High Seas Fleet The High Seas Fleet ( " Hochseeflotte " ) was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during World War I . The formation was created in February 1907 , when the Home Fleet ( " Heimatflotte " ) was renamed as the High Seas Fleet . Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet ; he envisioned a force powerful enough to challenge the Royal Navy ' s predominance . Kaiser Wilhelm II , the emperor of Germany , championed the fleet as the instrument by which he would seize overseas possessions and make Germany a global power . By concentrating a powerful battle fleet in the North Sea while the Royal Navy was required to disperse its forces around the British Empire , Tirpitz believed Germany could achieve a balance of force that could seriously damage British naval hegemony . This was the heart of Tirpitz ' s " Risk Theory , " which held that Britain would not challenge Germany if the latter ' s fleet posed such a significant threat to its own . The primary component of the Fleet was its battleship s , typically organized in eight - ship squadrons , though it also contained various other formations , including the I Scouting Group . At its creation in 1907 , the High Seas Fleet consisted of two squadrons of battleships , and by 1914 , a third squadron had been added . The dreadnought revolution in 1906 greatly affected the composition of the fleet ; the twenty - four pre - dreadnought s in the fleet were rendered obsolete and required replacement . Enough dreadnoughts for two full squadrons were completed by the outbreak of war in mid 1914 ; the eight most modern pre - dreadnoughts were used to constitute a third squadron . Two additional squadrons of older vessels were mobilized at the onset of hostilities , though by the end of the conflict , these formations were disbanded . The fleet conducted a series of sorties into the North Sea during the war designed to lure out an isolated portion of the numerically superior British Grand Fleet . These operations frequently used the fast battlecruiser s of the I Scouting Group to raid the British coast as the bait for the Royal Navy . These operations culminated in the Battle of Jutland , on 31 May – 1 June 1916 , where the High Seas Fleet confronted the whole of the Grand Fleet . The battle was inconclusive , but the British won strategically , as it convinced Admiral Reinhard Scheer , the German fleet commander , that even a highly favorable outcome to a fleet action would not secure German victory in the war . Scheer and other leading admirals therefore advised the Kaiser to order a resumption of the unrestricted submarine warfare campaign . The primary responsibility of the High Seas Fleet in 1917 and 1918 was to secure the German naval bases in the North Sea for U - boat operations . Nevertheless , the fleet continued to conduct sorties into the North Sea and detached units for special operations in the Baltic Sea against the Russian Baltic Fleet . Following the German defeat in November 1918 , the Allies interned the bulk of the High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow , where it was ultimately scuttled by its crew in June 1919 , days before the belligerents signed the Treaty of Versailles . Creation . In 1898 , Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz became the State Secretary for the Imperial Navy Office ( " Reichsmarineamt " — RMA ) ; Tirpitz was an ardent supporter of naval expansion . During a speech in support of the First Naval Law on 6 December 1897 , Tirpitz stated that the navy was " a question of survival " for Germany . He also viewed Great Britain , with its powerful Royal Navy , as the primary threat to Germany . In a discussion with the Kaiser during his first month in his post as State Secretary , he stated that " for Germany the most dangerous naval enemy at present is England . " Tirpitz theorized that an attacking fleet would require a 33 percent advantage in strength to achieve victory , and so decided that a 2 : 3 ratio would be required for the German navy . For a final total of 60 German battleships , Britain would be required to build 90 to meet the 2 : 3 ratio envisioned by Tirpitz . The Royal Navy had heretofore adhered to the so - called " two - power standard , " first formulated in the Naval Defence Act of 1889 , which required a larger fleet than those of the next two largest naval powers combined . The crux of Tirpitz ' s " risk theory " was that by building a fleet to the 2 : 3 ratio , Germany would be strong enough that even in the event of a British naval victory , the Royal Navy would incur damage so serious as to allow the third - ranked naval power to rise to preeminence . Implicit in Tirpitz ' s theory was the assumption that the British would adopt an offensive strategy that would allow the Germans to use mines and submarines to even the numerical odds before fighting a decisive battle between Heligoland and the Thames . Tirpitz in fact believed Germany would emerge victorious from a naval struggle with Britain , as he believed Germany to possess superior ships manned by better - trained crews , more effective tactics , and led by more capable officers . In his first program , Tirpitz envisioned a fleet of nineteen battleships , divided into two eight - ship squadrons , one ship as a flagship , and two in reserve . The squadrons were further divided into four - ship divisions . This would be supported by the eight - and es of coastal defense ship s , six large and eighteen small cruisers , and twelve divisions of torpedo boat s , all assigned to the Home Fleet ( " Heimatflotte " ) . This fleet was secured by the First Naval Law , which passed in the Reichstag on 28 March 1898 . Construction of the fleet was to be completed by 1 April 1904 . Rising international tensions , particularly as a result of the outbreak of the Boer War in South Africa and the Boxer Rebellion in China , allowed Tirpitz to push through an expanded fleet plan in 1900 . The Second Naval Law was passed on 14 June 1900 ; it doubled the size of the fleet to 38 battleships and 20 large and 38 small cruisers . Tirpitz planned an even larger fleet . As early as September 1899 , he had informed the Kaiser that he sought at least 45 battleships , and potentially might secure a third double - squadron , for a total strength of 48 battleships . Naval arms race . During the initial period of German naval expansion , Britain did not feel particularly threatened . The Lords of the Admiralty felt the implications of the Second Naval Law were not a significantly more dangerous threat than the fleet set by the First Naval Law ; they believed it was more important to focus on the practical situation rather than speculation on future programs that might easily be reduced or cut entirely . Segments of the British public , however , quickly seized on the perceived threat posed by the German construction programs . Despite their dismissive reaction , the Admiralty resolved to surpass German battleship construction . Admiral John Fisher , who became the First Sea Lord and head of the Admiralty in 1904 , introduced sweeping reforms in large part to counter the growing threat posed by the expanding German fleet . Training programs were modernized , old and obsolete vessels were discarded , and the scattered squadrons of battleships were consolidated into four main fleets , three of which were based in Europe . Britain also made a series of diplomatic arrangements , including an alliance with Japan that allowed a greater concentration of British battleships in the North Sea . Fisher ' s reforms caused serious problems for Tirpitz ' s plans ; he counted on a dispersal of British naval forces early in a conflict that would allow Germany ' s smaller but more concentrated fleet to achieve a local superiority . Tirpitz could also no longer depend on the higher level of training in both the German officer corps and the enlisted ranks , nor the superiority of the more modern and homogenized German squadrons over the heterogeneous British fleet . In 1904 , Britain signed the " Entente cordiale " with France , Britain ' s primary naval rival . The destruction of two Russian fleets during the Russo - Japanese War in 1905 further strengthened Britain ' s position , as it removed the second of her two traditional naval rivals . These developments allowed Britain to discard the " two power standard " and focus solely on out - building Germany . In October 1906 , Admiral Fisher stated " our only probable enemy is Germany . Germany keeps her " whole " Fleet always concentrated within a few hours of England . We must therefore keep a Fleet twice as powerful concentrated within a few hours of Germany . " The most damaging blow to Tirpitz ' s plan came with the launch of in February 1906 . The new battleship , armed with a main battery of ten guns , was considerably more powerful than any battleship afloat . Ships capable of battle with " Dreadnought " would need to be significantly larger than the old pre - dreadnought s , which increased their cost and necessitated expensive dredging of canals and harbors to accommodate them . The German naval budget was already stretched thin ; without new funding , Tirpitz would have to abandon his challenge to Britain . As a result , Tirpitz went before the Reichstag in May 1906 with a request for additional funding . The First Amendment to the Second Naval Law was passed on 19 May and appropriated funding for the new battleships , as well as for the dredging required by their increased size . A second amendment to the Naval Law was passed in March 1908 to provide an additional billion marks to cope with the growing cost of the latest battleships . The law also reduced the service life of the battleships from 25 to 20 years , which allowed Tirpitz to push for the replacement of older vessels . A third and final amendment was passed in May 1912 represented a compromise between Tirpitz and moderates , and authorized three new battleships and two light cruisers . The amendment called for the High Seas Fleet to be equipped with three squadrons of eight battleships each , one squadron of eight battlecruiser s , and eighteen light cruiser s . Two 8 - ship squadrons would be placed in reserve , along with two armored and twelve light cruisers . Before the 1912 naval law was passed , Britain and Germany attempted to reach a compromise with the Haldane Mission , led by the British War Minister Richard Haldane . The arms reduction mission ended in failure , however , and the 1912 law was announced shortly thereafter . The Germans were aware at as early as 1911 , the Royal Navy had abandoned the idea of a decisive battle with the German fleet , in favor of a distant blockade at the entrances to the North Sea , which the British could easily control due to their geographical position . There emerged the distinct possibility that the German fleet would be unable to force a battle on its own terms , which would render it militarily useless . When the war came in 1914 , the British did in fact adopt this strategy . Coupled with the restrictive orders of the Kaiser , who preferred to keep the fleet intact to be used as a bargaining chip in the peace settlements , the ability of the High Seas Fleet to affect the military situation was markedly reduced . Strategy . The German Navy ' s pre - war planning held that the British would be compelled to mount either a direct attack on the German coast to defeat the High Seas Fleet , or to put in place a close blockade . Either course of action would permit the Germans to whittle away at the numerical superiority of the Grand Fleet with submarines and torpedo boats . Once a rough equality of forces could be achieved , the High Seas Fleet would be able to attack and destroy the British fleet . Implicit in Tirpitz ' s strategy was the assumption that German vessels were better - designed , had better - trained crews , and would be employed with superior tactics . In addition , Tirpitz assumed that Britain would not be able to concentrate its fleet in the North Sea , owing to the demands of its global empire . At the start of a conflict between the two powers , the Germans would therefore be able to attack the Royal Navy with local superiority . The British , however , did not accommodate Tirpitz ' s projections ; from his appointment to the First Sea Lord in 1904 , Admiral Jackie Fisher began a major reorganization of the Royal Navy . He concentrated British battleship strength in home waters , launched the " Dreadnought " revolution , and introduced rigorous training for the fleet personnel . In 1912 , the British concluded a joint defense agreement with France that allowed the British to concentrate in the North Sea while the French defended the Mediterranean . Worse still , the British began developing the strategy of the distant blockade of Germany starting in 1904 ; this removed the ability of German light craft to reduce Britain ' s superiority in numbers and essentially invalidated German naval planning before the start of World War I . Logistics and personnel . The primary base for the High Seas Fleet in the North Sea was Wilhelmshaven on the western side of the Jade Bight ; the port of Cuxhaven , located on the mouth of the Elbe , was also a major base in the North Sea . The island of Heligoland provided a fortified forward position in the German Bight . Kiel was the most important base in the Baltic , which supported the forward bases at Pillau and Danzig . The Kaiser Wilhelm Canal through Schleswig - Holstein connected the Baltic and North Seas and allowed the German Navy to quickly shift naval forces between the two seas . In peacetime , all ships on active duty in the High Seas Fleet were stationed in Wilhelmshaven , Kiel , or Danzig . Germany possessed only one major overseas base , at Kiautschou in China , where the East Asia Squadron was stationed . Steam ships of the period , which burned coal to fire their boilers , were naturally tied to coaling stations in friendly ports . The German Navy lacked sufficient overseas bases for sustained operations , even for single ships operating as commerce raiders . The Navy experimented with a device to transfer coal from colliers to warships in 1907 , though the practice was not put into general use . Nevertheless , German capital ships had a cruising range of at least , more than enough to operate in the Atlantic Ocean . In 1897 , the year Tirpitz came to his position as State Secretary of the Navy Office , the Imperial Navy consisted of a total of around 26 , 000 officers , petty officers , and enlisted men of various ranks , branches , and positions . By the outbreak of war in 1914 , this had increased significantly to about 80 , 000 officers , petty officers , and men . Capital ships were typically commanded by a " Kapitän zur See " ( Captain at Sea ) or " Korvettenkapitän " ( corvette captain ) . Each of these ships typically had a total crew in excess of 1 , 000 officers and men ; the light cruisers that screened for the fleet had crew sizes between 300 and 550 . The fleet torpedo boat s had crews of about 80 to 100 officers and men , though some later classes approached 200 . History . In early 1907 , enough battleships — of the - and es — had been constructed to allow for the creation of a second full squadron . On 16 February 1907 , Kaiser Wilhelm renamed the Home Fleet the High Seas Fleet . Admiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia , Wilhelm II ' s brother , became the first commander of the High Seas Fleet ; his flagship was . While in a peace - time footing , the Fleet conducted a routine pattern of training exercises , with individual ships , with squadrons , and with the combined fleet , throughout the year . The entire fleet conducted several cruises into the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea . Prince Henry was replaced in late 1909 by Vice Admiral Henning von Holtzendorff , who served until April 1913 . Vice Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl , who would command the High Seas Fleet in the first months of World War I , took command following the departure of Vice Admiral von Holtzendorff . replaced " Deutschland " as the fleet flagship on 2 March 1913 . Despite the rising international tensions following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June , the High Seas Fleet began its summer cruise to Norway on 13 July . During the last peacetime cruise of the Imperial Navy , the fleet conducted drills off Skagen before proceeding to the Norwegian fjords on 25 July . The following day the fleet began to steam back to Germany , as a result of Austria - Hungary ' s ultimatum to Serbia . On the 27th , the entire fleet assembled off Cape Skudenes before returning to port , where the ships remained at a heightened state of readiness . War between Austria - Hungary and Serbia broke out the following day , and in the span of a week all of the major European powers had joined the conflict . World War I . The High Seas Fleet conducted a number of sweeps and advances into the North Sea . The first occurred on 2 – 3 November 1914 , though no British forces were encountered . Admiral von Ingenohl , the commander of the High Seas Fleet , adopted a strategy in which the battlecruisers of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper ' s I Scouting Group raided British coastal towns to lure out portions of the Grand Fleet where they could be destroyed by the High Seas Fleet . The raid on Scarborough , Hartlepool and Whitby on 15 – 16 December 1914 was the first such operation . On the evening of 15 December , the German battle fleet of some twelve dreadnoughts and eight pre - dreadnoughts came to within of an isolated squadron of six British battleships . However , skirmishes between the rival destroyer screens in the darkness convinced von Ingenohl that he was faced with the entire Grand Fleet . Under orders from the Kaiser to avoid risking the fleet unnecessarily , von Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the fleet back toward Germany . Following the loss of at the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915 , the Kaiser removed Admiral von Ingenohl from his post on 2 February . Admiral Hugo von Pohl replaced him as commander of the fleet . Admiral von Pohl conducted a series of fleet advances in 1915 ; in the first one on 29 – 30 March , the fleet steamed out to the north of Terschelling and returned without incident . Another followed on 17 – 18 April , where the fleet covered a mining operation by the II Scouting Group . Three days later , on 21 – 22 April , the High Seas Fleet advanced towards the Dogger Bank , though again failed to meet any British forces . Another sortie followed on 29 – 30 May , during which the fleet advanced as far as Schiermonnikoog before being forced to turn back by inclement weather . On 10 August , the fleet steamed to the north of Heligoland to cover the return of the auxiliary cruiser . A month later , on 11 – 12 September , the fleet covered another mine - laying operation off the Swarte Bank . The last operation of the year , conducted on 23 – 24 October , was an advance without result in the direction of Horns Reef . Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer became Commander in chief of the High Seas Fleet on 18 January 1916 when Admiral von Pohl became too ill to continue in that post . Scheer favored a much more aggressive policy than that of his predecessor , and advocated greater usage of U - boat s and zeppelin s in coordinated attacks on the Grand Fleet ; Scheer received approval from the Kaiser in February 1916 to carry out his intentions . Scheer ordered the fleet on sweeps of the North Sea on 26 March , 2 – 3 April , and 21 – 22 April . The battlecruisers conducted another raid on the English coast on 24 – 25 April , during which the fleet provided distant support . Scheer planned another raid for mid - May , but the battlecruiser had struck a mine during the previous raid and the repair work forced the operation to be pushed back until the end of the month . Battle of Jutland . Admiral Scheer ' s fleet , composed of 16 dreadnoughts , six pre - dreadnoughts , six light cruisers , and 31 torpedo boats departed the Jade early on the morning of 31 May . The fleet sailed in concert with Hipper ' s five battlecruisers and supporting cruisers and torpedo boats . The British navy ' s Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation . The Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet , totaling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers , to sortie the night before in order to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet . At 16 : 00 UTC , the two battlecruiser forces encountered each other and began a running gun fight south , back towards Scheer ' s battle fleet . Upon reaching the High Seas Fleet , Vice Admiral David Beatty ' s battlecruisers turned back to the north to lure the Germans towards the rapidly approaching Grand Fleet , under the command of Admiral John Jellicoe . During the run to the north , Scheer ' s leading ships engaged the s of the 5th Battle Squadron . By 18 : 30 , the Grand Fleet had arrived on the scene , and was deployed into a position that would cross Scheer ' s " T " from the northeast . To extricate his fleet from this precarious position , Scheer ordered a 16 - point turn to the south - west . At 18 : 55 , Scheer decided to conduct another 16 - point turn to launch an attack on the British fleet . This maneuver again put Scheer in a dangerous position ; Jellicoe had turned his fleet south and again crossed Scheer ' s " T . " A third 16 - point turn followed ; Hipper ' s mauled battlecruisers charged the British line to cover the retreat . Scheer then ordered the fleet to adopt the night cruising formation , which was completed by 23 : 40 . A series of ferocious engagements between Scheer ' s battleships and Jellicoe ' s destroyer screen ensued , though the Germans managed to punch their way through the destroyers and make for Horns Reef . The High Seas Fleet reached the Jade between 13 : 00 and 14 : 45 on 1 June ; Scheer ordered the undamaged battleships of the I Battle Squadron to take up defensive positions in the Jade roadstead while the s were to maintain a state of readiness just outside Wilhelmshaven . The High Seas Fleet had sunk more British vessels than the Grand Fleet had sunk German , though Scheer ' s leading battleships had taken a terrible hammering . Several capital ships , including , which had been the first vessel in the line , and most of the battlecruisers , were in drydock for extensive repairs for at least two months . On 1 June , the British had twenty - four capital ships in fighting condition , compared to only ten German warships . Subsequent operations . By August , enough warships had been repaired to allow Scheer to undertake another fleet operation on 18 – 19 August . Due to the serious damage incurred by and and the loss of at Jutland , the only battlecruisers available for the operation were and , which were joined by , , and the new battleship . Scheer turned north after receiving a false report from a zeppelin about a British unit in the area . As a result , the bombardment was not carried out , and by 14 : 35 , Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet ' s approach and so turned his forces around and retreated to German ports . Another fleet sortie took place on 18 – 19 October 1916 , without submarine support and with the limited objective of attacking any shipping to be found east of Dogger Bank . The British Admiralty was warned of this operation by signal intelligence , and diverted shipping accordingly ( the Grand Fleet was not ordered out ) . Scheer aborted the operation at 2am on 19 October due to a combination of poor weather ( the High Seas Fleet ' s torpedo - boats were unable to keep up ) , the torpedoing of the cruiser by the British submarine , and the realization that the British had diverted shipping away from the target area . The fleet was reorganized on 1 December ; the four s remained in the III Squadron , along with the newly commissioned , while the five ships were transferred to the IV Squadron . In March 1917 the new battleship , built to serve as fleet flagship , entered service ; on the 17th , Scheer hauled down his flag from " Friedrich der Grosse " and transferred it to " Baden " . The war , now in its fourth year , was by 1917 taking its toll on the crews of the ships of the High Seas Fleet . Acts of passive resistance , such as the posting of anti - war slogans in the battleships and in January 1917 , began to appear . In June and July , the crews began to conduct more active forms of resistance . These activities included work refusals , hunger strikes , and taking unauthorized leave from their ships . The disruptions came to a head in August , when a series of protests , anti - war speeches , and demonstrations resulted in the arrest of dozens of sailors . Scheer ordered the arrest of over 200 men from the battleship , the center of the anti - war activities . A series of courts - martial followed , which resulted in 77 guilty verdicts ; nine men were sentenced to death for their roles , though only two men , Albin Köbis and Max Reichpietsch , were executed . In early September 1917 , following the German conquest of the Russian port of Riga , the German navy decided to eliminate the Russian naval forces that still held the Gulf of Riga . The Navy High Command ( " Admiralstab " ) planned an operation , codenamed Operation Albion , to seize the Baltic island of Ösel , and specifically the Russian gun batteries on the Sworbe Peninsula . On 18 September , the order was issued for a joint operation with the army to capture Ösel and Moon Islands ; the primary naval component was to comprise its flagship , " Moltke " , and the III and IV Battle Squadrons of the High Seas Fleet . The operation began on the morning of 12 October , when " Moltke " and the III Squadron ships engaged Russian positions in Tagga Bay while the IV Squadron shelled Russian gun batteries on the Sworbe Peninsula on Ösel . By 20 October , the fighting on the islands was winding down ; Moon , Ösel , and Dagö were in German possession . The previous day , the " Admiralstab " had ordered the cessation of naval actions and the return of the dreadnoughts to the High Seas Fleet as soon as possible . Admiral Scheer had used light surface forces to attack British convoys to Norway beginning in late 1917 . As a result , the Royal Navy attached a squadron of battleships to protect the convoys , which presented Scheer with the possibility of destroying a detached squadron of the Grand Fleet . The operation called for Hipper ' s battlecruisers to attack the convoy and its escorts on 23 April while the battleships of the High Seas Fleet stood by in support . On 22 April , the German fleet assembled in the Schillig Roads outside Wilhelmshaven and departed the following morning . Despite the success in reaching the convoy route undetected , the operation failed due to faulty intelligence . Reports from U - boats indicated to Scheer that the convoys sailed at the start and middle of each week , but a west - bound convoy had left Bergen on Tuesday the 22nd and an east - bound group left Methil , Scotland , on the 24th , a Thursday . As a result , there was no convoy for Hipper to attack . Beatty sortied with a force of 31 battleships and four battlecruisers , but was too late to intercept the retreating Germans . The Germans reached their defensive minefields early on 25 April , though approximately off Heligoland " Moltke " was torpedoed by the submarine ; she successfully returned to port . Internment at Scapa Flow . A final fleet action was planned for the end of October 1918 , days before the Armistice was to take effect . The bulk of the High Seas Fleet was to have sortied from their base in Wilhelmshaven to engage the British Grand Fleet ; Scheer — by now the Grand Admiral ( " Grossadmiral " ) of the fleet — intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy , in order to retain a better bargaining position for Germany , despite the expected casualties . However , many of the war - weary sailors felt the operation would disrupt the peace process and prolong the war . On the morning of 29 October 1918 , the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven the following day . Starting on the night of 29 October , sailors on and then on several other battleships mutinied . The unrest ultimately forced Hipper and Scheer to cancel the operation . Informed of the situation , the Kaiser stated " I no longer have a navy . " Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918 , most of the High Seas Fleet , under the command of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter , were interned in the British naval base in Scapa Flow . Prior to the departure of the German fleet , Admiral Adolf von Trotha made clear to von Reuter that he could not allow the Allies to seize the ships , under any conditions . The fleet rendezvoused with the British light cruiser , which led the ships to the Allied fleet that was to escort the Germans to Scapa Flow . The massive flotilla consisted of some 370 British , American , and French warships . Once the ships were interned , their guns were disabled through the removal of their breech block s , and their crews were reduced to 200 officers and enlisted men on each of the capital ships . The fleet remained in captivity during the negotiations that ultimately produced the Treaty of Versailles . Von Reuter believed that the British intended to seize the German ships on 21 June 1919 , which was the deadline for Germany to have signed the peace treaty . Unaware that the deadline had been extended to the 23rd , Reuter ordered the ships to be sunk at the next opportunity . On the morning of 21 June , the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers , and at 11 : 20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships . Out of the interned fleet , only one battleship , " Baden " , three light cruisers , and eighteen destroyers were saved from sinking by the British harbor personnel . The Royal Navy , initially opposed to salvage operations , decided to allow private firms to attempt to raise the vessels for scrapping . Cox and Danks , a company founded by Ernest Cox handled most of the salvage operations , including those of the heaviest vessels raised . After Cox ' s withdrawal due to financial losses in the early 1930s , Metal Industries Group , Inc . took over the salving of the scuttled German fleet . Five more capital ships were raised , though three — SMS " König " , , and SMS " Markgraf " — were too deep to permit raising . They remain on the bottom of Scapa Flow , along with four light cruisers . Legacy . The High Seas Fleet , particularly its wartime impotence and ultimate fate , strongly influenced the later German navies , the " Reichsmarine " and " Kriegsmarine " . Former Imperial Navy officers continued to serve in the subsequent institutions , including Admiral Erich Raeder , Hipper ' s former chief of staff , who became the commander in chief of the " Reichsmarine " . Raeder advocated long - range commerce raiding by surface ships , rather than constructing a large surface fleet to challenge the Royal Navy , which he viewed to be a futile endeavor . His initial version of Plan Z , the construction program for the " Kriegsmarine " in the late 1930s , called for large number of s , long - range light cruisers , and reconnaissance forces , though he was overruled by Adolf Hitler , who advocated a large fleet of battleships .