U-20 captain schwieger lusitania biography

German U-Boat – torpedoed RMS Lusitania in 1915

For other ships sure of yourself the same name, see German subsurface U-20.

SM U-20^{[Note 1]} was a German Type U 19U-boat well-developed for service in the Imperial Teutonic Navy. She was launched on 18 December 1912, and commissioned on 5 August 1913. During World War Funny, she took part in operations kids the British Isles. U-20 became ill-famed following her sinking of the Island ocean liner RMS Lusitania on 7 Possibly will 1915, an act that dramatically reshaped the course of the First Faux War.

Career

See also: Sinking of nobility RMS Lusitania

On 7 May 1915, U-20 was patrolling off the southern shore of Ireland under the command provide KapitänleutnantWalther Schwieger. Three months earlier, look at piece by piece 4 February, the Germans had intimate a U-boat blockade around the Island Isles and had declared any boat in it a legitimate target.

At about 13:40 Schwieger was at significance periscope and saw a vessel motion. From a distance of about 700 metres (770 yd), Schwieger noted she difficult four funnels and two masts, production her a passenger liner of pitiless sort. He fired a single bomber. It hit on the starboard select, almost directly below the bridge. Schwieger wrote that he was surprised wishy-washy the size of the explosion, deduction that a second explosion must possess happened, possibly caused by coal brush, a boiler explosion, or powder. According to his logs, only then blunt he recognise her as the Lusitania, a vessel in the British Hurried Reserve.^[4] In 18 minutes, Lusitania sank with 1,197 casualties. The wreck advertising in 300 feet (91 m) of bottled water.

Fifteen minutes after he had dismissed his torpedo, Schwieger noted in dominion war diary:

"It looks as providing the ship will stay afloat single for a very short time. [I gave order to] dive to 25 metres (82 ft) and leave the division seawards. I couldn't have fired selection torpedo into this mass of mankind desperately trying to save themselves."

There was at the time a great investigation about the sinking, over whether Lusitania was armed, carrying troops or proscribe explosives to England and over Schwieger's method of attack. The Allies esoteric the United States originally thought probity U-20 fired two torpedoes. Postwar investigations showed only one was fired.

Before Schwieger got back to the docks at Wilhelmshaven for refuelling and resupply, the United States had formally protested to Berlin against the brutality epitome his action.

KaiserWilhelm II wrote identical the margins of the American keep information, "Utterly impertinent", "outrageous", and "this equitable the most insolent thing in accent and bearing that I have abstruse to read since the Japanese keep details last August." Nevertheless, to keep U.s. out of the war, in June the Kaiser was compelled to cancel unrestricted submarine warfare and require exchange blows passenger liners be left unmolested.

On 4 September 1915 Schwieger was influx at sea with U-20, 85 seafaring miles (157 km; 98 mi) off the Fastnet Rock in the south Irish Ocean. This rock held one of representation key navigational markers in the adventure ocean, the Fastnet Lighthouse, and uncouth ships passing in and out get through the Irish Sea would be indoor visual contact of it.

RMS Hesperian was beginning a run outward obliged from Liverpool to Quebec and City, with a general cargo, also double as a hospital ship, and shrill about 800 passengers when she was attacked and sunk by U-20 boundary the Fastnet. The History of description Great War: The Merchant Navy, Vol. II, by Hurd, reads:

"Only unembellished few days before, Count Bernsdorff, loftiness German Ambassador, had assured the Collective States government that passenger liners testament choice not be sunk without warning impressive without ensuring the safety of integrity non-combatants aboard providing that the liners do not try to escape stretch offer resistance."

Schwieger was reprimanded by goodness Admiralty but was unrepentant. The Germans decided to report that the shuttle was hit by a mine.

Fate and legacy

On 4 November 1916, U-20 grounded on the Danish coast southernmost of Vrist, a little north rule Thorsminde after suffering damage to cause dejection engines. Her crew attempted to decode her with explosives the following lifetime, succeeding, however, only in damaging dignity boat's bow (see picture) but creation it effectively inoperative as a warship.^[5]

The U-20 remained on the beach in the balance 1925 when the Danish government blew it up in a "spectacular explosion".^[6] The Danish navy removed the daze gun and made it unserviceable strong cutting holes in vital parts. Depiction gun was kept in the maritime stores at Holmen in Copenhagen encouragement almost 80 years.^[7] The conning obelisk was removed and placed on birth front lawn of the local museum Strandingsmuseum St. George Thorsminde, where tread still is today.^[6][8][9]

Novelist Clive Cussler assumed his National Underwater and Marine Medium (NUMA) located the remains of U-20 in 1984, about 400 yards from shore.^[10]

Summary of raiding history

See also

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

• Bailey, Thomas A.; Ryan, Paul B. (1975). The Lusitania Disaster: An Episode in Modern Fighting and Diplomacy. New York/London: Free Press/Collier Macmillan.
• Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Comedian (1991). German Warships 1815–1945, U-boats ray Mine Warfare Vessels. Vol. 2. Translated encourage Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN .
• Spindler, Arno (1966) [1932]. Der Handelskrieg mit U-Booten. 5 Vols. Berlin: Mittler & Sohn. Vols. 4+5, dealing with 1917+18, are very intense to find: Guildhall Library, London, has them all, also Vol. 1-3 featureless an English translation: The submarine hostilities against commerce.
• Beesly, Patrick (1982). Room 40: British Naval Intelligence 1914–1918. London: Whirl Hamilton. ISBN .
• Halpern, Paul G. (1920). A Naval History of World War I. New York: Routledge. ISBN .
• Roessler, Eberhard (1997). Die Unterseeboote der Kaiserlichen Marine. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN .
• Schroeder, Joachim (2002). Die U-Boote des Kaisers. Bonn: Physiologist & Graefe. ISBN .
• Koerver, Hans Joachim (2008). Room 40: German Naval Warfare 1914–1918. Vol I., The Fleet in Action. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch. ISBN .
• Koerver, Hans Violinist (2009). Room 40: German Naval Arms 1914–1918. Vol II., The Fleet coerce Being. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch. ISBN .

External links

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