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Paul Behncke
Born(1869-08-13)13 August 1869
Lübeck
Died4 January 1937(1937-01-04) (aged 67)
Berlin
Allegiance German Empire
Weimar Republic
Service/branch Imperial German Navy
 Reichsmarine
Years of service1883–1924
RankAdmiral
Commands heldIII Battle Squadron
Battles/warsWorld War I
AwardsPour le Mérite

Paul Behncke (13 August 1869 – 4 January 1937) was born in Lübeck and died in Berlin. He was a German admiral during the First World War, most notable for his command of the III Battle Squadron of the German High Seas Fleet during the Battle of Jutland.[citation needed]

Naval career

At the age of fourteen he joined the navy and as an officer commanded a gunboat in the Far East. After studying at the Naval Academy in Kiel he was assigned to the general staff. As commander of the unprotected cruiser SMS Falke, he returned to Chinese waters and on being promoted to the rank of captain he was appointed to the battleship SMS Wettin, and afterwards to the dreadnought SMS Westfalen.[citation needed]

Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War Behncke was promoted to Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) and again assigned to the general staff. During the conflict he was opposed to Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz's theories on submarine warfare, and was appointed head of the III Battle Squadron, composed of eight of the nine most modern battleships of the German navy (the König and Kaiser classes). Leading these ships aboard his flagship SMS König, Behncke took part in the Battle of Jutland, where he was seriously wounded by a shell splinter and found himself in command of the whole fleet during the third phase of the action.[citation needed]

During the 1917 Battle of Moon Sound he prevented the retreat of part of the Russian fleet and sank the Slava. By that time he had the rank of Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) and the following year, after the renunciation of Admiral Eduard von Capelle, rose to Secretary of State of the Imperial Naval Office, a position he held for only one month before being relieved.[citation needed]

Behncke regained office after the war, replacing admiral Adolf von Trotha, and retired from the navy in 1924. In retirement, Behncke served as the president of the German-Japanese Society.[1]

References

  1. ^ "ADMIRAL BEHNCKE, 70, OF GERMANY IS DEAD". New York Times. 5 January 1937.

External links

Military offices New creation Chef der Marineleitung 15 September 1920 – 25 September 1924 Succeeded byVizeadmiral Hans Zenker Preceded byKonteradmiral William Michaelis Chef der Admiralität 1 – 14 September 1920 Office renamed Preceded byAdmiral Eduard von Capelle Staatssekretär im Reichsmarineamt 18 – 27 September 1918 (Acting since August 28th) Succeeded byVizeadmiral Ernst Karl August Klemens von Mann Preceded byAdmiral Reinhard Scheer Chef des III. Geschwaders 24 January – 11 August 1918 Succeeded byVizeadmiral Hugo Kraft New creation Deputy Chief of the Admiralty Staff 2 August 1914 – 4 September 1915 Succeeded byVizeadmiral Reinhard Koch Preceded byKapitän zur See Friedrich Gädeke Commanding officer of SMS Westfalen 15 September 1910 – 30 September 1911 Succeeded byKapitän zur See Wilhelm Starke Preceded byKapitän zur See Wilhelm Souchon Commanding officer of SMS Wettin 19 September 1909 – 14 September 1910 Succeeded byKapitän zur See Hermann Nordmann Preceded byKorvettenkapitän Friedrich Musculus Commanding officer of SMS Falke 30 October 1903 – 3 November 1905 Succeeded byKorvettenkapitän Georg von Ammon
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