Eberhard von Mantey (Admiral)

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Eberhard Friedrich Wilhelm von Mantey (born August 15, 1869 in Hersfeld , † December 7, 1940 in Berlin ) was a German vice admiral and from 1916 to 1933 head of the naval archive as well as naval historian and author of numerous books.

Life

family

He was the son of the later Prussian general of the infantry Eberhard von Mantey (1835-1902) and his wife Elisabeth, née Cranz (1845-1926). His father was raised to the hereditary Prussian nobility in 1875 . The later major general Friedrich von Mantey (1872-1953) was his brother.

Mantey had married Lisbeth von Koester (1881-1959) in Kiel in 1901 . She was the daughter of the later Grand Admiral Hans von Koester . The marriage resulted in two sons and a daughter.

Military career

He joined the Imperial Navy as a cadet on April 15, 1887 and completed his basic training on the training ship Niobe . After attending the naval school from October 1, 1887 to April 17, 1888, he was transferred to the training ship Gneisenau and appointed midshipman on April 19, 1888. Then Mantey was on the small cruiser Irene , and from April 26, 1890 on the tank frigate Kaiser and finally on September 16, 1890 as sub-lieutenant at sea (since May 23, 1890) again at the naval school. He stayed there only for a short time and came for further training from October 1 to November 30, 1891 on the artillery training ship Mars . From December 1, 1891 Mantey was used as a company officer in the II. Torpedo Department.

This was followed by a foreign command as officer on watch on the cruiser corvette Alexandrine until April 29, 1894 and his promotion there to lieutenant at sea on April 10, 1893. After returning to Germany , he was at the disposal of the chief from May 21 to June 26, 1894 Naval station of the North Sea placed and commanded until October 2nd on the small cruiser Gefion . Then Mantey was assigned to the II. Torpedo Department as a company officer and adjutant and at the same time commissioned from July 7th to September 21st, 1896 with the management of the torpedo boat S 73 . From October 1 to November 29, 1896, he was again available to the chief of the naval station and was then used as a teacher on the torpedo training ship Blücher .

During this time, Mantey developed a plan that, in his opinion, could force the United States of North America, through a swift military strike, to a treaty that would give Germany a free hand in the Pacific and Atlantic.

On October 1, 1898, he was transferred as a watch officer to the ship of the line Wörth and was promoted to lieutenant at sea on January 1, 1899. He stayed there until September 30, 1899, was briefly transferred to the Navy Academy on April 9 Promoted to lieutenant captain and appointed commander of torpedo boat S 91 on April 22, 1900 .

On the Hohenzollern , Mantey was used as an officer on watch from October 1, 1900 to October 7, 1902, before becoming an artillery and navigation officer on the ironclad Württemberg . On September 30, 1903, he took up his service as Admiral Staff Officer, initially with the Admiral of the 1st Squadron and from October 1, 1904 to September 21, 1905 in the same function with the Admiral of the 2nd Squadron. Corvette Captain Mantey (since March 21, 1905) spent the next three years from September 22, 1905 to September 29, 1908 as 1st Adjutant of the Torpedo Inspection, before taking over as commander of the light cruiser Blitz . He was then transferred to the special ship Vulkan in the same function on October 1, 1909, and was promoted to frigate captain on October 16, 1909. After his recall on February 26, 1910, he was at the disposal of the chief of the Baltic Sea Naval Station until April 9, 1911 posed.

When he was promoted to captain at sea on April 10, 1911, he was employed as a teacher at the Navy Academy and at the same time in command of the Mecklenburg ship of the line from August 14 to September 28, 1912.

On June 23, 1914 he was appointed commander of the Wittelsbach liner , which operated in the Baltic Sea after the outbreak of World War I. Mantey gave up his command on January 26, 1916 and was assigned to the Admiralty Staff of the Navy. Kaiser Wilhelm II awarded him the Order of the Crown with Swords, Class II , for his services . On February 15, 1916, Mantey took over the war history department within the Admiralty's staff as a board member, which was later renamed the Naval Archives. There he was promoted to rear admiral on September 18, 1918 .

On June 8, 1919 Mantey was put up for disposal , but entrusted as an employee with the management of the Institute for Naval History and the Naval Archives. On September 16, 1920 he received the character as Vice Admiral . In this function he edited the multi-volume work Der Krieg zur See 1914–1918 . He designed, corrected and improved the volumes and added a foreword to each volume. Without being subject to the supervision of a civil scientific body, Mantey made sure that all volumes were edited exclusively by active or inactive officers.

In view of the poor public image of the Navy, the work was intended to keep memories of the navy's achievements in the war alive. Operations and battles by the German naval forces had to be described in great detail. The performance of the commanders, commanders and crews was to be emphasized, while inadequacies and mistakes were to be met with understanding. The technical and scientific problems of this concept were deliberately subordinated to the aim of proving the legitimacy and necessity of a German fleet in order to create the basis for its reconstruction. On the other hand, the separate consideration of the theaters of war led to the fact that the interactions of naval warfare compared to individual methods of naval warfare were neglected.

On behalf of the naval leadership, Mantey also published popular works such as At Sea undefeated (1921) or Our Navy in World War 1914–1918 , which should make the Navy appear in a positive light. Even after years, he expressed himself critically internally and initially defended Tirpitz almost unreservedly against his critics. “The history of the navy,” he explained to Georg Alexander von Müller in 1932 , “is more complicated than anyone outside suspects. If you want to stick to the truth and still have to spare the old weapon ”.

The University of Kiel gave Mantey on 9 January 1923, the honorary doctorate of Dr. phil. In the same year he became executive chairman of the Deutscher Seevereins (German Fleet Association) . He only resigned from this post in 1931 because he was too busy with his professional activity in the naval archives. Mantey's departure took place on March 31, 1933.

Works (selection)

As editor:

  • Undefeated at sea. 30 individual depictions from the naval war, JF Lehmanns Verlag , Munich 1921.
  • Undefeated at sea. Volume 2 Experiences in Naval Warfare tells of fellow combatants, JF Lehmanns Verlag, Munich 1922.
  • The cruiser squadron: with numerous maps, tables and attachments. together with Erich Raeder , Mittler-Verlag Berlin 1922.
  • The activity of the small cruisers "Emden", "Königsberg" and Karlsruhe. together with Erich Raeder , Mittler-Verlag Berlin 1923.
  • The German auxiliary cruisers: with 51 sketches. together with Erich Raeder , 1937.

As an author:

  • German naval history. With 16 plates, Verlag "Offene Zeiten", Charlottenburg 1926.

Awards

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Briefadeligen houses. Justus Perthes, Gotha, 1907 p. 507 f. , 1910, p. 501 .
  2. ↑ Henning Sietz: The greatest panic will break out in New York. Scenario for the conquest of the USA. In: The time. 20/2002 - online edition
  3. ↑ a b Werner Rahn: Strategic Options and Experiences of the German Naval Command 1914 to 1944: On the Chances and Limits of a Central European Continental Power against Sea Powers. In: Werner Rahn (Ed.): German Marines in Transition. From a symbol of national unity to an instrument of international security . Oldenbourg, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-486-59464-5 , p. 208.
  4. ^ Walter Schwengler: Navy and Public 1919 to 1939. In: Werner Rahn (Hrsg.): German Marines in Change. From a symbol of national unity to an instrument of international security . Oldenbourg, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-486-59464-5 , p. 338.
  5. ↑ Michael Epkenhans : "Clio" and the Navy. In: Werner Rahn (Ed.): German Marines in Transition. From a symbol of national unity to an instrument of international security. Oldenbourg, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-486-59464-5 , p. 375.
  6. ↑ Michael Epkenhans: "Clio" and the Navy. In: Werner Rahn (Ed.): German Marines in Transition. From a symbol of national unity to an instrument of international security. Oldenbourg, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-486-59464-5 , p. 378 f.
  7. ↑ Sebastian Diziol: Germans, become members of the fatherland! The German Naval Association 1898–1934. Solivagus Praeteritum, Kiel 2015, ISBN 978-3-9817079-0-8 , pp. 539-691.
  8. ↑ a b c d e f Marinekabinett (ed.): Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1914, p. 113.
personal data
SURNAME Mantey, Eberhard von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mantey, Eberhard Friedrich Wilhelm von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Vice Admiral, head of the naval archive
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH Hersfeld
DATE OF DEATH December 7, 1940
Place of death Berlin