Хьюго Гендрик Бирманн: Адмирал Южноафриканского флота

South African Navy admiral

Hugo Hendrik Biermann, (6 August 191627 March 2012) was a senior officer in the South African Navy. He served as Chief of the Navy from 1952 to 1972 and Chief of the South African Defence Force from 1972 until 1976, the only naval officer to have served in the post.

Biermann's father, also named Hugo Hendrick, joined the Orange Free State postal service at the age of 12, and later joined the South African Railways and Harbours as a telegraphist. His brother Stefanus reached the rank of rear admiral in the South African Navy. after leaving school at the age of 16, joined the South African Training Ship General Botha. Biermann entered the British Merchant Navy as a cadet and served until 1938, when he was transferred to the Maritime Department of the South African Railways and Harbours.

Biermann began his naval career in 1938 as a sub lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. In January 1940, he was called up for full time service and transferred to the Seaward Defence Force. Promoted lieutenant in mid 1941 he commanded HMSAS Imhoff,
and , before being promoted to lieutenant commander in command of the salvage vessel
The crew of the HMSAS Gamtoos cleared several Mediterranean ports of sunken and scuttled ships, and at Marseilles, Biermann blew a hole in the harbour wall so that he could enter the Vieux Port and begin work. The Gamtoos went on to salvage the Sidi Aissa, towing it away to clear the valuable graving dock at La Ciotat by 14 December 1944. This earned Biermann appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) (Military Division). The citation for his OBE reads:

After the Second World War, and with the establishment of the South African Navy (Permanent Force) in May 1946, Biermann was appointed lieutenant commander in the Permanent Force and made captain of the Algerine class minesweeper, , commissioning it in Devonport on 8 September 1947. He was also the Senior Officer of the minesweeping squadron. In 1950, Biermann was transferred to Defence Headquarters and served on the staff of the then Director General of the South African Naval Forces. Two years later he attended the British Naval Staff Course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and was appointed as naval attaché at South African House, London with the rank of commander. In 1952, Erasmus posted Brigadier Pieter de Waal as a Military attache to the United States, replacing him with Biermann, Biermann was made vice admiral on 1 December 1965, when his position was simultaneously retitled as Chief of the Navy. In 1972, Biermann took over the position of Commandant General of the South African Defence Force and promoted to Admiral, the first time this rank was used in the South African Navy. The title was changed to Chief of the South African Defence Force a year later. In 1977, Biermann authored 'The South African Response. The Southern Oceans and the Security of the Free World: New Studies in Global Strategy. The navy's submarine base was named after him.

Following the success of Bruce Dalling and the yacht Voortrekker in the 1968 Single Handed Trans Atlantic Race, Biermann, then chairman of the Springbok Ocean Racing Trust, suggested that South Africa host an ocean race of its own. The South African Ocean Racing Trust (as the SAORT became known) selected the Iate Clube do Rio de Janeiro, who were willing to co operate in the organising of the race and the race would be known as the Cape to Rio. The first race was organised for 1971, with the organisers anticipating at most 15 entries into the race.

In 1940, Biermann married Margaret (Peggy) Cruyws. The couple had two children, Hugo Hendrik and Diana. Biermann died on 27 March 2012 at the age of 95 in a retirement home, Silvermine Village, near Cape Town. He was buried with full military honours.