The gentleman on the right...

[Dwayne Schmidt]

is my paternal grandfather Alfred Schmidt. In this 1911 photo, it appears that the cap tallies read SMS KOENIG. I'd appreciate your examining the photo...maybe you'll notice something I haven't. I've also included the back of the photo. My German is weak, and my ability to read the older script is weaker. Any thoughts?
Thank you.

[tompress]

I see here "Flensburg 1911, mit meinem Freund ......" but can not read for sure his friend's name. May be Jerkenberg?

regards
Tomasz

[Dwayne Schmidt]

Tomasz:
Thank you for the reply and translation. I've recently set about trying to research some of Alfred's service, but I only have a few photos to go on. My grandmother destroyed a lot of things after his death in 1972! What is puzzling me now are the cap tallies. The ink stamp on the back of the photo is May 9, 1911. The Koenig was only laid down in October of 1911. The Koenig Albert was laid down in July 1910 and launched in April 1912. I guess it's possible that a crew would have been assembled and trained before launch. The lettering of the tallies look fairly dark, so it could be the red lettering worn by cadets. I'm also reasonably sure the tallies do not say Koenigsberg, which was lost in East Africa in 1915. I have another photo of Alfred captioned on back "New Years Eve 1915/16 HMS Oldenburg."

[cesky67]

Hi Dwayne

I agree with what Tomasz has written but I think the friend's name may be Herkenberg.

Cesky

[Dwayne Schmidt]

Cesky: Thank you for trying to read the inscription. Please allow me to post the front and back of one more photo from June or July of 1918. It appears that Alfred now has a rank insignia on his jacket collar? What say you?

[wilhelm Saris]

Can you make a better photo from the tally from the photo with the two persons.
Maybe then it is possible to better read the name.

The S.M.S. Koenig was a so-called Linienschiff, which was in service August 9, 1914 and used until June 21, 1919. The ship had a crew from about 1,136 persons. The ship was sunk (selbstversenkung) at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919.

The S.M.S. Koenig Albert also was a Linienschiff and served from July 21, 1913 up through June 21, 1919. The crew number was 1,084 and also was sunk the same day as the Koenig.

The photo from post 5 is from June, not July and made during his holidays in June.

The words were in gold for members of the Matrosen-Divisionen;
in silver for members of the Werft-Divisionen;
and red was worn by so-called Schiffsjungen.

[cesky67]

Dwayne

I think it says ;

zur Erinnerung an meinem Urlaub Juni 1918

Robert (?) - Alfred

Hamburg 19 Juni 1918

Cesky

[Dwayne Schmidt]

Thank you again for looking and translating. I very much appreciate your time. I'll experiment with what I have to work with regarding a closer look at the cap tallies, but I doubt anything else will reveal itself. The original photo postcard just doesn't have the detail I would like to have in order to solve which ship they were on.