By March 1916, Hipper suffered from severe combat fatigue; he had held command of the fleet reconnaissance forces for some 20 months, and the strain of command was beginning to take its toll. He requested sick leave on 20 March, which was approved by Admiral Reinhard Scheer—who had replaced von Pohl as fleet commander in January 1916— a week later on the 27th.[35] Scheer, however, attempted to have Hipper retired instead of returning after the termination of sick leave; he contacted Henning von Holtzendorff, the Chief of the Admiralty Staff, who disagreed with Scheer.