Cargo Submarine U-Deutschland Artifacts and Model

[drmessimer]

Claas: Yes. I have had it for several months. There are a couple of others I would like to have, especially this one by Ernst Zehle. Dwight

[rogge16]

New rare addition to the collection. Could be in better shape but happy to have it!

[STBaltimore]

STBaltimore: Your right that there are clear differences in the two examples. I still think the Ebay version is a fake, but at this point I can't really push that point. I don't know how to account for the dark color on the example that Luke posted earlier and is also evident in the photo I found, but it could be a metal other than iron. Dwight

Metallurgically speaking, it all boils down to (or melts down in this case) to the fact that all ballasts are not alike.

I lament not being able to successfully track down the lead offered in the local newspapers about a chunk of the 'original' hold-ballast that was to have been presented to a Catholic priest at St. Mary's Industrial School, Caton & Wilkens avenues in SW Baltimore. It's intended destination was to be the small museum at St Joseph's schule on the Frederick road in Irvington, MD but can not be identified as ever being seen.

The labeling may have been misplaced leaving behind but a hunk of worthless metal, or so it would appear. But alas! The search will continue.

[STBaltimore]

I found another article that could lead to finding another piece of the U-DEUTSCHLAND'S ballast. Here's what I found:

HAS DEUTSCHLAND SOUVENIR: Brother Paul, Of St. Mary's Industrial School, Has Piece Of Iron Brought Over As Ballast
Among the most treasured possessions of Brother Paul, superintendent of St. Mary’s Industrial School, is a circular bit of iron, nickel-plated, about two inches in diameter by one inch long and slightly tapered. The piece does duty as a paper weight but has a distinction all its own.
It came from Germany in the hold of the Deutschland as ballast. Brother Paul believes that the piece of metal is a scrap from one of the big guns constructed by the Krupp works. A similar souvenir is to be given by Brother Paul to Mount St. Joseph’s College, to be placed in the museum there.

Source : Baltimore newspapers July 31, 1916.
__________________________________________________ ____
...

Brother Paul Scanlon was director of St. Mary's Industrial School from 1907 to 1925. Info provided by David Eastman, Baltimore City Police Department (Ret.)

[STBaltimore]

You've come a long way since February 25th 2012 haven't you Steve? Ever get back to writing that book on the ill-fated U-BREMEN that you had mentioned in your first entry to this thread, viz: Post'g No. 122?

[STBaltimore]

Claas,
By the way for those of you that do not know, the U-Deutschland & Bremen were also carrying mail to and from the USA.

Steve

Just for the sake of clarification... both the DEUTSCHLAND and BREMEN carried diplomatic mails in sealed pouches but were not engaged in any way with regular public postal service. Stamps printed for future mail service on merchant submarines were issued but never used or cancelled.

The German government is said to have offered a rebate to the stamp purchasers. However, some sheets, as history has proven, were never redeemed and resurface now and again as current day collectibles.

[drmessimer]

This might be the last hurrah, so I will add this information about Voyage of the Deutschland by Captain Paul König, which has not been discussed in this thread. For openers, Paul König did not write the book. It was ghost-written by Dr. Ernst Bischoff, a journalist employed by the German Foreign office. Doctor Bischoff, who went aboard the U-Deutschland when she returned to Helgoland at the end of her first voyage, had access to the ship’s log and spoke with every member of the crew. When Doctor Bischoff completed the manuscript, two copies, one in English and the other in German, were taken to the United States onboard the U-Deutschland on her trip to New London. The book is a mix of facts, the doctor’s fertile imagination, and propaganda.
Though they are less common on the market today, copies are still available at reasonable prices and they make a nice addition to any U-Deutschland collection. The nice part about collecting these books is that you can rest assured they are genuine.
William Randolph Hearst’s publishing house, Hearst’s International Library Company, published the Voyage of the Deutschland and its German language counterpart, Die Fahrt der Deutschland in 1916 for sale only in the United States. Except for one minor difference, both the English language and the German language editions were identical. Both were hardbound with red covers and gold lettering, and both sold for $1.25. The lone difference was that the jacket flaps on the English language edition had advertisements for other Hearst publications, whereas on the German language edition the flaps were bare.
There is a puzzling twist to the marketing of the books. Hearst created a “special” addition that included a loose-leaf photo of Paul König, suitable for framing. The photo measures 4 ¾” x 7 ¼” (12 cm x 18.5 cm). But other than the added photo, the “special edition” was exactly the same as standard editions, including the $1.25 price.


The jacket design was the same for both editions as were the red, hardbound boards


Only the American edition had ads on the jacket flaps. The ad for Political Parties by Robert Michels offers a thesis that would fit today's U.S. political properties perfectly.


Regardless of which language the book was written, they all had the top photo on the front page. A few selected had the bottom photo inserted next to the standard photo. Interestingly, the message is was in English only, reflecting the limitation to sales in the U.S. and the assumption that German speakers who bought the book could read English, which was probably true in most, but not all, cases. I would add that comparing the two photos side-by-side indicates to me that either the trip across to Baltimore aged Paul König several years, or the right hand photo was taken several years earlier. Dwight

[STBaltimore]

Please forgive the omission as it has since been edited, expanded upon and incorporated into Post No. 1099.

[STBaltimore]

We should hope that this isn't your own personal last hurrah, Dwight. You and this thread ought to last many moons to come. We've yet to determine in what Baltimore City landfill the spare merchant submarine parts, lost in the pier fire of 1917, were deposited. Nor, do I think, we know much about the near-death and tragedy that befell U-DEUTSCHLAND on her maiden voyage to Amerika. Did we ever cover the third voyage of the U-DEUTSCHLAND, or at least one of her former diesel engines returning to the Port of Baltimore when it was sold by a marine breaker (maybe Smith & Son?) to a tramp steamer captain?

As to the assumption you have provided, of the two side-by-side images of Captain Koenig, I must say that my opinion is that elements within both photographs clearly show signs that they have been reworked.

[Chopperman]

We should hope that this isn't your own personal last hurrah, Dwight. You and this thread ought to last many moons to come.

I agree