Between 1898 and 1901 he commanded a squadron and between 1903 and 1906 he was department chief in the Torpedo department. Maass served as director of the Naval School (1906-1908) and was promoted to captain in March 1908. He commanded the cruiser Freya (April 1908-June 1909), the armored cruiser Scharnhorst (March 1909-June 1910) and the old battleship Weissenburg (August 1910-September 1910).