Friedrich von Hollmann Friedrich von Hollmann ( January 19 , 1842 – January 21 , 1913 ) was an Admiral of the German Imperial Navy ( Kaiserliche Marine ) and Secretary of the German Imperial Naval Office under Emperor Wilhelm II . Hollmann was born in Berlin , Germany . He entered the Prussian Navy in 1857 and made his first trip as a cadet aboard the " SMS Amazone " , the " SMS Gefion " and the " SMS Thetis " . In 1859 - 1862 he took part in the expedition to the Far East along with Karl Eduard Heusner whom he would follow years later as Secretary of the German Imperial Naval Office . In 1863 he was appointed to the Central Division ( Zentralabteilung ) of the Prussian Navy Department . During the Second Schleswig War in 1864 he commanded the gunboat " SMS Wolf " , and then ( 1864 – 1867 ) served as a Lieutenant aboard the cadet school ship " SMS Niobe " . From 1867 to 1869 he was assigned to the naval school in Kiel . In Franco - Prussian War in 1870 - 71 Hollmann was a Kapitänleutnant , then ( 1871 – 1873 ) served the expedition to North and South America aboard " SMS Gazelle " . Between 1874 and 1881 in the Central Division ( Zentralabteilung ) of the Admiralty , he commanded the cadet ships " SMS Undine " and " SMS Medusa " from 1876 to 1878 , and then captained the academy corvette " SMS Elisabeth " of the " Arcona " class on its global tour from 1881 to 1883 , the year the Krakatoa volcano broke out . On May 20 , 1883 the German ship was stationed in the Sunda Strait , observing the ongoing eruption . In 1886 - 87 he was president of the Ship Examination Board ( Schiffsprüfungskommission ) and in the subsequent two years , Chief of Staff of the Admiralty . Now a Rear Admiral , Hollmann commanded the squadron which accompanied the Kaiser and Kaiserin on their royal visit to Greece and Turkey , 1889 to 1890 . On 22 April 1890 , Hollmann became a member of the Federal Council ( Bundesrat , upper house of the Parliament ) and State Secretary of the German Imperial Naval Office ( Reichsmarineamt ) in the cabinet of Chancellor Leo von Caprivi , following the resignation of Karl Eduard Heusner . Here he planned naval construction and maintenance programs , directed the procurement of naval supplies , and represented the navy in the Reichstag . In the same year he was appointed Vice Admiral and in 1896 , finally , Admiral . He was conservative in his attitude to war and especially horrified when he heard talk of war with Britain . In the mid - 1890s the quest for a German naval base in the Far East was uppermost in the minds of the naval leaders of the German Empire . Many saw the First Sino - Japanese War ( 1894 – 95 ) as an opportunity to act . For Hollmann , bases were " an absolute necessity for overseas naval operations . " In the heated discussions as to where the basse should be , he preferred Amoy on the Taiwan Strait . Nevertheless , when the Kaiser demanded that the navy take territory on the Shandong peninsula in September 1895 , he demurred because of the uncertain reaction of Japan , Britain and Russia . In the struggle over the Kaiser ' s naval expenditures , he admitted in February 1896 that " there are not 10 people in the Reichstag in favor of our great future fleet plans . " He resigned in June 1897 because he could not prevail in getting the Kaiser ’ s desired increases in the 1897 budget of the navy through the Reichstag . He promoted a navy of mainly cruisers as opposed to the heavy battle fleet sought by his successor , Alfred von Tirpitz . Hollmann was appointed a member of the Prussian House of Lords in 1904 . In 1906 he became the President of the Institute for Testing of Aerodynamic Models of the Powered Airship Society ( Motorluftschiff - Studiengesellschaft ) and its successor company , the Luft - Fahrzeug - Gesellschaft , which dealt with the construction , development and distribution of airships , including for the Navy . On 27 January 1905 he was appointed to the Order of the Black Eagle . He is one of the founders of the German Fleet Association ( Deutsche Flottenverein ) . After leaving the military Hollmann was a member of the supervisory board of the Allgemeine Elektrizitäts - Gesellschaft AEG , and later its chairman . He died in Berlin .