FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Which positions did you hold in the High Command of the Navy, and at what time?
WAGNER: From summer 1933 until the summer of 1935 I was adviser in the operational department of the High Command. I was Kapitänleutnant and then Korvettenkapitän. In 1937, from January until September, I had the same position. From April 1939 until June 1941 I was the head of the operational group, known as “IA,” in the operations section of the Naval Operations Staff. From June 1941 until June 1944 I was the chief of the operations section of the Naval Operations Staff. From June 1944 until May 1945, I was admiral for special tasks attached to the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: So that during the entire war you were a member of the Naval Operations Staff?
WAGNER: Yes, that is so.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: What were the general tasks of the Naval Operations Staff?
WAGNER: The tasks of the Naval Operations Staff included all those involved in naval warfare, both at sea and in the defense of the coasts, and also in the protection of our own merchant shipping. As far as territorial tasks were concerned, the Naval Operations Staff did not have any, neither at home nor in the occupied territories.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Was the Naval Operations Staff part of the High Command of the Navy, the OKM?
WAGNER: The Naval Operations Staff was part of the High Command of the Navy.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: What was the relationship between the Naval Operations Staff and the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, the OKW?
WAGNER: The OKW passed on the instructions and orders of Hitler, who was the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, regarding the conduct of the war; usually, as far as naval warfare particularly was concerned, after examination and review by the Naval Operations Staff. General questions of the conduct of the war were decided without previous consultations with members of the Naval Operations Staff.