[4] In September 1894 he took part in the fall maneuvers of the fleet as commander of the Third Squadron with the sail frigates Stein (flagship), Moltke, Stosch, and Gneisenau.

"[6] On his flagship SMS Stein on 4 September 1894 as Rear Admiral and chief of the Second Squadron, he took part in a Fleet Review before the Kaiser at Swinemünde.

[9] As commander of the Marinestation der Nordsee, he oversaw the building (1905–08) of a heavy gun fortress installation at Cuxhaven at the mouth of the Elbe River to protect the Elbe estuary, Hamburg and the North-Baltic Sea Canal (Kiel Canal) from enemy raids from the North Sea.

He had the future Admiral Franz von Hipper as navigator aboard his flagship the battleship Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm.

Again like Koester, he opposed the use of resources as Diederichs proposed for a major increase in the size of the Admiralty Staff, the creation of a separate intelligence section, and, especially, the removal of the Naval War College (Marineacademie) to Berlin.