Ehrhard Schmidt

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Ehrhard Schmidt as Vice Admiral with officers from his staff in 1916

Ehrhard Schmidt (born May 18, 1863 in Offenbach am Main , † July 18, 1946 in Aschau am Inn ) was a German admiral in the First World War .

Life

Schmidt joined the Imperial Navy on April 22, 1879 at the age of 16 as a midshipman . He went through various land and board assignments; Service posts in the field and in management as well as in training replaced one another. From 1880 to 1882 he participated as an ensign in the circumnavigation of the three-master SMS Hertha . On his return he was promoted to lieutenant at sea . In the following he serves u. a. as a squadron artillery officer.

He was promoted to sea captain in 1905 and was in command of the large cruiser SMS Prinz Adalbert until 1907 . From 1908 to 1910 he was commander of the battleship SMS Hessen in order then after a short use as a fortress commander of Wilhelmshaven to rear admiral to be promoted and appointed Second Admiral of the II. Squadron of the High Seas Fleet. As the commander of the V Division, he was in command of the most modern large-line ships of their time, including SMS Prinzregent Luitpold , SMS Kaiser and SMS Friedrich der Große .

At the beginning of the First World War he was the commander of the fourth squadron of the high seas fleet, consisting of the old ships of the Wittelsbach class . During the Battle of the Skagerrak , the largest naval battle of the First World War, Schmidt commanded the 1st Squadron of the High Seas Fleet and broke through the British lines during the night battle . Six British destroyers and one cruiser were sunk.

From July 7, 1915, he was the chief of the IV at the same time disbanded leader of the reconnaissance forces of the Baltic Sea took over. In 1917 he headed the maritime special association of 321 ships for the occupation of the Baltic islands of Dagö , Moon and Ösel ( Albion company ). With a flag signal , Schmidt went down in naval war history when he had the signal “Immediately give the fleet space!” Set on the flagship SMS Moltke . An association of over a hundred minesweepers had been busy creating a safe passage for the combat ships up to this point. In order not to lose the element of surprise, Schmidt went through the minefields with eleven combat ships without losses. For his achievements he was awarded the Order Pour le Mérite on October 31, 1917 .

On April 25, 1918 Schmidt was awarded the Crown Order , First Class with Swords to the disposition and on 11 August 1918 à la suite of Seeoffizierskorps asked.

In 1921 he married Lily Eichhorn in Offenbach's Church of Peace , with whom he moved to the vicinity of Munich five years later .

In addition to his appointment as honorary chairman of the Munich Navy Association in 1932, he was made honorary leader of the Bavarian district in 1936. His hometown Offenbach am Main honored him by naming a park “Admiral-Schmidt-Park”, which was renamed “d'Orville-Park” after the Second World War. In 1940 Wilhelm II. Sent him a telegram from his exile in Holland with the following content: May an admiral give your Ösel signal once again: Make room for the fleet immediately! Best regards - Wilhelm .

Awards

literature

  • Dermot Bradley (eds.), Hans H. Hildebrand, Ernest Henriot: Germany's Admirals 1849-1945. The military careers of naval, engineering, medical, weapons and administrative officers with admiral rank. Volume 3: P-Z. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-1700-3 , pp. 233-235.
  • Lothar R. Braun: Offenbacher has always been around. Bintz-Verlag, ISBN 3-87079-020-2 .
  • Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume II: M-Z. Verlag Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935, p. 274 f.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Landser, Schupos and Agents. In: op-online.de . March 7, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Marinekabinett (ed.): Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy for the year 1918. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1918, p. 6.
personal data
SURNAME Schmidt, Ehrhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German admiral in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1863
PLACE OF BIRTH Offenbach am Main
DATE OF DEATH July 18, 1946
Place of death Aschau am Inn