Wilhelm von Tegetthoff

Wilhelm von Tegetthoff (23 December 1827 – 7 April 1871) was an Austrian admiral. He commanded the fleet of the North Sea during the Second Schleswig War of 1864, and the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. He is often considered by some Austrian historians to be one of the most adept naval officers of the 19th-century, due to his tactical inventiveness, sense of command, and inspirational leadership.^[1][2]

Early life and career

Tegetthoff was born in

The Italian campaign of 1859 saw the Austrians unable to challenge the French fleet for mastery of the Adriatic. With the return of peace, Tegetthoff accompanied Ferdinand Maximilian, who was to be the future Maximilian I of Mexico, on a voyage to Brazil to visit Emperor Pedro II during the winter of 1859/60. Promoted Fregattenkapitän on 27 April 1860 and Linienschiffskapitän on 23 November 1861, he was named commander of the Levant Squadron in 1862. In this capacity, he monitored the Greek revolution that deposed King Otto I and the anti-Western disturbances in Syria.^[3]

Second Schleswig War

During the

After Tegetthoff's flagship, the Erzherzog Ferdinand Max, rammed and sank the armored Italian frigate Re d'Italia, the Italian fleet retreated the next day. Tegetthoff returned in triumph to his base at Pula. Nevertheless, his victory did not materially affect the outcome of the war, as Italy's alliance with Prussia ensured an advantageous peace due to Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War. Tegetthoff was immediately promoted, by telegraph, to Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral). He received congratulatory telegrams from Ferdinand Maximilian, by then the embattled Emperor of Mexico, and Vizeadmiral Hans Birch Dahlerup, former Oberkommandant der Marine (High Commandant of the Navy). Tegetthoff was decorated with the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa and made honorary citizen of Vienna.

Following the victory of Lissa, Tegetthoff urged Franz Josef to annex the hinterland of the Dalmatian coast, so as to protect the region for development of naval bases. This was in fact accomplished with the

Tegetthoff undertook a journey of study to France, Britain and the United States in 1866/67. Upon the execution of Ferdinand Maximilian by the Mexican government of Benito Juárez, Tegetthoff was sent with the screw frigate Novara to bring his body home to Austria, arriving in the port of Trieste on 16 January 1868.

Late years

He received the post of Marinekommandant, as the chief administrative officer was named in 1865 in succession of Viceadmiral Ludwig von Fautz. In March 1868 Tegetthoff took also charge as Chef der Marinesektion (Chief of the Naval Section) of the War Ministry of the new dual monarchy. Despite considerable resistance from the General Staff, he vigorously pursued a complete reform of the Austro-Hungarian Navy; his reforms remained in force until the fall of the Donaumonarchie in 1918.

On 1 April 1868 Tegetthoff was made a Geheimrat and a member of the Herrenhaus. Tegetthoff died suddenly from pneumonia on 7 April 1871 in Vienna at the age of 43. His grave is located in the cemetery of St. Leonhard in Graz.^[5]

He was succeeded as head of the naval administration by Friedrich von Pöck.

Memorials

Memorials to Tegetthoff were erected in Maribor, Vienna and Pula. The monument on Vienna's Praterstern, the largest traffic junction of the city, consists of a column 11 meters high (by Karl Hasenauer), topped by a bronze statue of Tegetthoff, some 3.5 meters in height, by Carl Kundmann and was finished in 1886.^[6] The memorial at Pula, also by Kundmann, was erected in 1877 and consists of a bronze statue of Tegetthoff, with supporting bronze mythological figures. Pula passed to Italian sovereignty in 1919, and in 1935 the monument was moved to Graz, Austria.

Tegetthoff was pictured on an Austrian postage stamp in 1935 and on a 20-euro coin minted in 2004 (see below). Ships named for Tegetthoff included:

• The arctic research ship SMS Tegetthoff (1872).
• The central battery ship SMS Tegetthoff (1878) – renamed SMS Mars in 1912.
• The dreadnought battleship SMS Tegetthoff (1912).

Of these, the first was used in the 1872–74 arctic expedition of Julius von Payer and Karl Weyprecht which discovered Franz Josef Land in 1873. The expedition's first discovery was named Cape Tegetthoff.

See also

• Wilhelm von Tegetthoff has left such a legacy behind that he was selected as a motive for a very recent commemorative coin: the 20 euro S.M.S. Erzherzog Ferdinand Max minted on 15 September 2004. The reverse shows the Rear-Admiral after a painting by Anton Romako, standing on the bridge of the S.M.S. Erzherzog Ferdinand Max. In front of him four sailors are struggling with the wheel while bringing the ship into position.
• Austro-Hungarian Navy – the Navy following the 1867 Ausgleich, which created the Dual Monarchy
• SMS Tegetthoff (1912) – Austro-Hungarian dreadnought battleship
• Battle of Lissa for at more detailed description of his most famous sea battle.
• Serbian word for ultramarin color is „teget“ per Tegetthoff's surname (Serbian: Tegetof, Тегетоф), based on shade of his uniform.

References

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tegetthoff, Wilhelm von". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 504–505.

Literature

• German Wikipedia entry 'Wilhelm von Tegetthoff' de:Wilhelm von Tegetthoff
• Joan Haslip, The Crown of Mexico. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971.
• Alan Palmer, Twilight of the Habsburgs. The Life and Times of the Emperor Francis Joseph. New York: Grove Press, 1994.
  ISBN 0-87113-665-1
• George Richard Marek, The Eagles Die. Franz Joseph, Elisabeth, and their Austria. New York: Harper & Row, 1974.
• Anthony Sokol, The Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Navy. Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 1968.
• Klaus Müller: Tegetthoffs Marsch in die Nordsee. Oeversee, Düppeler Schanzen, Helgoland im deutsch-dänischen Krieg, Verlag Styria, Graz 1991,
  ISBN 3-222-12007-2
• Christian Ortner: Der Seekrieg in der Adria 1866, in Viribus Unitis, Jahresbericht 2010 des Heeresgeschichtlichen Museums. Wien 2011, pp. 100–124,
  ISBN 978-3-902551-19-1
  .
• Ulrich Schöndorfer: Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, Berglandverlag, Wien 1958.
• Peter Handel-Mazzetti, Hans Hugo Sokol: Wilhelm von Tegetthoff. Ein großer Österreicher, OÖ Landesverlag, Linz 1952.
• Kapitel 7: Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, in
  Wilhelm Wolfslast
  : Helden der See. Band 1. Entdecker und Admirale, Berlin 1944, pp. 102–117.
• Helmut Neuhold: Österreichs Helden zur See. Styria Verlag Wien-Graz-Klagenfurt 2010, pp. 108–139.
  ISBN 978-3-222-13306-0
  .
• ISBN 978-3-901508-79-0
  .
• Pemsel, Helmut. "Wilhelm von Tegetthoff: Admiral of the Unexpected." In The Great Admirals: Command at Sea, 1587–1945. Edited by Jack Sweetman. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1997.
  ISBN 0-87021-229-X
  .

External links

Media related to Baron Wilhelm von Tegetthoff at Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wilhelm von Tegetthoff.

• Literature by and about Wilhelm von Tegetthoff in the German National Library catalogue

Military offices
Preceded by Ludwig von Fautz	Commander-in-Chief of the Austro-Hungarian Naval Fleet 1865-1871	Succeeded by Friedrich von Pöck
Preceded by Ludwig von Fautz	Chief of the Naval Section 1868-1871	Succeeded by Friedrich von Pöck