Max Looff

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Max Looff (born May 2, 1874 in Strasbourg , † September 20, 1954 in Berlin ) was a German vice admiral and military writer .

Max Looff

Life

Military career

Looff joined the Imperial Navy on April 10, 1891 and completed his basic training on the cruiser frigate SMS Stosch . He then went to the naval school and was promoted to sea ​​cadet on April 11, 1892 . For further training, he completed an artillery course on the artillery training ship SMS Mars from April 1 to 30, 1892 . Then he was on the training ship SMS Gneisenau until September 23, 1893 and then attended the naval school again until September 15, 1894. This was followed by his transfer as a company officer to the II Shipyard Division and on September 20, 1894, he was promoted to lieutenant at sea . From February to April 1895 Looff was again ordered to attend a course on Mars and then transferred to the liner SMS Weißenburg . On October 1, 1896, Looff traveled to Nagasaki to serve as adjutant on the small cruiser Princess Wilhelm stationed in East Asia . In this function, he was promoted to lieutenant on April 12, 1897 (renamed Oberleutnant zur See on January 1, 1899). On March 11, 1898, Looff returned to Germany and was initially made available to the II Marine Inspection. For a short time in April 1898 he was employed as a company officer in the III. Sailor Artillery Department before serving as commandant of Tender Hay until September 27, 1899 . Looff was then officer on watch on the liner SMS Wörth for two years . Another year he was a company officer in the II. Torpedo Department, where he was temporarily in command of the torpedo boat S 102 . From October 1, 1902 to June 30, 1904, Looff was at the Naval Academy in Kiel , passed the I. and II. Coetus and was promoted to lieutenant captain on January 27, 1903 during this time . This was followed by service as a navigation officer on the cruiser frigate Stein and as a company commander in the II. Sailor Division and the II. Shipyard Division. For a month it served as information on the mine steamer Pelikan . From November 9, 1906 to March 18, 1907, he was made available for the inspection of coastal artillery and mining and was then used as first officer on the mine cruiser SMS Nautilus . On September 8, 1907, a briefing for information on the inspection of coastal artillery and mines followed for almost a month. As 1st adjutant he then served there from October 1, 1907 and was promoted to captain of the corvette on October 13, 1908 . From April 20, 1910 to January 18, 1911 Looff was first officer on the liner Wettin , was then placed at the disposal of the chief of the North Sea naval station until March 8, 1911 and then assigned to the Reichsmarineamt as a department head in the military department. He was promoted to frigate captain on October 13, 1913.

On April 1, 1914, Looff was given command of the small cruiser SMS Königsberg , with which he relocated to German East Africa . After the outbreak of the First World War , Königsberg waged a trade war in the Indian Ocean . In a hopeless situation Looff gave the order to scuttling on July 11, 1915. The surviving crew , around 300 men , was incorporated into the protection force under the later General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck after a short training period . There was constant rivalry between Looff and Lettow-Vorbeck during the fighting in East Africa for the next two years. Looff was promoted to sea captain on December 24, 1915 and served as commander of the German naval troops in East Africa until November 21, 1917, most recently as southern commander. Looff got during a hospital stay on November 22nd, 1917 in British captivity , which he spent in Egypt . For his work he had next to both classes of the Iron Cross of the Red Eagle IV. Class and the Order of the Crown IV. Class of the Order of Rettungsmedaille received.

After his release from captivity on February 26, 1919, he was given a triumphant reception on March 2, 1919, together with Lettow-Vorbeck and other former East Africa fighters in Berlin. In the following period Looff was initially on leave and was available to the chief of the naval station of the Baltic Sea .

From June 21 to September 2, 1919 he was assigned to inspect mines, barriers and explosives and then briefly to the Kiel command office. From September 13, 1919 he was city commander of Kiel. From June 1 to September 30, 1920, Loof was once again made available to the chief of the naval station of the Baltic Sea and then on October 1, 1920 appointed inspector of torpedo and naval affairs. In this function he was promoted to Rear Admiral on January 1, 1921 . Under awarding of the character as Vice Admiral took place on 6 March 1922 its adoption of the Navy.

He processed his experiences during the war in Africa in numerous books.

Looff was made available to the Navy on May 24, 1939 , but was no longer used for active military service.

After the end of the Second World War , Loof's writings became Deutsche Kolonie in Not (Bertinetti, Berlin 1928), Kreuzerfahrt and Bushkampf. With SMS "Königsberg" in German East Africa (Bertinetti, Berlin 1929) and Tufani (Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1941) in the Soviet occupation zone on the list of literature to be sorted out.

family

Looff married Luise von Borries (* 1880) in Hanover on March 31, 1902 . She was the daughter of the designer and professor at the Technical University of Charlottenburg August von Borries (1852-1906).

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 2: HO. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1989, ISBN 3-7648-1499-3 , pp. 395-396.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eckard Michels: The hero of German East Africa. Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. A Prussian colonial officer. Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh , Paderborn 2008, ISBN 978-3-506-76370-9 , p. 166.
  2. ↑ Marinekabinett (ed.): Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1918, p. 12.
  3. ↑ Eckard Michels: The hero of German East Africa. Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. A Prussian colonial officer. Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2008, ISBN 978-3-506-76370-9 , p. 249.
  4. ↑ http://www.polunbi.de/bibliothek/1946-nslit-l.html
  5. ↑ http://www.polunbi.de/bibliothek/1948-nslit-l.html
  6. ^ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Briefadeligen houses. 1914. Eighth year, Justus Perthes, Gotha 1913, p. 90.
personal data
SURNAME Looff, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer, most recently vice admiral, and military writer
DATE OF BIRTH May 2, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Strasbourg
DATE OF DEATH 20th September 1954
Place of death Berlin