The overall commander of the Imperial German Navy was KaiserWilhelm II. All authority over the navy was vested in the Kaiser, and he was ultimately responsible for all decisions regarding the navy.[1] Under the Kaiser were a number of organisational bodies responsible for various aspects of the navy's administration and operation, each of which was directly responsible to the Kaiser:
The Naval Cabinet was a body of the Imperial Household, with responsibility over promotions and appointments, and the drafting and issuing of the Kaiser's orders.
The Admiralty Staff was formed in 1899 to replace the Naval High Command, and operated as an organisation intended to gather intelligence and prepare operational plans for presentation to and approval of the Kaiser.[2]
Head of the Central Bureau - Rear-Admiral Albert Hopman
The Inspector-General of the Navy was a post held intermittently, intended to undertake inspection of the navy itself to ensure it was operating at maximum efficiency. The Inspector-General's office was divided into a number of individual inspectorates related to different areas of the Navy's operations.[note 1]
2nd Inspector-General - Rear Admiral Karl Zimmerman
Senior officers of the Imperial Navy, August 1914
Admiral Müller, Chief of the Naval Cabinet
Grand Admiral Tirpitz, State Secretary of the Imperial Navy Office
Vice-Admiral Pohl, Chief of the Imperial Admiralty Staff
Grand Admiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia, Inspector-General of the Navy
Training schools
Mürwik Naval School
The officers' training ship König Wilhelm
The navy had a number of establishments to train its personnel, both generally and in specific technical areas. In addition, a number of ships were on the strength of training establishments to provide practical experience.
Commander, Kiel Naval Base - Vice Admiral Konrad Henkel-Gebhardi
Commander, Kiel Fortress - Vice Admiral Reinhard Koch
Commander, Danzig Naval Base - Rear Admiral Franz von Holleben
In addition to hosting the fleet units stationed in the Baltic Sea, a number of other units were under the direct command of the Baltic Naval Station commander:
As well as the warships of the fleet, a further unit of the Imperial Navy stationed at Kiel was the Imperial Yacht, which was the personal vessel of the Kaiser, used both for his annual cruise to Norway as well as transporting him on overseas visits, but was also available for use as an aviso, or despatch boat.
Admiral IngenohlFriedrich der Grosse, flagship of the High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet(Hochseeflotte) was the primary formation of the Imperial German Navy, with its main element being the three operational battle squadrons to which the navy's battleships were assigned. The majority of units of the High Seas Fleet were stationed at Wilhelmshaven for operations in the North Sea. A small force was stationed at Kiel for use in the Baltic, which could be quickly reinforced by North Sea-based units via the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. The High Seas Fleet was under the command of Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl.[4]
The 5th Division, under Rear-Admiral Carl Schaumann, was formed of battleships of the König class. The first to be commissioned was Grosser Kurfürst on 30 July, which was undergoing sea trials on the outbreak of war. The remaining three ships were commissioned through the remainder of 1914.[5][note 5]
A number of small units were formed whose primary purpose was coastal and harbour defence of the various naval bases in and around Wilhelmshaven. These usually consisted of one or more light cruisers, commanding a number of torpedo-boat destroyers and other vessels.[4] To provide heavy support for coastal defence, one of the reserve squadrons of the High Seas Fleet, consisting of eight obsolete coastal defence ships that were of no use as part of the main battle fleet, was assigned to the North Sea coast.
Although part of the High Seas Fleet, the force stationed permanently at Kiel for operations in the Baltic operated with a degree of independence. Grand Admiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia, the brother of Kaiser Wilhelm II, was the commander-in-chief of the Baltic Fleet,[note 2] with Rear-Admiral Robert Mischke in operational command of units at sea.[3][4]
Zeppelin L 3 - the Imperial Navy's sole operational airship at the start of the war
Friedrichshafen FF.29 - one of the first operational aircraft of the Naval Flying Detachment
The Imperial German Navy had a small aviation capability, which was originally formed in 1913 when the Kaiser decreed the foundation of the Naval Aviation Forces (Marinefliegerkräfte). Within the newly formed aviation section were two separate commands - the Naval Airship Detachment, based at Nordholz, near Cuxhaven, and the Naval Flying Detachment, which was split between Kiel, Heligoland and Putzig.[6]
In addition to the main body of the Imperial German Navy stationed in home waters, Germany also maintained a number of overseas deployments of ships. The majority of these were usually of one or two cruisers operating independently, with the primary formation of German warships outside German waters being the East Asia Squadron, under the command of Vice-Admiral Maximilian von Spee, which was stationed at Tsingtao.[7][8] The navy also provided a significant proportion of the garrison at Tsingtao, with approximately 1,200 of the 3,000 strong garrison coming from one of the marine battalions.[9] The other major formation was the Mediterranean Division, commanded by Rear-Admiral Wilhelm Souchon.[10]
Hohenzollern was scheduled for replacement in 1914, and was planned to be withdrawn from service at the end of the Kaiser's 1914 Norwegian cruise. A new yacht, also named Hohenzollern, was launched in September 1914, but never completed.
The remaining three ships of the division were König (flagship, commissioned 10 August 1914); Markgraf (commissioned 1 October 1914); and Kronprinz (commissioned 8 November 1914).
Königin Luise was requisitioned from the Hamburg America Line on 3 August 1914 for service as an auxiliary minelayer. Two days later, during a minelaying mission to the Thames Estuary, the ship was sunk by British destroyers.
The modern torpedo-boats V25, V26 and V186 were transferred to the North Sea station forming part of the new 9th Flotilla in October 1914. They were replaced by G132-G136.
In late August 1914, the 6th Scouting Group was split into two, with Augsburg, Gazelle, Lubeck and Magdeburg being utilised as the "Detached Division" for offensive operations in the Baltic Sea.
The light cruiser Bremen was undergoing a major refit on the outbreak of war. Upon completion of the work in May 1915, Bremen was assigned to the Baltic Fleet.
Cormoran was undergoing repairs on the outbreak of war. As a result of the work not being finished, the ship was stripped of weapons to be used to reinforce the defences of Tsingtao, and decommissioned, with her name and crew being transferred to a captured Russian merchant ship that was converted into an armed merchant cruiser.
Prinz Eitel Friedrich was a liner operated by Norddeutscher Lloyd on its routes in the Far East. On the eve of war, she was ordered from Shanghai to Tsingtao for conversion into an armed merchant cruiser, and was commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 5 August 1914.