Franz von Hipper Franz Ritter von Hipper ( 13 September 1863 – 25 May 1932 ) was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy ( " Kaiserliche Marine " ) . Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet . He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships , as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II ' s yacht . Hipper commanded several cruisers in the reconnaissance forces before being appointed commander of the I Scouting Group in October 1913 . He held this position until 1918 , when he succeeded Admiral Reinhard Scheer as commander of the High Seas Fleet . He is most famous for commanding the German battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group during World War I , particularly at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916 . During the war , Hipper led the German battlecruisers on several raids of the English coast , for which he was vilified in the English press as a " baby killer . " His squadron clashed with the British battlecruiser squadron at the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915 , where the armored cruiser was lost . At the Battle of Jutland , Hipper ' s flagship was sunk , though his ships succeeded in sinking three British battlecruisers . After the end of the war in 1918 , Franz von Hipper retired from the Imperial Navy with a full pension . He initially lived under an alias and moved frequently to avoid radical revolutionaries during the German Revolution of 1918 – 1919 . After the revolution settled , he moved to Altona outside Hamburg . Unlike his superior , Reinhard Scheer , he never published a memoirs of his service during the war . Hipper died on 25 May 1932 . The " Kriegsmarine " commemorated Hipper with the launching of the heavy cruiser in 1938 . Early life . Franz Hipper was born to Anton and Anna Hipper in Weilheim in Oberbayern , some south of Munich , on 13 September 1863 . His father , a shop - keeper , died when Franz was three . When Franz turned five , he began his education at a Catholic grammar school in Munich . At the age of ten , Franz attended the " Gymnasium " in Munich . Hipper graduated from the " Gymnasium " in 1879 with an " Obersekunda " — the equivalent of a high school diploma . After completing his education , Hipper signed up as a volunteer reserve officer ( " Einjährig - Freiwilliger " ) , a one - year volunteer position in the German military . After basic officer training in 1879 , Hipper decided to join the navy . He went to Kiel , where he took the " Pressen " , courses designed to prepare officers for the naval entrance examination , which he successfully passed . On 12 April 1881 , at the age of 18 , Franz Hipper became an officer of the Imperial German Navy . Among the fellow cadets of the 1881 class was Wilhelm Souchon , who went on to command the Mediterranean Division at the outbreak of World War I . Naval career . Peace - time career . After Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as a probationary sea cadet , he served on the sail - frigate from April to September 1881 . He was then transferred to the Naval Cadet School in Kiel , which he attended from September 1881 to March 1882 . Upon graduation , he attended the 6 - week Basic Gunnery School on the training ship , from April to May 1882 . Following gunnery training , Hipper was assigned to the training ship for sea training , which lasted from May to September 1882 . He was then transferred to the steam corvette for a world cruise ; this was begun on October 1882 and completed two years later in October 1884 . Upon reaching Germany , Hipper returned to Kiel to attend Naval Officer School from November 1884 to April 1885 . On 24 April , Hipper was assigned as a divisional drill officer ; he was tasked with training recruits for the First Naval Battalion , based in Kiel . Hipper held this position for seven months . In October 1885 , Hipper went through the Executive Officer School in Kiel , which he completed on 16 December . On 4 January 1886 , Hipper was assigned as a division officer for the Second Seaman ' s Artillery Division , Coastal Defense Artillery . He remained in this post until 3 March 1887 , at which point he was assigned as the watch officer aboard " Friedrich Carl " . This began a three and a half year stint serving as watch officer aboard several ships , including the corvettes and , the armored frigate , and the aviso . Hipper attended the Torpedo Officer Course aboard the corvette from October 1890 to January 1891 . He was then designated as a torpedo specialist ; he returned to " Friedrich der Grosse " as a torpedo officer in October 1891 . In April 1892 , he went to join the crew of the newly commissioned coastal defense ship , again as a torpedo officer . He served in this position only briefly , before being reassigned as the company commander of the Second Torpedo Unit , based in Wilhelmshaven , in October 1892 . Hipper then took part in torpedo boat instruction from January to February 1893 . In 1894 – 95 , Hipper served as the senior watch officer aboard the new battleship , under the command of Prince Heinrich . While aboard " Wörth " , Hipper was promoted to Senior Lieutenant and awarded the Bavarian National Defense Service Medal on 29 August 1895 . In September 1895 , Hipper was assigned as the commanding officer of the Second Torpedo - boat Reserve Division . He held this position for 21 months , during which time he alternated command of four vessels of the active and reserve units in his division . In June 1897 , Hipper participated in a 17 - day Admiralty staff cruise aboard the aviso . After returning from the staff cruise , Hipper was promoted to serve as the commander of the Second Reserve Torpedo - boat Flotilla , a position in which he served for 15 months . Hipper was transferred to the battleship on 1 October 1898 , where he served as navigator . Hipper served for 11 months as navigator aboard the battleship before he was transferred to the Imperial yacht on 19 September 1899 . While serving on the Imperial yacht , Hipper was present for the trip to England for Queen Victoria ' s funeral in 1901 and the cruise to America the following year . Hipper was awarded a number of medals during his service aboard " Hohenzollern " , including the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle , the Bavarian Military Service Order , and the Order of St . Stanislaus — awarded by the Tsar Nicholas II of Russia . Hipper was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander on 16 June 1901 . After leaving the Imperial yacht , Hipper was assigned to command of the Second Torpedo Unit on 1 October 1902 . He held the command until 30 September 1905 . His flagship for the first six months of his command was the new cruiser ; he then transferred his flag to the large torpedo boat . While in this command , Hipper was awarded additional commendations , including the Prussian Distinguished Service Cross and the Prussian Royal Crown Order . He was promoted to the rank of Commander on 5 April . In January 1906 , Hipper attended the 10 - day Cruiser Gunnery School on the new armored cruiser . In April 1906 , he participated in the Battleship Gunnery Course conducted aboard the battleship . On 20 April , Hipper was given command of the light cruiser , though his tenure as commander was short - lived . " Leipzig " departed for the East Asia Squadron in September 1906 , at which point Hipper was transferred to command the new armored cruiser . Hipper assumed command of the ship on 30 September . Under Hipper ' s leadership , the crew of " Friedrich Carl " won the Kaiser ' s Prize for the best shooting in the fleet in 1907 . Admiral Hugo von Pohl stated in a subsequent report : " He has brought the ship to a higher degree of combat effectiveness , and the ship has won the Kaiser Prize for good shooting . One of the best captains we have in the cruisers . A good example for his officers . Recommended for battleship command and for higher independent commands . " On 6 April 1907 , Hipper was promoted to Captain . Nicholas II awarded Hipper another commendation , the Order of St . Andrew , that year during a meeting with Wilhelm II . During the ceremony , Hipper joined Wilhelm II as one of his " Imperial Captains . " On 6 March 1908 , Hipper took command of the new cruiser . He was tasked with conducting the shakedown cruise , after which the ship departed for the East Asia Squadron . Hipper again remained in Germany ; he was given command of the First Torpedo boat Division , based in Kiel . Here he was responsible for training more than half of the torpedo boats in the entire German navy . Hipper held the position for three years , until he returned to fleet service . On 1 October 1911 , Hipper took command of the armored cruiser , along with the position as chief of staff for Rear Admiral Gustav von Bachmann , the Deputy Flag Officer , Reconnaissance Forces . In January 1912 , Rear Admiral von Bachmann was promoted out of his position ; on the 26th Hipper succeeded him as the deputy commander . The following day , he was promoted to Rear Admiral . After serving as the deputy commander for over a year and a half , Hipper again followed Admiral von Bachmann . Admiral von Bachmann was promoted to Chief of the Baltic Station and Hipper took over as the commanding officer of the I Scouting Group on 1 October 1913 . Erich Raeder was appointed as Hipper ' s deputy . World War I . After World War I broke out in 1914 Hipper led his battlecruisers on several raids against the English coastal towns . The first such raid occurred on 2 November 1914 . Hipper ' s force included the battlecruisers , , and , his flagship , and the large armored cruiser , along with four light cruisers . The flotilla arrived off Great Yarmouth at daybreak the following morning and bombarded the port , while the light cruiser laid a minefield . The British submarine responded to the bombardment , but struck one of the mines laid by " Stralsund " and sank . Shortly thereafter , Hipper ordered his ships to turn back to German waters . On the way , a heavy fog covered the Heligoland Bight , so the ships were ordered to halt until visibility improved and they could safely navigate the defensive minefields . The armored cruiser made a navigational error that led her into one of the German minefields . She struck two mines and quickly sank ; only 127 men out of the crew of 629 were rescued . A second operation followed on 15 – 16 December 1914 ; it targeted the towns of Scarborough , Hartlepool , and Whitby . By this time Hipper ' s squadron had been augmented by the new battlecruiser . Twelve hours after Hipper left the Jade , the High Seas Fleet , consisting of 14 dreadnought s and 8 pre - dreadnought s and a screening force of 2 armored cruisers , 7 light cruisers , and 54 torpedo boats , departed to provide distant cover for the bombardment force . The Royal Navy had the capability to intercept and decode the German naval code , as a result of the capture of the light cruiser at the outbreak of the war . On 14 December , the British intercepted messages relating to the plan to bombard Scarborough . Vice Admiral Beatty ' s four battlecruisers , supported by six dreadnoughts and several cruisers and smaller vessels , were to ambush Hipper ' s battlecruisers . The evening of the 15th , the main German fleet encountered the six British battleships ; Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl , convinced he was faced by the entire British fleet , turned in retreat . Hipper was unaware of his superior ' s decision , and so pressed on with the bombardment . The three towns were shelled briefly before Hipper turned back to the planned rendezvous point . By this time , Beatty ' s battlecruisers were in position to block Hipper ' s chosen egress route , while other forces were en route to complete the encirclement . Errors in signaling aboard the British ships and bad weather , however , allowed Hipper to escape the trap without incident . As a result of the civilian casualties inflicted in these raids , the British propaganda effort vilified Hipper as a " baby killer . " Battle of Dogger Bank . In early January 1915 , it became known to the German naval command that British ships were conducting reconnaissance in the Dogger Bank area . Admiral von Ingenohl was initially reluctant to attempt to destroy these forces , because the I Scouting Group was temporarily weakened while " Von der Tann " was in drydock for periodic maintenance . Rear Admiral ( ) Richard Eckermann , the Chief of Staff of the High Seas Fleet , insisted on the operation , and so Ingenohl relented and ordered Hipper to take his battlecruisers to the Dogger Bank . On 23 January , Hipper sortied , with " Seydlitz " in the lead , followed by " Moltke " , " Derfflinger " , and " Blücher " , along with four light cruisers and 19 torpedo boats . Again , interception and decryption of German wireless signals played an important role . Although they were unaware of the exact plans , the cryptographers of Room 40 were able to deduce that Hipper would be conducting an operation in the Dogger Bank area . Vice Admiral Beatty was again tasked with intercepting and destroying Hipper ' s battlecruisers . At 08 : 14 on 24 January , the German cruiser spotted the light cruiser and several destroyers from the Harwich Force , which had been attached to support Beatty ' s battlecruiser squadron . Hipper immediately turned his battlecruisers towards the gunfire , when , almost simultaneously , spotted a large amount of smoke to the northwest of her position . This was identified as a number of large British warships steaming towards Hipper ' s ships . Hipper later remarked : " The presence of such a large force indicated the proximity of further sections of the British Fleet , especially as wireless intercepts revealed the approach of 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron . . . They were also reported by " Blücher " at the rear of the German line , which had opened fire on a light cruiser and several destroyers coming up from astern . . . The battlecruisers under my command found themselves , in view of the prevailing [ East - North - East ] wind , in the windward position and so in an unfavourable situation from the outset . " Hipper turned south to flee , but was limited to , which was " Blücher " maximum speed at the time . The pursuing British battlecruisers were steaming at , and quickly caught up to the German ships . As the rearmost ship in the German line , " Blücher " suffered the majority of the British gunfire for the early portion of the battle . " Seydlitz " was struck in her forecastle at 10 : 25 , by a 13 . 5 in shell from " Lion " , but this hit did minor damage . At 10 : 40 , " Lion " hit " Seydlitz " with a single 13 . 5 in ( 343 mm ) shell , which holed the deck and penetrated the rear barbette . The shell itself failed to enter the barbette , but the explosion flashed into the working chamber and detonated the propellant charges inside . By this time , " Blücher " was severely damaged after having been pounded by heavy shells . The chase ended when there were several reports of U - boats ahead of the British ships ; Beatty quickly ordered evasive maneuvers , which allowed the German ships to increase the distance to their pursuers . At this time , " Lion " s last operational dynamo failed , which dropped her speed to . Beatty , in the stricken " Lion " , ordered the remaining battlecruisers to " Engage the enemy ' s rear , " but signal confusion caused the ships to solely target " Blücher " , allowing " Moltke " , " Seydlitz " , and " Derfflinger " to escape . Blame for the loss of " Blücher " was not placed on Hipper , but on his superior Admiral von Ingenohl , who was removed from his post on 4 February . Also on the 4th , Hipper met with the Kaiser on an inspection of the fleet in Wilhelmshaven . That same day , Hipper was awarded the Iron Cross by the Kaiser ; on the 23rd he was presented with the Friedrich August Cross , First and Second Classes , by the Grand Duke of Oldenburg . Three days later , Hipper was informed that his hometown had named its main street " Hipperstrasse " ( Hipper Street ) . By March 1916 , Hipper suffered from severe combat fatigue ; he had held command of the fleet reconnaissance forces for some 20 months , and the strain of command was beginning to take its toll . He requested sick leave on 20 March , which was approved by Admiral Reinhard Scheer — who had replaced von Pohl as fleet commander in January 1916 — a week later on the 27th . Scheer , however , attempted to have Hipper retired instead of returning after the termination of sick leave ; he contacted Henning von Holtzendorff , the Chief of the Admiralty Staff , who disagreed with Scheer . Holtzendorff thought that relieving Hipper at that point would " only damage the war leadership . " Hipper had meanwhile left for a spa in Bad Nenndorf , where he spent five weeks . His deputy , Friedrich Bödicker , assumed temporary command . Hipper returned to his post on 12 May 1916 ; he hoisted his flag aboard the newly commissioned battlecruiser . Battle of Jutland . Admiral Scheer planned another operation to lure out a portion of the British fleet for 17 May , but damage to the battlecruiser sustained during the bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft the previous month , coupled with condenser trouble on several of the battleships of III Battle Squadron caused the plan to be delayed , ultimately to 31 May . That morning , at 02 : 00 CET , the I Scouting Group , which comprised the battlecruisers " Lützow " , " Derfflinger " , " Seydlitz " , " Moltke " , and " Von der Tann " , five light cruisers , and 30 torpedo boats , left the Jade estuary . Scheer and the battle fleet followed an hour and a half later . The British navy ' s Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation , and so sortied the Grand Fleet , totaling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers the night before , in order to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet . At 16 : 00 , the British and German battlecruiser forces encountered each other and began a running gun fight south , back towards Scheer ' s battle fleet . During this portion of the battle , Hipper ' s ships destroyed the battlecruisers and . 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 , Hipper ' s ships continued to engage both Beatty ' s battlecruisers and the s of the 5th Battle Squadron . At 19 : 24 , the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron had formed up with Beatty ' s remaining battlecruisers ahead of the German line . The leading British ships spotted " Lützow " and " Derfflinger " , and began firing on them . In the span of 8 minutes , the battlecruiser scored eight hits on " Lützow " ; these hits were mainly concentrated in the ship ' s bow and were the primary cause of the flooding that would eventually cause her loss . In return , both " Lützow " and " Derfflinger " concentrated their fire on " Invincible " , and at 19 : 33 , " Lützow " s third salvo penetrated " Invincible " s center turret and ignited the magazine ; the ship disappeared in a series of massive explosions . By 19 : 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 . " Lützow " had lost speed and was unable to keep up , and so Hipper ordered his flagship to withdraw to the southwest . Shortly before 20 : 00 , " Kommodore " Michelson , aboard the cruiser " Rostock " , dispatched the torpedo boats of I Half - Flotilla to assist " Lützow " . came alongside and took Hipper and his staff aboard , in order to transfer him to one of the other battlecruisers . At 19 : 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 , which was covered by a charge by Hipper ' s mauled battlecruisers — though as he was in the process of transferring from " Lützow " to " G39 " , command of the squadron had temporarily fallen to Captain Hartog aboard " Derfflinger " . Hipper remarked , " I had to find myself another flagship because I could no longer exercise command from one which was shot to pieces . . . A torpedo boat was called alongside and we changed under heavy fire . . . [ I ] drove my torpedoboat hoping to find an advantageous moment to board one of [ the other battlecruisers ] . These 1½ hours that I spent in a hail of shell and splinters aboard the torpedoboat I shall not be likely to forget . " By 22 : 15 , Hipper was finally able to transfer to " Moltke " ; he then ordered his ships to steam at to take up their station the head of the German line . Only " Moltke " and " Seydlitz " , however , were in condition to comply ; " Derfflinger " and " Von der Tann " could make at most 18 knots , and so these ships lagged behind . An attack by British light cruisers caused the German formation to fall into disarray . In the confusion , " Seydlitz " lost sight of " Moltke " , and was no longer able to keep up with " Moltke " s ; " Seydlitz " detached herself to proceed to the Horns Reef lighthouse independently . Hipper ' s ships were to see no further combat during the return to German waters ; at 03 : 55 Hipper reported to Scheer that " Derfflinger " and " Von der Tann " both had only two guns in operation , and that " Seydlitz " had been heavily damaged . Scheer replied that Hipper was to return to Wilhelmshaven while the fleet stood off Horns Reef . For his conduct in the battle , Hipper received Germany ' s highest military honor , the Pour le Mérite ; it was awarded by the Kaiser on 5 June . He was also awarded the Royal Bavarian Military Order of Max Joseph , Commander ' s Cross . This award carried with it elevation to the nobility and the title " Ritter " . He was presented with several other awards , including the Royal Saxon Order , the Order of Albrecht , and all three Hanseatic Cross es from Lübeck , Bremen , and Hamburg . Command of the High Seas Fleet . The remainder of 1916 and through 1917 was largely uneventful for Hipper . He was placed in command of a detachment of the High Seas Fleet , composed of two battlecruisers , eleven battleships , four light cruisers , and twelve torpedo boats , sent to Denmark to retrieve a pair of stranded U - boats in November 1916 . One was successfully returned to Germany , but the other had to be destroyed to prevent its capture . On the return to Germany , and were torpedoed by a British submarine . A year later , a brief skirmish took place in the Helgoland Bight between British and German capital ships . On 12 August 1918 , Hipper was promoted to command of the High Seas Fleet , after Scheer had been promoted to the Chief of Naval Staff . He was concurrently promoted to Admiral ; Hipper took provisional control of the fleet in a ceremony held on the old battleship the day before . However , the war was all but lost by the time Hipper took command of the fleet . In October , Hipper and Scheer envisioned one last major fleet advance to attack the British Grand Fleet . Scheer intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy , to achieve a better bargaining position for Germany regardless of the cost to the navy . During the planning stages , Hipper wrote " As to a battle for the honor of the fleet in this war , even if it were a death battle , it would be the foundation for a new German fleet . . . such a fleet would be out of the question in the event of a dishonorable peace . " The plan involved two simultaneous attacks by light cruisers and destroyers , one on Flanders and another on shipping in the Thames estuary ; the five battlecruisers were to support the Thames attack while the dreadnoughts remained off Flanders . After both strikes , the fleet was to concentrate off the Dutch coast , where it would meet the Grand Fleet in battle . While the fleet was consolidating in Wilhelmshaven , however , war - weary sailors began deserting en masse . As " Von der Tann " and " Derfflinger " passed through the locks that separated Wilhelmshaven ' s inner harbor and roadstead , some 300 men from both ships climbed over the side and disappeared ashore . On 24 October 1918 , the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven . Starting on the night of 29 October , sailors on several battleships mutinied ; three ships from the III Squadron refused to weigh anchors , and acts of sabotage were committed on board the battleships and . In the face of open rebellion , the order to sail was rescinded and the planned operation was abandoned . In an attempt to suppress the mutiny , the High Seas Fleet squadrons were dispersed . The situation had declined so significantly that on 9 November , Hipper personally took down his flag from the battleship and went ashore . According to the terms of the Armistice , all five of Germany ' s battlecruisers and two of the three battle squadrons , along with a number of light cruisers and the most modern torpedo boats , were to be interned in Scapa Flow . The fleet was placed under the command of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter and sent to meet the Allied fleet of some 370 vessels . Hipper watched from shore as the German fleet left for Scapa Flow on 21 November 1918 . He later wrote , My heart is breaking with this ; my time as fleet commander has come to an inglorious end . The remaining questions of demobilization , disarmament , and the negotiations with the soldiers councils can be handled by my chief of staff ; I have nothing more to do . I shall remain " pro forma " in command for a short time , otherwise , I am dead tired . Less than two weeks later , on 2 December , Admiral Hipper submitted his request to be placed on the inactive list . He retired on 13 December with a full pension ; at the age of 55 , Hipper spent almost 37 years on active duty in the Imperial Navy . The German fleet in Scapa Flow , meanwhile , was scuttled by its crew on 21 June 1919 . Post - war life . Following the German defeat in World War I , Hipper retired on 13 December 1918 from the navy and lived a quiet life ; he received a full war pension . During the chaos of the German Revolution of 1918 – 1919 , Hipper hid from radical revolutionaries by assuming a false name and moving frequently . He wrote a letter to Adolf von Trotha , the new fleet commander , expressing his approval of the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919 . After the revolution was over , Hipper moved to a house in Altona near Hamburg . Unlike his superior , Reinhard Scheer , Hipper never wrote a memoir of the war or his participation in the Imperial Navy . He briefly dabbled in conservative political movements in the 1920s but never committed to any . Franz von Hipper died on 25 May 1932 ; he was cremated and was buried in his hometown of Weilheim , according to his wishes . On hearing of Hipper ' s death , his old adversary David Beatty said , " I am very sorry . One would like to express one ' s regrets for the passing of a gallant officer and a great sailor . " In 1938 , the German navy , which had been expanded by the Nazi party , launched the new heavy cruiser in commemoration of its namesake .