Eduard von Jachmann

Painting of the Battle of Jasmund, depicting the Prussian squadron, by Willy Stöwer

At the start of the Second Schleswig War in 1864, the bulk of the Prussian fleet was concentrated in the Baltic Sea. Prince Adalbert was the senior navy commander, and Jachmann, as the senior-most captain, became the squadron commander, with Arcona as his flagship. The much larger Danish fleet blockaded Prussia's main ports, trapping Jachmann's ships—Arcona and SMS Nymphe—in Swinemünde. On 17 March, Jachmann took his two ships and the armed paddle steamer SMS Loreley out to challenge the Danish blockade force. In the ensuing Battle of Jasmund off the island of Rügen, Jachmann's squadron was defeated by the more powerful Danish squadron and forced to retreat. This was to be the only major naval battle fought in the Baltic during the war. Nevertheless, he was appointed Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) for his aggressive handling of the fleet at Jasmund.[9] The arrival of a Danish ironclad warship precluded any further attacks on the Danish fleet, as the traditional guns that armed Jachmann's ships were entirely useless against the armored vessel.[5]

On 24 March 1865, with the fleet having returned to its demobilised, peacetime status, Jachmann was given command of the Marinestation der Ostsee (Naval Station of the Baltic Sea). Later that year, Jachmann moved the fleet to its new main base at Kiel in the newly annexed Duchy of Schleswig. There, he was responsible for establishing the new base, the land defences for which were established at Hörup Haff and Holtenau Bay under the direction of Generals Helmuth von Moltke, the Chief of the General Staff, and Albrecht von Roon, the Prussian Minister of War. Later that year, Jachmann accompanied Roon aboard Loreley for a survey of the Jade Bay, where the naval base at Wilhelmshaven was planned.[10][11] Jachmann remained in his post in the Baltic Sea during the Austro-Prussian War, commanding the main squadron of frigates and corvettes. Before the outset of hostilities, he sent the gunboat Tiger to Elbe to block the movement of an Austrian brigade that was garrisoned in Holstein. Since the Austrian fleet was occupied with Prussia's ally Italy during the war, the Prussian Navy saw relatively little action; the only major operations were conducted in the North Sea, under the command of KzS Reinhold von Werner.[12][13]

On 17 July 1867, Jachmann attended the fleet review held in Spithead, Britain in honour of the Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz. On 22 August, he became of the director of the Ministry for the Navy, serving under Roon. Jachmann and Roon were good friends, which led to an effective partnership between the two. Jachmann presented his fleet plan in October that year, as part of Roon's overall military budget. The plan projected a ten-year construction program for sixteen ironclad warships, twenty corvettes, and eight avisos. Jachmann included the large number of corvettes to bring pro-colonialist factions to support the plan, though he was himself ambivalent to colonial aspirations. The Reichstag approved Roon's budget without objection.[13][14] Jachmann was promoted to Vizeadmiral (VAdm—Vice Admiral) on 22 March 1868;[13][15] he was the first man to hold that rank in the Prussian Navy.[1] By mid-1869, the ironclads that the navy had begun to acquire under Jachmann's direction had started to enter service, permitting the formation of an ironclad squadron.[16]

At the start of the Franco-Prussian War in July 1870, Jachmann left Berlin to take command of the ironclad squadron based in Wilhelmshaven. At the time, Jachmann had under his control the ironclads König Wilhelm, Friedrich Carl, Kronprinz, and Arminius. Work had not yet been completed on the fortifications outside Kiel and Wilhelmshaven; Jachmann ordered the acquisition of naval mines, a technology then still in its infancy, to help defend the German coast. The French Northern Squadron had arrived off the North Sea coast to blockade Germany's ports. He sortied with the fleet in late August, but located no French warships. König Wilhelm and Friedrich Carl thereafter developed engine problems, preventing Jachmann from taking further offensive actions, for which he was publicly criticised. For its part, the French blockade was poorly planned and achieved little of significance. By 11 September, all four of his ships were again operational, but by that time the French fleet had abandoned the blockade. Owing to the ineffectiveness of the ironclad fleet, none of its officers were decorated after the war.[17][18]

With the war over, Jachmann returned to Berlin to several projects, including organising a North Sea naval station and conducting an evaluation of the naval mines used during the war. He also oversaw the rapid expansion of the base at Wilhelmshaven and the establishment of the Imperial Naval Academy at Kiel. The two Kaiser-class ironclads were ordered from British shipyards in the anticipation that France would launch a war of revenge in the near future. Jachmann came under intense criticism in the press and the Reichstag for the orders, since they had not been given to German shipyards, though at that time German shipbuilders were not sufficiently developed to build vessels of that size quickly.[19]

In 1872, the navy command was reorganised as the Imperial Admiralty. As the highest ranking naval officer, Jachmann expected to be given the role as the Chief of the Imperial Admiralty, but General Albrecht von Stosch received the position instead. Jachmann had not proved himself an effective administrator in the 1860s, nor had he impressed Wilhelm I with his handling of the fleet during the Franco-Prussian War. Instead, he remained the commander of the active naval forces, and was given a spot on the Admiralty board, though Stosch never actually convened the board while Jachmann was in the navy. Following the death of Prince Adalbert in June 1873 and the retirement of Roon the following October, Jachmann lost his most powerful friends, and Stosch largely ignored him. The fact that Jachmann came from a middle-class background and had no formal higher education served to isolate him in the officer corps Stosch sought to create, which was modelled on the aristocratic army officer corps. Jachmann requested retirement in February 1874; he was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle, 1st Class with Swords, on 17 February and thereafter left the service. Stosch then purged numerous other senior officers with similar backgrounds.[20][21]

Jachmann's grave in Oldenburg

In May 1878, the new ironclad Grosser Kurfürst was accidentally rammed and sunk by König Wilhelm. Jachmann, still bitter at being passed over in favour of Stosch, anonymously published an article in Deutsche Revue severely criticizing Stosch's training policies, which he alleged favoured military discipline and theory over practical seamanship. Jachmann was appointed a member of the court martial that investigated the accident and the role of Carl Ferdinand Batsch—the captain of König Wilhelm and Stosch's protege. Jachmann was at that time not known to be the author of the article, and he did not recuse himself. The court ruled against Batsch but did not issue a punishment. Batsch appealed to Stosch, arguing that Jachmann and the also retired VAdm Eduard Klatt had not been impartial judges. Kaiser Wilhelm I agreed to appoint a second court martial that did not include either man.[22]

Jachmann retired to Oldenburg with his family, which included his wife Anna (whom he had married in 1852 in Trutenau near Königsberg), his daughter, and three sons. One of his sons, Siegfried von Jachmann, went on to serve in the Imperial Navy and reached the rank of Konteradmiral. Eduard appeared in public one last time on 18 May 1885, after Wilhelm I called on him to give the christening speech for the new corvette Arcona in Danzig. Jachmann died in Oldenburg on 21 October 1887.[23][24]