 Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee ( 22 June 1861 – 8 December 1914 ) was a naval officer of the German Kaiserliche Marine ( Imperial Navy ) , who famously commanded the German East Asia Squadron during World War I. Spee entered the navy in 1878 and served in a variety of roles and locations , including on a colonial gunboat in German West Africa in the 1880s , the East Africa Squadron in the late 1890s , and as commander of several warships in the main German fleet in the early 1900s . During his time in Germany in the late 1880s and early 1890s , he married his wife , Margareta , and had three children , his sons Heinrich and Otto and his daughter Huberta . By 1912 , he had returned to the East Asia Squadron as its commander , and was promoted to the rank of Vizeadmiral ( Vice Admiral ) the following year . 
