had surrendered. The defence maintained that the surrender signal was not seen. Also, that there was confusion on the bridge of Michel whether the ship was using a radio. Trial The trial was held in Hamburg between 5 and 21 May 1946. Ruckteschell chose as his defence counsel Dr. Otto Zippel, who had earlier represented Karl-Heinz Moehle. Zippel tried to define the limitations of international law, called Vizeadmiral Bernhard Rogge as an expert witness, and questioned the testimony of the British sailors. In closing, he asserted that "the law has recognized that in matters of sea even clever people are more liable to commit an error than in other walks of life". The British military court convicted Ruckteschell on three of the four charges - Charges 1, 2, and 3 were upheld, while Charge 4 was rejected - and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment. Three years were later remitted from his sentence on 30 August 1947, when he was acquitted of one more of the charges. The trial raised serious concerns about further war crimes trials involving naval affairs, since only one junior naval officer had sat as a judge during the trial, and army officers could not be expected to have a good knowledge of naval warfare. Zippel stated during the appeal that "a court composed of experienced sea officers would have arrived at a different judgment in the case". Royal Navy officers acknowledged that there was a real chance of a miscarriage of justice and the naval authorities actually discouraged further naval-related war crimes trials because of the difficulty of finding suitable naval officers to take part in them. Ruckteschell's trial was the last held under the Royal Warrant on behalf of the Royal Navy. Ruckteschell died in the Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel prison on 24 June 1948, shortly after he had been informed that he was going to be released due to his deteriorating heart condition. Awards Auxiliary Cruiser Badge with diamonds Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (10 October 1915) & 1st Class (3 November 1916) Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (22 June 1940) & 1st class (1940) Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Knight's Cross on 31 October 1940 as Korvettenkapitän der Reserves and commander of auxiliary cruiser "Widder" (HSK-3) 158th Oak Leaves on 23 December 1942 as Kapitän zur See der reserves and commander of auxiliary cruiser "Michel" (HSK 9) Notes