The following press article describes the Knight’s Cross justification for Erich Klünder… (via Traces of War)
“The Führer has at the recommendation of the Supreme Commander of the Kriegsmarine, Großadmiral Dönitz, awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross to Korvettenkapitän Erich Klünder, commander of a Minensuchflottille. Since September 1943 he has as a convoy leader led numerous large convoys in the arctic ocean to their destinations despite heavy enemy air and submarine attacks.”