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The count Maximilian Johannes Maria Hubert von Spee (June 22nd 1861 - December 8th 1914), was a German Officier of navy , born with Copenhagen. He engaged in the German imperial marine in 1878. During the years 1887 and 1888, it assumed the command of the ports to the Cameroun, then colony of the Kaiser. Then it occupied various important stations in the administration in charge of the development of the armament, before being appointed Head of State major of the command of the the North Sea, in 1908 and promoted with the rank of Rear-admiral in 1910.

In 1912, one indicated it to take the head of the be-Asian squadron of cruisers, based in the colony of Qingdao. After the declaration of war, it started to practice the Guerre of race, against the maritime traffic combined, successfully. But its fleet was threatened, initially by the navy Australia, then after its entry in war, by that of the Japan. Conscious of its precarious situation, vis-a-vis two navy which it respected and which were to him higher of number and in power (it said that only HMAS Australia, cruiser of battle and flagship of the Australian fleet was equivalent to the whole of its forces), it decided to move its zone of operation towards the coasts of the Chile. After having, during a stopover with the Easter Island, recovered two additional light cruisers, it travelled towards Valparaiso and following a battle of meeting in front of Coronel, it ran two armoured cruisers of the British rear-admiral Christopher Cradock, this one finding death with 1650 of its men.

This success however sealed the destiny of von Spee, because the British wanted to avenge the undergone affront and sent important reinforcements. In spite of the order to return in Germany with its ships, he tergiversated. The December 8th 1914, whereas it had finally gotten under way through the Atlantique Southern and that it was on the point of bombarding Port Stanley with the Falkland Islands, it had the surprise to find there the Vice-amiral Sturdee carbonizing there. This one had a definitely higher fleet, with two cruisers of battle, a light battleship and five cruisers. The battles, was very unequal and only the Dresden cruiser could escape the destruction. Von Spee found death with its two sons, at the time of the destruction of its flagship, the Scharnhorst, which disappeared with all its crew. This defeat rang the knell of the presence overseas of the German imperial navy which was then obliged to resort to the Sous-marin S and the camouflaged tradind ships.

Several German ships bore the name of this admiral in his homage:

in 1917, a cruiser of battle of the Mackensen class, which could not be completed before the armistice.
in 1934, a battleship of pocket of the Deutschland class which, by irony of the destiny, was scuttled close to the place or Spee found death.
finally between 1959 and 1967, a ship of drive of the Bundesmarine.

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