Reinhard Scheer

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Admiral Scheer

Carl Friedrich Heinrich Reinhard Scheer (born September 30, 1863 in Obernkirchen ; † November 26, 1928 in Marktredwitz ) was a German admiral in World War I who commanded the deep sea fleet in the Skagerrakschlacht , one of the largest naval battles in history.

Life

Before the First World War

Scheer joined the Imperial Navy as a cadet on April 22, 1879 and initially completed his ship training on the sailing frigate SMS Niobe . He then came to the Kiel Naval School and received his weapons course on the artillery training ship SMS Renown . From May 14th to September 30th, 1880 it was first used on the tank frigate SMS Friedrich Carl and then until November 13th, 1882 on the covered corvette SMS Hertha . On this date he was promoted to sub-lieutenant at sea. From November 14th Scheer was at the naval school again for a year, then completed a course on the artillery training ship SMS Mars and was then transferred as a company officer to the Second Sailor Division. From April 22nd to October 3rd Scheer acted as watch officer on the ironclad SMS Bayern and in the same function until July 23rd, 1886 on the cruiser frigate SMS Bismarck . On the ship, he served first at the East African station, then with the East Asia Squadron . On December 15, 1885, he had become a lieutenant at sea .

Scheer started his journey home from Hong Kong on July 24, 1886 and after his arrival was used as a company officer and department adjutant of the Second Sailor Division.

In 1897, Lieutenant Scheer was commanded as a navigation officer on the liner SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm , the flagship of the 1st Squadron, and was thus also a squadron navigation officer.

In 1901/02 Scheer was chief of the I. Torpedo Boat Flotilla as Corvette Captain . In this function he was also from April 11, 1901 to June 26, 1901 and from February to July 1, 1902, commander of the small cruiser SMS Niobe , which served as a flotilla ship.

From October 1903 Scheer was head of the central department of the Reichsmarineamt, where he was promoted to sea captain on March 21, 1905 . On October 1, 1909, he took over as commander of the liner SMS Alsace . On October 1, 1910, he became Chief of Staff of the Fleet Command under Admiral Henning von Holtzendorff . In September 1911, Scheer, promoted to Rear Admiral on January 27, 1910, returned to the Reichsmarineamt as director of the General Marine Department, which helped to decide on the further development of German warship types. Scheer took the view to increase the caliber of the 30.5 cm guns directly on ships of the line such as battle cruisers to 38 cm. On February 1, 1913, he was then commander of the 2nd squadron of the fleet, which he was still in command at the beginning of the war. On December 9, 1913 Scheer was promoted to Vice Admiral.

First World War

At the beginning of the war, Scheer commanded the 2nd Squadron stationed in the Elbe estuary on the liner SMS Preußen , which should also be deployed in the Baltic Sea if necessary. On December 28, 1914 Scheer took over the III. Squadron of the deep sea fleet with the most modern ships of the line of the Imperial Navy and from January 24th 1915 used the SMS König as flagship. Scheer became chief of the deep sea fleet on January 24, 1916 as the successor to the sick Admiral von Pohl , after he had represented him as the longest- serving squadron chief on January 11 and began his service on January 18 on the fleet flagship SMS Friedrich der Große . Scheer immediately began to use the fleet more offensively. He let them advance into the Hoofden on March 6th and 7th , tried in vain to intercept British attackers on Tondern on March 25th and had British ports bombarded on April 24th and 25th.

Battle of the Skagerrak

In May he led his fleet into the sea battle on the Skagerrak. Reinhard Scheer commanded the German deep sea fleet on May 30, 1916 from the liner Friedrich der Große . At the beginning of the battle, luck seemed to be on the side of the Germans, which is why Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty , commander of the Home Fleet's first battlecruiser squadron, uttered his famous saying: "Something seems to be wrong with our damn ships today." Of the German successes, the numerical preponderance of the Royal Navy was overwhelming, so that Scheer was forced to bring his fleet back to port. Admiral John Jellicoe , however, was keen to provide the ocean fleet before nightfall, as he feared a submarine attack. Scheer was forced to save his ships from destruction in a complicated maneuver ( turnaround ), which he succeeded brilliantly. In this battle, the British had missed the opportunity to take out the deep sea fleet and suffered heavy losses at the same time.

Scheer was then promoted to Admiral on June 6, 1916 and he was awarded the order Pour le Mérite . The bottom line of the battle for him was that the superiority of the Royal Navy did not allow any action by the surface fleet.

Fleet chief

Burial of Admiral Scheer in Weimar in November 1928

After the Battle of the Skagerrak, Scheer became an ardent advocate of the U-boat war against Great Britain . In his view, only submarines could weaken Britain from the sea by disrupting trade. The fact that he gave the USA a reason for war through a ruthless submarine war was for him the price for a partial victory at sea, as the submarine war achieved in the eyes of the military.

From March 14th, the SMS Baden served him as a fleet flagship . From June 1917 Scheer had to deal with increased refusals to protest against poor supplies and inhumane harassment by superiors in the fleet. Eighteen "ringleaders" (including Max Reichpietsch and Albin Köbis ) were arrested on August 3, 1917 and convicted in a show trial for a "complete uprising in the war". Admiral Scheer confirmed the death sentences against Reichpietsch and Köbis. He welcomed the use of the fleet in the Baltic Sea to support the army, as these activities would reduce unrest.

Chief of the Naval War Command

Scheer became Chief of Staff of the newly established Naval War Command on August 11, 1918 . This gave him the power of command over decisions of the admiral staff, which had previously been exercised exclusively by the emperor. His successor as chief of the German high seas forces was Admiral Franz von Hipper . As early as August 12, 1918, he went to the headquarters of the OHL , where he and Hindenburg and Ludendorff came to the conclusion that all hope for a favorable outcome of the war was mainly placed on a successful offensive by the submarines. He moved the seat of the naval war command to Spa and initiated steps to intensify the submarine war. His new construction program, which ran from the last quarter of 1918 to the third quarter of 1919, envisaged increasing submarine production threefold. With the beginning of the armistice negotiations in October 1918, these plans were outdated, and Scheer had all submarines recalled so as not to jeopardize the negotiations. However, when the military situation deteriorated considerably and the impending internment of the fleet became apparent, the fleet order of October 24, 1918 , which triggered the Kiel sailors' uprising , was issued.

post war period

His tomb in the main cemetery in Weimar

After the sailors' uprising in the deep sea fleet in October / November 1918, Scheer retired on December 17, 1918, during which he went on lecture tours on the topic of Germany's heroic struggle at sea .

The already 80-year-old Paul von Hindenburg had planned Scheer as his successor in the office of the Reich President in autumn 1928 and informed him about it. This coincided with Scheer's own endeavors; He had already speculated on the office in 1921 and found support for his ambitions, for example at the DVP , but was not given a chance because of the extension of Friedrich Ebert's term of office. But when Scheer was preparing to accept an invitation from his rival in the Skagerrak Battle, Admiral John Jellicoe, at the end of 1928, he died of a pulmonary embolism in Marktredwitz . He is buried in Weimar , the grave has been preserved to this day - his gravestone bears only one word besides his name and his life data: "Skagerrak".

family

Scheer was married to Emilie, nee Mohr (* 1876) since 1899. In 1919 he settled in Weimar , where his wife was the victim of a robbery on October 9, 1920 .

Honors

Orders and decorations

He received the following medals and decorations :

Honorary doctorate

Other honors

Admiral-Scheer-Strasse in Mainz-Kastel .

For his leadership in the Battle of the Skagerrak Scheer was offered the title of nobility by Kaiser Wilhelm II , but Scheer refused.

Hanau , the city in which Scheer spent his youth, made him an honorary citizen in 1916 immediately after the Skagerrak Battle and named a street after him.

In Aurich , in front of the Blücher barracks on Skagerrakstrasse, there is a side street named after him in a cul-de-sac.

In Essen , Admiral-Scheer-Strasse is named after him.

In Hof (Saale) , Admiral-Scheer-Strasse is named after him.

In Klein Glienicke , a district of Potsdam, the Admiral-Scheer-Platz, a small park directly on the Griebnitzsee , is named after him.

In Mainz , in the Kastel district on the right bank of the Rhine, a street was named after him that has belonged to Wiesbaden along with the entire district since 1945 .

In Münster , Admiral-Scheer-Strasse is named after him.

In his honor, an armored ship of the Reichsmarine was named Admiral Scheer in 1933 ; Scheer's daughter Marianne Besserer carried out the baptism.

In the German Navy from 1959 to 1967 there was a school frigate Scheer named after Admiral Scheer .

In Kiel, in the Tirpitzhafen (naval base command Kiel), the northern pier - the Scheer pier - is named after him.

Fonts

  • Germany's deep sea fleet in World War II. Personal memories. Scherl, Berlin 1920.
  • From sailing ship to submarine. Quelle & Meyer, Leipzig 1925; 6-8 Tausend Quelle & Meyer, Leipzig 1936 (edited by Albert Scheibe).
  • Michael Epkenhans (ed.): My dear darling! Letters from Admiral Reinhard Scheer to his wife. August to November 1918 . (= Small series of publications on military and naval history . Volume 12). Winkler, Bochum 2006.

literature

Web links

Commons : Reinhard Scheer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see Jakob Knab, Heroes who weren't , in: Süddeutsche Zeitung v. May 18, 2018, p. 2
  2. ^ Lecture by Admiral Scheer. In: Badener Zeitung , March 28, 1924 bottom right
  3. ^ Wolfram Pyta: Hindenburg. Rule between Hohenzollern and Hitler. Siedler, Munich 2007, p. 616ff.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Marinekabinett (ed.): Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy. Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1914. p. 108.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Marinekabinett (ed.): Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy. Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1918. p. 6.
  6. ^ Rudolf von Kramer, Otto Freiherr von Waldenfels: VIRTUTI PRO PATRIA. The Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order of War Deeds and Book of Honor 1914–1918. Self-published by the Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order. Munich 1966. p. 448.
  7. ↑ The Royal Saxon Military St. Heinrichs Order 1736–1918. An honor sheet of the Saxon Army. Wilhelm and Bertha von Baensch Foundation. Dresden 1937. p. 569.
personal data
SURNAME Scheer, Reinhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German admiral of the Imperial Navy
DATE OF BIRTH September 30, 1863
PLACE OF BIRTH Obernkirchen
DATE OF DEATH November 26, 1928
Place of death Marktredwitz