Ernst Ewers

Ernst Gustav Ewers (born September 29, 1873 in Düsseldorf , † November 14, 1940 in Hamburg ) was a German naval officer, most recently rear admiral .

Imperial Navy: Pre-war period

Ewers was the son of the Düsseldorf genre painter Heinz Ewers and his wife Maria, born in Weerth , and the brother of the writer Hanns Heinz Ewers . He went through the typical training as a naval officer of the Imperial Navy , including the two-year advanced on-board training as a midshipman from 1892 on the tank frigate King Wilhelm . His first own command was the torpedo boat SMS S 67 , which he commanded as a first lieutenant at sea until May 8, 1900. It was followed by a transfer to the posed and on May 15, 1900 in service provided for the Eastern USA station new gunboat SMS Luchs that but then because of the Boxer Rebellion of China to the East Asian Cruiser Squadron was sent, and on July 7, 1900 Kiel for East Asia expired . In the address book of the German Kiautschou area of ​​1902, Lieutenant Ewers is listed as the first officer of the Luchs , and from January to March 1903 he also served as a deputy commander . When Ewers returned to Germany is uncertain. He then went through staff officer training and served in various staff and on-board positions.

First World War

At the beginning of the First World War , Ewers, now a frigate captain , was appointed commander of the small cruiser SMS Nymphe , which had already been decommissioned in 1909 and was reactivated on August 2, 1914 , with whom he took the lead on August 8, 1914, when the ship was ready for action the port flotilla Elbe took over. On January 3, 1915, as its first commander, he put the new small cruiser Regensburg into service, with which he was primarily involved in advances in the North and Baltic Seas and secured mine operations as part of the Second Reconnaissance Group . From March to May 1915 Ewers, now as sea ​​captain , was in command of the small cruiser Kolberg , at that time the flagship of the second leader of the torpedo boats, sea captain Karl von Restorff . He then took over the small cruiser Niobe , which was also reactivated at the beginning of the war , with which he carried out coast guard service in the German Bight until September 1915 ; at the same time he was in command of the Jade / Weser harbor flotilla. On September 8, 1915, he left the Niobe and took over the old armored ship Heimdall , which had belonged to the Ems coastal defense division since September 1, and thus also the position of head of the Ems coastal defense division. He held this position until March 2, 1916, when Heimdall was decommissioned.

After six months in a staff position, Ewers served briefly in September 1916 as the commander of the old Hesse liner , but in the same month switched to the Silesia , which was used as a training ship and which he commanded until June 1917. From June 10 to July 23, 1917 he was acting commander of the ship of the line Westphalia , then from August 3 to 24 of the dreadnought King Albert . He then commanded this large-line ship again from December 1, 1917 beyond the end of the war until December 3, 1918. The last deployment of the ship was in the outpost service in the German Bight and ended on November 10 in Wilhelmshaven , where the crew immediately responded to the sailors' uprising and thus joined the November Revolution. Ewers transferred his ship in late November 1918 Association of the High Seas Fleet into internment in Scapa Flow and then returned to Germany.

Provisional Imperial Navy

After the end of the war, on June 23, 1919, he was appointed commodore and commander of securing the Baltic Sea in the provisional Reichsmarine . On March 8, 1920 he was promoted to rear admiral. Just a few days later he got caught up in the Kapp Putsch , which began on March 13, 1920 , when he was appointed head of the Baltic Sea Naval Station on March 18, 1920 as the successor to Rear Admiral Magnus von Levetzow, who had been deposed for his support for the putschists . The very next day Levetzov, who did not recognize his replacement, had Ewers arrested by anti-republican troops. It was only when Levetzov left Kiel on March 21 that Ewers was able to take on his new role again. However, he was relieved himself on March 23 and made available to the chief of the naval station of the Baltic Sea or the chief of the admiralty. With effect from September 30, 1920 he was adopted into retirement.

Footnotes

1. ^ Marine-Rundschau, Third Volume, Berlin, 1892, p. 446
2. ↑ http://www.tsingtau.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Adressbuch_1902.pdf Address book of the German Kiautschou area, Tsingtau 1902. Otto Rose publishing house, Tsingtau, 1902, p. 21
3. ↑ Levetzov had taken over this command on January 21, 1920 while being promoted to rear admiral.
4. ↑ Klaus Kuhl: Kapp-Putsch in Kiel - bitter fights in March 1920 (accompanying booklet to the picture-video project on DVD) Kiel, 1980/2005/2008, p. 67, note 54