Leberecht measure
Leberecht Maaß (born November 24, 1863 in Korkenhagen , † August 28, 1914 near Helgoland ) was a German naval officer in the Imperial Navy . He fell in 1914 as a rear admiral in a naval battle near Heligoland .
Life
Maass joined the Imperial Navy on April 16, 1883 as a cadet . From 1893 to 1895 he was torpedo boat commander , from 1898 to 1901 flotilla commander and from 1903 to 1906 department commander in torpedo weapons .
From October 1906 to March 1908 he was director of the Naval Academy and School in Kiel . On March 7, 1908 he was promoted to sea captain. From April 1908 to March 1909 he was in command of the large cruiser SMS Freya , from March 1909 to June 1910 of the large cruiser SMS Scharnhorst and from August 1910 to September 1910 of the liner SMS Weißenburg .
In October 1910 he was appointed commander of the Second Shipyard Division. From September 1913 to February 1914 he was third admiral of the reconnaissance ships on board the small cruiser Cöln . He received his promotion to Rear Admiral on December 9, 1913. With effect from March 1, 1914, Maaß became second admiral of the reconnaissance ships without significantly changing his area of responsibility.
With the outbreak of the First World War , Maaß also acted as first leader of the torpedo boat forces and was thus also leader of the second reconnaissance group. With his flagship in Cologne he was on Schillig -Reede from August 1st to 7th . On August 12th and 15th he made forays into the North Sea.
Maaß fell in the sea battle near Heligoland on August 28, 1914. The so-called " Harwich Force " of the Royal Navy , consisting of the light cruisers HMS Arethusa and HMS Fearless as well as 31 destroyers under the command of Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt , attacked early in the morning of the 28th. August the German security forces in the Heligoland area and sank the torpedo boat SMS V 187 . With the battle cruisers HMS New Zealand and HMS Invincible and three small cruisers, British Vice Admiral David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, was about 25 nautical miles north to protect the Harwich Force. First the small cruisers SMS Frauenlob and SMS Stettin came to defend against Tyrwhitt, and soon afterwards four other small cruisers under the command of Rear Admiral Maaß on the Cöln . Tyrwhitt's cruisers were soon in trouble and the Arethusa was badly damaged by artillery fire. Called for help by Tyrwhitt, Beatty's battle cruiser appeared around 12.40 p.m. and sank the three desperately defending small cruisers SMS Mainz , Cologne and SMS Ariadne . At the age of 51, Maaß went under with the Cöln .
Honors
- Order of the Red Eagle III. Class with the bow and crown
- Order of the Crown II class
- Service award cross
- Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy
- Knight 1st class of the Order of Saint Olav
- Commander II class of the Order of the Sword
- Osmanje Order II class
- Name of the Maaß barracks of the torpedo station in Mürwik
- Name of the destroyer Z 1 Leberecht Maass
literature
- Dermot Bradley (eds.), Hans H. Hildebrand, Ernest Henriot: Germany's Admirals 1849-1945. The military careers of naval, engineering, medical, weapons and administrative officers with admiral rank. Volume 2: HO. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1989, ISBN 3-7648-1499-3 , pp. 415-416.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Marinekabinett (ed.): Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1914, p. 109.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Maaß, Leberecht |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German rear admiral in World War I. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 24, 1863 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cork hens |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 28, 1914 |
| Place of death | at Heligoland |