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

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

3 Oct 1912		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 14	1 Aug 1914	-	15 Dec 1914
U 20	16 Dec 1914	-	4 Nov 1916
U 88	23 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

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Type of ship	Tons

30 Jan 1915	U 20	Ikaria	Steamer	4,335	br
30 Jan 1915	U 20	Oriole	Steamer	1,489	br
30 Jan 1915	U 20	Tokomaru	Steamer	6,084	br
7 Mar 1915	U 20	Bengrove	Steamer	3,840	br
9 Mar 1915	U 20	Princess Victoria	Steamer	1,108	br
11 Mar 1915	U 20	Florazan	Steamer	4,658	br
5 May 1915	U 20	Earl Of Lathom	Sailing vessel	132	br
6 May 1915	U 20	Candidate	Steamer	5,858	br
6 May 1915	U 20	Centurion	Steamer	5,495	br
7 May 1915	U 20	Lusitania	Passenger steamer	30,396	br
8 Jul 1915	U 20	Marion Lightbody	Sailing vessel	2,176	ru
9 Jul 1915	U 20	Ellesmere	Steamer	1,170	br
9 Jul 1915	U 20	Leo	Steamer	2,224	ru
9 Jul 1915	U 20	Meadowfield	Steamer	2,750	br
13 Jul 1915	U 20	Lennok	steamer	1,142	ru
2 Sep 1915	U 20	Roumanie	Steamer	2,599	br
3 Sep 1915	U 20	Frode	Steamer	1,875	da
4 Sep 1915	U 20	Hesperian	Passenger steamer	10,920	br
5 Sep 1915	U 20	Dictator	Steamer	4,116	br
5 Sep 1915	U 20	Douro	steamer	1,604	br
5 Sep 1915	U 20	Rhea	Steamer	1,145	ru
6 Sep 1915	U 20	Guatemala	Steamer	5,913	fr
7 Sep 1915	U 20	Bordeaux	Steamer	4,604	fr
7 Sep 1915	U 20	Caroni	Steamer	2,652	br
8 Sep 1915	U 20	Mora	Steamer	3,047	br

30 Apr 1916	U 20	Bakio	Steamer	1,906	sp
1 May 1916	U 20	Bernadette	Sailing vessel	486	fr
2 May 1916	U 20	Ruabon	Steamer	2,004	br
3 May 1916	U 20	Marie Molinos	Sailing vessel	1,946	fr
6 May 1916	U 20	Galgate	Sailing vessel	2,356	br
8 May 1916	U 20	Cymric	Passenger steamer	13,370	br
1 Aug 1916	U 20	Aaro	Steamer	2,603	br
29 Aug 1916	U 20	Ibo (d.)	Gunboat	397	pt
26 Sep 1916	U 20	Thelma	Steamer	1,002	br
18 Oct 1916	U 20	Ethel Duncan	Steamer	2,510	br
23 Oct 1916	U 20	Arromanches	Steamer	1,640	fr
23 Oct 1916	U 20	Chieri	Steamer	4,400	it
23 Oct 1916	U 20	Felix Louis	Sailing vessel	275	fr
26 Oct 1916	U 20	Fabian (d.)	steamer	2,246	br

23 May 1917	U 88	Hector	Steamer	1,146	nw
25 May 1917	U 88	Hilary	Armed merchant cruiser	6,329	br
28 May 1917	U 88	Roma (d.)	Sailing vessel	417	ru
29 May 1917	U 88	Ashleaf	Tanker	5,768	br
31 May 1917	U 88	Jeanne Cordonnier	Sailing vessel	2,194	fr
31 May 1917	U 88	Miyazaki Maru	Steamer	7,892	jp
1 Jun 1917	U 88	Cavina	Steamer	6,539	br
6 Jun 1917	U 88	Eemdijk	Steamer	3,048	nl
7 Jun 1917	U 88	John Bakke	Steamer	1,611	nw
29 Jun 1917	U 88	Escondido	Steamer	1,066	nw
3 Jul 1917	U 88	Iceland	Steamer	1,501	br
7 Jul 1917	U 88	Coral Leaf (d.)	Sailing vessel	428	br
13 Jul 1917	U 88	Ceres	Steamer	1,166	da
16 Jul 1917	U 88	Vesta	Steamer	1,122	da
				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.