German Imperial Admiralty Staff

Admiralty Staff
Admiralstab

Flag of the Chief of the Admiralty Staff
The stamp, and official emblem of the Imperial Admiral Staff of the German Empire
Agency overview
Formed	14 March 1899
Preceding agency	Imperial Naval High Command
Dissolved	15 September 1919
Superseding agency	Oberkommando der Marine
Jurisdiction	German Empire
Headquarters	Bendlerblock, Berlin
Agency executive	Chief of the Admiralty Staff

The German Imperial Admiralty Staff (German: Admiralstab) was one of four command agencies for the administration of the Imperial German Navy from 1899 to 1918. While the German Emperor Wilhelm II as commander-in-chief exercised supreme operational command and control of the naval forces, the military staff was split into the Admiralty, the Naval Office, the Naval Cabinet, and the Inspector-General. The command structure had a negative impact on German naval warfare in World War I, as a professional head of the Imperial Navy, similar to the First Sea Lord, was not established until August 1918. After the war and the German Revolution of 1918–19, the Admiralty Staff became subordinate to the Naval Office and was finally disestablished by order of the German President.

The Admiralty Staff had, in principle, overall operational authority over the navy during wartime. In practice this was diluted by the ability of subordinate station commands (such as the High Seas Fleet^[1]) to execute control over their own ships, and the ability of the Kaiser to override their directives.^[2]