Werner Töniges left the Merchant Marine in 1935 to join the Kriegsmarine. In 1936 he was appointed to the Battlecruiser Graf Spee and saw action during the Spanish Civil War. Töniges became a commander of a Schnellboot (MTB) in 1937 and was appointed deputy commander of the 1.Schnellbootflotille in 1940. Het left the sea for a job as Commanding officer at the Naval school at Flensburg-Mürwick in Septembre 1942. A year later he was appointed Referent and Reichsinspector for the Marine-HJ (Hitler youth of the Kriegsmarine) with the Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine. Between May 1945 and June 1946 het was a Prisoner of War with the British. (Via Traces of War)
Earned the Knight’s Cross for:
Awarded for his successes as an S-Boot commander in the opening years of the war, which included four freighters and three steamers sunk.
Oakleaves for:
Awarded for his further successes as an S-Boot commander, which amounted to 281 sorties conducted and 18 enemy ships (with 86000 GRT) sunk.
