Paul König

Paul König

Paul König.
Born March 20, 1867
Died August 8, 1933
Gnadau, Prussian Saxony
Allegiance German Empire
Service/branch Kaiserliche Marine
Rank Kapitänleutnant
Commands held Deutschland, 1916 – 1917
Battles/wars Battle of the Atlantic (1914-1918)
Awards Iron Cross 1st class

Paul König (March 20, 1867 – August 8, 1933) was a sailor and business executive. He is most known for two visits he made to the United States in 1916 as captain of a merchant submarine.

Contents

Biography

König was a captain in the German merchant navy. In 1916 during World War I, he became a reserve Kapitänleutnant in the Kaiserliche Marine.

Later in 1916, König became commanding officer of the merchant submarine Deutschland. He took it on two patrols to the United States for commercial purposes. He arrived at Baltimore on July 10, 1916, with a cargo of dyestuffs. While in the United States he was interviewed by newspapermen, was even the recipient of vaudeville offers, was welcomed by mayor of Baltimore and officials. On August 2 he sailed on the return voyage, later making a second voyage and putting in at New London, Connecticut.[1]

He received the Iron Cross 1st class the same year. Following his return after the second journey, König wrote a book called Voyage of the Deutschland, which was heavily publicized, as it was intended to be used as propaganda.[2]

König then became commanding officer of a Sperrbrechergruppe (group of blockade runners; 1917), and later was an executive at Norddeutscher Lloyd (1919–1931). He died at Gnadau, where he is buried.

References

  1. ^  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Koenig, Paul". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921. 
  2. ^ Directed Readings on the U-Boat War - Blake, Sam, East Carolina University, April 2003.

External links

New York Times