Hans Zenker (10 August 1870 in Bielitz – 18 August 1932 in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

admiral.

Biography

Born in Bielitz (now

Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; cs, Bílsko-Bělá, german: Bielitz-Biala, szl, Bjylsko-Bjoło) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 168,319 as of December 2021, making it the 22nd largest city in Poland, and an area of . It is a ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

), he entered the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...

on 13 April 1889. After serving as captain of several

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of s ...

s, he commanded in turn the

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

s in 1911 and in 1912–13. As captain of the

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of at ...

in 1916–17, Zenker saw action in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vic ...

on 31 May – 1 June 1916. Zenker joined the Admiralty Staff in 1917. He was appointed to the North Sea area command in 1918, holding this post when the German war effort collapsed in November 1918. After the war, he was an officer of the ''

Reichsmarine The ''Reichsmarine'' ( en, Realm Navy) was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the '' Reichswehr'', existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it became known as the '' ...

'', serving as ''Inspekteur der Marineartillerie'' from 1920 to 1923 and the top post of ''Chef der Marineleitung'' (Chief of the Naval Command) from October 1, 1924, to September 30, 1928. His tenure as head of the Reichsmarine saw the beginning of the rebuilding of the German fleet with the construction of light cruisers and torpedo boats and the planning of ships, later built as the ''

Deutschland Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. ...

'', ''

Admiral Scheer Carl Friedrich Heinrich Reinhard Scheer (30 September 1863 – 26 November 1928) was an Admiral in the Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine''). Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet and progressed through the ranks, commandin ...

'', and '' Admiral Graf Spee''.

Family

The last years of his life Zenker spent in

Osterode am Harz Osterode am Harz, often simply called Osterode (; Eastphalian: ''Ostroe''), is a town in south-eastern Niedersachsen on the south-western edge of the Harz mountains. It was the seat of government of the district of Osterode. Osterode is loca ...

. His son,

Karl-Adolf Zenker Karl-Adolf Zenker (19 July 1907 – 27 March 1998) was an officer in the ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. He served as a member of the Naval Historical Team and later became commander (Inspector of the Navy) of the post-war German Navy ...

(1907-1998), held the office equivalent to Chef der Marineleitung— Inspector of the Navy—in the West German Bundesmarine from 1961 to 1967.

References

* Bradley, Dermot; Hildebrand, Hans H.; Henriot, Ernest (1990). ''Deutschlands Admirale 1849–1945. Die militärischen Werdegänge der See-, Ingenieur-, Sanitäts-, Waffen- und Verwaltungsoffiziere im Admiralsrang.'' Band 3: ''P–Z.'' Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag. . 1870 births 1932 deaths People from Austrian Silesia People from Bielsko Admirals of the Reichsmarine Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class {{germany-navy-bio-stub