Adm Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere

Birth: Mar. 18, 1886 Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland, Death: Feb. 24, 1941 Le Bourget Departement de Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France.

German Admiral and U-Boat Commander. Considered to be the most successful submarine commander of all time, as he sunk 194 ships with a GRT of 453,716 tons during World War I, commanding U-35 and U-139. He began his career as a cadet in the German Navy in 1903. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1908. From 1911 to 1913 he was torpedo officer in SMS Emden, and at war's outbreak was on the staff of the Chief of Staff of the Admiralty in Berlin. He at first tried to transfer to Naval Aviation, but in 1915 entered the submarine service. He made 14 patrols with U35 in the Mediterranean Sea. The sixth patrol was his most successful--indeed the most successful of any submarine commander of all time--sinking 54 ships. He was awarded the Pour le Merite in 1916 for this patrol. 

He made one final patrol in 1918 with U-139. He remained in the navy after the war, eventually being promoted to Captain, before taking early retirement in 1931. From 1932 to 1938, he was an instructor at the Turkish Naval Academy. At the beginning of World War II he was reactivated and promoted to Rear Admiral. He was naval commander in Belgium and Luxembourg and then held the same position in western France. Promoted to Vice Admiral in February 1941, he was on his way to his command as Admiral of the Southeast and to negotiate with the Vichy Government, when his aircraft crashed at Le Bourget Airport.