Hugo Meurer (28 May 1869 – 4 January 1960) was a vice-admiral of the

Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...

(German Imperial Navy). Meurer was the German naval officer who handled the negotiations of the internment of the German fleet in November 1918 at the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Life

Meurer was born in Sallach in Carinthia. On 16 April 1886 he joined the

. During the

he served as commander of at the Battle of Jutland, and from 1916 to 1917 as captain of the battleship . In 1917 he was promoted to the rank of

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

(''Konteradmiral''), as the second Admiral of the 4th Battle Squadron of the

High Seas Fleet The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...

, which he remained until the end of the war. From 21 February to 2 May 1918, as commander of the special unit (''Sonderverband'') of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

, he led the naval expedition for the German intervention in the ongoing civil war in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In November 1918 Meurer negotiated as representative of Admiral

Franz von Hipper Franz Ritter von Hipper (13 September 1863 – 25 May 1932) was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine''). Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units an ...

with Admiral David Beatty the details of the surrender of the German fleet.www.underwater-archaeology.org.uk: Scapa Flow
; "Semaphore" Meurer was also the naval station commander of the Baltic, based in Kiel. He retired in 1920 with the rank of vice-admiral 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 '' ...

. He died in 1960 in Kiel, where he was buried at the . Queen Elizabeth Beatty Meurer (cropped)

Notes

External links

World War I Document Archive: Commanders of the High Seas Fleet Battle Squadrons 1914-1918

Australian Navy: ''Semaphore'', issue 14, Nov 2008 - "1918, Victory at sea"

1869 births 1960 deaths People from Styria Vice admirals of the Imperial German Navy Vice admirals of the Reichsmarine Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class People of the Finnish Civil War (White side) Commanders of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus German expatriates in Finland {{germany-navy-bio-stub