Eberhard von Mantey (Admiral)

Eberhard von Mantey
Vice Admiral (ret.) Dr. phil. e. h. Eberhard von Mantey
Birth name	Eberhard Friedrich Wilhelm Mantey
Birth date	15 August 1869 (1869-08-15)
Place of birth	Hersfeld, Regierungsbezirk Kassel, Province of Hesse-Nassau, Kingdom of Prussia, North German Confederation
Death date	7 December 1940 (1940-12-08) (aged 71)
Place of death	Berlin, German Reich
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic
Service/branch	Kaiserliche Marine Reichsmarine
Years of service	1887–1918 1919–1920/33
Rank	Charakter als Vizeadmiral (honorary Vice Admiral)
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Iron Cross Red Eagle Order Prussian Order of the Crown
Relations	∞ 1901 Lisbeth von Koester
Other work	Military historian Author

Eberhard Friedrich Wilhelm Mantey, since 1875 von Mantey (15 August 1869 – 7 December 1940), was a German officer of the Kaiserliche Marine and the Preliminary Reichsmarine, finally Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral). From 1916 to 1933, he was also director of the Institute of Naval History and head of the Naval Archives, as well as a naval historian and author of numerous books.

Military career (chronology)

Center: brother Friedrich Otto Hugo von Mantey (1872–1953) as Generalmajor z. V. of the Wehrmacht and Head of Department in the War Science Department of the Army General Staff in WWII.

Helmut und Ingeborg von Mantey, Nordfriedhof Kiel

• Attended the Cadet Corps in Bensberg and Großlichterfelde near Berlin; his father had hoped, he would join the infantry or Pioniere.
• 15 April 1887 Joined the Imperial German Navy
  • Basic training on the training ship SMS "Niobe"
  • Commanded to the Naval School for officer candidates
• 1 October 1887 to 17 April 1888 Transferred to the school ship SMS "Gneisenau"
• April 1888 Transferred to the small cruiser SMS "Irene"
• 26 April 1890 Transferred to the armored frigate SMS "Kaiser"
• 16 September 1890 Reassigned to the Naval School
• 1 October to 30 November 1891 Commanded to the artillery training ship SMS "Mars"
• 1 December 1891 Assigned as a company officer in the II. Torpedo Division
• This was followed by a foreign assignment as watch officer on the cruiser corvette SMS "Alexandrine" until 29 April 1894
  • Foreign missions to East Asia, Africa, North America and South America broadened von Mantey's knowledge and judgment, as did the instruction at the Naval Officers’ School in Kiel.
• 21 May to 26 June 1894 P placed at the disposal of the Chief of the North Sea Naval Station
• 27 June to 2 October 1894 Assigned to the light cruiser SMS "Gefion"
• 3 October 1894 Assigned to the II. Torpedo Division as a company officer and adjutant
  • 7 July to 21 September 1896 at the same time tasked with commanding the torpedo boat "S 73"
• 1 October to 29 November 1896 Again at the disposal of the Chief of the Naval Station
• 30 November 1896 Deployed as an instructor on the torpedo training ship SMS "Blücher"
  • During this time, 1st Lieutenant at Sea von Mantey developed a plan by which he believed the United States of America could be forced into a treaty through a swift military strike that would give Germany a free hand in the Pacific and Atlantic.
• 1 October 1898 Transferred to the battleship SMS "Wörth" as watch officer
• 1 October 1899 Transferred to the Naval Academy
• 22 April 1900 Appointed commandant of the torpedo boat "S 91"
• 1 October 1900 to 7 October 1902 Appointed watch officer on the imperial yacht SMY "Hohenzollern"
• 8 October 1902 Artillery and navigation officer on the battleship SMS "Württemberg"
• 30 September 1903 Admiral Staff Officer
  • initially with the Admiral of the I. Squadron and from 1 October 1904 to 21 September 1905 in the same function with the Admiral of the II. Squadron
• 22 September 1905 to 29 September 1908 1st Adjutant of the Inspectorate of Torpedo Systems
• 1 October 1908 Appointed commandant of the small cruiser SMS "Blitz"
• 1 October 1909 Appointed commandant of the U-boat salvage tug SMS "Vulkan"
• 26 February 1910 to 9 April 1911 Placed at the disposal of the Chief of the Baltic Sea Naval Station
• 10 April 1911 Appointed as a teacher at the Naval Academy
  • 14 August to 28 September 1912 simultaneously commanded the battleship SMS "Mecklenburg"
• 23. Juni 1914 Appointed commandant of the battleship SMS "Wittelsbach" (Baltic Sea operations)
• 15 February 1916 Appointed head of the War History Department within the Admiralty Staff, which was later renamed the Naval Archives.
  • In January 1916, he was transferred to the Admiralty Staff in Berlin and appointed Chief of the Naval History Department within the Admiralty Staff on 18 November 1916. His task was to organize the description and evaluation of naval operations since 1914. Von Mantey immediately began documenting the deployment of the German fleet in World War I. As early as 1918, he was able to present a battle calendar for the years 1914/15. The archive he established, which also included documents from the 18th and early 19th centuries, became the core of the future Naval Archives. According to the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, the Naval History Department was to be dissolved along with the Admiralty Staff. Furthermore, in 1919, based on a memorandum by General von Seeckt, the Reich Cabinet decided to establish a Reich Archive, primarily to house the masses of files from the demobilizing army. The Navy succeeded in preventing the incorporation of its holdings into the emerging Reich Archives, as well as the dissolution of the Naval History Department. Von Mantey retired from active service [and was placed at disposal or z. D.] in July 1919 and became the "Director of the Institute for Naval History and Head of the Naval Archives". Research and archives were to remain unified within a single organization. Von Mantey planned the major work "The War at Sea" to consist of 16–18 volumes and structured it according to theaters of war. The excellent, almost complete source material served him well, so that the first volume could be published as early as the summer of 1920. When von Mantey handed over the directorship to Admiral Aßmann in 1933, 13 volumes had been completed. This great organizational and scholarly achievement is largely his merit. Von Mantey determined the layout of the volumes, proofread the work, offered advice and suggestions for improvement, and wrote a foreword for each volume, ensuring the coherence of the entire work. By 1923, the naval command had assigned six active officers to contribute to the work: the later Admirals Groos, Firle, Raeder, Weichholt, Bastian, and Rollmann. In the following years, their number steadily decreased; by 1931, only one active officer remained. Von Mantey therefore undertook the editing of the third volume, "The German Auxiliary Cruisers," published in 1927. Furthermore, unlike the Reich Archives for the publication of the major work "The World War 1914–1918," he did not have the advice of an academic commission of professors. Based on a series managed by the Reich Archives, von Mantey published the individual accounts of the naval war 1914–18 in 1931 and, since 1928, the official publications collection with monographs of individual aspects of the naval war 1914–18 for official use.
• 1923 Appointed executive chairman of the German Naval Association (German Fleet Association). He resigned from this position only in 1931, citing his professional activities at the Naval Archives as too demanding.
• 31 March 1933 Retired from the Naval Archives (on 1 April 1933 Admiral Kurt Aßmann took over the position)

Family

Eberhard was the son of General of the Infantry Johannes Eberhard von Mantey (1835–1902) and his wife (∞ 1867) Ella Friederike Therese, née Cranz (1845–1926). He had four siblings. His father was elevated to hereditary Prussian nobility by Kaiser Wilhelm I on 18 September 1875.

Marriage

On 12 January 1901 in Kiel, Kapitänleutnant von Mantey married his fiancée Elisabeth "Lisbeth" von Koester (1881–1959), daughter of Grand Admiral Hans von Koester. They would have four children:

• Eberhard Hans Wilhelm (b. 21 September 1901 in Kiel; d. 14 April 1902 ibid)
• Helmut Hans Eberhard (1907–1993), officer of the Reichsmarine, Kriegsmarine (commandant of destroyer "Z 23") and German Navy of the Bundeswehr, finally Captain at Sea as well as journalist; ∞ Berlin 18 April 1934 Ingeborg Schumann (1910–2007), daughter Sigrid Ingeborg (b. 30 March 1935 in Wilhelmshaven), possibly further children, e.g. Axel von Mantey (1938–2017)
• Sigrid Ebba Lisbeth (1910–1930)
• Adalbert Eckart Hans-Eberhard (b. 9 August 1911 in Kiel), farmer, reserve officer in WWII, ⚔ 8 May 1942 as 2nd Lieutenant of the Wehrmacht 7 km southwest of Parpatsch (Eastern Front)

Promotions

• 15 April 1887 Kadett (after 1899 Seekadett; Officer Candidate)
• 19 April 1888 Seekadett (after 1899 Fähnrich zur See; Officer Cadet)
• 16 September 1890 Unterlieutenant zur See (after 1899 Leutnant zur See; 2nd Lieutenant)
• 10 April 1893 Lieutenant zur See (after 1899 Oberleutnant zur See; 1st Lieutenant)
• 9 April 1900 Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant Captain)
• 21 March 1905 Korvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain / Lieutenant Commander)
• 16 October 1909 Fregattenkapitän (Frigate Captain / Commander)
• 10 April 1911 Kapitän zur See (Captain at Sea / Captain / Colonel)
• 18 September 1918 Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral)
• 16 September 1920 Charakter als Vizeadmiral (Honorary Vice Admiral)

Awards, decorations and honours

• Swedish Wasa-Orden, Knight's Cross II. Class (SW3b)
• Prussian Centenary Medal 1897 (Zentenarmedaille)
• Russian Order of Saint Anna (Sankt-Annen-Orden), 3rd Class (RA3)
• Red Eagle Order (Roter Adlerorden), 4th Class (PRAO4/PrA4)
• Swedish Order of the Sword, Knight's Cross 1st Class (SS4a, later SS3a)
• Prussian Order of the Crown (Kronenorden), 3rd Class
• Crown to his Red Eagle Order 4th Class
• Prussian Long Service Cross (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz) for 25 years
• Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav, Commander II. Class (NO2b)
• Red Eagle Order, 3rd Class with the Bow (mit der Schleife)
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Military Merit Order (Bavaria), 3rd Class with the Crown and Swords (BMV3mKr⚔)
• Prussian Order of the Crown, II. Class with Swords on 5 August 1918
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords (FEK)

Honours

• Honorary doctorate (Dr. phil.) from the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel on 9 January 1923

Writings

As editor

• Auf See unbesiegt. 30 Einzeldarstellungen aus dem Seekrieg (with 28 pictures of fallen heroes), J. F. Lehmanns Verlag. München 1921
  • Reprint: Epubli, 2018
• Auf See unbesiegt. Erlebnisse im Seekrieg erzählt von Mitkämpfern, 2 Volumes, J. F. Lehmanns Verlag. München 1922
  • Reprint (both volumes): Europäischer Hochschulverlag, 2012
• Der Krieg zur See 1914–1918, 21 Volumes, Marine-Archiv, Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn
  • The monumental work was considered the naval counterpart to the Army’s “The World War 1914–1918” published by the Reich Archives.

As author

• Deutsche Marinegeschichte, with 16 panels, Verlag „Offene Worte“, Charlottenburg 1926
• Unsere Marine im Weltkrieg 1914–1918, Vaterländischer Verlag C. A. Weller, Berlin 1927
• Seeschlachten-Atlas – Eine Einführung in die Lehre vom Seekriege, E. S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1928
  • 2nd Edition: E. S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1937
• Foreword to Die Kapitäne Christiansen – Nach Logbüchern erzählt, 1932 (5th Edition, 1942)
  • with Friedrich Christiansen and Carl Christiansen; several editions, most recently in 1944 with additions from the Second World War
• Unsere Kriegsmarine – Vom Großen Kurfürsten bis zur Gegenwart, Verlag „Offene Worte“, Berlin 1934
• 1000 Jahre Seefahrt. Helden – Reisen – Schiffe, Paul Franke Verlag, Berlin 1934 (together with main author Anton Mayer and foreword by Felix Graf von Luckner)
• Marinefibel, Verlag „Offene Worte“, Berlin 1935
  • Reprint: Marinefibel. Ein Handbuch für die Seefahrt, Severus Verlag, 2014
• Schwere Seestreitkräfte – Fahrten und Kämpfe 1914/1918, E. S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1935
• So war die alte Kriegsmarine, Frundsberg Verlag, Berlin 1935 (with foreword by Erich Raeder)
• Marine-Geschichtsfibel, Verlag „Offene Worte“, Berlin 1936
  • 2nd Edition: Berlin 1939; 3rd Edition: Berlin 1943