Jules Verne Vindicated
How Capt. Paul Koenig of the Deutschland Turned Incredible Fiction Into Practical Reality
There was a very positive thrill throughout the world when the startling report was published that a German submarine had crossed the Atlantic and, on July 10, 1915, entered an American port. It had not been believed possible at that time for a submarine to make so great and perilous a voyage, and the first news of the unique achievement was somewhat sceptically received. But when there was no remaining doubt that the Deutschland, dodging and evading British hostile craft, had actually voyaged from Bremen to Baltimore, Capt. Paul Koenig, commander of the U-boat, was prominently head-lined in the press.
This historic event was interesting not only as something new and wonderful in marine annals, but there was a graver interest in the demonstration of the fact that distance from the base of operations was no sure protection from submarine warfare. No little alarm was manifested in the United States for a time. But this subsided, and the romantic side of the exploit appealed to the dullest imagination.
When Capt. Koenig returned to Germany he wrote his experiences in book form, parts of which have been translated into several languages. No more absorbing story than Koenig’s own could easily be written, and from an American version of it the following excerpts were made.
After leaving port the Deutschland traveled submerged until they were far out in the North Sea on their westerly course. It was about two o’clock in the morning. Capt. Koenig thought it safe to rise to the surface and gave orders for the emptying of the tanks. But as the boat approached the surface it began to toss and plunge in a way that gave warning of a storm above. The nearer the surface the wilder the antics of the boat, which occasionally indulged in regular leaps. The emptying of the tanks went calmly on nevertheless, Capt. Koenig being of the order of men not to be moved from a purpose by so inconsiderable a thing as an ill-mannered sea. They got to the surface without too much disorder. Then says Capt. Koenig:
“I was just about to give orders to put on the oil-engines—when—what was that? That dark stripe over there—wasn’t that a smoke-flag? Donnerwetter! It’s a destroyer!
“With one leap I am back in the turret and have closed the tower-hatch. ‘Alarm—submerge quickly—depth rudder—go to twenty meters.’
“The whole boat trembles and shakes under the increased pressure and makes a couple of real jumps; it literally reels in the wild sea. Will it not go down pretty soon? With a sudden jerk the Deutschland darts below the surface and now, bending her bow lower and lower, rapidly descends into the depths. The light of the just dawning day disappears from the turret windows, the manometer shows in quick succession, two, three, six, ten meters. But the bow drops lower and lower.
“The boat had bent forward in an angle of 36 degrees and stood on its head, as it were. Its bow rested on the sea’s bottom and its stern was violently swinging back and forth. The manometer showed a depth of about fifteen meters. I quickly realized our situation. It was something less than comfortable.
“We were revealing our position by a peculiar buoy, and we expected momentarily to hear the crashing blow of a shell in the stern. But everything remained quiet. The screws could no longer betray us. Also it probably was still too dark up there, and the destroyer perhaps had enough of its own troubles in the wild sea.
“There must have been a combination of several causes. Aside from the fact that only in the most extraordinary and rare cases is it possible for a big boat to submerge against a high sea, it is conceivable that in the haste which was forced upon us by the destroyer the tanks were not completely emptied of air.
“But, above all, I recall that my first thought was the cargo. ‘Is the cargo safely stored? Can it lose its equilibrium?’ Curious as it may sound in retrospect, that is what I instinctively thought of. A ‘big steamer’ captain doesn’t easily get rid of his second nature, even on a U-boat.