WWI U-boat commanders

Walther Schwieger

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 4/03)

Successes
49 ships sunk with a total of 185,212 GRT
3 ships damaged with a total of 3,091 GRT
1 warship damaged with a total of 397 tons

Born:7 Apr 1885 Berlin 
Died:5 Sep 1917 North Sea 

Walther Schwieger

Ranks

1 Apr 1903 Seekadett
15 Apr 1904 Fähnrich zur See
28 Sep 1906 Leutnant zur See
10 Nov 1908 Oberleutnant zur See
19 Sep 1914 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

prewar  Order of the Crown
 Iron Cross 2nd class
 Iron Cross 1st class
5 Jun 1916  Royal House Order of Hohenzollern
30 Jul 1917  Pour le Mérite

U-boat Commands

U 141 Aug 1914 - 15 Dec 1914
U 2016 Dec 1914 - 4 Nov 1916
U 8823 Jul 1916 - 5 Sep 1917 (+)

Notes

Walther Schwieger came from a respected Berlin family and commanded U 20 and the U 88. He would become known to the whole world as the man who sank the liner Lusitania on 7 May 1915 or by the nickname the British gave him, “The Baby Killer”.

Over 100 U.S. citizens were lost with on the Lusitania, which served as the basis for much Allied propaganda. The facts were not as innocent as the British claimed; the Lusitania was listed in "Jane's Fighting Ships" as a potental auxiliary cruiser and was possibly carrying munitions and gun parts at the time of her loss. The U.S. strongly protested the loss of life of her citizens.

Schwieger's name would appear on the Admiralty's wanted list of possible war criminals. There was nothing special in this; U-boat commanders often landed on this list if they became too successful against the British.

Schwieger wouldn't survive the war. On 5 September 1917, the U 88 is presumed to have struck a mine while outbound from Germany for the French coast. There were no survivors.

Ships hit by Walther Schwieger

DateU-boat Name of shipType of shipTonsNat.
 
30 Jan 1915 U 20 IkariaSteamer4,335br
30 Jan 1915 U 20 OrioleSteamer1,489br
30 Jan 1915 U 20 TokomaruSteamer6,084br
7 Mar 1915 U 20 BengroveSteamer3,840br
9 Mar 1915 U 20  Princess VictoriaSteamer1,108br
11 Mar 1915 U 20 FlorazanSteamer4,658br
5 May 1915 U 20 Earl Of LathomSailing vessel132br
6 May 1915 U 20 CandidateSteamer5,858br
6 May 1915 U 20 CenturionSteamer5,495br
7 May 1915 U 20  LusitaniaPassenger steamer30,396br
8 Jul 1915 U 20 Marion LightbodySailing vessel2,176ru
9 Jul 1915 U 20 EllesmereSteamer1,170br
9 Jul 1915 U 20  LeoSteamer2,224ru
9 Jul 1915 U 20 MeadowfieldSteamer2,750br
13 Jul 1915 U 20 Lennoksteamer1,142ru
2 Sep 1915 U 20 RoumanieSteamer2,599br
3 Sep 1915 U 20  FrodeSteamer1,875da
4 Sep 1915 U 20  HesperianPassenger steamer10,920br
5 Sep 1915 U 20  DictatorSteamer4,116br
5 Sep 1915 U 20  Dourosteamer1,604br
5 Sep 1915 U 20  RheaSteamer1,145ru
6 Sep 1915 U 20 GuatemalaSteamer5,913fr
7 Sep 1915 U 20  BordeauxSteamer4,604fr
7 Sep 1915 U 20 CaroniSteamer2,652br
8 Sep 1915 U 20 MoraSteamer3,047br
 
30 Apr 1916 U 20  BakioSteamer1,906sp
1 May 1916 U 20 BernadetteSailing vessel486fr
2 May 1916 U 20 RuabonSteamer2,004br
3 May 1916 U 20 Marie MolinosSailing vessel1,946fr
6 May 1916 U 20 GalgateSailing vessel2,356br
8 May 1916 U 20  CymricPassenger steamer13,370br
1 Aug 1916 U 20 AaroSteamer2,603br
29 Aug 1916 U 20 Ibo (d.)Gunboat397pt
26 Sep 1916 U 20 ThelmaSteamer1,002br
18 Oct 1916 U 20 Ethel DuncanSteamer2,510br
23 Oct 1916 U 20 ArromanchesSteamer1,640fr
23 Oct 1916 U 20 ChieriSteamer4,400it
23 Oct 1916 U 20 Felix LouisSailing vessel275fr
26 Oct 1916 U 20 Fabian (d.)steamer2,246br
 
23 May 1917 U 88 HectorSteamer1,146nw
25 May 1917 U 88 HilaryArmed merchant cruiser6,329br
28 May 1917 U 88 Roma (d.)Sailing vessel417ru
29 May 1917 U 88 AshleafTanker5,768br
31 May 1917 U 88 Jeanne CordonnierSailing vessel2,194fr
31 May 1917 U 88  Miyazaki MaruSteamer7,892jp
1 Jun 1917 U 88 CavinaSteamer6,539br
6 Jun 1917 U 88 EemdijkSteamer3,048nl
7 Jun 1917 U 88 John BakkeSteamer1,611nw
29 Jun 1917 U 88 EscondidoSteamer1,066nw
3 Jul 1917 U 88 IcelandSteamer1,501br
7 Jul 1917 U 88 Coral Leaf (d.)Sailing vessel428br
13 Jul 1917 U 88  CeresSteamer1,166da
16 Jul 1917 U 88  VestaSteamer1,122da
 188,700
49 ships sunk (185,212 tons) and 4 ships damaged (3,488 tons).


Legend
(d.) means the ship was damaged.
We have a picture of this vessel.

Media links


Kaiserliche Marine U-Boote 1914-1918

Dufeil, Yves


The Lusitania

Butler, Daniel Allen


SS Lusitania

Kennedy, William P.

Back to listing of WWI U-boat commanders


As an Amazon Associate uboat.net earns a commission from qualifying purchases.