Paul Behncke was a German admiral during the First World War, most notable for his command of the Third Battle Squadron of the German High Seas Fleet

High Seas Fleet

The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...

 during the Battle of Jutland

Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...

.

He was born in Lübeck

Lübeck

The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...

 in 1869. At age fourteen he joined the navy and as an officer commanded a gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

 in the Far East. After taking further studies at the Naval Academy in Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

 he was assigned to the general staff. As commander of the Falke he returned to Chinese waters and on being promoted to ship's captain he was appointed to the battleship SMS Wettin

SMS Wettin

SMS Wettin was a German pre-dreadnought battleship of the Wittelsbach class of the Kaiserliche Marine. She was built in Schichau, in Danzig. Wettin was laid down in November 1899, and completed October 1902, at the cost of 22,597,000 marks...

, and after to the SMS Westfalen

SMS Westfalen

SMS Westfalen "SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" was one of the s, the first four dreadnoughts built for the German Imperial Navy. Westfalen was laid down at AG Weser in Bremen on 12 August 1907, launched nearly a year later on 1 July 1908, and commissioned into the...

.

Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War Behncke was promoted to Rear-Admiral and again assigned to the general staff. During the conflict he showed himself opposed to Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz

Alfred von Tirpitz

Alfred von Tirpitz was a German Admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussia never had a major navy, nor did the other German states before the German Empire was formed in 1871...

 theories on submarine warfare

U-boat Campaign (World War I)

The U-boat Campaign from 1914 to 1918 was the World War I naval campaign fought by German U-boats against the trade routes of the Entente Powers...

, and was appointed head of the Third Battle Squadron, composed by the eight most modern battleships on the German navy (the König

König class battleship

The König class was a group of four battleships built for the German Kaiserliche Marine on the eve of World War I. The class was composed of , , , and . The most powerful warships of the German High Seas Fleet at the outbreak of war in 1914, the class operated as a unit throughout World War...

 and Kaiser classes). Ahead of these ships, aboard his flagship SMS König

SMS König

SMS König"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff" was the first of four König class dreadnought battleships of the German Imperial Navy during World War I. König was named in honor of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, who was the king of Prussia as well as the German Emperor...

 Rear-Admiral Behncke took part in the Battle of Jutland, where he was seriously wounded by a shell splinter and found himself in command of the whole fleet during the third phase of the action.

During the 1917 occupation of the Island of Moon

Battle of Moon Sound

The Battle of Moon Sound was a naval battle in World War I, fought on 17 October 1917 between naval forces of the German and Russian Empires in the Baltic Sea....

 he prevented the retreat of part of the Russian fleet and sank the .
By that time he had the rank of Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

 and the following year, after the renunciation of admiral Eduard von Capelle

Eduard von Capelle

Admiral Eduard von Capelle was a German Navy officer and Navy Minister from Celle.-Career:Capelle served in the Reichsmarineamt from 1891 and in 1904 became Director of the Administration Department. In 1914 he became under-secretary...

, rose to Secretary of State of the Imperial Naval Office, a position he held until the fall of Wilhelm II.

Behncke resume those functions after the war, replacing admiral Adolf von Trotha

Adolf von Trotha

Adolf von Trotha was a German admiral in the Kaiserliche Marine from Koblenz, Rhenish Prussia.-Family:...

, and retired from the navy in 1924. He died in Berlin in 1937.