Reinhold Karl Albert Johannes Saltzwedel (23 November 1889 – 2 December 1917) was a successful and highly decorated German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

in the ''

Kaiserliche Marine The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term was used partic ...

'' during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He sank a total of 111 merchant vessels for . On 1 September 1936, his name was given to the

2nd U-boat Flotilla The 2nd U-boat Flotilla (German ''2. Unterseebootsflottille''), also known as the Saltzwedel Flotilla, was the second operational U-boat unit in Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine''. Founded on 1 September 1936 under the command of ''Fregattenkapitän'' ...

of the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

'' in

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

to honour him.

Life

Early life

Reinhold Saltzwedel was born on 23 November 1889 in

Rosen Rosen is a surname of German and Ashkenazi Jewish origin, the name deriving from the German word for roses. Notable people with this surname include: Places *Rosen, Burgas Province, Bulgaria * Rosen, Dobrich Province, Bulgaria * Rosen, Minnesota, ...

, Upper Silesia.Karl Ruprecht
''Chronik des Seeoffizier-Jahrgangs 1908''
Volume 1, Göttingen 1928, pp. 151 f. His parents were pastor D. theol. Johannes Saltzwedel and his wife Marie, née Piper. In 1896, the family relocated to

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

where the parents originally came from. Here, Reinhold attended school and achieved his ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' in March 1908.

World War I

Saltzwedel was a ''

Leutnant zur See is a military rank, used in a number of navies. Belgium Germany (''Lt zS'' or ''LZS'') is the lowest officer rank in the German Navy, grouped as OF1 in NATO. The rank was introduced in the German Imperial Navy by renaming the former ...

'' when

broke out and

Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

on the . On 19 September 1914, he was promoted to ''

Oberleutnant zur See (''OLt zS'' or ''OLZS'' in the German Navy, ''Oblt.z.S.'' in the ''Kriegsmarine'') is traditionally the highest rank of Lieutenant in the German Navy. It is grouped as Ranks and insignia of officers of NATO Navies, OF-1 in NATO. The rank was ...

''. In May 1915 he went to the U-boat school. Shortly afterwards, he served as commander of several U-boats. On 29 March 1917, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords, on 20 August 1917, he was awarded the ''

Pour le Mérite The (; , ), also informally known as the ''Blue Max'' () after German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Separated into two classes, each with their own designs, the was ...

'' for his achievements. On 18 September 1917, he became the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of , aboard which he died on 2 December after SM UB-81 ran into a

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

. Twenty-nine men lost their lives.

Ace of the seas

Saltzwedel sank during his 22 patrols 111 ships with a total of 172,824 GRT and damaged another 10 ships with a total of 17,131 GRT (together 189,955 GRT). He damaged the French

Q-ship Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchantman, armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the c ...

"Normandy" and sank the British Q-ship HMS "Dunraven".

References

External links

* 1889 births 1917 deaths People from Olesno Military personnel from the Province of Silesia U-boat commanders (Imperial German Navy) Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) German military personnel killed in World War I Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I {{germany-navy-bio-stub