- Felix Funke
Infobox Military Person
name = Felix Funke
lived =3 January 1865 –22 July 1932
placeofbirth = Hirschberg (Jelenia Góra),Prussian Silesia
placeofdeath =Berlin / Weimar Germany
caption = Felix Funke
allegiance = navy|German Empire
serviceyears = 1882 - 1915
rank = Admiral
commands =
unit =
battles =World War I
*Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)
awards =Felix Funke (
3 January 1865 –22 July 1932 ) was a Germanadmiral of theKaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy).Early life
Funke was born in Hirschberg (Jelenia Góra),
Prussian Silesia . His father Adolf Funke, originally fromMagdeburg , was President of the Alsatian Railway Company in Strassburg (Strasbourg). His mother Anna Stilke-Pilet came from aHuguenot family which escaped fromCastres after the revocation of theEdict of Nantes .Funke lived his childhood in Strassburg and attended the German Navy School in
Kiel on18 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 byWilliam II, German Emperor , 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 ), then a German colony inChina . In 1904, he was witness to theRusso-Japanese War , in which Germany was neutral.On
10 August 1904 , Funke witnessed theBattle of the Yellow Sea , and as a safe haven, Tsing Tao received the damaged Russian battleship "Tsesarevich". The bridge had been hit twice, and AdmiralWilgelm Vitgeft 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-AdmiralDewa Shigetō sent theJapan 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 Saint Anne from TsarNicholas II of Russia after he had allowed more Russian ships to take refuge and be interned at Tsing Tao, under approval byAdmiral Togo , at the fall of Port Arthur on2 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 ofSaxe-Meiningen were married inWilhelmshaven . 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 3rd Fleet, 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 3rd Fleet to AdmiralReinhard Scheer whilst taking over command of the 2nd Fleet from Scheer.Funke participated in several naval battles against the
Royal Navy duringWorld War I . He disagreed with some views ofGrand Admiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia , specifically with regards to usingsubmarine warfare . To his great surprise, he was asked into retirement by the Emperor on18 September 1915 .Funke suffered from depression and died aged 67 in 1932 in
Berlin where he had lived in retirement.ources
*Funke, Felix. Personal Memoirs. Unpublished (owned by his grand niece).
* [http://www.gwpda.org/naval/hsfbsco.htm Commanders of the High Seas Fleet Battle Squadrons 1914-1918]
* [http://www.richthofen.com/scheer/ Scheer, Reinhard. "Germany's High Seas Fleet in the World War"] online at the War Times Journal website
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