![]() During the Franco-Prussian War the Prussian Navy was greatly outnumbered and so the ship spent the duration of the war at anchor, much to the embarrassment of the navy. On 22 September 1869 he had obtained the rank of Unterleutnant zur See (sub-lieutenant) and served on board SMS König Wilhelm. In 1866 Prussia became part of the North German Confederation, the navy officially became that of the confederation and Tirpitz joined the new institution on 24 June 1869. Tirpitz became a midshipman ( Seekadett) on 24 June 1866 and was posted to a sailing ship patrolling the English Channel. Within a year Prussia was at war with Austria. Tirpitz decided he liked the idea and with the consent of his parents became a naval cadet at the age of 16, on 24 April 1865. Tirpitz joined the Prussian Navy more by accident than design when a friend announced that he was doing so. She wrote of the experience in A Mother's War. Their daughter Fey von Hassell and her young sons were then taken as hostages. His daughter Ilse von Hassell married diplomat Ulrich von Hassell who was executed in 1944 as an anti-Hitler activist. His son, Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang von Tirpitz, was taken prisoner of war after the sinking of SMS Mainz in the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914. He had four children: Max, Wolfgang, Ilse (born 1885) and Margot (born 1888). On 12 June 1900 he was elevated to the Prussian nobility, becoming von Tirpitz. On 18 November 1884 he married Maria Augusta Lipke (born 11 October 1860 in Schwetz, West Prussia, died after 1941). Tirpitz spoke English fluently and was sufficiently at home in Britain that he sent his two daughters Ilse and Margot to Cheltenham Ladies' College. He recorded in his memoirs that as a child he was a mediocre pupil. Tirpitz was born in Küstrin (today Kostrzyn in Poland) in the Prussian province of Brandenburg, the son of lawyer and later judge Rudolf Tirpitz (1811–1905). By the beginning of 1916, he was dismissed from office and never regained power. As the High Seas Fleet's limitations became increasingly apparent during the war, Tirpitz became an outspoken advocate for unrestricted submarine warfare, a policy which would ultimately bring Germany into conflict with the United States. The one great engagement at sea, the Battle of Jutland, ended in a narrow German tactical victory but a strategic failure. However, during World War I, his High Seas Fleet proved unable to end Britain's command of the sea and its chokehold on Germany's economy. ![]() Tirpitz took the modest Imperial Navy and, starting in the 1890s, turned it into a world-class force that could threaten Britain's Royal Navy. Prussia never had a major navy, nor did the other German states before the German Empire was formed in 1871. Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian OrderĪlfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz ( German pronunciation: ( listen) 19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |