Paul Behncke (13 August 1869 – 4 January 1937) was a German admiral during the First World War, most notable for his command 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 ...

of the German

High Seas Fleet The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...

during the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...

Naval career

He was born in

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

in 1869. At the age of fourteen he joined the

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

and as an officer commanded a

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

in the Far East. After studying at the Naval Academy 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 ...

he was assigned to the general staff. As commander of the

unprotected cruiser An unprotected cruiser was a type of naval warship in use during the early 1870s Victorian or pre-dreadnought era (about 1880 to 1905). The name was meant to distinguish these ships from “protected cruisers”, which had become accepted in ...

, he returned to Chinese waters and on being promoted to the rank of captain he was appointed to the battleship , and afterwards to the

dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...

. Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War Behncke was promoted to ''

Konteradmiral ''Konteradmiral'', abbreviated KAdm or KADM, is the second lowest naval flag officer rank in the German Navy. It is equivalent to '' Generalmajor'' in the '' Heer'' and ''Luftwaffe'' or to '' Admiralstabsarzt'' and ''Generalstabsarzt'' in the '' ...

'' (Rear Admiral) and again assigned to the general staff. During the conflict he was opposed to Admiral

Alfred von Tirpitz Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz (19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussi ...

's theories on

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 ...

, and was appointed head of the

, composed of eight of the nine most modern battleships of the German navy (the and es). Leading these ships aboard his

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

, Behncke took part in the

, 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. During the 1917

Battle of Moon Sound The Battle of Moon Sound was a naval battle fought between the forces of the German Empire, and the then Russian Republic (and three British submarines) in the Baltic Sea during Operation Albion from 16 October 1917 until 3 November 1917 duri ...

he prevented the retreat of part of the Russian fleet and sank the . By that time he had the rank of ''

Vizeadmiral (abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral. Austria-Hungary In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (also spelled ''Kont ...

'' (Vice Admiral) and the following year, after the renunciation of Admiral

Eduard von Capelle Admiral Eduard von Capelle (10 October 1855 – 23 February 1931) was a German Imperial Navy officer from Celle. He served in the navy from 1872 until his retirement in October, 1918. During his career, Capelle served in the ''Reichsmarin ...

, rose to Secretary of State of the Imperial Naval Office, a position he held for only one month before being relieved. 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. He died in Berlin in 1937.

References

*''Enciclopedia General del Mar'', Jose Mª Martinez - Hidalgo, Volume I, s.v. BEHNCKE, Paul, Page 1323, Ediciones Garriga, S.A., Barcelona, 1968

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Behncke, Paul Imperial German Navy admirals of World War I Vice admirals of the Imperial German Navy Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) 1937 deaths 1869 births People from Ostholstein People from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein Military personnel from Lübeck Admirals of the Reichsmarine Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Recipients of the Hanseatic Cross (Lübeck)