In 1933 he was promoted to Leutnant zur See and in 1937 as a member of the Kriegsmarine he served on the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer.
He was transferred to Berlin for health reasons in February 1940, where he worked in the Operations Department of the 1st Sea War Branch of the Naval High Command as liaison officer to the Foreign Ministry.
He met fellow naval officer Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg in 1943 and became active in the resistance against the Nazi regime.
His opportunities to actively participate in the 20 July plot were limited but he was asked to find further potential resistance members in the navy.
He was sentenced to death by Roland Freisler and executed by hanging on 10 August 1944 at Plötzensee Prison, Berlin.