments ("Vorausabteilungen") were to storm the beach in battalion-strength. The following craft would clear mines allowing for artillery coasters and tugs carrying the Panzer units to follow unhindered. The smaller motor boats would unload engineers to clear obstacles and act as shuttle boats between the larger vessels and the beach. They would rush to and fro delivering army units to land in order to expand the beachhead and allow the flotilla to land its full complement. Lütjens recommended using the old battleships "Schlesien" and as fire support to protect the crossing. Lütjens favoured beaching the ships on the Varne Bank to act as a gun-fire platform. He thought they could best act as strong points to deny passage through the Strait of Dover to the British. Raeder agreed but the plan was rubbished by technical experts who argued the old ships were too prone to capsizing and their stationary posture was too vulnerable and their armament too weak to do the job effectively.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens continued planning preparations as the Battle of Britain raged. By September he had completed plans to land the entire German 16th Army under Ernst Busch between Deal and Hastings—the site of the last successful invasion of England in 1066—and the German 9th Army between Hastings and Worthing to the west. Lütjens' opinion on the chances of success are not known. The battles in Norway had left him without any major capital ship. In the event, Lütjens was never tested. The air battle over Britain was lost and by the end of 1940 plans for an invasion were postponed as Hitler turned eastward for a campaign against the Soviet Union. German naval strategy now turned to thoughts of siege and destroying Britain's shipping lanes which supplied the country from overseas and in particular North America.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" were readied for action again by the winter. Their task now was to engage Allied merchant vessels bringing war materials to Britain. As fleet commander, it would be Lütjens' first operation in the Battle of the Atlantic. It was named Operation Berlin. On 28 December 1940, "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau"—on which Admiral Lütjens had raised his flag—left Germany for an Atlantic raid. However, due to weather, Lütjens ordered a return to port: "Gneisenau" to Kiel and "Scharnhorst" to Gdynia. While repairs were carried out Navy Group West emphasised to him that his primary targets were enemy merchant vessels. Lütjens reiterated his standing orders to his captains: "our job is to put as many as possible under the water".


title: Günther Lütjens

text: On 22 January 1941, the renewed mission was delayed for several days owing to the sighting of British ships near the Norwegian coast and the inability of submarine chasers and destroyers to escort them to the Arctic Ocean. Lütjens chose to pass between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Unbeknownst to Lütjens, his ships had been spotted sailing past Zealand, Denmark, by British agents. British Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet, Admiral John Tovey was alerted and dispatched three battleships, eight cruisers, and 11 destroyers to hunt for the German ships accordingly, hoping to intercept the Germans off southern Iceland. The cruiser briefly sighted the German ships on 28 January as Lütjens prepared to break through the Iceland-Faroe gap, and reported their position. The German admiral quickly decided to retire northbound with the intention of passing through the Denmark Strait. On 30 January Lütjens decided to refuel from the tanker "Thorn" off Jan Mayen island before attempting this breakout route. After refueling, Lütjens sailed, and on 4 February, slipped into the Atlantic. Fortunately for Lütjens, Tovey dismissed the sighting by "Naiad" as an illusion, and returned to port.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens now had the operational initiative. He had a choice of two potential killing-grounds. To the north lay the HX and SC convoys which sailed between Britain and Canada. To the south the SL and OG convoys which operated between Britain, Gibraltar and Freetown. He decided to opt for operations in the north. He used "Admiral Hipper", at that moment also loose in the Atlantic, to create a diversion by ordering her to the south. In retrospect it was an error of judgment. Lütjens' orders were to avoid combat on equal terms. He had not realised—and was not to know—that southern convoys were virtually undefended at this point in the war, but on orders of the British Admiralty, all northern convoys had an escort of at least one Capital Ship. German intelligence had warned him that and were based at Halifax, Nova Scotia. He estimated that they could escort convoys only east of their base, and so he began to search for targets with this in mind.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: On 8 February, B-Dienst alerted the German warships of convoy HX 106 which sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia on 31 January. Lütjens planned a pincer movement converging from the north and south. The convoy was escorted by "Ramillies" armed with eight 15-inch guns. When the battleship was sighted Lütjens strictly followed the "Seekriegsleitung"s directive not to engage enemy capital ships.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Kurt-Caesar Hoffmann, captain of "Scharnhorst", attempted to draw off the British battleship, so that "Gneisenau" could sink the merchant vessels. Lütjens, however, did not understand Hoffmann's intentions which the "Scharnhorst" captain was not able to communicate in detail in such short-order. A heated radio conversation followed in which Lütjens accused him of disobeying orders because he did not turn away immediately. The enemy ship did not leave the convoy and now Lütjens complained the British would be alerted to their position and as a consequence, successful attacks would now be more difficult to execute. In fact, Lütjens' fears were unfounded and luck was once again on his side. The British had sighted only one German ship. Since "Hipper" was known to be at sea, it was assumed she was the German vessel lurking around the convoy. Tovey's dismissal of the "Naiad" report masked the German ships' presence. Tovey still believed they were still in German ports. The disagreement did not adversely damage the two men's good relations.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: The ships rendezvoused between Iceland and Canada with the tankers "Esso Hamburg" and "Schlettstadt" on 15 February. On 22 February, after seven days of fruitless searching some 500 nautical miles east of Newfoundland, German radar picked up five cargo-empty ships from a westbound convoy sailing without escort towards American ports. The convoy identified the German ships and soon the radio waves were busy with signals sent from the frantic British merchantmen, which tried to disperse. The battleships quickly closed and sank four. A further ship, the 5,500-ton "Harlesden", carried a powerful wireless set but temporarily evaded them. Intent on silencing it, Lütjens dispatched his Arado Ar 196 to locate it. Upon his return, the Arado pilot reported to have found it and claimed to have destroyed the aerial, but took damage from return fire. Its position now known, the German ships closed in and sank "Harlesden" at 23:00. The day's haul amounted to around 25,000 tons. On a negative note, the chase and action occurred at long range and the expenditure of ammunition was expensive. Lütjens used his radio for the first time since 8 February and commanded the supply ships "Esso Hamburg" and "Schlettstadt" to meet him near the Azores so he could replenish stocks. On 26 February he unloaded 180 prisoners of war onto the tankers "Ermland" and "Friedrich Breme". In the action of 22 February, only 11 Allied sailors had become casualties.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Disappointed with the lack of targets in the north, Lütjens' ships then sailed to the coast of West Africa. On 3 March 1941 they reached the Cape Verde Islands. On 5 March he attempted to dispatch his aircraft to find enemy shipping but found it four hours later, the machine having run out of fuel. Lütjens' persistence paid off. At 23:00 on 5 March, he received a wireless message from Germany informing him had spotted two large ships close to their position. The Arado had flown over the submarine, which had been alerted to the possibility German commerce raiders might be in the area. On 7 March, the convoy SL-67, escorted by the battleship , was sighted. Once again, Lütjens obeyed his orders and not his instinct. He withdrew, but shadowed the convoy, directing "U-124" and onto the enemy. The former sank five and the latter one ship. Lütjens ran into the convoy again as darkness fell, but the Germans turned away to meet with their supply ships, narrowly avoiding a battle with "Malaya". On the way the Greek ship "Marathon" () was sunk. It was carrying coal to Alexandria.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: On 11 March he received a message from Group West. and "Hipper" were to operate in the north, and German intelligence were alerted to the possibility of a British force consisting of the British Mediterranean Fleet were on a westerly course from Gibraltar. Lütjens was required to create a diversion to allow "Scheer" safe passage through the Denmark Strait. He decided that the best way to attract British attention was to head for Brest, France, via the HX convoy route. Lütjens decided to employ his entire force, supply ships too, in a search for victims. Stationed 30 miles abreast, they sailed between 39°N and 46°W. Lütjens intercepted the Norwegian tanker "Bianca" (), the "Polykarb" () and British "San Casimiro" (). He managed to capture the ships and his prize crews were ordered to Bordeaux. Only "Polykarb" made it. The others were scuttled by their German crews when approached by HMS "Renown". Three more were sunk by the German battleships.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Supply ships "Uckermark" and "Ermland" signalled they had sighted another convoy. They acted as shepherds as they rushed at the startled merchantmen and drove them toward the German battleships. On 15 March Lütjens began his attack. "Empire of Industry" (formerly German), "Mangkai" (formerly the German "Scheer"), "Silverfix", "Demerton", "Grandi", "Royal Crown", "Sardinian Prince" and the French "Myson" were sunk. Among the company was "Chilean Reefer". Only 1,800 tons, the ship made smoke and returned "Gniesenau"s fire. Believing it possibly disguised as an enemy cruiser, or a scout, the Germans withdrew to a safe distance and sank it with the main batteries. It was a small target which took 73 rounds to destroy. HMS "Rodney" appeared 15 minutes later and flashed a challenge. In Lütjens' mind, it confirmed his suspicions of the vessel as a scout. Lütjens identified "Gneisenau" as "HMS Emerald", buying time as he worked up to escape. It worked, and "Rodney" stayed to pick up the survivors from the "Chilean Reefer". After transferring 200 prisoners, he set course for Brest, France. Sighted by an aircraft from on 20 March, Admiral Lütjens managed to evade British warships, and reached Brest at 07:00 on 22 March. The journey of in 59 days was a record for German capital ships.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Raeder was pleased with Lütjens. He described his operation in the Atlantic as "beyond reproach. He invariably judged the situation accurately and he met with deserved success." Raeder's glowing endorsement was likely caused by Lütjens' rigid adherence to his commander-in-chief's instructions. The "Seekriegsleitung" was more critical. It acknowledged the restrictions placed upon Lütjens but thought Lütjens could have asked for greater freedom of action after the encounter with "Ramillies". The staff officers believed Hoffman's tactical assessment of the situation had been correct.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Plans were then made for Lütjens to command Operation Rheinübung, taking all four modern German battleships and battlecruisers—"Bismarck", , "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau"—on a raid into the Atlantic. For various reasons, "Tirpitz" and the two battlecruisers could not be made ready for the operation, so it proceeded with only "Bismarck" and the heavy cruiser , under the command of Helmuth Brinkmann. The preparation and operational directives had been prepared by "Marinegruppenkommando West", under the command of "Generaladmiral" Saalwächter and "Marinegruppenkommando Ost", under the command of "Generaladmiral" Rolf Carls. On 8 April 1941, Lütjens met with Admiral Dönitz in Paris. Dönitz made the following assessment of the plan:


title: Günther Lütjens

text: I met Admiral Lütjens, the Admiral commanding the fleet, in Paris. I knew Lütjens well and held him in high esteem. During the same years we had been in command of the cruisers "Karlsruhe" and "Emden" respectively. At the end of our overseas tours of duty we had returned to Germany in company. In the years immediately before the war, while I was senior Officer, submarines, Lütjens had been officer commanding Torpedo Boats. We were often together, both socially and on duty, we held the same views on naval matters and saw eye to eye in most things. At our conference in Paris we defined the support to be given to the "Bismarck" by U-boats in the following terms:


title: Günther Lütjens

text: 2. If while the surface ships were at sea any opportunity arose for joint action with U-boats, every effort should be made to exploit it to the full. For this purpose an experienced U-boat Officer would be appointed for duty to the "Bismarck".


title: Günther Lütjens

text: 3. On the radio frequency used by the U-boats, the Admiral commanding the fleet would be kept constantly informed of the dispositions of the boats and the intentions of the U-boat Command.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Raeder was anxious to begin the operation during the new moon on 26 April. His wishes were frustrated by a series of mishaps. "Prinz Eugen" was repeatedly delayed from becoming fully operational. Royal Air Force (RAF) bombing, a practice torpedo, and a mine detonation delayed her from mid-April until mid-May. Raeder used this time to consult with his fleet commander. Lütjens travelled to Berlin on 26 April 1941 to meet with him. For a time, Lütjens tried without success to change Raeder's mind, and to wait until "Tirpitz", "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" were ready. He argued that the German fleet should not be fed "teaspoon by teaspoon" into battle with the enemy.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens was, however, encouraged by his commander-in-chief to proceed and he eventually decided that an operation should begin as soon as possible to prevent the enemy's gaining any respite. He accepted that the current situation meant that German capital ships must be present in the Atlantic. Although Raeder insisted on the operation, he advised Lütjens to act thoughtfully and carefully without taking too high a risk. Raeder did, however, admonish his subordinate to one end: if he were brought to battle despite his best efforts, it should be conducted with full force, to the end. He gave Lütjens full freedom of action, since only he was in a position to judge the immediate situation while at sea. Raeder later wrote, "It does Lütjens great credit that he did not hesitate to express this view to me so frankly. I then sought to convince him of the cogency of my arguments...Although Lütjens was perhaps not entirely convinced by my views, our discussion ended in complete understanding."


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lütjens sought advice from several colleagues and friends. First, he spoke with Kurt Fricke, Raeder's chief of operations. When Fricke inquired as to what he would do if approached by overwhelming force: Lütjens replied he would run for home. As far as the Naval Command was concerned, this was his policy. He sought out his friend, Patzig, who had commanded , and a man he had known since 1907. Patzig argued he should remain in port. He remarked that it was folly to risk the chief of the fleet in a limited operation with a single capital ship. Lütjens agreed, but feared being labelled a coward if he turned down the command. His parting words to Patzig were fatalistic:


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Given the uneven relation of forces I am of the opinion that I should have to sacrifice myself sooner or later. I have closed out my private life and am determined to carry out the assignment given to me honourably, one way or another.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Following this meeting, Lütjens confided to "Vizeadmiral" Hans-Erich Voss, then working at Raeder's headquarters, that "survival was improbable", and bade him farewell.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: Lastly he met with his former commanding officer in Norway, Marschall. He advised Lütjens not to follow Raeder's orders too closely since the situation in the Atlantic could change at any moment. Lütjens would not hear of it. He refused to diverge from his standing orders. He reminded Marschall that two fleet commanders had already been removed from command—Marschall being one of them—and that he would follow the orders given him. What depressed Lütjens's already darkened mood was Ernst Lindemann, "Bismarck's" captain, had been told by Karl Topp of the Marineamt, that several war games were run to see if "Tirpitz" could reach the Atlantic undetected and that at every turn and under every circumstance, the ship was discovered. Lindemann certainly would have passed this information to Lütjens.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: On 18 May the operation began. Lütjens had informed Lindemann and Brinkmann on 18 May that he intended to sail for the arctic and refuel at sea. Three days later, in Norwegian waters, Lütjens ordered a fuel stop in a Grimstadfjord near Bergen. He did not inform either Lindemann or Brinkmann about the decision to drop anchor and refuel. As was his custom, he offered no explanation for changing his mind.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: While "Prinz Eugen" was refuelled, Lütjens declined to top up the "Bismarck". A rupture in one of the fuel lines had allowed only an initial influx of 6,000 tons. A further 2,000 tons was to be accepted at sea. The ship had left the Baltic 200 tons short, and had since burned 1,000 tons reaching Norway. Lütjens knew that the German tanker "Weissenberg" was waiting for him in the Arctic, only an additional day's sailing away, but farther from prying British eyes. It was perhaps his intention to replenish there. In the event he did not refuel during the operation.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: The following day, on 22 May, he received a report that four British battleships, perhaps an aircraft carrier, and a strong escort of destroyers were still anchored at Scapa Flow. Although mistaken, it appears to have influenced Lütjens' decision not to loiter and wait for events to unfold, but to proceed with a breakout immediately which would not permit time for refueling prior to reaching the Atlantic. This faulty intelligence report likely dispelled any doubts Lütjens had about his chosen route. The move would bring about the first of several disagreements with Captain Lindemann. Lindemann preferred the route south of Iceland, but once again Lütjens and his terse style had prevailed.


title: Günther Lütjens

text: He also declined "Generaladmiral" Carls' desire for a breakout through the more southerly Faroe Islands-Iceland gap. As usual, he gave no explanation for any change in operational direction. While the ice-flooded regions of northern Iceland and the Denmark Strait could be easily patrolled by the enemy, as believed by Carls, it offered lower-visibility conditions, giving him much needed cover. Nevertheless, he continued to frustrate his junior officers. Meteorologist Heinz Externbrink suggested increasing speed to keep up with the fast-moving cloud affording him cover. Lütjens declined without comment, and Externbrink vented his anger to Burkard Freiherr von Müllenheim-Rechberg, the most senior officer to survive the operation. Despite his intentions, the British were alerted to the task force's operation by the Swedes, Norwegian Resistance and aerial reconnaissance.