Otto von Diederichs
| Otto von Diederichs | |
|---|---|
| Born |
7 September 1843 Minden, Westphalia |
| Died | 8 March 1918 (aged 74) Baden-Baden |
| Allegiance |
 German Confederation North German Confederation German Empire
|
| Service/branch |
 Reichsflotte North German Federal Navy Kaiserliche Marine
|
| Years of service | 1862-1902 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands held | |
Ernst Otto von Diederichs (born 7 September 1843 in Minden, Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia (today in the German Federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia) - died 8 March 1918 at Baden-Baden, Germany) was an Admiral of the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine), serving in the predecessor Prussian Navy and the Navy of the North German Confederation.
Diederichs entered the Prussian naval officer candidate program along a circuitous route, with an incomplete secondary education, a short stint as a Prussian army cadet and service in the merchant marine. After Naval School graduation at Kiel and Atlantic training voyages on the Prussian sail frigate SMS Niobe, he was commissioned Unterleutnant zur See [Lieutenant JG] in 1867. He served a brief tour aboard the royal yacht Grille. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 he commanded the coastal gunboat SMS Natter. Although a French fleet maneuvered in the North Sea where Natter was deployed, "the French battle plan had little impact on Diederichs' wartime service, which proved somewhat anticlimactic." After hostilities ended his ship was deactivated. From 1871 to 1874 he attended several terms at the post-graduate Naval War College, the German Imperial Naval Academy 1872-1918 (Marineakademie), with intermittent training cruises in a class with four future admirals. Based on his academic work at the academy, he was posted to the torpedo research command. After this staff position he requested, and then was assigned to sea duty as executive officer of the corvette SMS Luise for a "two-year tour on the East Asian station beginning in October 1878." With the return of the ship to Wilhelmshaven and deactivation in 1880, Diederichs' new orders assigned him as gunnery and torpedo instructor to the undergraduate Naval School and the postgraduate Naval War College (Marineakademie), both of which were at Kiel at the time. During his tenure at these schools, he participated in maneuvers and exercises and several study trips abroad.
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