by wefalck » Fri May 31, 2013 1:01 am
The ships were handed over to the northgerman federation late in 1867 - an exact date is something I couldn't figure out until now.
... because they were not actually 'handed over', they just changed flags from the Prussian War Ensign to the war ensign of the Norddeutsche Bund. The rest stayed the same. Ownership remained with Prussia etc. Most warships were Prussian anyway at that moment. The Norddeutsche Bund was an association of independent states that agreed to join forces in certain fields, including naval defence.
The situation changed formally after 18.01.1871, when the Imperial Navy was set up and all ships were actually handed over to the new navy and the old Prussian etc. navies were dissolved. The flag, though, remained unchanged this time. This is in contrast to the land forces, where each state that acceeded to the Empire retained formally its own contingent until the end of WW I, but under the Imperial High Command.
There was also a certain transition period between the Norddeutsche Bund proclaiming its new ensign and the other states formally recognising it. If a flag was not formally recognised by a state, it could treat the respective ship as a 'pirate'. I seem to remember that some major European powers at the time were dragging their feet in this respect.
wefalck
[quote]The ships were handed over to the northgerman federation late in 1867 - an exact date is something I couldn't figure out until now.[/quote]
... because they were not actually 'handed over', they just changed flags from the Prussian War Ensign to the war ensign of the Norddeutsche Bund. The rest stayed the same. Ownership remained with Prussia etc. Most warships were Prussian anyway at that moment. The Norddeutsche Bund was an association of independent states that agreed to join forces in certain fields, including naval defence.
The situation changed formally after 18.01.1871, when the Imperial Navy was set up and all ships were actually handed over to the new navy and the old Prussian etc. navies were dissolved. The flag, though, remained unchanged this time. This is in contrast to the land forces, where each state that acceeded to the Empire retained formally its own contingent until the end of WW I, but under the Imperial High Command.
There was also a certain transition period between the Norddeutsche Bund proclaiming its new ensign and the other states formally recognising it. If a flag was not formally recognised by a state, it could treat the respective ship as a 'pirate'. I seem to remember that some major European powers at the time were dragging their feet in this respect.
wefalck