Gustav Heinrich Ernst Friedrich von Ingenohl (30 June 1857 – 19 December 1933) was a German
admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
from
Neuwied best known for his command of the German
High Seas Fleet at the beginning of
World War I.
He was the son of a tradesman. He joined the navy in about 1874, and spent many years in the Far East. He took part in an engagement in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895. He moved to the Admiralty in Berlin in 1897, and in 1904 became the commander of the yacht
Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...
. He became an admiral in 1908 and received the "von", which signified nobility, on 27 January 1909. He became commander-in-chief of the navy in January 1913.
His intention of engaging the British
Royal Navy in a quick, decisive battle was not supported by the German admiralty. Ingenohl repeatedly sought small engagements against the British fleet in order to provoke imprudent counterstrokes, in order to gain a crucial advantage for the German navy. The intended result did not materialize; in the first combat of this kind on 28 August 1914 at the
Battle of Heligoland Bight, the
German Imperial Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine'') lost three light cruisers and a torpedo boat to Royal Navy ships. After a similarly unsuccessful action on the
Dogger Bank on 24 January 1915, Ingenohl yielded command of the High Seas Fleet on 2 February and was succeeded by Admiral
Hugo von Pohl.
After the war, the Allies requested his extradition as a "war culprit", but Germany refused to comply. Ingenohl died in
Berlin on 19 December 1933.
Medals and awards
*
Iron Cross 1st and 2nd classes
[http://s400910952.websitehome.co.uk/germancolonialuniforms/militaria/medals%20prussian.htm]
*
Order of the Red Eagle 3rd class with crown
*
House Order of Hohenzollern
*
Order of the Red Eagle 4th class with bow
*
Order of the White Falcon
References
* Sauerbrei, Wolfram (1999). ''Ingenohl : vier Sterne auf blauem Grund ; eine Neuwieder Familie, ein Admiral und mehr ...'' (in German). Neuwied : Kehrein. .
* http://s400910952.websitehome.co.uk/germancolonialuniforms/militaria/medals%20prussian.htm
1857 births
1933 deaths
People from Neuwied
Imperial German Navy admirals of World War I
People from the Rhine Province
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class
Grand Crosses of the Military Merit Order (Bavaria)
Admirals of the Imperial German Navy
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