Felix Funke (3 January 1865 – 22 July 1932) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

of the

Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...

(Imperial German Navy).

Early life

Funke was born in Hirschberg (Jelenia Góra),

Prussian Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...

. His father Adolf Funke, originally from

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

, was President of the Alsatian Railway Company in Strassburg (Strasbourg). His mother Anna Stilke-Pilet came from a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

family which escaped from

Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect, Languedocian dialect of Occitan language, Occitan) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administ ...

after the revocation of the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...

. Funke lived his childhood in Strassburg and attended the German Navy School in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

on 18 April 1882. His training in the Kaiserliche Marine started on the sail ship ''Niobe''. His career followed a normal path to become admiral. He was well regarded by

William II, German Emperor Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empi ...

, with whom he often smoked a cigar in his cabin when the Emperor was on board.

Russo-Japanese War

In 1902 Funke spent four years in Tsing Tao (today:

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

), then a German colony in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. In 1904, he was witness to the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

, in which Germany was neutral. On 10 August 1904, Funke witnessed the

Battle of the Yellow Sea The Battle of the Yellow Sea ( ja, 黄海海戦, Kōkai kaisen; russian: Бой в Жёлтом море) was a major naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 10 August 1904. In the Russian Navy, it was referred to as the Battle of 10 A ...

, and as a safe haven, Tsing Tao received the damaged

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

battleship ''Tsesarevich''. The bridge had been hit twice, and Admiral Wilhelm Witthöft had died, along with several other high ranking Russian Officers. The ''Tsesarevich'' was joined during the night by the cruiser ''Novik'' and destroyers ''Bezstrashny'', ''Bezshumny'', and ''Bezposchadny''. The ''Novik'' loaded as much coal as possible and sailed immediately, whilst the destroyers remained and were disarmed after three days. On 15 August 1904, Vice-Admiral

Dewa Shigetō Baron was a Japanese admiral in the early days of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Biography Dewa was born as the son of a ''samurai'' of the Aizu domain (present day Fukushima prefecture). As a youth, he enlisted in the ''Byakkotai,'' a reserve ...

sent the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese destroyer '' Ikazuchi'' to Tsing Tao to discuss details of the Russian fleet with the governor of Tsing Tao and Admiral Funke, who boarded the ''Ikazuchi'' and made a note of the impressive state of cleanliness and order of both ship and crew. He assured Dewa's envoy that Russian ships remaining in the harbour were disarmed. The two highest remaining Russian commanding officers of the battlegroup, Counter Admiral Matusevich (Vitgeft's Chief of Staff), and Captain Ivanov (commanding the ''Tsesarevitch'') were wounded. After having received a promise from the convalescent Russian officers not to flee, Funke did not hold them in prison but invited them at his home. Later, he received the

Order of St. Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...

from Tsar

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

after he had allowed more Russian ships to take refuge and be interned at Tsing Tao, under approval by

Admiral Togo Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

, at the fall of Port Arthur on 2 January 1905; the Russian crews were ill and had needed medical care.

World War I

On 3 August 1914 Prince Adalbert of Prussia and Princess Adelheid of

Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen (; german: Sachsen-Meiningen ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernestin ...

were married in

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

. After the ceremony, the couple paid a visit to Funke on board of his flagship, the SMS ''Prinzregent Luitpold''. In 1914 Funke was rear admiral of the

III Battle Squadron The III Battle Squadron was a unit of the German High Seas Fleet before and during World War I. The squadron saw action throughout the war, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, where it formed the front of the German lin ...

, which included SMS ''Kaiser'', SMS ''Kaiserin'', SMS ''König Albert'', and ''Prinzregent Luitpold''. On 24 December 1914 he received the order to give command of the III Squadron to Admiral

Reinhard Scheer Carl Friedrich Heinrich Reinhard Scheer (30 September 1863 – 26 November 1928) was an Admiral in the Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine''). Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet and progressed through the ranks, commandin ...

whilst taking over command of the

II Battle Squadron The II Battle Squadron was a unit of the German High Seas Fleet before and during World War I. The squadron saw action throughout the war, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, where it formed the rear of the German line. ...

from Scheer. Funke participated in several naval battles against the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He disagreed with some views of

Grand Admiral Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, the highest rank in the several European navies that used it. It is best known for its use in Germany as . A comparable rank in modern navies is that of admiral of the fleet. Grand admirals in individual n ...

Prince Heinrich of Prussia A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...

, specifically with regards to using

submarine warfare Submarine warfare is one of the four divisions of underwater warfare, the others being anti-submarine warfare, mine warfare and mine countermeasures. Submarine warfare consists primarily of diesel and nuclear submarines using torpedoes, missi ...

Retirement and death

To his great surprise, he was asked into retirement by the Emperor on 18 September 1915. Funke suffered from depression and died aged 67 in 1932 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, where he had lived in retirement.

Sources

*Funke, Felix. Personal Memoirs. Unpublished (owned by his grand niece).
Commanders of the High Seas Fleet Battle Squadrons 1914-1918Scheer, Reinhard. ''Germany's High Seas Fleet in the World War''
online at the War Times Journal website {{DEFAULTSORT:Funke, Felix 1865 births 1932 deaths Vice admirals of the Imperial German Navy Imperial German Navy admirals of World War I People from the Province of Silesia Military personnel from Strasbourg People from Alsace-Lorraine Recipients of the Order of St. Anna People from Jelenia Góra