Born in 1857 of comparatively humble parents, he entered the navy at the age of 17. The service in those days enjoyed nothing like its present prestige. It offered no attractions to the sons of the upper classes, and was completely overshadowed by the army, then in the zenith of its brilliance and popularity, after the successful war against France. The navy drew a large majority of its officers from a class whose social status was considered scarcely high enough to give its sons the entrée to the army. Proof of this will be seen in the conspicuous absence of naval officers who are hereditary nobles. Admiral von Ingenohl, in common with Grand-Admirals von Tirpitz, von Koester, and several other flag officers, received his patent of nobility as a mark of Imperial favour. While on his maiden cruise in foreign waters the young officer was privileged to see some fighting. His ship, the old “Vineta,” was one of a small German squadron which was assembled to teach the Chinese pirates a lesson. Nineteen years later he was again in action in the same quarter of the globe, and against the same opponents, when the gunboat “Iltis,” which he commanded, shelled a battery at Tamsui, which had fired on a German steamer. In the intervals of command afloat he was engaged at the Navy Department, where he put in one spell of nearly three and a half years as divisional chief of the ordnance board, and subsequently directed a department of the Admiral Staff. His first important independent command was the battleship “Wörth,” in her day one of the best ships in the navy. He was next appointed to the cruiser “Kaiserin Augusta,” and shortly after to the “Hertha,” a more powerful ship of the same class. After another short interval of shore work he was appointed to command the Imperial yacht “Hohenzollern,” where, of course, he came under the direct eye of the Kaiser, who was quick to recognise his qualities. [Illustration] =POSEN CLASS.= NASSAU, POSEN, RHEINLAND, WESTFALEN. Displacement: 18,900 tons. Speed: 20 knots; Guns: 12 11in., 12 6in., 16 24pdrs.; Torpedo tubes: 6. [Illustration] Astern fire: Broadside: Ahead fire: 6 11in. 8 11in. 6 11in. 4 6in. 6 6in. 4 6in.