102655 | GERMANY. Großadmiral von Tirpitz silver Medal.

102655  |  GERMANY. Großadmiral Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz silver Medal. Issued 1915. World War I series: Naval warfare (33mm, 17.67 g, 12h). By P. Sturm for Grünthal in Berlin.

 

EIN TODESPFEIL IM HERZEN ENGLANDS IST JEDES DEUTSCHE SCHIFF • HERWEGH • / v TIRPITZ - GROSS/ADMIRAL, uniformed bust facing slightly left // PAROLE • SCHIFF VERSENKEN • MENSCHEN RETTEN (slogan: sink ships, save people), u-boat rescuing crew of sinking freighter. Edge: SILBER 800.

 

Zetzmann 5007 (RR). PCGS SP-62. Extremely prooflike and mirrored in the fields, with alluring frosting on the devices.

 

Tirpitz is known for his 'Tirpitz Plan,' which aimed to make the German Empire a world power on par with the British Empire through the growth of the navy and the domination of the seas. Various Fleet Acts during the early part of the 20th century increased the size of the German navy so that it was then the second largest in the world, behind only that of the Brits. His calculation was that Britain needed her navy so vitally that she could not risk engagement with Germany and possibly lose control over an empire so connected through the seas. In the end, the Tirpitz Plan created a naval arms race between the two, with Britain easily increasing her size faster than the Germans could keep up. By strategically relocating some of her fleet in home waters, it became clear that the Plan had only ensured that Britain would remain the most powerful navy rather than being supplanted by the Germans. In 1916, over the dismal failure of his efforts, Tirpitz fell out of favor with the Kaiser and resigned his post.

 

Upload: 16 September 2024.