Cargo Submarine U-Deutschland Artifacts and Model

[STBaltimore]

Mr. Paul Hiken, of Boston, is spending Easter with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry G. Hilken, at their home at 133 W. Lanvale street

Balto papers Apr 8, 1901
____________________________________
Transactions: The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Volume 11 January 1904 Published by the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Introductory Procedures xxxi lists our Paul Gerhard L. Hilken, as being the General Foreman, Hull Construction Marine Dept., Maryland Steel Co., Sparrow's Point, Md.
___________________________________

I had a lead that, early in his life, Paul had studied in New London but I haven't been able to nail that one down again. Any thoughts Dwight?
___________________________________
The entry shows Hilken's 1904 residence 133 West Lanoole [sic] street, Baltimore, Md.
___________________________________
Paul Hilken, for several years residents of Sparrows Point, will move this week to their new home at Roland Park.

Source Balto newspapers Oct 6, 1909
___________________________________
The 1910, the list of Maryland Historical Society members shows Henry G. Hilken, Paul's father, as residing at 133 W. Lanvale St. in Baltimore's Bolton Hill.

[STBaltimore]

Paul G. Hilken, American Agent , Abandons the Vigil at New London – Thinks U-53 Sought Her.

Baltimore, Md., Oct. 20. [1916] – Paul G. Hilken, the American manager of the company owning the German merchant submarines, returned to Baltimore today from New London, Conn., where he had been waiting for weeks for the arrival of the Bremen. He made no effort to hide the grief he felt over the loss of the boat.—of which he now has little doubt—and of the deaths of the members of her crew, thirty officers and men.

The Bremen’s Captain, K Schwarzkopf, and First Officer Liebermann von Sonnenberg were officers of the North German Lloyd liner Grosser Kurfürst before the European war.

Although it has been reported that the fate of the Bremen has postponed indefinitely the return of the Deutschland to this country, Mr. Hilken says that he has no news about the Deutschland, and he supposes that, after she has been in dry dock for repairs, she will attempt a second voyage to America.

“It is altogether possible” said Mr. Hilken, “that the U-53, which visited the New England coast, crossed the Atlantic in search of the Bremen. But I had no communication with that vessel, and do not know. It seems reasonable, since the Captain asked about the Bremen immediately on his arrival. We do not believe that the Bremen was captured. If the British had taken her they would have announced it long ago. I do not believe that Dr. William H. Welch, who said recently that it was reported in England that 114 German submarines had been captured, was correctly informed. I know that Germany has lost only eleven submarines from all causes since the war began. The British captured one and one mine layer.

“I believe that some accident happened to the machinery of the Bremen. There was only one Bremen. There was no truth in the report of another which left Germany before this boat sailed.”

The Bremen is said to have had aboard a serum for infantile paralysis, which had been tried in Germany and found to be effective.

[STBaltimore]

Were any of us who follow such thing aware that, by at least July 18th, 1916, Gotthold Prusse had been authorized by NDL to remain in America when the U-DEUTSCHLAND sailed? I know I wasn't aware of it.


I also didn't know that the submersible had received a fresh coat of grey paint at the McLean pier, foot of Andre street, prior to the date above, but it did.

Flushing Daily Times -- Queens, NY, Tuesday, July 18, 1916, page four

[drmessimer]

STBaltimore: Thanks for those interesting posts. This is what I have on Hilken taken from the Bureau of Investigation Case files and school yearbooks. Paul Hilken was born on 13 February 1878 in Baltimore. He attended Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, a four-year technical school for men, where he majored in Mechanical Engineering and was active in several clubs and groups, including The Mustard and Cheese, a theatrical group. In 1897 they staged Ulster in which Paul played "Agnes." He was also a Delta Phi Fraternity member. He entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1900 in the class of 1904. He again majored in mechanical engineering and took a class called "Course XIII," which was a difficult, year-long study of Naval Architecture. In 1900 those who had survived the rigors of the course founded the Naval Architecture Society at MIT, and Paul was an early member.
In June 1903 he applied for a passport and listed his occupation as “marine architect,” which might offer a clue to his character since at the time he was not working in that capacity and had not yet graduated from MIT where his major was still mechanical engineering. On 2 June 1906 he married Helen Frances Parsons in New York and from 2 November 1906 to 15 December 1909 he worked as a draftsman in the Marine Department at Maryland Steel's Sparrows Point plant. In December 1909 he joined his father's business in Baltimore. Dwight

[STBaltimore]

Paul G.L. Hiken

In December 1909 he joined his father's business in Baltimore. Dwight

... and, in anticipation of Paul joining his father's firm

Paul [and his wife Helen] Hilken, for several years residents of Sparrows Point, [Baltimore county] will move this week to their new home at Roland Park.

Source Balto newspapers Oct 6, 1909
______________________________

Dwight, thanks for filling in a number of gaps you've gleaned from the Bureau of Investigation Case files and school yearbooks. Each new puzzle piece produces a clearer image.

[STBaltimore]

What a great descriptive saying -

... the April Fool's joke... was tickling me in the fingers...
Claas

I can see such a scene in my mind's eye .

Thanks for including me with your sending of an enlargement of Capt. Koenig's hat badge photographic image.

It seems to be the best one we have viewed so far. When it is enlarged, unfortunately, it loses much of the finer stitching detail.

Therefore, may we continue to seek out the "Deutschen Ozean Rhederei" cap patch by attempting to identify the whereabouts of Paul Koenigs' mementos along with those of his 1916 mates and their support crews?

Somewhere in all of Germany, there has to remain at least one such "Deutschen Ozean Rhederei" patch in an accessible collection.

When it is finally re-discovered we'll all probably experience a little tickling in our fingers.

Danke,

[STBaltimore]

Don't know how many of you have seen this on-the-spot quick sketch of U-DEUTSCHLAND while at New London during November of 1916.



I somehow doubt that the gent who laid it out gave much attention to proportion or scale but I think this top-down-view is still worth noting.

Enjoy

[STBaltimore]

Adrian, Might you know of a bloke or two who might live in the Birkenhead area and who also lurk here at War Relics? Some of us wish to know if there were any investigation photographs taken of the tragic five-lost-lives U-DEUTSCHLAND mishap of 1922. Question: Are there on-line repositories of Liverpool newspapers we've yet to discover here on the other side of the pond?

Cheers!

[drmessimer]

STBaltimore: You are posting some really useful stuff for which I thank you. Please use your talents and contacts to provide more information on what activities were programed to honor, fete, and entertain the U-Deutschland crew in Baltimore. Another area that needs develoment is the period when she was in New London. It seems that the press had lost interest in her, because there is so little information about what happened there. Good job! Dwight

[STBaltimore]

More than a few far-reaching impacts were felt as a result of U-DEUTSCHLAND and U-BREMEN pointing their bows into uncharted waters. Here's one example:
____________________________

"...growth of interest in organic chemistry is not surprising when it is recalled that the development of this field of science really dates from the advent of the first World War.

In those war days, the arrival in Baltimore of the big German submarine "Deutschland," loaded with dyes and medicinals sorely needed here, was a memorable event. There was then practically no organic chemical industry in America.

The picture has changed now, with the development of American-made dyes, pharmaceuticals, fine organic chemicals for research, synthetic textile fibers, plastics and lacquers.

There has been a corresponding demand for men and women trained in organic chemistry..."

________________________________
Source: Demands of Industry for Chemists Now Reflected in Crowded Classes
By THOMAS F. MURRAY, JR., ROCHESTER ALUMNI-ALUMNAE REVIEW, XIX No. 3., Feb.-Mar 1941, pg. 7