4 Röhl, John C G, Wilhelm II. Der Aufbau der persönlichen Monarchie 1888–19oo, Munich, 2001, p 1109ff.
5 Ibid, p 1111.
6 Deist, W ilhelm, ‘Reichsmarineamt und Flottenverein 1903–1906’, in Deist, Wilhelm, Militär, Staat und Gesellschaft, Studien zur preußisch-deutschen Militärgeschichte Beiträge zur Militärgeschichte 43, Munich, 1991, pp 57–8!
7 Röhl, Wilhelm II, p И52.
8 Herzog, ‘Der junge Canaris’, p 15.
9 Ibid, p 18.
10 Ibid, p 15.
11 See Saul, Klaus, ‘Dokumentation “Der Kampf um die Jugend zwischen Volksschule und Kaserne. Ein Beitrag zur ‘Jugendpflege’ im Wilhelminischen Reich 1890–1914”’, Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen 9, 1971, pp 97–143, whose main period of research lies between 1905/6 and 1914 and deals with school-leavers in industry. Contrary to so-called ‘Jugendwehren’, cadet corps that practised military exercises, bayonet fighting and sniping, the proceedings described were primarily designed as premilitary training for future NCOs by former senior career officers.
12 Herwig, Holger H, ‘Soziale Herkunft und wissenschaftliche Vorbildung des Seeoffiziers der Kaiserlichen Marine vor 1914’ Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen 10, 197Ī, p 89.
13 Ibid, p 86.
14 Höhne, Canaris, p 18, reference to Erich Ferdinand Pruck in n 35.
15 Herzog, ‘Der junge Canaris’, p 17, gives no cause of death: Brissaud, André, Canaris – Fürst des deutschen Geheimdienstes oder: Meister des Doppelspiels?, Frankfurt, 1970, p 15, says he died of a stroke: Höhne, Canaris, p 21, states that death resulted as the consequence of a heart attack and Abshagen, Canaris, p 29, speaks only of a heart condition.
16 Certificate, 16 March 1905, BA-MA, N 812/1, document 6; in this recently opened batch of papers are included originals of most nominations to positions aboard ship, notifications ofpromotions and decorations, some private and service correspondence, operational orders and war diaries together with files of the Committeee of Inquiry into the 1918 collapse, and photo albums. The originals correspond to microfilm collection NARA, T 84, Roll 491.
17 Herzog, ‘Der junge Canaris’, p 18; Höhne, Canaris, p 21; for the Naval Cadet Acceptance Commission and the costs of training and its function as a social barrier, see Herwig, ‘Herkunft’, p 851' and 93 with n 70.
18 Herzog, ‘Der junge Canaris’, p 18.
19 Höhne, Canaris, p 21.
20 Persius, Lothar, ‘Erinnerungen eines Seeoffiziers II. Als Kadett an Bord der “Niobe”’, Die Weltbühne 15, 14 April 1925, p 546.
21 Höhne, Canaris, p 21.
22 Herzog, ‘Der junge Canaris’, p 18; Abshagen, Canaris, p 31f.
23 Personal service record, Canaris-IfZ, folios 90 and 96.
24 Ibid, folio 90.
25 Höhne, Canaris, p 23ff.
26 Canaris-IfZ, folio 90f.
27 Höhne, Canaris, p 25.
28 Service certificate, New York, 10 June 1908 (written over ‘SMS Dresden 20.11.1907’ reason for alteration indecipherable), Canaris-IfZ, folio 2.
29 On occasion of changing commanders, Punta Arenas, 12 December 1908, signed Alberts, service record, Canaris-IfZ, folio 3.
30 Canaris-IfZ, folio 90.
31 Assessment report to 1 November 1909, ibid, folio 4.
32 Hopman, Albert, Das Logbuch eines deutschen Seeoffiziers, Berlin 1924, p 330k
33 Assessment report to 1 November 1909, Canaris-IfZ, folio 4.
34 Diary, Albert Hopman, BA-MA, N 326/5, quoted in Höhne, Canaris, p 26.
35 Hopman diary p 336.
36 Ibid p 338f.
37 Original of notification of award at BA-MA, 812/9; the decoration is mentioned in the personal file twice, 23 May 1909, folio 97 is crossed through. A further stay in Venezuela in May as suggested by Hopman is not possible. Höhne, Canaris, p 26, is equally vague as to the circumstances of the award. A connection with a naval blockade of Venezuela, as Britain, Italy and Germany had imposed in 1902 to force Venezuela to acknowledge its debts, did not exist at this time; had it done so the European expedition would have led to confrontation with the United States as a breach of the Monroe doctrine. Heideking, Jürgen, Geschichte der USA, Tübingen/ Basel 2003, p 239.
38 Hopman, diary, pp 339–42.
39 Assessment report to 1 November 1909, Canaris-IfZ, folio 4.
40 Hopman, diary, p 355.
41 Handwritten assessments, 15 April 1910 and 3 September 1910, Canaris-IfZ, folio 5f; assessment report 1 December 1911, ibid, folio 11; personal sheet, ibid, folio 90f.
42 Naval medical certificate, 15 January 1924, ibid, folio 80.
43 Personal sheet, ibid, folio 90; certificate as mining officer, ibid, folio 7.
44 Assessment report to 1 December 1913, ibid, folio 11. The assessment report for December 1912 is absent, but it is obvious from the later one that Canaris had already held the position for two years at the end of 1913.
45 Parker de Bassi, Maria Teresia, Kreuzer Dresden. Odyssee ohne Wiederkehr, Herford, 1993, p 16. The author interviewed the last surviving members of Dresden and was allowed access to private papers. Unfortunately she does not indicate what information comes from whom. As her account is otherwise very painstaking and reliable, I have used it, especially where contemporary witnesses or sources are rare or non-existent. This applies particularly to details of the Dresden mission in the Mediterranean and for various conversations involving Canaris that are reported only in this source and are included where relevant and plausible in the context
46 Ibid, p 17.
47 Abshagen, Canaris, p 34; also Höhne, Canaris, p 27.
48 Schneider, Heinrich, Die letzte Fahrt des Kleinen Kreuzers Dresden, Berlin/Leipzig, 1926, p 15.
49 Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 29.
50 Schneider, Letzte Fahrt, pp 16–18; Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 28ff.
51 Ibid, p 36f.
52 Schneider, Letzte Fahrt, p 16ff; Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 40ff. The dates Dülffer in the two accounts.
53 Copy of letter, Konsul Otto to Reich Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg, 25 July 1914, BA-MA, RM 5/2228, folio 207; Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 42.
54 Raeder, Erich (ed.), Der Kreuzerkrieg in den ausländischen Gewässern. Vol I: Das Kreuzergeschwader, Berlin 1927 (Der Krieg zur See 1914–1918, published by the Marine-Archiv, Berlin, 1920 ff), p 370b This work, which describes the naval war between 1914 and 1918, has an English companion: History of the Great War. Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee ofImperial Defence, London 1920 ff. The volumes used here are Corbett, Julian S., Naval Operations: vol I, To the Battle of the Falklands, London, 1920 and vol II, London, 1921.
2 The Epic Last Voyage of the Dresden
1 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 371.
2 Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 47.
3 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 372.
4 Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 48.
5 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 371f; Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p ļoí.
6 Höhne, Canaris, p 30.
7 Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 61.
8 For morale aboard Dresden see the memoir of former Unteroffizier Heinrich Schneider, Die letzte Fahrt, p 37.
9 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 374.
10 Ibid and Höhne, Canaris, p 29.
11 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 374. Obituary of Julius Fetzer in Die Nachhut 3, 1968, p 24, BA-MA, MSg 3–22/i.
12 Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 65.
13 Ibid, p 67.
14 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 380.
15 Parker de Bassi, Kleiner Kreuzer, pp 80 and 128f.
16 Ibid and Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 147f.
17 Parker de Bassi: Kreuzer Dresden, p 112.
18 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 388; Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, pp И5–22; Schneider, Die letzte Fahrt, p 59ff.
19 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 147.
20 Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 130.
21 Raeder,
Kreuzerkrieg, p 197; Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 130ff.
22 Ibid, p 13 5; for a detailed account from the British perspective, see Bennett, Geoffrey, Die Seeschlachten von Coronel und Falkland und der Untergang des deutschen Kreuzergeschwaders unter Admiral Graf Spee, Munich, 1980, p 27ff.
23 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p198. For an account of the battle see pp 207–3, and Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p ^7–43. For an eyewitness account, see Schneider, Die letzte Fahrt, p 67–74.
24 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 218.
25 Abshagen, Canaris, p 36. This letter and another of 12 November mentioned by Abshagen appear to have been in his private possession.
26 Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 152.
27 Translator’s note: This single sentence covers a whole month of activity. Between 6 and 15 November, the squadron coaled and refitted at Mas Afuera Island several hundred miles west of Valparaiso. On 12 November, when Dresden and Leipzig visited Valparaiso for intelligence and diplomatic purposes, Canaris went ashore with his commander. In cables from Berlin, which they brought back for the admiral, von Spee was allegedly asked what his intentions were. No documents relating to his decisions and activities over this last month of his life have ever been discovered in the German archives. Delayed by heavy weather, on 21 November the squadron put next into the secluded Bay of San Quintin in the Gulf of Penas on the southern coast of mainland Chile, where they recoaled and shipped supplies from three freighters of the German-run Kosmos Line. Here the final preparations were made for the assault on the Falkland Islands.
28 Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 186.
29 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 273.
30 Bennett, Die Seeschlachten, p 144f; Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 189.
31 Ibid, p 190.
32 For the exact course of the battle see the detailed accounts and analyses from the various perspectives in: Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 269–341; Corbett, Naval Operations, vol I, p 414–36 and Bennett, Die Seeschlachten, p 166–200.
33 Parker de Bassi, KreuzerDresden, p 195k Translator’s Note: In the absence of any official German documents, it is clear from the disposition of the German squadron that the intention was to invade, occupy and fortify the Falklands. A hit-and-run raid on islands believed undefended would have required no more than one or two small cruisers, as had been Admiral Spee’s practice in the preceding four months in the Pacific. From Admiral Sturdee’s Despatch (London Gazette 29087, 3 March 1915) it is known that the auxiliaries Baden, Santa Isabel and Seydlitz must have arrived during the night of 7 December and hidden up inshore at Port Pleasant. Next morning, once the five German cruisers were being pursued in perfect visibility, the cruiser Bristol and AMC Macedonia saw the three German auxiliaries ‘which at first sight seemed to be probably colliers or transports’ according to Captain J D Allen of HMS Kent, emerge from inshore at 1127hrs. Seydlitz fled south-west and arrived safely at San Antonio Oeste in Argentina to be immediately interned as an auxiliary warship. Baden and Santa Isabel headed east and were captured at about 140ohrs. The crews were given ten minutes to abandon ship before the British examined and sank them. If this operation involved a planned invasion and occupation of the Falklands, Canaris was certain to have known about it by reason of his closeness to the naval espionage organisation ashore.
34 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 390; Schneider, Die letzteFahrt, p 117; Höhne, Canaris, p 36; Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 205 f.
35 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 390; Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 208f.
36 Corbett, Naval Operations, vol I, p 435f and vol II, p. 241–4.
37 Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 211.
38 BA-MA, 5/2228; Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 395.
39 Ibid p 396.
40 Telegram, Admiralty staff to naval attaché Buenos Aires, BA-MA, RM 5/2228, folio 33.
41 Telegram, Stockholm naval attaché to Admiralty Staff, BA-MA, RM 5/2228, folio 48.
42 Schneider, Die letzte Fahrt, p 128.
43 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 399.
44 Schneider, Die letzte Fahrt, p 130; Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 400; Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 239.
45 Log HMS Kent, NA, ADM 53/45610.
46 Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 241.
47 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 401; Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 241.
48 Radio log HMS Glasgow, NA, ADM 137/4802; Ship’s log HMS Kent, NA, ADM 53/4561º.
49 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 401; Parker de Bassi. Kreuzer Dresden, p 242.
50 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 402; see also correspondence, British Legation, Santiago at NA, FO 13 2/139 and German letters intercepted by British intelligence at NA, ADM 137/4159.
51 Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 244.
52 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 403ff; Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 246ff; Schneider, Die letzte Fahrt, p 133ff, Höhne, Canaris, p 12f.
53 Schneider, Die letzte Fahrt, p 132; the logs of the three British warships contain Dülfferent details as to the time of the attack and the sinking of Dresden: NA, ADM 53/42828 (Glasgow), ADM 53/45610 (Kent), ADM 53/53455 (Orama); Raeder gives the time of the attack as o85ohrs, Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 403.
54 For the action see report of Lüdecke, Juan Fernandez, 15 March 1915, to Chief of Admiralty Staff, BA-MA, RM 5/2228, folios 156–9.
55 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 406f.
56 Telegram, Stockholm to Foreign Office, naval attaché to Admiralty Staff, 16 March 1915, BA-MA, RW 5/2228, folio 71.
57 Ibid. The two semi-official histories of the naval war Dülffer in their evaluation of the incident. There can be no doubt that the attack by the British warships was a serious breach of Chile’s neutrality. See Corbett, Naval Operations, Vol II, p 249f, which emphasises the British point of view that Dresden had committeed numerous infringements of Chilean neutrality. This had been tolerated by Chile and the cruiser should have been interned, something which Chile had not been in a position to accomplish. For the German view see Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 407f.
58 Letter, British envoy Francis Strong to Chilean Foreign Minister Alexander Lira, 8 March 1915, NA, FO 132/139.
59 Raeder, Kreuzerkrieg, p 406.
60 Ibid, p 407; Schneider, Die letzte Fahrt, p 139.
3 Agent on a Special Mission
1 Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 253.
2 Ibid, p 57.
3 Report, Honorary Consul Milward, Punta Arenas, to Consul-General Maclean, Valparaiso, 19 March 1915, NA, FO 132/142, and letter, British envoy Francis Strong to Chilean Foreign Minister Alexander Lira, 8 March 1915, NA, FO 132/139.
4 Parker de Bassi, Kreuzer Dresden, p 261.
5 Report, Erckert, visit to Quiriquina, Santiago, 28 July 1915, BA-MA, RM 5/2228, folios 249–652.
6 Christensen, C P, LetzteKaperfahrtnach Quirinquina, Berlin, 1936, p 213. The Danish novelist recounts the experiences of Stoker Stöckler from the latter’s personal story.
7 The flight of three officers and an auxiliary surgeon put ashore by Lüdecke before the sinking of Dresden was very awkward for the Chilean government, which attempted to conceal it from the British. Originally the authorities assumed that the former had absconded from Quiriquina, an error later clarified: see reports of Imperial German Legation, Santiago, 22 June 1915, BA-MA, RM 5/2228, folio 238 and 1 July 1915, ibid, folio 245.
8 In fact similar action was taken after Canaris’s escape. See letter from German envoy Erckert to Chilean Foreign Minister Lira, 28 September 1915 and his letter to Reich Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg, 9 October 1915, BA-MA, RM 5/2228, folio 2868.
9 Abshagen, Canaris, p 39f, Brissaud, Canaris, p 17; Richard Bassett, Hitler’s Spy Chief. The Wilhelm Canaris Mystery, London, 2005, p 142.
10 Abshagen, Canaris, p 40; Basset Hitler’s Spy Chief, p 42.
11 File note Admiralty Staff, 5 October 1915, BA-MA, RM 5/2228, folio 247.
12 Abshagen, Canaris, p 39.
13 Canaris-IfZ, folio 92.
14 Madrid Naval Messages, vol III, 25 Dec
ember-31 January 1916: German Embassy Madrid, Telegram 30, 4 January 1916, NA, ADM 223/641.
15 ‘Ein König im Netz’, Die Weltbühne, 10 January 1928.
16 Papeleux, Léon, L’Admiral Canaris entre Franco et Hitler. Le rôle de Canaris dans les relations germano-espagnoles (1915–1944), Brussels, 1977, p 31. Papeleux quotes a report by Canaris of 18 October 1916 on the political situation in Spain.
17 ‘Ein König im Netz’, Die Weltbühne, 10 January 1928, pp 53–7.
18 Abshagen, Canaris, p 41.
19 ‘Ein König im Netz’, Die Weltbühne, 10 January 1928, pp 53–7.
20 Abshagen, Canaris, p 43.
21 Madrid Naval Messages, vol III-VI, 25 December 1915–8 May 1916, NA, ADM 223/641–644. See: Derencin, Robert, ‘Secret Naval Supply System of the German Imperial Navy in WWI’, available at www.uboat.net/articles, 2 April 2005.
22 Madrid Naval Messages, vol III, 25 December 1915–31 January 1916: German Embassy Madrid, Telegram 41, 5 January 1916, NA, ADM 223/641.
23 Ibid, Madrid, Telegram 214, 29 January 1916, NA, ADM 223/641.
24 Ibid, Madrid, Telegram 161, 21 January 1916, NA, ADM 223/641.
25 Ibid, Admiralty Staff Berlin, Telegram 37, 26 January 1916, NA, ADM 223/641.
26 Ibid, Madrid, Telegram 198, 27 January 1916, NA, ADM 223/641.
27 Ibid, Admiralty Staff Berlin, Telegram 47, 29 January 1916, and Madrid, Telegram 232, 31 January 1916, NA, ADM 223/641.
28 Naval medical certificate, 15 January 1924, in Canaris-IfZ, folio 80.
29 Madrid Naval Messages, vol IV, 1–29 February 1916: German Embassy Madrid, Telegram 420, 20 February 1916, NA, ADM 223/642. Madrid warned that Canaris had to be issued without fail with a new passport in Zurich so that the old one should not be rendered worthless by German entry visas. In the telegram a ‘new’ passport is spoken of confusingly.
30 Madrid Naval Messages, vol V, 1–29 March 1916: Embassy Madrid, Telegram 108, 29 February 1916, NA, ADM 223/643.
31 Letter from Chief of the Admiralty Staff, 3 March 1916, in Canaris-IfZ, folio 61.
32 Madrid Naval Messages, vol V, 1–29 March 1916: Embassy Madrid, Telegram 656, 19 March 1916, NA, ADM 223/643. Even this ‘escape’ from Italian custody was embellished as if it were a novel. Canaris was put aboard ship with a fellow prisoner, a priest, for Cartagena, with a prior call at Marseilles. The Italians informed the French so that they could capture him. When Canaris boldly revealed his true identity to the ship’s captain, the latter took Canaris under his protection and sailed to Spain direct. See Abshagen, Canaris, p 47; Brissaud, Canaris, p 21. There is no proof of this tempting story.
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