He saw action during the Second Schleswig War at the Battle of Jasmund on 17 March 1864 as the commander of the paddle steamer SMS Loreley.

Monts was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing in four courts-martial held by the chief of the German Imperial Admiralty, Albrecht von Stosch in an attempt to drive him from the navy.

In 1883, Stosch was replaced by Leo von Caprivi, who appointed Monts the chief of the North Sea Naval Station.

[2][3] Monts began his basic training at the Marineschule (naval school) in Stettin on entering service, which lasted until 12 May 1850.

Between 30 April 1854 and 19 January 1856, he served aboard the screw ship of the line HMS St George, the fourth-rate Indefatigable, the fifth-rate Active, and the iron gunvessel Sharpshooter.

From 29 July to 22 October 1859, he served at the Königliche Werft (Royal Shipyard) in Danzig, after which he returned to Arcona for another assignment as watch officer and adjutant.

On 20 February 1868 Monts was promoted to Korvettenkapitän (lieutenant commander) as part of the section for naval and coastal artillery.

[4] While in East Asian waters, Monts was the senior-most officer of the German ship captains in the region, and thus he served as the overall commander.

The two ships (along with the ironclad Preussen) had been steaming off the coast of Great Britain, under the command of Carl Ferdinand Batsch, when they encountered a pair of sailing vessels.

König Wilhelm turned to port too slowly and accidentally rammed Grosser Kurfürst, tearing a large hole in her hull below the waterline.

Stosch, an army officer, was infuriated that the proceedings had been allowed to become a forum for criticism of his policies, for which he blamed Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Reinhold von Werner, the chairman of the investigation.

He appealed to Kaiser Wilhelm I, stating that the inquiry had unfairly blamed Admiral Batsch, and requested a new court martial for the officers involved in the incident.

[13] A third investigation, held in January 1879, reversed the decision of the previous verdicts and sentenced Monts to a prison term of one month and two days, though the Kaiser refused to implement the punishment.

Disappointed that his protégé had taken the blame for the sinking, Stosch requested another court martial for Monts, who was found not guilty.

[18] In his new role, he did not correct the strategic confusion that marked the Caprivi era, where the German fleet acquired a mix of obsolescent ironclads, fully rigged corvettes, and ineffectual armored gunboats.

He did not live to see the passage of his construction program, and with his death, Wilhelm II abolished the Chief of the Admiralty position, dividing its responsibilities among three new offices.