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Eckermann was the fourth child of the justice-councillor Rudolf Eckermann (1824-1904) and his wife Marie (1840-1873). He was born in Ratzeburg, but in 1864 his parents moved to Flensburg then in 1867 to the naval town of Kiel. From 1869 to 1881 he attended the Kieler Gelehrtenschule, moving to the Abitur in 1881 and finally enrolling as a naval cadet on 12 April 1881.
His first postings were to SMSNiobe, SMSMars and SMSFriedrich der Große as well as to the Marineschule in Kiel. After being made a Seekadett (midshipman), he was posted to SMSLeipzig, remaining with it for two years on its posting to the Far East. After returning home from that trip, he was promoted to Unterleutnant zur See in November 1884 and posted to the officer-training course at the Marineschule.
A series of short postings to training ships followed, taking him to the West Indies and the Mediterranean as well as the North Atlantic. He then travelled to North and South America and the West Indies for 18 months on board SMSAriadne. He was then sent on a longer posting to the Marinedetachement and the Artillerieprüfungskommission in Berlin. During this time he was temporarily in command of the torpedo boatV 6, travelling between Berlin and Potsdam on the rivers Elbe, Havel and Spree and remaining on standby to transport the Kaiser. In this position he fired a torpedo on the Havelsee in front of the imperial family and received his first decoration, the fourth class of the Order of the Crown, presented personally by the Crown Prince.
His Berlin posting was followed by a series of shorter postings to training ships in the Matrosendivision and in the Torpedoabteilung in Wilhelmshaven, as First Officer on the SMSBremse, the fishery protection on the North Sea and as commander of torpedo boats at various training and active divisions. In April 1894 Eckermann was promoted to Kapitänleutnant and travelled to South America on the steamer München to join SMSArcona as its navigation officer. This posting lasted eighteen months in South America and the Far East, during which he later moved to SMSMarie.
After returning home, Eckermann was made Kompanieführer in the III. Marine-Artillerie-Abteilung in Lehe bei Bremerhaven. In 1897 he married Marie Luise Stadtlander, daughter of the Prussian vice-consul, ship-owner and ship-broker Johann Stadtlander and his wife Rebecca - Eckermann and his wife had two children. In the years which followed he was ordered to join the Reichsmarineamt in Berlin and served as First Officer of the SMSÄgir. From March 1902 to June 1903 he commanded SMSPanther - his first trip with this ship was up the Rhine to Düsseldorf for the World Exhibition there. He and the ship then sailed to the West Indies and South America, where the ship sank the Haitian gunboat Crête-à-Pierrot (which had hijacked the German steamer Markomannia). Joined the naval blockade of Venezuela and carried out a lengthy bombardment of the Venezuelan Fort San Carlos in 1903. The battle started when the fort's gunners opened fire on Panther when she was crossing the sandy bar of Maracaibo lagoon. The captain Eckermann replied the fire but the shallow waters prevented Panther from making an effective bombardment. Inside the fort, two of the gunners managed to score several hits at Panther with their 80-millimeter Krupp gun, causing considerable damage to the ship.[citation needed] After half an hour of exchanging fire, the Panther retreated. The president Cipriano Castro claimed this as a victory, and in response the German commander sent the SMSVineta with heavier weapons to destroy the fort. From 1903 to 1906 he was back at the Reichsmarineamt in Berlin. He next commanded SMSBrandenburg, SMSBraunschweig (1907–08) and SMSSchwaben (1908–10). In autumn 1910 he became Oberwerftdirektor of Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven, holding that position until March 1914. From March to August 1914 he was inspector of the torpedo force at Kiel.
Shortly after the start of World War I, from 12 to 31 August 1914, he was commander of the 6th Squadron. On 13 October 1914 he was promoted to vice admiral. A special friend of von Tirpitz, Eckermann was an unconditional supporter of offensive warfare and unrestricted submarine warfare and disliked the restraint imposed on the German Navy early in the war. He tirelessly worked to change this - its first offensive operations, the bombardment of the English coast, were on his initiative. From 12 September 1914 to 3 February 1915 he was chief of staff to the German High Seas Fleet and from 16 February to 19 June 1915 commander of the I Battle Squadron. He then fell seriously ill and retired on 10 July 1915. He died on 13 January 1916 in Kiel, one day after receiving the Iron Cross first class.
Ranks
Sources
(in German) Militärischer Personalbogen des Vizeadmiral Richard Eckermann (1862-1916)
(in German) Tagebücher R. Eckermann im Familiennachlass
(in German) Hildebrand, Hans H. / Henriot, Ernest - Deutschlands Admirale 1849–1945. Die militärischen Werdegänge der See-, Ingenieur-, Sanitäts-, Waffen- und Verwaltingsoffiziere im Admiralsrang. Band 3, Biblio-Verlag Osnabrück, 1988
The Reichsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the Reichswehr, existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it became known as the Kriegsmarine, a branch of the Wehrmacht; a change implemented by Adolf Hitler. Many of the administrative and organizational tenets of the Reichsmarine were then carried over into the organization of the Kriegsmarine.
Carl Friedrich Heinrich Reinhard Scheer was an Admiral in the Imperial German Navy. Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet and progressed through the ranks, commanding cruisers and battleships, as well as senior staff positions on land. At the outbreak of World War I, Scheer was the commander of the II Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet. He then took command of the III Battle Squadron, which consisted of the newest and most powerful battleships in the navy. In January 1916, he was promoted to Admiral and given control of the High Seas Fleet. Scheer led the German fleet at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, one of the largest naval battles in history.
Hermann Bauer was a German naval officer who served as commander of the U-boat forces of the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I. In addition to his World War I career, Bauer is well known as the author of the book Das Unterseeboot, a treatise on the design and operation of U-boats, which was later translated into English by Hyman G. Rickover. Rickover's translation became a basic text for the US submarine service.
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Eduard Karl Emanuel von Jachmann was the first Vizeadmiral of the Prussian Navy. He entered the navy in the 1840s after initially serving in the merchant marine. In 1848, Jachmann received his first command, the corvette SMS Amazone; through the 1850s and early 1860s, he held several other commands, including the frigates Thetis—aboard which he took part in the Eulenburg expedition to East Asia—and Arcona. During the Second Schleswig War in 1864, he commanded Prussian naval forces in the Baltic from Arcona, and led a small squadron at the Battle of Jasmund on 17 March. Though defeated in that battle, he was promoted to Konteradmiral for his aggressive handling of the Prussian fleet.
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SMS Kaiser Friedrich III was the lead ship of the Kaiser Friedrich III class of pre-dreadnought battleships. She was laid down at the Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven in March 1895, launched in July 1896, and finished in October 1898. The ship was armed with a main battery of four 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns in two twin gun turrets supported by a secondary battery of eighteen 15 cm (5.9 in) guns.
SMS Kaiser Barbarossa was a German pre-dreadnought battleship of the Kaiser Friedrich III class. The ship was built for the Imperial Navy, which had begun a program of expansion at the direction of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Construction took place at Schichau, in Danzig. Kaiser Barbarossa was laid down in August 1898, launched on 21 April 1900, and commissioned in June 1901. The ship was armed with a main battery of four 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns in two twin-gun turrets.
SMS Wittelsbach was the lead ship of the Wittelsbach class of pre-dreadnought battleships, built for the Imperial German Navy. She was the first capital ship built under the Navy Law of 1898, brought about by Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. Wittelsbach was laid down in 1899 at the Wilhelmshaven Navy Dockyard and completed in October 1902. She was armed with a main battery of four 24 cm (9.4 in) guns and had a top speed of 18 knots.
SMS Victoria Louise was the lead ship of her class of protected cruisers, built for the German Imperial Navy in the late 1890s. She was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in 1895, launched in March 1897, and commissioned into the German fleet in February 1899. She was named after Princess Victoria Louise, the daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The ship was armed with a battery of two 21 cm guns and eight 15 cm guns and had a top speed of 19.2 knots.
SMS Vineta was a protected cruiser of the Victoria Louise class, built for the German Imperial Navy in the 1890s. Vineta was laid down at the AG Vulcan shipyard in 1895, launched in April 1897, and commissioned into the Navy in July 1898. The ship, named for the semi-legendary medieval town of Vineta, was armed with a battery of two 21 cm guns and eight 15 cm guns and had a top speed of 19 knots.
SMS Schwaben was the fourth ship of the Wittelsbach class of pre-dreadnought battleships of the German Imperial Navy. Schwaben was built at the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven. She was laid down in 1900, and completed in April 1904. Her sister ships were Wittelsbach, Zähringen, Wettin and Mecklenburg; they were the first capital ships built under the Navy Law of 1898, championed by Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. Schwaben was armed with a main battery of four 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns and had a top speed of 18 knots.
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Franz Ritter von Hipper was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy. Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht SMY Hohenzollern. Hipper commanded several cruisers in the reconnaissance forces before being appointed commander of the I Scouting Group in October 1913.
SMS Beowulf was the second vessel of the six-member Siegfried class of coastal defense ships built for the German Imperial Navy. Her sister ships were Siegfried, Frithjof, Heimdall, Hildebrand, and Hagen. Beowulf was built by the AG Weser shipyard between 1890 and 1892, and was armed with a main battery of three 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns. She served in the German fleet throughout the 1890s and was rebuilt in 1900 – 1902. She served in the VI Battle Squadron after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, but saw no action. Beowulf was demobilized in 1915 and used as a target ship for U-boats thereafter. She was ultimately broken up for scrap in 1921.
SMS Hildebrand was the fifth vessel of the six-member Siegfried class of coastal defense ships built for the German Imperial Navy. Her sister ships were Siegfried, Beowulf, Frithjof, Heimdall, and Hagen. Hildebrand was built by the Kaiserliche Werft at Kiel between 1890 and 1893, and was armed with a main battery of three 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns. She served in the German fleet throughout the 1890s and was rebuilt in 1900–1902. She served in the VI Battle Squadron after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, but saw no action. Hildebrand was demobilized in 1915 and used as a barracks ship thereafter. She ran aground while en route to the Netherlands for scrapping in 1919, and was eventually broken up in situ in 1933.
Gustav Bachmann was a German naval officer, and an admiral in World War I.
Hugo Kraft was a Vice admiral of the Kaiserliche Marine.
This is the order of battle of the Imperial German Navy on the outbreak of World War I in August 1914.
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