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Admiral Reinhard Scheer

Scheer entered the German navy in 1879 and by 1907 had become the captain of a battleship. He became chief of staff of the High Seas Fleet under Henning von Holtzendorff in 1910 and commander of a battle squadron in 1913. After the outbreak of World War I, he advocated the use of submarines and gained fame as a submarine strategist. He planned subsurface raids off the English coast, using surface units as bait with submarines lying in ambush for any British ships lured into the open sea. Scheer received command of the fleet in January 1916; he hoped to precipitate a strategic division of the British Grand Fleet and catch it at a disadvantage. A combination of both planning and chance resulted in the two fleets converging at the Battle of Jutland (May 31-June 1, 1916), the only major fleet action of World War I. Although the Grand Fleet was not successfully divided and the British outnumbered the Germans, Scheer's brilliant maneuvering saved the High Seas Fleet. The battle itself proved indecisive.