Otto von Diederichs

Otto von Diederichs
Birth name	Ernst Otto von Diederichs
Birth date	7 September 1843(1843-09-07)
Place of birth	Minden, Province of Westphalia, German Confederation
Death date	8 March 1918 (aged 74)
Place of death	Baden-Baden, Grand Duchy of Baden, German Empire
Resting place	Baden-Baden municipal cemetery
Allegiance	Prussia German Confederation North German Confederation German Empire
Service/branch	Prussian Army Royal Prussian Navy Norddeutsche Bundesmarine Kaiserliche Marine
Years of service	1862–1902
Rank	Admiral z. D.
Commands held	East Asia Squadron (Ostasiengeschwader) SMS Sachsen SMS Stosch
Battles/wars	Franco-German War Cretan Revolt (1897–1898) Spanish–American War
Awards	Red Eagle Order Prussian Order of the Crown Russian Order of Saint Anna Austrian Imperial Order of Leopold
Relations	∞ 1871 Henriette Klopp

Ernst Otto von Diederichs (7 September 1843 – 8 March 1918) was a German officer candidate of the Prussian Army and naval officer of the Royal Prussian Navy (German: Königlich Preußische Marine), the North German Federal Navy (German: Marine des Norddeutschen Bundes) and the Kaiserliche Marine, finally a highly decorated Admiral and Chief of the Imperial Admiralty Staff. He retired on 19 August 1902, but remained, as a special honour by Kaiser Wilhelm II, zur Disposition (at disposal; z. D.) and à la suite of the Seeoffizerkorps until his death in the last year of WWI, but was never activated for service again.

Life

Von Diederichs left Gymnasium with a secondary education and then joined the East Prussian Fusilier Regiment No. 33 of the Prussian Army on 1 January 1862 as an officer candidate. He left military service with the army on 30 June 1862 and went to sea on various merchant ships. On 6 September 1865, he joined the Prussian Navy. He initially served on the sailing frigates Niobe and Gefion before completing the naval school from 2 November 1866 to 25 June 1867. He then served briefly on the royal yacht Grille.

In 1867, von Diederichs was promoted to sub-lieutenant at sea and assigned to the sailing training ship Musquito as an instructor. In 1869 ,he was promoted to first lieutenant at sea. In the war against France in 1870/71, he commanded the gunboat Natter an then served with the 1. Abtheilung/Main Division (Stamm-Division) of the North Sea Fleet. From 1871, he took part in a postgraduate training course at the Naval Academy in Kiel. Victor Valois, Felix Bendemann and Gustav von Senden-Bibran attended this course with him until 1874. During this time, Diederichs was deployed on the corvette Vineta and then served in the torpedo forces until 1878.

Based on his academic work at the academy, he was posted to the torpedo research command. After that staff position, he requested and then was assigned to sea duty as first officer (I.O.) of the corvette SMS Luise for a two-year tour on the East Asian station beginning in October 1878. Luise replaced SMS Freya at Hong Kong. Luise together with the gunboats Wolf and Cyclop now comprised the active German naval presence on the East Asian station. With the return of the ship to Wilhelmshaven and deactivation in 1880, von Diederichs's new orders assigned him as gunnery and torpedo instructor to the undergraduate Naval School and the postgraduate Naval War College, both of which were in Kiel at the time.

During his tenure at those schools, he participated in maneuvers and exercises and several study trips abroad. From 8 September to December 1885, he was commandant of the Bismarck-class corvette SMS Stosch. From 1 May to 13 September 1889, he was commandant of the ironclad SMS Sachsen. Sachsen relieved Bayern as the guard ship in Kiel once again, and she also took part in the fleet exercises that year. Sachsen took part in a goodwill visit to Portsmouth to take part in the Cowes Regatta. Following the trip to England in early August 1889, Sachsen and the rest of the fleet conducted the annual summer exercises.

With the conclusion of the academic year 1890, Captain Diederichs became director of the Imperial Shipyard at Kiel. From April to September 1891, he was once again commandant of the SMS Stosch, reactivated for use as a guard ship in Kiel. She went to the Cowes Regatta and then visited Leith, Scotland and Bergen, Norway before returning to Kiel on 5 August. She went on a cruise in the western Baltic and she participated in the annual fleet training exercises that began on 28 August. After the conclusion of the maneuvers, she was again decommissioned in Kiel on 24 September.

In January 1892, von Diederichs was promoted to rear admiral. He travelled to the United States in May 1893 to visit several shipyards and the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island. In 1895, he was appointed Chief of Staff for Admiral Eduard von Knorr at the German Imperial Naval High Command. Von Knorr was a difficult taskmaster (even Alfred von Tirpitz had run afoul of him) and after being dismissed by von Knorr, von Diederichs contemplated retirement. Despite the dismissal, von Knorr had given von Diederichs a favourable evaluation. His career was saved after Kaiser Wilhelm II recalled Rear Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz from East Asia to Berlin, an action that created a vacancy in 1897 for Diederichs to fill. He replaced Tirpitz on 1 April 1897 as commanding officer of the East Asian Cruiser Division, still without a base.

East Asia

Diederichsweg

Diederichsberg

Diederichsstein

The political will to acquire a base in the Far East had existed for some time. The new Reich Chancellor Chlodwig von Hohenlohe agreed in principle, despite reservations and a preference for "caution" and diplomatic, rather than, military solutions. Purchase or acquisition by other means, however, would fulfill that basic requirement. In October 1897, von Diederichs received a dispatch: A German steamboat, of course flying a flag, had been attacked by a group of Chinese, throwing objects at it and insulting it. “Insulting the German flag” could be the reason for the military action under consideration. But he was being held back because there was still no agreement from the Russian side.

But when a new report arrived on 5 November 1897 that a German missionary had been murdered in southern Shandong and a second missionary was missing, Rear Admiral von Diederichs received the imperial order for the entire squadron in the bay in front of Kiautschou on 8 November at 12:30 p.m. “occupy appropriate points, take measures to atone.” Emperor Wilhelm II's order was carried out on 14 November 1897, von Diederichs landed in the Bay of Kiautschou and occupied the coastal section. He was promoted to vice admiral only days later. He then took part in the negotiations about Germany's special claims in the Kiautschou area to prevent land usury and guarantee the German community a fair share of the success of their work, with the goal of the creation of a German colony in Tsingtau.

In December 1897, further German ships arrived in the bay to “stabilize the situation”. And right at the beginning of 1898, the "Norddeutsche Lloyd" (NDL) ship Darmstadt moored in the harbor with 1,200 marines from III. Sea Battalion on board. The battalion was the only all-German formation in an overseas protectorate, German colonies normally depended on a Schutztruppe with a majority of native volunteers. On 6 March 1898, Germany leased the bay from China for 99 years. Von Diederichs was appointed Imperial Governor (Reichsgouverneur).

Manila

Following the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in February of 1898, von Diederichs led a fleet towards the Philippines in an attempt to seize the islands before American ships under Admiral George Dewey could arrive.

On 12 May 1898, Vice Admiral Otto von Diederichs, commander of the German East Asia Squadron, cabled the German Government from Nagasaki, Japan to inform them of his intention to sail to Manila Bay to protect and secure German interests in the Philippines amid the ongoing siege of Manila by the US Asiatic Squadron. Emperor Wilhelm II, wanting to expand his empire in Asia, approved of the expedition and the squadron set sail for Manila on 18 May 1898.

Following the arrival of the American fleet, however, one of von Diederichs' ships sailed into Manila Bay, where it was fired upon by the American cruiser Olympia. Dewey requested that the United States send more ships to prevent Germany from seizing the Philippines, and von Diederich's fleet eventually retreated.

Nonetheless, the mood was professional. When Dewey was promoted to full admiral in 1899, von Diederichs wrote him a letter congratulating and received a thank you letter from Dewey from Manila just weeks later. On 14 April 1899, he had handed over his offices in Kiautschou to Rear Admiral (later Großadmiral) Heinrich Prince of Prussia (1862–1929). On 15 April 1899, his journey home from Shanghai began.

Cold War in Manila Bay

Early in 1898 Germany entered the race with other Western powers for the acquisition of Asiatic bases and trading ports. In February she brought pressure enough upon China to obtain the lease of the Bay of Kiaochow and probably saw in the native uprising in the Philippines the possibility of obtaining them by purchase from Spain, consequently she assembled a portion of her Asiatic fleet in Hong Kong in anticipation of their occupancy. The destruction of the Maine, however, brought the United States into almost inevitable war with Spain, and the arrival of a U. S. Squadron in Hong Kong under Commodore Dewey threatened to bring in another competitor for the islands. The German division in Hong Kong was under the command of Prince Henry of Prussia, whom Dewey had met some years before and liked, but even their cordial personal relations could not prevent an apprehension on the part of the German Prince that the United States might snatch the plum for which Germany was reaching. At a banquet Prince Henry was heard to say to Commodore Dewey: “What would you want in the event of Spain’s defeat?” To which Dewey replied: “Only a bay.” It seemed almost certain, however, that Dewey’s squadron of three vessels would be defeated by the Spanish squadron of six, and that the Germans could then negotiate with Spain for the purchase of her turbulent islands, but when Dewey’s squadron was increased to six, it seemed more than likely that the situation would be reversed. Germany then made her first cold war move by contracting for all the coal in Hong Kong, or in transit to Hong Kong. Dewey, however, beat the Germans to it by purchasing, with the approval of Great Britain, the collier Nanshan, loaded with coal, which was then nearing Hong Kong. On April 27 Dewey’s squadron sailed for Manila. Figuring that it would take him three days to reach there, the foreign ship commanders at Hong Kong waited with bated breath on May 1 for news from the Philippines, but none came.

On May 2 a cablegram went through from the Philippine Governor General to the Spanish Government stating that Dewey’s squadron had suffered a severe repulse with heavy loss. But no word came from Dewey, and when an attempt was made to communicate with him the cable had gone dead. When the cablegram from the Governor General of the Philippines was published, the German cruiser Irene was ordered from Nagasaki to Manila to learn what was happening. She entered Manila Bay, ignoring the blockade until brought to a standstill by a shot across her bow when she ignored a call from a patrol launch to heave to. Her captain claimed that he did not know that a blockade existed, but it was later found that he had been informed of it by a merchant vessel which he intercepted on his way down. After nearly a week’s suspense, the McCulloch arrived in Hong Kong with complete reports which were very disheartening and disturbing to the Germans, but still they were not entirely discouraged. Dewey had not taken Manila and had expressed no immediate intention of doing so. He had only established a blockade of the bay. As soon as this news was received, the German cruiser Cormoran was ordered to Manila from Hong Kong. The Cormoran attempted to slip through Dewey’s blockade in the dead of night, ignoring a signal to heave to, but was stopped by a shot from the Raleigh across her bow and boarded by an officer who assigned her an anchorage. There could be no logical explanation of her action other than an attempt to test the efficiency of the blockade. The British heavy cruiser Immortalité almost immediately tailed the Cormoran, accompanied by a small British gunboat. The former was commanded by Captain Sir Edward Chichester, a warm friend of Commodore Dewey. A French and a Japanese cruiser soon followed. All these vessels were assigned an anchorage west of Manila, seven miles across the bay from Cavite.

On May 23 three transports sailed from San Francisco for Manila with 2,500 troops; it became obvious to Germany that the United States intended to occupy the city. About ten days later the Commander in Chief of the German Asiatic fleet, Vice Admiral Otto von Diederichs, arrived in Manila Bay on his flagship, the formidable cruiser Kaiserin Augusta, accompanied by the cruisers Kaiser and Prinz Wilhelm, a transport carrying 1,400 enlisted men, and a collier. Von Diederichs was stopped at Corregidor by a blockading vessel and was assigned the foreign ship anchorage. He sent his vessels to it, but proceeded with his flagship directly to Manila and fired a salute of 21 guns with the Spanish flag at the main. He than crossed to Cavite and fired a salute of 13 guns to Admiral Dewey, returning immediately to his assigned anchorage. Dewey did not return the salute. Von Diederichs sent an officer to ask why, to which Dewey replied that he should have been saluted first as he was in command of the whole bay and holding it under strict blockade. Von Diederichs did not apologize and the salute was not returned. Dewey then crossed the bay in the Concord and paid his official call on von Diederichs, during which he asked him why he had assembled such a large force in Manila Bay. Von Diederichs stood stiffly erect, heels together Prussian style, and answered sternly: “We are here by order of the Kaiser, Sir.” Germany then had five formidable cruisers in Manila Bay, superior in gun power to Dewey’s squadron, plus a transport with 1,400 enlisted men—purpose unknown—and a fully laden collier.

News was received at this time that a Spanish squadron consisting of two battleships, several gunboats, and three destroyers was in the Mediterranean headed for Manila. Dewey immediately cabled for the monitors Monterey and Monadnock to be sent to him as a reinforcement. It was soon noted by observation and Filipino grapevine that intercourse between German officers and Spanish officials in Manila was very active. Apparently under German supervision the ten-inch batteries in front of the city were being backed by high embankments to prevent shells fired at them from entering the residential section. [...] On August 10 Admiral Dewey announced that Manila would be attacked by our armed forces in forty-eight hours and advised all foreign men-of-war to move out of the line of fire offering them anchorage at Cavite. All but the Germans accepted; von Diederichs stood pat. On August 13 the assault began by land and sea. The German squadron immediately got under weigh and formed across our advancing squadron, causing much apprehension, but Captain Chichester in the lmmortalité rushed at full speed from Cavite and hove to between the Germans and our advancing columns. At 5:15 p.m. the Spanish flag was hauled down at Manila and the Stars and Stripes hoisted in its place. Twenty-one guns were fired from all our ships, followed immediately by twenty-one guns from the lmmortalité with our flag at her main. The Germans fired no salute. A few days later their hopes were completely dashed. News came that the United States had purchased the Philippines. Von Diederichs departed with his squadron without any further communication. The cold war was over.

Return to the Vaterland

Finally home, he was granted leave. On 19 September 1899, he was commanded to the General Staff of the Army, on 1 January 1900, he was appointed as Chief of the Imperial Admiralty Staff. During von Diederichs' two-year absence from Berlin, a major naval reorganization had taken place that propelled Alfred von Tirpitz to the pinnacle of German naval authority. Into much internal strife, von Diederichs stepped in as Chief of the Admiralty Staff (Admiralstab). He discovered serious organizational discords with the von Tirpitz administration that he could not overcome, he did not have Wilhelm II's ear, he had few influential peers and his operational authority over ships at foreign stations was "undermined". He was again considering retirement, as he concluded that the Emperor no longer had confidence in his leadership of the admiralty staff although he was promoted to full Admiral in January 1902. Von Tirpitz did not wait but simply announced a successor to von Diederichs. With limited options in the matter, he transmitted his request for retirement on 9 August 1902.

On 19 August 1902, he was placed at the disposal and at the same time à la suite of the Naval Officer Corps. His successor as Chief of the Admiralty Staff was Wilhelm Büchsel (1848–1920), who took office in Berlin on 20 August 1902. Admiral von Diederichs and his wife decided to retire to Lichtental near Baden-Baden, where he designed a villa and had it constructed.

Death

Admiral z. D. von Diederichs died in Baden-Baden on 8 March 1918, age 74, not even three months after the death of his wife, and is interred in a mausoleum at Baden-Baden's municipal cemetery.

Otto's mother "Jettchen" by Heinrich Karl Anton Mücke

Family

Descent

Otto was the youngest son of the Prussian senior government councilor (Oberregierungsrat) Friedrich "Fritz" Ferdinand Alexander von Diederichs (1805–1888) and his wife (∞ 1832) Henriette "Jettchen", née Molinari (b. 1813 in Cologne; d. 18 December 1880 in Berlin). The family was elevated to hereditary Prussian nobility in 1816. Otto had two brothers and four sisters:

• Marie (1833–1861)
• Karl (1835–1847)
• Emma (1838–1914)
• Friedrich Wilhelm Justus (1839–1899), Prussian Major z. D.
• Sophie Henriette (b. 25 February 1841 in Minden; d. 18 January 1917 in Berlin-Charlottenburg)
• Elisabeth Gertrud Henriette (b. 4 July 1850 in Potsdam; d. 12 September 1935 in Eberswalde)

Marriage

On 14 November 1871 in Leer, 1st Lieutenant von Diederichs married his fiancée Henriette Klopp (27 June 1853 in Leer; d. 17 December 1917 in Baden-Baden). They had two sons:

• Friedrich "Fritz" Heinrich (b. 10 October 1872 in Leer; d. 3 December 1966), naval officer
  • finally Corvette Captain in the Imperial Admiralty Staff
• Hermann (b. 26 September 1877 in Berlin), naval officer
  • Lieutenant Captain in 1906, Charakter als Korvettenkapitän (Honorary Corvette Captain) on 8 February 1913 in the Reichsmarineamt and patent as Korvettenkapitän z. D. (Corvette Captain at disposal) on 12 October 1916; Iron Cross and Friedrich-August-Kreuz, 2nd Class (OFA2) in WWI.
    • Hermann's son Alfred (b. 19 June 1906 in Wilhelmshaven) had become a successful manager of the Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft (Ufa). Although happily married, he began a relationship with his 23-year-old secretary Hildegard Schmidmeier in early 1947. Two years later, he separated from his wife. While the divorce was ongoing, von Diederichs was fired from Ufa because he had run up large debts. Now his lover was no longer so interested in him, but turned to another wealthy man. Von Diederichs went back to his wife. Finally he asked Hildegard to meet him one last time at a fine hotel. There were heated arguments that lasted until the morning of 23 May 1950 and ultimately wore the man down mentally. In mad jealousy, he threw his indecisive lover, who played a double game, onto the bed and squeezed her throat with his hands until she was dead. Then he ran down the hotel stairs, bought a bouquet of lily of the valley and placed it reverently on the dead woman's chest. He gave a seven-page confession to the police. The trial began in January 1952, and finally he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Alfred von Diederichs was in prison until the end of 1962 and was released on probation.

Promotions

• 1 January 1862 Avantgardeur (Officer Candidate) of the Prussian Army
• 6 September 1865 Offiziersaspirant und Matrose II. Klasse (Officer Candidate and Sailor 2nd Class)
• 24 June 1866 See-Cadett (Officer Cadet)
• 1867 Unter-Lieutenant zur See (2nd Lieutenant)
• 31 August 1869 Lieutenant zur See (1st Lieutenant)
• 20 May 1873 Capitain-Lieutenant (Lieutenant Captain)
• 15 April 1880 Korvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain – Lieutenant Commander)
• 18 February 1886 Kapitän zur See (Captain at Sea – Captain)
• 20 January 1892 Kontre-Admiral (Rear Admiral)
• 23 November 1897 Vize-Admiral (Vice Admiral)
• 27 January 1902 Admiral

Awards, decorations and honours

Awards and decorations

• War Commemorative Medal of 1870–1871 (Kaiserliche Kriegsdenkmünze 1870/71; KD70/71)
• Red Eagle Order (Roter Adlerorden), 4th Class in 1884
• Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz)
• Prussian Order of the Crown (Kronenorden), 3rd Class in 1888
• Red Eagle Order, 3rd Class with the Bow (mit der Schleife) in 1889
• Prussian Order of the Crown, 2nd Class in 1889
• Order of the Iron Crown (Austria), Knight 2nd Class (ÖEK2)
• Mecklenburg Order of the Griffon (Großherzoglich Mecklenburgischer Greifenorden), Grand Commander's Cross (MGrO2a/MG2a)
• Red Eagle Order, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves in 1893
• Order of the White Falcon (Hausorden vom Weißen Falken), Commander's Cross (GSF2)
• Star to his Prussian Order of the Crown 2nd Class in 1896
• Prussian Centenary Medal 1897 (Zentenarmedaille)
• Russian Order of Saint Stanislaus, 1st Class (RSt1)
• Prussian Order of the Crown, 1st Class
• Order of Orange-Nassau, Grand Cross (NN1)
• Order of the Iron Crown (Austria), Knight 1st Class (ÖEK1)
• Austrian Imperial Order of Leopold, 1st Class (ÖL1b)
• Red Eagle Order, 1st Class with Oak Leaves
• Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, Grand Cross (JMuL1/JM1)
• Russian Order of Saint Anna (St.-Annen-Orden), 1st Class (RA1)
• Austrian Imperial Order of Leopold, 1st Class (ÖL1a)
• Red Eagle Order, Grand Cross with Oak Leaves

Honours

• A Hill (Diederichsberg) with signal station, Naval Observatory and the Governor's official residence was named after him.
• At the Kiautschou colony a mountain monument (Diederichsstein) was named after him.
• A street in Tsingtao (Diederichsweg) near the Gouverneurspalast, the seat of the colonial government, was named after him .
• Gift watch from Heinrich Prince of Prussia dedicated to von Diederichs, "the victor of Tsingtao": "Dem Sieger von Tsingtau V. Adm. v. Diederichs ./. Heinrich Prinz von Preußen ./. Neujahr 1898"

Gallery

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Writings

• Deutsch-Asiatische Warte – Amtlicher Anzeiger des Kiautschou-Gebietes, 13 editions, 21 November 1898 to 22 February 1899
• Darstellung der Vorgänge vor Manila von Mai bis August 1898 – Eine persönliche Bemerkung zur Autobiography of George Dewey, Admiral of the Navy, 1914