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Walther Schwieger has gone down in history, outside Germany at least,
as a mass murderer for the sinking of the Lusitania, off the
Old Head of Kinsale, County Cork, on 7th May 1915 resulting in the deaths of
1,198 people – passengers and crew. So, was this man what he was made out to
be?
Born to a good family in Berlin, in 1885, he joined the Kaiserliche
Marine as a Seekadett in 1903. He became a
professional submariner, gaining his first command, U14, as an
Oberleutnant zur See, in 1912. An old paraffin-boat, in the early days she
was involved in reconnaissance against the Grand Fleet. In December 1914 he
then took command of the ocean-going U20. Towards the end of January
1915, he was tasked with interdicting the transport route into Le Havre. In
doing so, he torpedoed three merchantmen, all without warning and carrying
general cargo. Interestingly, in only one were there fatalities. She was the Oriole
on January 30th that sank so rapidly that the Germans were strongly of
the opinion that she must have been carrying munitions. As far as the British
were concerned, she had just disappeared, with all twenty-one souls on board.
Records relating to transports in the early part of the war are fragmentary
and it has not been possible to state categorically that any, or all
were not were on government service. Saliently, all are stated as having been
shipping general cargoes, so it is hardly likely that they were transports.
There was also a failed attack on H.M. Hospital Ship Asturias
at approximately 5 p.m. on February 1st - with the torpedo passing closely
astern. It was stated later publicly by the German Government that this was a
mistake in identification and as soon as it was realised, the attack was
broken off. A German account also claimed that it was at ‘twilight’, but the Asturias’ master, Charles Laws, stated
that it was a ‘very light and clear evening’ and ‘broad daylight’. Investigated after the event by the Admiralty Transport
Department, it was confirmed that the Asturias, as a hospital ship,
not only displayed the requisite large red crosses painted on her hull, they
were illuminated and she was also flying the Red Cross flag. (Recommendations
were made by Rear-Admiral Edward Shortland R.N., Principal Naval Transport Officer
(Overseas), to strengthen the illuminations and increase the size of the
flags.) There were also a few other
points that are not disinteresting. It was noted that there were French destroyers
on both quarters and the inference was that these may have masked the Asturias.
(While a complicating factor, since U20 was on the Asturias’
starboard quarter, it could also be argued that Schwieger loosed off a
torpedo before the hospital ship escaped ahead and possible interference from
the destroyers.) Also, two of the hospital ship’s officers stated clearly
that they had observed the wash from the submarine’s periscope following her,
although falling behind, until around 5.25 or 5.30 p.m.
Anyway, in Schwieger’s next six sinkings, there was only one death.
This was in spite of four sunk by torpedo without warning. Another was hit
‘several times’ by shell, before being abandoned. The last, a small British
sailing vessel, was stopped and then shelled to destruction: seemingly the
only one with no risk to civilian life.
There have been many conspiracy theories over the sinking of the Lusitania
and while there are unanswered questions, Schwieger’s actions were
legitimate per his operation orders. She, along with U27 and U30,
had been instructed, primarily, to sink large troop-transports, but also
merchantmen and warships. A bow shot using one G-torpedo from 700 metres, set
at three meters depth, this struck the starboard side, just abaft the bridge.
The result was astounding and Walther Schwieger was, apparently, utterly
horrified at what he had done. Even so, as an officer in wartime he continued
to do his duty. He remained in command of U20 until November
1916. Next, he joined U88 that
was still in building and was commissioned in April 1917. Two patrols
followed, the latter ending on July 19th. Eleven days later he was awarded
Prussia’s Pour le Mérite. Interestingly, the few photographs of this
man found show him as the recipient of this greatly sought-after award. So,
these must have been taken before his next patrol. U88 sailed from
Helgoland on September 5th and was presumed mined, off Terschelling the same
day. By the time of his death Walther Schwieger had been responsible for the
destruction of 48 steamers and sailing vessels, along with H.M. A.M.C. Hilary.
Four were also damaged. Of these, two were sailing vessels, one was a steamer
and one was a Portuguese gunboat, Ibo.
While there was comparatively little loss of life for all the
destruction of these vessels post Lusitania, it is worth pointing out
that no changes in tactics can be discerned. It is known that in the sinking
of the Allan Line’s Hesperian, on 5th September 1915, he had
put a torpedo into her bow and the 32 fatalities had been because of an
accident lowering one lifeboat. There was also a slightly earlier incident
when Schwieger shelled and attempted to torpedo the Canadian Pacific Line’s Orduna
on July 9th. It is was claimed in the German official history that he had
mis-identified this large liner of approximately 15,500 g.r.t, with a cargo
vessel of about half her size! Misidentification could not be claimed in the
sinking of the Glasgow Navigation Company’s freighter Meadowfield
on the same day though. Having already been shelled, causing the death of her
helmsman, the shelling ceased as one of her two lifeboats, containing some of
the crew, was lowered. However, it resumed as the second boat was being
lowered. It held the rest of the crew and the five passengers: two of whom
were women and another two were children. The Meadowfield’s
master, Thomas Dunbar, was in no doubt that the two officers on the
submarine’s bridge had seen clearly that there were children onboard.
Jarring with these perceptions, according to his fellow officers
Walther Schwieger was not only capable, pleasant and with a sense of humour,
he was also regarded highly by his crews. Nevertheless, he was not above
being misrepresented by his own. A not particularly convincing claim was made
by Werner Fürbringer in his 1933 book, Alarm! Tauchen!! U-Boot Kampf und
Sturm that was later translated into English as FIPS: Legendary U-Boat
Commander 1915-1918. As an Oberleutnant zur See in early 1915, Fürbringer had been a watch officer (Wachoffizier)
on U20. Without naming the Asturias, he stated that ‘her decks
and rails’ were ‘crowded with armed British troops’,
further making out that such behaviour had already been suspected by
Germany’s ‘Naval Command’. As far as can be
determined, there was no suspicion at this time and this justification
actually reflected Fürbringer’s opinion, as can be
seen in British reports of his interrogations later in the war after his
capture. Also, the Asturias’
3rd Officer mentioned that some Royal Army Medical Corps officers also
witnessed the torpedo’s track. While R.A.M.C. personnel wore khaki, as
non-combatants, they did not carry arms. |
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Return to the Merchant
Mariners’ War Oberleutnant zur See
Helmut Patzig Kapitänleutnant Rudolf
Schneider Kapitänleutnant
Otto Steinbrinck Kapitänleutnant
Max Valentiner Kapitänleutnant
Wilhelm Werner |
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