Reinhold von Werner (10 May 1825 – 26 February 1909) was a Prussian and later Imperial German naval officer in the 19th century, eventually reaching the rank of vice admiral.

[2] While in the merchant marine, he was given the nickname Schweizer (Swiss), as his North German shipmates found his accent to be particularly foreign compared to their native Plattdeutsch.

[6] He fought with distinction at the Battle of Jasmund, under the command of Eduard von Jachmann; Werner's ship, Nymphe, was badly damaged during the engagement and her crew suffered 13 casualties.

[8] On 15 June, he and his squadron assisted 13,500 men commanded by General Edwin von Manteuffel in their crossing of the Elbe River and assault of the city of Hanover.

The two other broadside ironclads, Friedrich Carl and SMS König Wilhelm, suffered from chronic engine problems which prevented Admiral Jachmann from using the force offensively.

[11] Directly after the war with France, Werner pledged his support to General Albrecht von Stosch, who had been proposed as the new commander of the German fleet.

[12] In the fall of 1872, Werner commanded a training cruise to South America; his squadron consisted of Friedrich Carl, Elisabeth, Albatross, and Vineta.

Werner commanded the ironclad Friedrich Carl (his flagship), Elisabeth, and the gunboat Delphin on a naval intervention mission.

[15] While steaming off Alicante, Friedrich Carl encountered the rebel armed steamer Vigilante, seized the vessel, and returned it to the Spanish national government.

[16] Werner ordered Friedrich Carl and the British ironclad HMS Swiftsure to attack two of the rebel ships—Vitoria and Almansa—without authorization from London or Berlin.

Werner, then the chief of the Baltic station, presided over a commission that investigated the handling of the incident by Konteradmiral Batsch, a protégé of Stosch.

[19] Alfred von Tirpitz, later the architect of the German High Seas Fleet, characterized Stosch's policies as more befitting an infantry regiment than an armoured warship, which was a "complicated microcosm of technology.

In addition to revenge for the handling of the investigation, Stosch sought to force Werner from the navy to remove one of only two officers senior in rank to Batsch, his protégé.

[22] He continued his feud with Stosch, going so far as to ally himself with Otto von Bismarck, who had sought Werner's imprisonment five years earlier for his conduct off Spain.