Description
Auxiliary Cruiser Badge
The Auxiliary Cruiser War Badge (Kriegsabzeichen für Hilfskreuzer) was a WW2 German decoration awarded to officers and men of the Kriegsmarine for service on Auxilary Cruisers or supply ships. The award was instituted on 24.4.1941 by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder.
Designed by Wilhelm Ernst Peekhaus in Berlin, the award featured a Viking longship sailing over the northern hemisphere of the globe surrounded by a laurel wreath of oak leaves. At the apex of the badge was a German Eagle clutching a swastika. The wreath, eagle, and ship were in gilt and the globe area gray coloured. Versions were produced in bronze and later in zinc.
A special presentation version, featuring 15 small diamonds inlaid on the swastika, was presented in January 1942 by Grand Admiral Raeder to Kapitän zur See Bernhard Rogge, commander of the successful German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis.