Leberecht Maass

Leberecht Maass (or Maaß) (24 November 1863 – 28 August 1914) was the Konteradmiral who commanded the German naval forces at the first Battle of Heligoland Bight. He lost his life when his flagship, the light cruiser SMS Cöln, was sunk by British battlecruisers commanded by Vice Admiral David Beatty.

Leberecht Maass was born in Korkenhagen, Province of Pomerania. Maass entered the Kaiserliche Marine in 1883. Between 1893 and 1895 Maass commanded a torpedoboat. Between 1898 and 1901 he commanded a squadron and between 1903 and 1906 he was department chief in the Torpedo department. Maass served as director of the Naval School (1906-1908) and was promoted to captain in March 1908. He commanded the cruiser Freya (April 1908-June 1909), the armored cruiser Scharnhorst (March 1909-June 1910) and the old battleship Weissenburg (August 1910-September 1910). In October 1910 Maass was promoted to kommandeur. On 9 December 1913 Maass was promoted to Konteradmiral, flying his flag on the cruiser Cöln. At the start of the First World War, Maass served as Leader of the torpedoboats and commander of the second scouting squadron.

On 28 August 1914, the (British) Royal Navy's Harwich Force of two light cruisers, Arethusa and Fearless, and 31 destroyers and commanded by Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt, made a raid on German ships near the German naval base at Heligoland. Providing distant cover were the battlecruisers New Zealand and Invincible of Cruiser Force K under Rear-Admiral Moore.

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