Maximilian Gottesau

Friends and Family
Please add the name and class of an alts below using the following format.

Alt 1 Name - 

Alt 2 Name - 

Record of Achievement
12. February 1722 - Enlisted in the squadron

11. March 1722 - Promoted to Master

Background Story
Childhood and Education:

Adam Maximilian was born in Hanover in 1684, to Georg Wilhelm von Herzberg and Charlotte Felicitas von Leineschloss-Celle. He studied in Geneva and at the Koninklijk Instituut voor de Marine at Den Helder, the Netherlands. There he later graduated at 1702 as a Lieutenant. After his Graduation, he was soon employed by British Royal Navy, and participated in the war against the Spanish succession between 1702-1704.

Career:

Prologue: War of the Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession (1701—1714) was fought among several European powers, principally the Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Portugal and the Duchy of Savoy, against the Kingdoms of France and Spain and the Electorate of Bavaria over a possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. Such a unification would have drastically changed the European balance of power. The war was fought mostly in Europe but included Queen Anne's War in North America and it was marked by the military leadership of notable generals including the duc de Villars, the Jacobite Duke of Berwick, the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy. It resulted in the recognition of the Bourbon Philip V as King of Spain while requiring him to renounce any claim to the French throne and to cede much of the Spanish Crown's possessions to the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, Savoy and Great Britain, partitioning the Spanish Empire in Europe.

Personal History:



Maximilian entered the service of the King's Squadron of Hanover, a German appendix of the British Royal Navy at August 6th, 1702, being 20 years of age. His first assignment was as a Midshipman aboard the 'SMS Prinz Leopold', a 3rd Rate ship of the line under Captain herr Friedrich von Hesse. His first major battle as an officer of the navy took place at Vigo Bay, Spain.

Vigo Bay was a major naval disaster for the French:[17] of the 15 French warships, 2 frigates and one fireship, not a single vessel escaped.[18] Five ships were captured by the English, and one by the Dutch; the rest were burnt, either by the Allies or the French themselves.

After the triumph of Vigo Bay, the 'HMS Newark' continued to participate in various battles, the lardest of which was the battle of Málaga, at August 24th, 1704. The battle, which was proclaimed to be the greatest of the war, was a stunning triumph to the Anglo-Dutch forces, and resulted in the capture of Gibraltar.

1706-1722:

Maximilian was then assigned to the 'HMS Newark' under Captain sir James Clarke for two additional years, during which period it was commissioned to sail the waters of Gibraltar and guard the territorial waters of the Empire. At 1706, however, the Newark was recalled to its home-dockyard at Chatham for reconstruction according to the new Establishment.

After a brief recess from the Navy, Adam Maximilian, by then a Captain, was commissioned aboard the 'HMS Nightingale', a 6th rate Frigate, made to accompany English merchants across the Atlantic on their way to, or from the new World. He serves aboard the Nightingale until his reassignment to the Saint George Squadron at the Caribbean, in 1722, and he is 38 years of age.