Vizeadmiral (abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German (language), German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral. Austria-Hungary In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (al ...

'' Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière (; March 18, 1886 – February 24, 1941), born in Posen,

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

, and of French-German descent, was a German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

commander during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. With 194 ships and sunk, he is the most successful submarine captain ever. His victories came in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

, almost always using his 8.8-cm deck gun. During his career he fired 74

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

es, hitting 39 times. Arnauld de la Perière remained in the German Navy (''

Reichsmarine The ''Reichsmarine'' ( en, Realm Navy) was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the ''Reichswehr'', existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it became known as the '' ...

'') after the war ended. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he was recalled to active duty as a rear admiral, and was killed in a plane crash near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1941 while taking part in secret negotiations with the

Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

government.

First World War

Arnauld de la Perière entered the

Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title 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 wa ...

in 1903. After serving on the battleships , and , he served as torpedo officer on the light cruiser from 1911 to 1913. At the outbreak of the First World War, Arnauld de la Perière served as an adjutant to admiral

Hugo von Pohl Hugo von Pohl (25 August 1855 – 23 February 1916) was a German admiral who served during the First World War. He joined the Navy in 1872 and served in various capacities, including with the new torpedo boats in the 1880s, and in the ''Reic ...

in Berlin. Upon the mobilization, he was transferred to an active post where he served in the Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung. In 1915, Arnauld de la Perière transferred to the U-boats. After a course in Pula, he was given command of the in November 1915. He made 14 voyages with the ''U-35'' during which he sank 189 merchant vessels and two gunboats for a total of . One of his victories was the French troop carrier , which sank with great loss of life. Transferred to the in May 1918, he sank a further five ships with a combined tonnage of . His record number of sunken tonnage and number of sunken ships is unsurpassed since then. For his service, he was awarded the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

, second and first class, and the

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eag ...

in 1916.

Interbellum

After the end of the war, Arnauld de la Perière stayed in a vastly reduced German Navy. During the 1920s, he served as navigation officer on the old pre-dreadnoughts and . From 24 September 1928 to 10 October 1930, he commanded the light cruiser . Promoted to captain in 1931, he was put on the retired list. He then taught at the

Turkish Naval Academy The Turkish Naval Academy ( tr, Deniz Harp Okulu) is a four-year co-educational military academy and part of the National Defence University. It is located in the district of Tuzla in Istanbul. Its mission is to develop cadets mentally and physic ...

from 1932 to 1938.

Second World War

At the start of

, Arnauld de la Perière was again called up for active duty. Until March 1940, he served as naval commandant in Danzig until he was sent to the Low Countries as naval commandant for Belgium and the Netherlands. Promoted to ''

Konteradmiral ''Konteradmiral'', abbreviated KAdm or KADM, is the second lowest naval flag officer rank in the German Navy. It is equivalent to ''Generalmajor'' in the '' Heer'' and ''Luftwaffe'' or to '' Admiralstabsarzt'' and '' Generalstabsarzt'' in the ' ...

'' Arnauld de la Perière was made naval commandant in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

and later for the entire western French seacoast. He was promoted to ''

'' on February 1, 1941. Transferred to take up command of Navy Group South, he was killed when his plane crashed on takeoff near Le Bourget Airport. He is buried in Berlin at the Invalidenfriedhof.

Awards

(11 October 1916) *

(1914), 1st and 2nd classes * Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with swords * Order of the Crown, 4th class *

U-boat War Badge The U-boat War Badge (german: U-Boot-Kriegsabzeichen) was a German war badge that was awarded to U-boat crew members during World War I and World War II. History The ''U-boat War Badge'' was originally instituted during the First World War on Feb ...

(1918) *

Service Award Cross {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A Service Award Cross (''Dienstauszeichnungskreuz'') was an award for long-time service as a civil servant or member of the military. Prussia had a service cross for 25-years service for office ...

Hanseatic Cross The Hanseatic Cross (German: ''Hanseatenkreuz'') was a military decoration of the three Hanseatic city-states of Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck, who were members of the German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 188 ...

Hamburg * Knight's Cross of the Imperial Austrian Order of Leopold with war decoration *

Order of the Iron Crown The Order of the Iron Crown ( it, link=no, Ordine della Corona Ferrea) was an order of merit that was established on 5 June 1805 in the Kingdom of Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte under his title of Napoleon I, King of Italy. The order took its name ...

, 3rd class with War Decoration (Austria-Hungary) * Military Merit Cross, 3rd class with War Decoration (Austria-Hungary) * Silver

Liakat Medal The Liakat Medal ( tr, Liyakat Madalyasi) translated as "Medal of Merit," was a decoration of the Ottoman Empire established in 1890. It could be awarded in two classes, gold or silver. The medal was a common military decoration of the late Ottoma ...

with swords *

Gallipoli Star (Ottoman Empire) The Gallipolli Star is a military decoration awarded by the Ottoman Empire. It was known as the Ottoman War Medal ( tr, Harp Madalyası) or the Iron Crescent (from German ''Eiserner Halbmond'', in allusion to the Iron Cross). It was instituted b ...

Notes

External links

The U-Boat ACE of ACES by William H. Langenberg, Sea Classics, May 2004
on findarticles.com * ''Raiders of the Deep'', by Lowell Thomas (Doubleday, Doran & Co., Garden City, NY, 1929). * ''Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière. Erfolgreichster U-Bootkommandant der Seekriegsgeschichte – ein vergessener „Kriegsheld“?'', by Clemens Bogedain (Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart, 2016) (ger).
Arnauld de la Perière, sous-marinier du Kaiser
on www.histomar.net (fr) *
The Enchanted Circle
World War I U-boat video at the Imperial War Museum of a patrol by Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière on . This depicts the finishing off of ships whose crews have been allowed to abandon them, in accordance with rules that Germany followed early in the war. The dynamiting team, deck gun, and one torpedo attack are shown. In six parts, silent with German caption slides. {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnauld De La Periere, Lothar Von 1886 births 1941 deaths German people of French descent Military personnel from Poznań U-boat commanders (Imperial German Navy) Vice admirals of the Kriegsmarine People from the Province of Posen Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in France Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Recipients of the Silver Liakat Medal Burials at the Invalids' Cemetery 20th-century Freikorps personnel Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I