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| Office | Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet of the Chancellor | |
| Term of Office: | 2376-present | |
| Predecessor: | Admiral Ian Taylor | |
| Successor: | incumbent | |
| Date of Birth: | September 15, 2353 | |
| Place of Birth: | Icecrown Province, Reydovan Prime | |
| Profession: | Diplomat/Scientist | |
| Portrayed by: | Udo Kier | |
Vice Admiral August Johannes Freiherr von Spee, Ph.D., MD/CX (full titles: His Eminence the Baron of Icecrown and Patriarch of the House of Spee) (born September 15, 2353, in Icecrown Province, Reydovan Prime) is a fictional character created by Joshua Underwood in the Star Trek universe. Baron von Spee is portrayed by renowned German actor Udo Kier, known for his work in horror movies, as well as the films of Danish director Lars von Trier.
Freiherr is the German word for Baron, which (in addition to the German honorific "von") denotes that Spee is a member of the nobility.
Origins[]
The Baron is the current head of the illustrious Spee family, its noble origins dating back to at least Earth's First World War (1914-1918) with Count Maximilian von Spee (1861-1914), a German admiral of the First World War who battled the British at the Battle of Coronel and the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the Pacific, the latter of which ended in his death.
Spee was born in Icecrown Province during the reign of Emperor Joshmaul I to a metallurgist father and a psychoanalyst mother. In 2371, at the age of 18, he travelled to Montagne Noire to attend the Imperial University, the most prestigious school in the Empire. Dominating his classmates intellectually, Spee graduated with a Ph.D. in psychology in 2375, at age 22. It was in February of 2376 that he asked Chancellor Joshua Underwood for a field commission in the Reydovan Imperial Navy.
Escape from Reydovan Prime[]
Spee took an accelerated course in command and tactical operations at the Imperial Military Academy, and so impressed Underwood with his intellectual grasp of naval warfare that he gave him a commission as a lieutenant and the post of tactical officer on his flagship, the Absolution. When Underwood broke away from Emperor Joshmaul in December 2376, Spee and a group of Imperial troops from the Absolution beamed aboard the dreadnought Immolator, which was one of Absolution's escorts, and whose commander was still loyal to Joshmaul. Storming onto the bridge, Spee demanded the captain surrender. When the captain refused, Spee's troops arrested him; when the man resisted and pulled a disruptor, Spee was forced to kill him. Taking command of the Immolator, Spee demanded that anyone who wished to serve the Emperor leave the ship immediately; not one did.
Underwood, approving of the quick and clean takeover of the Immolator, promoted Spee to Captain and gave him the dreadnought as his first command. When the Grand Fleet's commander, Admiral Ian Taylor was captured by Artimus Devaneaux, Underwood promoted Spee to Vice Admiral and gave him command of the fleet. Spee showed every talent for combat that his illustrious ancestor had, but had far better luck; he left false trails for Joshmaul's ships to follow and utilized the "terrain" to avoid Imperial patrols long enough for the fleet to reach the rendezvous point with Ethan Neill and his Harbingers.
| Preceded by: Johann von Spee |
Baron von Spee of Icecrown January 4, 2380-present |
Succeeded by: current |
| Preceded by: Admiral Ian Taylor |
Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet of the Chancellor December 19, 2376-present |
Succeeded by: incumbent |