Louis Karl Emil von Blanc

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Louis von Blanc
Louis Karl Emil von Blanc.jpg
Birth name Louis Karl Emil von Blanc
Birth date 12 March 1832
Place of birth Potsdam, Province of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Confederation
Death date 9 January 1903 (aged 70)
Place of death Weimar, Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, German Empire
Allegiance  Prussia
Wappen des Deutschen Bundes.jpg German Confederation
Coat of arms of North German Confederation.png North German Confederation
 German Empire
Service/branch War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army
Prussian war ensign after 1850.png Royal Prussian Navy
Kriegsflagge der Norddeutschen Bundesmarine (1867–1871).png Norddeutsche Bundesmarine
 Kaiserliche Marine
Years of service 1850–1889
Rank Admiral z. D.
Commands held Commanding Admiral (Chef) of the Marinestation der Ostsee (1887–1889)
Battles/wars Franco-German War
Awards Red Eagle Order
Prussian Crown Order
Bavarian Order of Saint Michael
Relations ∞ 1875 Christiane Ida Elsbeth von Puttkamer

Louis Karl Emil von Blanc (12 March 1832 – 9 January 1903) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Royal Prussian Navy (German: Königlich Preußische Marine), the North German Federal Navy (German: Marine des Norddeutschen Bundes) and the Kaiserliche Marine, finally Charakter als Admiral z. D. (honorary admiral at disposal).

Military career

Louis von Blanc as head of the Militärische Abtheilung of the Imperial Admiral Staff, in: Handbuch für das Deutsche Reiche auf das Jahr 1880

Louis von Blanc joined the 9. Infanterie Regiment (Colberg)[1] on 1 January 1850 as a officer candidate (Avantageur). In November 1850, Ernst Hans Karl Gneomar von Natzmer joined the regiment. They would become best friends, and in 1903, von Blanc's daughter and von Natzmer's son would marry.

Von Blanc was promoted to officer cadet (Portepee-Fähnrich) and earned his commission as 2nd lieutenant (Sekondeleutnant) on 9 November 1852 in the 1st company in Stettin.[2] Two years later, he was named adjutant of the 2nd battalion. As of the rank seniority list (Rangliste) 1859, he was a 1st lieutenant (Premierleutnant) and still adjutant. On 4 July 1860, the regiment was renamed 2. Pommersches (Colberg) Grenadier-Regiment (Nr. 9).

In 1859, he was commanded to the Royal Prussian War Academy (Königlich Preußische Kriegsakademie) in Berlin. On 20 February 1862, von Blanc was commanded to the German Navy “to learn naval service”. In March (à la suite his regiment), he was given leave of absence to gain further seamanship knowledge with the Royal Navy. On 16 September 1864, he was promoted to captain (Hauptmann). After his return at the end of May 1865, von Blanc took part in training at the Sea Cadet Institute (Seekadetteninstitut) before being officially transferred to the Prussian Navy as a lieutenant captain (Kapitänleutnant) on 14 September 1865. His patent was dated 16 September 1864, the day of his promotion to captain.

The following year he was temporarily given command of the gunboat "Delphin" (July to 2 August 1866). In February 1865, it had been decided to send the "Delphin" as a station ship to Constantinople. The ship therefore underwent major repairs, with the rigging changed from that of a schooner to a schooner barque. However, the departure was delayed, so that the "Delphin" was only able to leave home on 6 August 1865 together with the "Nymphe", with which exercises had already been carried out in the Baltic Sea from 20 to 23 July. Both ships separated in Piraeus on 22 September 1865 and the Delphin continued its journey to the Ottoman capital. Due to the impending brotherly war with Austria, both ships were recalled in April 1866 and reached Prussian waters again on 3 July 1866. Until the end of the war, the Delphin belonged to the North Sea Flotilla (flagship "Arminius") and was decommissioned in Danzig on 22 August 1866.

In 1867, von Blanc was first officer on the covered corvette "Hertha", which began a voyage through the Mediterranean to East Asia. He temporarily deputized for the commander and led the ship in a relief and recovery operation for the French corvette "Roland", which was stranded near Chios. For this he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Legion of Honor. In 1868, he was first officer on the SMS "Niobe". Further trips to the West Indies followed. On 27 April 1869, he was promoted to lieutenant commander (Korvettenkapitän). In the spring of 1869, he was first officer on the SMS "Kronprinz".[3]

With the outbreak of the Franco-German War, the Navy's existing ships were used for coastal defense in the North and Baltic Seas and were assigned various berths. The three large ironclads were on the outer jade, but only the "Kronprinz" was fully operational. Commandant Reinhold Werner sailed with the "Kronprinz" several times to act independently against the French blockade ships, but did not get into any major battles. On 1 September 1870, the ironclad squadron made an advance to Helgoland. The "Kronprinz's" last mission during the war was on 27 March 1871, when she supervised the shipment of a total of 20,000 French prisoners of war near Glückstadt. In the meantime, the Imperial Navy was created through the founding of the German Empire and the placing of the Navy of the North German Confederation under the supreme command of Kaiser Wilhelm I.

Im July 1871, he was named commandant of SMS "Nymphe". With her he left the home waters of the Baltic Sea on 25 July 1871 and sailed via Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town and the Indian Ocean to Oceania, including Samoa, and East Asian waters. The corvette sailed via Australian ports to Levuka, the main port of the Fiji Islands at the time. At the beginning of March 1872, the commander negotiated with native chiefs and local Germans a patronage of the Reich, which the Reich Chancellor Otto von Bismarck rejected. On the island of Pago Pago, also in March 1872, he landed with marines and forced the chieftain Mango to compensate a German ship captain who was robbed by natives.[4] In Apia, the capital and largest city of Samoa, where he arrived on 15 March 1872, he was called upon by German merchants to settle disputes. Marine soldiers were deployed to various islands in Samoa to settle disputes and enforce German claims.

At the end of March 1872, the ship continued its journey to Japan and arrived in Yokohama on 20 April 1872, replacing the SMS "Hertha" on site. By the end of the year, the new station ship visited a number of Japanese and Russian ports and arrived in Hong Kong for Christmas. In the spring of 1873, the SMS "Nymphe" set off on the usual southward journey (South Seas). On 14 March 1873, most of the crew fell ill with an infection after visiting Singapore. The ship then called at Borneo to enforce financial claims from a German company. She continued to Jolo in the Sulu Archipelago, which formally belonged to Spain. The Sultan there is said to have been interested in German patronage. The commander of Blanc conveyed the wish to Berlin; the Reich government und von Bismarck refused.

During a visit to Siam in April 1873, Blanc traveled to Bangkok to present the king with the insignia of the Order of the Black Eagle. During a visit to Japan in October 1873, Blanc prepared the establishment of a German hospital for members of the military and merchant marines in Yokohama, which was founded in 1878. On 11 February 1874, the SMS "Nymphe" passed Cape Horn. Shortly before her home port, SMS "Nymphe" hit a rock off Langeland, from which she was freed with the help of the training ships SMS "Arminius" as well as SMS "Nautilus" and, after a journey of 65,000 nautical miles and visits to 35 ports on different continents, entered Kiel on 12 May 1874, where she was decommissioned on 20 May 1874. SMS "Nymphe" was the first warship in the Imperial Navy to complete a circumnavigation and, after the SMS "Vineta", the second ship in the Royal Prussian Navy to do so.

Von Blanc was then head of department (Dezernent) in the Admiralty until April 1878. Promoted to sea captain (Kapitän zur See) on 18 January 1875, he served as chief of staff of the training squadron (Übungsgeschwader) in the summer of 1875 and as commander of the ironclad SMS "Preußen" in the summer of 1877. In April 1878, he became chief of staff at the German Imperial Admiralty under the Admiral Albrecht von Stosch (de) and again commanded the SMS "Preußen" in the summer of 1878. On 15 March 1881, he left the Admiralty and was named commandant of the reactivated SMS "Stosch" only days later. She was intended for deployment to the Far East, where she would serve as flagship of an overseas cruiser squadron in the region. At this time, Albrecht von Stosch, as Head of the Imperial Admiralty, had implemented a plan according to which the German colonies would be protected by gunboats. Larger warships would generally be kept in reserve or some would be assigned to a flying squadron that could respond quickly to local crises.

The SMS "Stosch" left Germany on 15 April 1881, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached Batavia in the Dutch East Indies on 18 July, where she met the squadron's former flagship, the corvette SMS "Freya". SMS "Stosch" then met the rest of the squadron at Tschifu, which consisted of the corvette SMS "Hertha" and the gunboats "Iltis" and "Wolf". After von Blanc took command of the German East Asia Squadron (on 18 July 1881) and some naval exercises, SMS "Stosch" visited a few Japanese ports alone and then went to Hong Kong. Because combining the functions of squadron chief and ship commandant in one person proved inexpedient, Kapitän zur See von Blanc relinquished command of the SMS "Stosch" on 8 January 1882, Kapitän zur See Glomsda von Buchholtz took over.

SMS "Stosch" then began a cruise in the South China and Sulu Seas; this voyage also included a stop at the island of Jolo, where von Blanc negotiated a trade agreement with the sultan of the Sulu Islands, Badarud-Din II. The squadron assembled in Chefoo in mid-June, and on 16 June, "Stosch" and "Wolf" sailed to Chemulpo with a diplomatic delegation to negotiate a trade treaty with Korea, then under the Joseon dynasty. "Stosch" then returned to Chefoo before proceeding to Hakodate, Japan, where she met the corvette "Elisabeth", which had recently arrived to replace "Hertha". On 25 September, "Stosch" and "Wolf" began an exploration of the Hai River while they were carrying the diplomat Max von Brandt on the way to Tianjin, from which he was to travel overland to Beijing. On 24 December 1882, Geschader-Kommodore von Blanc takes SMS "Stosch" and SMS "Elisabeth" to Amoy (China). Here he enforces the rights of a German merchant (the Chinese had confiscated a large amount of sugar boiling pans, which von Blanc and his marines recoverd) and settles a serious dispute between locals and Germans.

On 30 March 1883, von Blanc was promoted to Konteradmiral. On 26 April 1883, he inspected the cadet training ship SMS "Elisabeth" under Friedrich Hollmann and his first officer Gustav Ernst Otto Egon Freiherr von Senden-Bibran and praised officers and men for their outstanding service in East Asia. Konteradmiral Max von der Goltz took over the German East Asia Squadron on 26 August 1883.

Returning to Germany, von Blanc became 2nd Admiral of the Baltic Sea Naval Station (Marinestation der Ostsee) in October 1883 and Chief of the 1st Naval Inspection (Chef der I. Marineinspektion) in October 1884. He held this position until May 1887 and was also chief of the training squadron (Chef des Übungsgeschwaders) in the summer of 1885. On 14 May 1887, he was promoted to Vizeadmiral and named Chief of the Baltic Sea Naval Station succeeding Vizeadmiral Wilhelm von Wickede.

When it became apparent in 1888 that Vice Admiral Leo von Caprivi would give up his position as head of the Imperial Admiralty and the deputy head Carl Ludwig Alexander Graf von Monts de Mazin had fallen severly ill in the fall of 1888, von Blanc applied for this position,[5] but apparently Kapitän zur See (later Konteradmiral) Karl Eduard Heusner was assigned deputy leadership (and named State Secretary of the Imperial Naval Office in 1889). His hopes were not fulfilled, von Caprivi had written in January 1888 to the emperor:

Fills his position as station chief well in the direction in which the impeccable disposition of a man of honor is sufficient. His narrow horizon causes him to get lost in small details; he doesn't know how to make himself the center of his command circle. He is aging quickly and will not be able to fill his position for much longer. He will lack enthusiasm for action and clarity of judgment for war. Not suitable for command at sea or for head of the Admiralty.[6]

On 20 January 1889, Kaiser Wilhelm II approved his request to retire.[7] He received the statutory pension and was put to disosal (z. D.). Vizeadmiral Eduard von Knorr took over command of the Baltic Sea Naval Station. On 13 September 1901, while in the Danziger Bucht on board of SMY "Hohenzollern", the German emperor honoured Vice Admiral von Blanc and awarded him the honorary rank as Admiral z. D.[8]

Family

Louis Karl Emil von Blanc was the son of senior customs inspector (Oberzollinspektor in Colbergermünde, as of 1855 in Rügenwalde[9]) Louis von Blanc (b. 26 November 1804 in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire; d. 12 October 1876 in Köslin, Province of Pomerania, German Empire) and his first wife Ernestine Philippine Friederike Scheffler (b. 24 March 1808 in Berlin; d. 21 December 1849 in Frankfurt an der Oder). He had one sibling:

  • Auguste Marie Karoline (b. 1 November 1837 in Gransee, Kreis Oberhavel, Province of Brandenburg; d. 6 March 1912 in Berlin); ∞ Berlin 23 May 1865 Prussian Captain Eduard Müller (d. 9 November 1888 in Berlin)

After the death of his mother, his father married in Frankfurt an der Oder on 12 May 1851 the young Elise Kuhlmay (b. 19 July 1826 in Soldin; d. 6 Februry 1882 in Köslin). They had one daughter:

  • Hedwig Emilie Luise (b. 11 January 1864 in Rügenwalde, Kreis Schlawe); ∞ Adolf Eduard Karl Allihn (1867–1948), Protestant pastor in Oldenburg and Delemnhorst

Marriage

Kapitän zur See von Blanc married at manor (Gut) Treblin on 28 September 1875 his fiancée Christiane Ida Elsbeth von Puttkamer (b. 15 March 1847 in Treblin; d. 11 December 1891 in Weimar), daughter of the deceased lord of the manor (Herr auf Treblin und Neuhof) retired 2nd lieutenant Georg Ferdinand Lorenz von Puttkamer (1810–1853) and his wife Elisabeth Pauline Wilhelmine, née von Sydow (1821–1906).[10] They had six children:[11]

  • Katharina Ernestine Elise (b. 13.08.1876 in Berlin); ∞ Weimar 20 August 1898 [...] Ferber
  • Erich Louis Georg (b. 7 September 1877 in Berlin), farmer in German South West Africa; ∞ Swakopmund 2 November 1907 Emmy Bergner (b. 27 July 1877 in Jena), 2 children
  • Louis Ferdinand (b. 27 September 1878 in Berlin; ⚔ 28 August 1914), naval officer; ∞ Weimar 4 October 1903 Gabriele Pauline Trapp von Ehrenschild (b. 27 October 1881), 2 children
    • Louis Ferdinand von Blanc joined the Imperial German Navy on 7 April 1897. At the beginning of WWI, he served as first officer (I. O.) of the SMS "Cöln" under Fregattenkapitän Hans Meidinger. The Battle of Heligoland Bight was the first Anglo-German naval battle of the First World War, fought on 28 August 1914. First, the SMS "Cöln" encountered the British cruiser "Arethusa" and eight destroyers that were engaged in combat with the German small cruiser SMS "Mainz". The SMS "Cöln" entered the fight together with the SMS "Straßburg", but then unexpectedly encountered five British battlecruisers that were under the command of Rear Admiral David Beatty. Faced with the vastly superior numer of ships of the Royal Navy, the two German cruisers tried to escape. The SMS "Cöln" quickly received several hits, but was relieved by the arrival of the SMS "Ariadne" around 1:00 p.m. and was initially able to escape. However, at 1:25 p.m. she was sighted again by the battlecruiser "Lion". At around 2:30 p.m. the ship, which had become a burning wreck despite bitter resistance, sank west of Heligoland in the North Sea. Of the 485 German crew members and 25 officers, around 200 men initially survived the ship's sinking. The survivors expected the British to pick them up, but they had instead departed the battlefield and abandoned them. Three days later, German ships found only one survivor, chief sailor (Obermatrose) and stoker Adolf Neumann (1891–c. 1964); the rest of the crew had drowned in the meantime.
  • Marie Amélie Elsbeth (1881–1961); ∞ Berlin 28 September 1903 Ernst Oldwig Louis Carlo von Natzmer, finally Rear Admiral of the Reichsmarine
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich (b. 9 August 1885 Kiel; ⚔ 18 March 1916), German officer and fighter pilot
    • Heinrich joined the Kaiser Franz Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 2, was commissioned as Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) on 17 November 1906 and trained to be a pilot before WWI, receiving his license Nr. 380 on 17 April 1913 (Alter Adler). Afterwards he was transferred to the Flieger-Bataillon Nr. 1 of the Prussian Fliegertruppe. After his promotion to Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant) and training on combat single seater, he was transferred to the Kampfstaffel 4 (Kasta 4) which was newly set up on 20 December 1915. On 18 March 1916, he fell during aerial combat (dogfight) over Verdun.[12]
  • Marie Susanne (b. 23 November 1887 in Kiel)

Awards and decorations

Louis Karl Emil von Blanc, Rang- und Quartierliste der Kaiserlich Deutschen Marine für das Jahr 1886.png
Louis Karl Emil von Blanc, Rang- und Quartierliste der Kaiserlich Deutschen Marine für das Jahr 1889.png
  • Legion of Honour, Knight's Cross (FEL5)
  • Red Eagle Order (Roter Adlerorden), 4th Class (PRAO4/PrA4)
  • War Commemorative Medal of 1870–1871 (Kaiserliche Kriegsdenkmünze 1870/71; KD70/71)[13]
  • Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz)
  • The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Siam (Orden der Siamesischen Krone), Commander's Cross (SK2) as of Rangliste 1877–1878
  • Saxe-Ernestine House Order, Commander 2nd Class (HSEH2b/HSH2b)
  • Red Eagle Order, 3rd Class with the Bow
  • Order of Glory (Tunisia), Grand Officer (TNJft1)
    • later the Grand Officer was classified TNJft2 and the Grand Cross (TNJft.Gr.Krz) now TNJft1
  • Prussian Order of the Crown (Preußischer Kronenorden), 2nd Class (KO2)
  • The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Siam (Orden der Siamesischen Krone), Grand Officer's Cross (SK1) as of Rangliste 1883
  • Order of the Crown of Italy, Grand Officer (JK2)
  • Red Eagle Order, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves
  • Star to his Prussian Order of the Crown 2nd Class (KO2mSt) in 1887
  • Order of Saint Michael (Bavaria), Grand Cross (BStMV1/BStMVGkz/BStMVG.Kr), permission to wear on 15 November 1887
  • Star to his Red Eagle Order 2nd Class with Oak Leaves on 18 January 1889 (Ordensfest)[14]
  • Danish Order of Dannebrog, Grand Cross (DD1) on 16 November 1889[15]

References

  1. ↑ Colbergsches-Grenadier-Regiment Graf Gneisenau (2. Pommersches) Nr. 9 (Archive)
  2. ↑ Geschichte des Colbergschen Grenadier-Regiments Graf Gneisenau (2. Pommersches) Nr. 9. 1842 bis 1889, p. 246
  3. ↑ Rang- und Quartier-Liste der Königlich Preußischen Armee und Marine für das Jahr 1869, p. 772
  4. ↑ Deutsche Marine- und Kolonialgeschichte, 1903, p. 180
  5. ↑ Klaus Franken: Das Marinekabinett Kaiser Wilhelms II. und sein erster Chef Admiral Gustav Freiherr von Senden-Bibran, 2017, p. 198
  6. ↑ Füllt seine Stellung als Stationschef nach der Richtung gut aus, in denen die tadellose Gesinnung eines Ehrenmannes ausreicht. Sein enger Horizont veranlaßt ihn, sich in Kleinigkeiten zu verlieren, er versteht es nicht sich zum Mittelpunkte seines Befehlskreises zu machen. Er altert schnell und wird seine Stellung nicht mehr lange ausfüllen in Stande zu sein. Für den Krieg wird ihm Thatenlust und Klarheit des Urtheils fehlen. Eignet sich weder zum Kommando auf See noch zum Chef der Admiralität. Source: Klaus Franken, Das Marinekabinett Kaiser Wilhelms II. und sein erster Chef Admiral Gustav Freiherr von Senden-Bibran, 2017, p. 126
  7. ↑ Militär-Wochenblatt, Volume 74, p. 167
  8. ↑ Militär-Wochenblatt, Volume 86, 1901, p. 2120
  9. ↑ Amts-Blatt der Königlichen Regierung zu Cöslin, 1855, p. 374
  10. ↑ Christiane Ida Elsbeth von Puttkamer
  11. ↑ Elsbeth Ida Christiane VON PUTTKAMER, verheiratet VON BLANC
  12. ↑ Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 2
  13. ↑ Liste der Kaiserlichen Marine, 1873, p. 18
  14. ↑ Militär-Wochenblatt, Volume 74, 1889
  15. ↑ Danish State Calendar of 1890
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