He was also an influential writer on naval strategy, and pivotal in introducing the ideas of geostrategist Alfred Thayer Mahan into the German Empire.

He joined the Prussian Navy as a young cadet on 26 April 1868, and went to sail with the frigates Gefion and Niobe, as well as the battleships König Wilhelm and Elisabeth.

In the ensuing years he rapidly rose in rank, alternating his successively higher commands with further studies at the Kiel Naval Academy.

This suggestion, which drew from his study of history and of Mahan's writings, was subsequently taken to the extreme by the Kaiser's government, and led Germany to engage in the Anglo-German naval arms race.

However his utility in the field of strategy and planning caused him to be posted as Reichskommissar at the Oberprisengericht in Berlin, where he served until his death on 17 June 1917.