The Journal of Submarine Commander von Forstner

by Georg-Günther von Forstner, Anna Kneeland Crafts Codman (Translator)

The following pages form an abridged translation of a book published in 1916 by Freiherrn von Forstner, commander of the first German U-boat. It was written with the somewhat careless haste of a man who took advantage of disconnected moments of leisure, and these moments were evidently subject to abrupt and prolonged interruptions. Many repetitions and trivial incidents have been omitted in this translation; but, in order to express the personality of the Author, the rendering has been as literal as possibl

Genres: Biography, World War I, Memoir, History, War, Nonfiction

89 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1916

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book I ever read about submarines was Up Periscope. I swiped it from my brother's bookshelves one long ago summer, and it made such an impression on me that I begged for it when he was clearing out his library a few years later. I have been drawn to books about submarines ever since.

So when I noticed this title at Gutenberg, I was excited to find a book that combined two reading interests: submarines and World War I. It lurked beneath the surface on my WTR list for awhile after that, but I finally got around to reading it, and the book turned me into a snooping Googling fiend.

I was very curious about many things that came up. First of all, this English-language edition available at Gutenberg was published in 1917, while the War was still going on. That seemed unusual to me. Wouldn't a U-boat commander be too busy during war time to write anything other than official reports? The original book was published (in German, of course) in 1916. How did the translator, a Mrs. Russel Codman, get her hands on the book and publish this abridged edition just one year later?

And then there is that word abridged. Sigh. The original German language edition is also available at Gutenberg, with 14 chapters instead of the eight available here. What did I miss?!

I also wondered about Commander Von Forstner himself. Turned out that for two years he was Commander of the very first submarine in the German navy, U-Boat 1. According to wiki, that boat was used for training during this war, but our Commander had met her in 1906, and was in charge of her for two years at some unnamed point in time before the war. In my prowling about wiki looking for information, I found a list of ships sunk by submarine during WWI. Von Forstner's name was not listed in the column for commanders, and I wondered why until I got to the part in his book where he explained how he took part in the so-called Commercial War. In other words, he was responsible for stopping and then sinking or capturing merchant ships. Some were flying false flags, others were truly from neutral countries, others were from the homeland of 'the hated enemy'.

Of course at that time the U-boats still did a lot of work on the surface, and it seemed strange to read about the crew being up on the gun deck, getting drenched and sometimes even swept off the deck (thank goodness for the ropes which fastened them to the boat!) during the chase. The ship's papers and cargo were checked, passengers and crew were evacuated if the decision was made to sink the ship. But if the ship's captains ignored the original flag signals to stop, running away instead, then it was assumed they were hostile, carrying 'contraband', and no quarter was given. Naturally the British and her allies would see all of this in a different light, but this was the German Commander's book, not theirs.

He shares a great deal of information about the activities of a U-boat, even technical details like how the boat maintains fresh air, how it is loaded with supplies, all sorts of things that kept me wondering how anyone would approve of this book being published in wartime. Or did everyone just assume that no one outside of Germany would ever see it?

The main action chapters of the book relate the chases and sinkings the Commander was involved in during March of 1915. I found another list that showed all the ships he captured or sunk (24 during the entire war) and which boat was his: U-28. (That was one detail he never mentioned.) I think he would have been able to write a thrilling novel, because he was really almost poetic in his phrasing and ability to paint his word pictures in these chapters.

So I admittedly had a blast with this book: between the Commander's journal and all of my cruising Googling, I learned a lot about both WWI and U-boats. And one odd little bit of trivia: on that list of ships sunk during WWI, one u-boat commander's name leaped out at me twice. Once for a French ship sunk in April of 1915, and again for an Italian ship sunk in August 1917. The U-boat commander was part of the Austria-Hungary navy and was named Georg Ritter von Trapp, who would become famous in another war for a very different reason. Yep, the very same von Trapp from The Sound Of Music!

[Joseph Spuckler · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book. Unrestricted submarine warfare is a result of British underhandedness. The British sailed contraband under foreign flags, without that nations permission. The British like flying the Spanish flag much to the anger of Spanish ship captains. Forstner states the British also flew the American flag which made his job all the more difficult.

For his part Forstner was a complete gentleman and always took care of the safety of passengers and crew of the ship he was sinking. Neutral ships were treated well. His recounting of the his time at war seems much like a police officer working to keep the streets safe from drugs.

It is interesting to read an account of someone who, deeply believed in his cause (and yet lost). Good book with a story that is not in your standard history books.

[Linda Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the authenticity and realness
of this piece of writing. Listened to the audio book narrated by Sue Anderson.

[Thom Swennes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Journal of Submarine Commander von Forstner is an autobiographical account of Germany’s first U-boat commander. The book reeks of a nostalgia that was prevalent around the beginning of the Twentieth Century. As an officer in the German Imperial Navy he served his country and his Keiser well. One of the first things that strikes the reader 100 years after the writing is how much submarines and that branch of the service has changed. His somewhat naïve approach to and thoughts of war are hard to believe. He saw the war (WWI) and his part in it as men, who had never actually participated in armed conflict, of the previous centuries saw it, noble and gallant, where honor and fair play actually played a roll. He showed his Germanic mentality in his belief that everything German was in some way superior and he was anything but modest. As a history lover I, never-the-less, enjoyed the book and would recommend it to other history lovers.

[Adhoc · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting read if you are into the history of submarines.

Hospital ships were fair game at the time!

BRITISH HOSPITAL SHIP GLOUCESTER CASTLE, SHOWING RED CROSS ON BOW,SUNK IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL BY A GERMAN SUBMARINE

Read it at Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30114

[Peter J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. The Germans were not bad guys in wwi.

[Bill Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good history read.