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 (1909), was sunk by British battlecruisers commanded by Vice Admiral David Beatty.

Early life

Leberecht Maass was born in Korkenhagen, Province of Pomerania. Maass entered the German Imperial Navy in 1883. Between 1893 and 1895 Maass commanded a torpedo boat. 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 SMS Freya (April 1908-June 1909), the armored cruiser SMS Scharnhorst (March 1909-June 1910) and the old battleship SMS Weissenburg (August 1910-September 1910). In October 1910 Maass was promoted to commander of the II Dockyard Division. On 9 December 1913 Maass was promoted to Konteradmiral, flying his flag on the cruiser SMS Cöln (1909). At the start of the First World War, Maass served as Leader of Torpedo Boats and commander of the II Scouting Squadron.

Death at the Battle of Heligoland Bight

On 28 August 1914, the (British) Royal Navy's Harwich Force of two light cruisers, HMS Arethusa (1913) and HMS Fearless (1912), 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 HMS New Zealand (1911) and HMS Invincible (1907) of Cruiser Force K under Rear-Admiral Moore. In the early morning hours the Harwich Force encountered German torpedo boats on patrol west of Heligoland. The Germans quickly dispatched the light cruisers SMS Frauenlob and SMS Stettin to the scene, joined shortly afterwards by three more light cruisers out of Wilhelmshaven, including Rear Admiral Maass's flagship, Köln, as well as SMS Ariadne and SMS Strassburg. They were subsequently joined by yet another light cruiser, SMS Mainz out of Emden. Tyrwhitt's Arethusa was severely damaged by Frauenlob, but the German cruiser also suffered heavy hits and retreated to Heligoland. Tyrwhitt soon received support from Commodore Goodenough's squadron of six modern Town-class cruiser light cruisers: HMS Southampton (1912), HMS Birmingham (1913), HMS Falmouth (1910), HMS Liverpool (1909), HMS Lowestoft (1913) and HMS Nottingham (1913). In the fog and smoke, Mainz found herself between Tyrwhitt's and Goodenough's forces and was sunk by them after a prolonged battle. Called for assistance by Tyrwhitt, Admiral Beatty, whose First Battlecruiser Squadron of HMS Lion (1910), HMS Queen Mary and HMS Princess Royal (1911) had by then joined Moore's New Zealand and Invincible, arrived within little more than an hour at 12.40 p.m. and sank the hopelessly outgunned, but desperately resisting light cruisers Cöln and Ariadne.

Namesake

The German navy named a World War II destroyer after Maass.