Hipper, Franz Ritter von

(September 13, 1863, Weilheim [Upper Bavaria] – May 25, 1932, Altona-Othmarschen [now part of Hamburg]), German admiral. Hipper entered the Imperial Navy in 1881, and initially served as commander and flotilla commander of torpedo boats. He held several cruiser commands after 1903. In 1912 Hipper was appointed commander of reconnaissance forces, and it was in this function that he led the unsuccessful cruiser actions of 1914, which, as early as August 28, led to the loss of the light cruisers Ariadne, Mainz, and Köln in the German Bight. Even worse was the …