William Michaelis

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William Otto Ernst Michaelis (born July 19, 1871 in Bischofsburg ; † January 5, 1948 in Putbus ) was a German vice admiral and head of the Imperial Navy during the Weimar Republic .

Life

The son of a civil engineer first graduated from high school. After joining the Imperial Navy in April 1889 as a candidate for naval officer , he was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1892 . As such, he was employed between 1893 and 1894 in the 1st Torpedo Boat Department in Kiel as a watch officer and commander. After attending the Imperial Naval Academy between 1900 and 1902 - which he graduated as the best of his year - his further career as an officer led to posts in the Reichsmarineamt and in the admiralty staff . He found employment as a department head in the Reichsmarineamt, first officer of a ship of the line and as an admiral staff officer of a squadron.

From 1911 to 1913 he was department head in the admiral staff and at the same time the closest employee of the chief of the admiral staff August von Heeringen , a brother of the Prussian Minister of War Josias von Heeringen . A few months after being promoted to sea captain , he became the youngest commander of a capital ship ( SMS Thuringia ) in October 1913 . Between February 4, 1915 and 1916 he was Chief of Staff of the High Seas Fleet and, as a close associate of the high seas fleet chief Admiral Hugo von Pohl , experienced the central dispute over the use of the high seas fleet. After the appointment of Pohl's successor Reinhard Scheer , he became head of department on January 28, 1916, and then director of the General Navy Department in the Reichsmarineamt from September to November 1918.

After the end of the First World War , in December 1919, after his promotion to Rear Admiral, he was appointed Director of the Command Office in the Admiralty. As such, in March 1920, after Vice Admiral Adolf von Trotha was replaced because of his attitude during the Kapp Putsch, he was entrusted with the management of the chief of the Admiralty and thus the chief of the Reichsmarine and naval leadership . He held this office until his replacement by Admiral Paul Behncke on September 1, 1920. He was then adopted into retirement on December 20, 1920 , and was given the character of Vice Admiral.

Publications

  • Kaiser Wilhelm II and his navy. Critical observations during the imperial maneuver in the North Sea in autumn 1912. From the memoirs of Vice Admiral William Michaelis. Reprinted in 1976.
  • Tirpitz's strategic work before and during the First World War. Depressed in Werner Rahn (Ed.): German Marines in Transition. From a symbol of national unity to an instrument of international security. Munich, Oldenbourg Verlag 2005, ISBN 3-486-57674-7 , pp. 401-419.

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 Publishing House. Osnabrück 1989. ISBN 3-7648-1499-3 . Pp. 486-487.
  • Werner Rahn (Ed.): German Marines in Transition. From a symbol of national unity to an instrument of international security. (Contributions to military and war history, vol. 63). Munich, Oldenbourg Verlag 2005, ISBN 3-486-57674-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Commanders of the High Seas Fleet Battle Squadrons 1914–1918
personal data
SURNAME Michaelis, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Michaelis, William Otto Ernst (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Vice Admiral
DATE OF BIRTH July 19, 1871
PLACE OF BIRTH Episcopal Castle
DATE OF DEATH January 5, 1948
Place of death Putbus