Hans von Koester | |
|---|---|
 Hans von Koester | |
| Born | (1844-04-29)29 April 1844 |
| Died | 21 February 1928(1928-02-21) (aged 83) |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Prussia North German ConfederationGerman Empire |
| Branch |  Prussian Navy North German Federal Navy Imperial German Navy |
| Years of service | 1859–1906 |
| Rank | Grand Admiral |
| Awards | Order of the Black Eagle |
| Signature | .png) |
Hans Ludwig Raimund von Koester (29 April 1844 – 21 February 1928) was a German naval officer who served in thePrussian Navy and later in theImperial German Navy. He retired as aGrand Admiral.
Born Hans Ludwig Raimund Koester in 1844 inSchwerin,Mecklenburg-Schwerin, he entered the Prussian Navy as aKadettenanwärter (Cadet candidate) on 21 June 1859. He had an active seagoing career in the service, which became theNorth German Federal Navy in 1866, and then theImperial German Navy in 1871. His first command was the naval brigUndine which he took on a 15-month voyage toNorth,Central, andSouth America in 1874–75.
Promoted toKorvettenkapitän (Lieutenant-Commander) in 1875, he was later assigned to various training ships, the latest of which was theKreuzerfregatte (cruiser-frigate)Prinz Adalbert, which he took on a world cruise from 1878 to 1880. Koester was promoted toKapitän zur See in 1881. Appointed commander of theSegelfregatte (sail frigate)Niobe in 1883, Koester next took command of thePanzerkorvette (armored corvette - later battleship)Württemberg in 1884.
In 1887 he was named commander of thePanzerfregatte (armored frigate - later armored cruiser)König Wilhelm, long the largest ship in the fleet.
From 1884 to 1887 he served 2.5 years as chief of staff of theGerman Imperial Admiralty (Kaiserliche Admiralität), then headed byAdmiral und General der InfanterieLeo von Caprivi. In 1887 he became another 2.5 years as director of theKaiserliche Werft (Imperial Dockyard) at Kiel.[1] Then, until 1903 he occupied the post as commander of theBaltic Sea Naval Station in Kiel. In this capacity he strongly encouraged development ofKiel as a naval harbor and garrison town.
When AdmiralAlfred von Tirpitz presented his plan for a great battle fleet in June 1897, Koester objected on the grounds that there simply were not the personnel to cover such an expansion of the navy, and that the resources would be much better spent elsewhere.[2]
He was promoted toKonteradmiral (rear admiral or commodore) in 1889,Vizeadmiral in 1892, and fulladmiral in 1897. It was he, as acting commander in chief in place of a sick AdmiralEduard von Knorr, who sent theEast Asia Squadron commanded byOtto von Diederichs to theShandong Peninsula area in the fall of 1897, and who gave the order to take overKiautschou in November.[3] He was named to the somewhat ceremonial post ofGeneralinspekteur der Marine (Inspector General of the Navy) in 1899, but retained his post as Commander of the Kiel Naval Station until 1903. In 1900, he was instrumental in uncovering the poor preparation and staffing of theGerman Imperial Admiralty Staff under Diederichs, which "was a threat to national security."[4] However, along with Vice AdmiralAugust von Thomsen (Commander of the First Naval Division inWilhelmshaven), he strongly opposed the solution Diederichs proposed: a major increase in the size of the Admiralty Staff, the creation of a separate intelligence section, and the removal of theNaval War College (Marineacademie) to Berlin.[5] In the meantime, he was raised to theGerman nobility in 1900 asHans von Koester.
On 18 September 1902 he was decorated with theOrder of the Black Eagle.[6] Koester was awarded the 'Diamonds' distinction of this order on 21 June 1909.
Koester became the first active-duty German naval officer to attain the rank ofGrossadmiral (Grand Admiral) on 28 June 1905; the previous recipients of this rank were Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and King Oscar II of Sweden (both in 1901). Named a member for life of thePrussian House of Lords (Herrenhaus) on 17 September 1905, Koester was retired at his own request on 31 December 1906.
Elected president of theDeutsche Flottenverein (German Fleet Association) in 1908, he held this position until October 1919; thereafter he was honorary president. In this position he worked closely with AdmiralAlfred von Tirpitz to raise public support for the navy by promoting "public theater" with navy related activities such as ship launches, which became extremely elaborate after 1900.[7] He represented Germany at theHudson–Fulton Celebration in New York, 25 September-11 October 1909. Made an honorary citizen of Kiel on his 70th birthday, 29 April 1914, Koester worked during the First World War as a delegate of theKaiserliche Marine for health care. In 1916-17 he was an advocate ofunrestricted submarine warfare.
Koester died inKiel in 1928 at the age of 83. He was buried in the Nordfriedhof cemetery.
He received the following orders and decorations:[8]
Prussia:
Baden:[10]
Bavaria:Grand Cross of the Military Merit Order
Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of theSaxe-Ernestine House Order
Hesse and by Rhine: Grand Cross of theLudwig Order
Mecklenburg:Grand Cross of the Griffon
Oldenburg: Grand Cross of Honour of theOrder of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig
Reuss:Cross of Honour, 1st Class with Crown
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach:Grand Cross of the White Falcon
Saxony:Knight of the Rue Crown
Württemberg:Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown
Austria-Hungary:[11]
Belgium: Grand Cordon of theOrder of Leopold
Denmark:Knight of the Elephant,21 July 1905[12]
Kingdom of Hawaii: Commander of theOrder of Kalākaua
Kingdom of Italy:
Empire of Japan:Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd Class
Monaco:Grand Cross of St. Charles
Netherlands:Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion
Norway:Commander of St. Olav, 1st Class
Qing dynasty:Order of the Double Dragon, Grade II Class I
Russian Empire:
Spain:Grand Cross of the Military Merit Order
Sweden:
Siam:Grand Cross of the Crown of Siam
United Kingdom: Honorary Grand Cross of theRoyal Victorian Order,1 July 1904[15]
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