Gustav Bachmann

Gustav Bachmann (born July 13, 1860 in Cammin (near Rostock) , † August 31, 1943 in Kiel ) was a German admiral in the First World War .

Life

family

Gustav was the son of the farmer Julius Bachmann (1828–1890) and his wife Anna, geb. Raspe (1830-1914). He married Ella Holzapfel on July 14, 1888. The marriage produced a son and a daughter. The son is the future sea captain Herbert Bachmann , admiral of the Norwegian north coast . One grandson is Jörn-Ulrich Bachmann .

Military career

After attending the large city school in Rostock , Bachmann joined the Imperial Navy as a cadet on April 21, 1877 . He completed basic training by 1882 and sailed on the sailing frigate SMS Niobe from April 21 to September 19, 1877 . Further training followed on the artillery training ship SMS Renown and the tank frigate SMS König Wilhelm . From September 20, 1877 to April 14, 1878 he attended the naval school. On June 16, 1878, Bachmann was promoted to midshipman .

From June 4 to October 3, 1878 he served on the tank frigate SMS Preußen and from October 4, 1878 to October 6, 1880 on the covered corvette SMS Prinz Adalbert . After visiting the naval school again from October 7, 1880 to October 29, 1881, he worked on the artillery training ship SMS Mars until December 21, 1881 and then as a company officer; on November 16, 1880, he was promoted to lieutenant at sea . In the years 1880 to 1884 he was employed in the II. Sailor Division, the II. Shipyard Division and on the tank frigates SMS Kronprinz , SMS Friedrich Carl and SMS Prussia .

On May 18, 1884 he became the commander of the torpedo boat Safe . Until the end of September, he worked as the commander of torpedo boats on further test drives. From October 4, 1884 to August 9, 1886, Bachmann was a watch officer on the cruiser frigate SMS Bismarck . During this time, on January 15, 1885, he was promoted to lieutenant at sea . After serving on the Bismarck , Bachmann was employed in the II. Sailor Division and as an officer on watch on the cruiser frigate SMS Arcona . From January 1, 1887, he worked as an adjutant, initially in Berlin (until April 1887) and then until October 5, 1890 at the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven .

From October 1890, Bachmann attended the Naval Academy in Kiel . He was promoted to lieutenant captain on October 13, 1891 , to corvette captain on May 21, 1898 and to frigate captain on January 27, 1903 . He was deployed in various commandos and staffs, from April 1901 to April 1903 in East Asia as chief of the staff of the cruiser squadron .

From October 1903 to September 29, 1905, Bachmann worked as a teacher at the Naval Academy and was promoted to sea captain on April 1, 1904 . From September 30, 1903 to September 30, 1907 he was in command of the liner SMS Elsass and was then head of the central department of the Reichsmarinamt under Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz . He stayed in this position until October 31, 1910, during which time he was promoted to Rear Admiral on January 27, 1909 and Vice Admiral on September 5, 1911 .

At the time in the Reichsmarineamt, Bachmann became the commander of the reconnaissance ships and remained so until September 30, 1913. After an assignment with the chief of the Baltic Sea Station from October 1, 1913 to July 22, 1914, he was acting from July 23, 1914 from August 2, 1914 employed full-time as chief of the naval station. At the same time he was governor of the Reich War Port of Kiel.

On February 2, 1915, Bachmann became chief of the admiralty's staff. On March 22, 1915, he was promoted to admiral. On September 5, 1915, Bachmann had to vacate the post of Admiral Chief of Staff. The background to this were differences with the political leadership on questions of submarine warfare ( Arabic case ). He was again head of the naval station of the Baltic Sea and governor of the Reich war port of Kiel. From October 28, 1918 to December 13, 1918 he was subordinate to the State Secretary of the Reich Naval Office and then retired from the service.

He lived in Göttingen , later in Kiel, where he died at the age of 83.

Awards

Order of the Red Eagle 1st class with oak leaves and swords
Royal Crown Order (Prussia) 2nd class with star
Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern
Iron Cross 2nd and 1st class
Prussian service award cross
Military Merit Order (Bavaria) 1st class with swords
Hanseatic Cross Hamburg
Military Merit Cross (Mecklenburg)
Grand Commander of Honor of the Oldenburg House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig

Friedrich-August-Kreuz 1st class

Grand Cross of the Order of Albrecht with a gold star and swords

Commander first class of the Duke of Saxony-Ernestine House Order

Cross of Honor III. Class of the Lippe House Order

Grand Cross of the Order of Frederick with Swords

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 1: A-G. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1988, ISBN 3-7648-1499-3 , pp. 43-44.
Gerhard Beckmann, Klaus-Ulrich Keubke, Ralf Mumm: Naval officers from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 1849–1990, writings on the history of Mecklenburg. Schwerin 2006, ISBN 978-3-00-019944-8
Walther Hubatsch : Bachmann, Gustav. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 498 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

Literature about Gustav Bachmann in the state bibliography MV

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Marinekabinett (ed.): Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy for the year 1918. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1918, p. 6.

personal data
SURNAME	Bachmann, Gustav
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German admiral in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH	July 13, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH	Cammin (near Rostock)
DATE OF DEATH	August 31, 1943
Place of death	Kiel

[Rangliste-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Marinekabinett (ed.): Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy for the year 1918. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1918, p. 6.