Born in Breslau on September 16, 1886, Raimund Weisbach was part of the Kaiserliche Marine when the First World War began. He was the watch officer aboard the German submarine U-20 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger.
THE LUSITANIA
In March 1915, the war at sea between the British Empire and Imperial Germany was reaching a climax. British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith ordered a naval blockade in response to Germany’s declaration of war on all goods to the United Kingdom. Any vessel found in the combat zone around the British Isles would be destroyed with little or no warning!
But to neutral America, the blockade maneuvers were followed with great interest rather than anger. The violation of Belgian neutrality in August 1914 caused Americans to side with the Entente, and their support remained strong after the Marne. Although the majority favored the Allies, some highly-vocal individuals within the U.S. supported the Teutonic cause.
However, America remained neutral… and Washington D.C. (including President Woodrow Wilson) believed it to be the path of national interest, honor, and virtue. But Wilson was against the double blockade in Europe… and he warned both Britain and Germany that American opinion was boiling against them. In truth, it was a premature statement in regard to the latter!
On May 1, 1915, the popular Cunard liner RMS Lusitania set sail from from New York to Europe. The German government promptly issued a warning that such British ships might be sunk en route…
At noon on May 7, 1915, the vessel was off the Old Head of Kinsale on a straight run to Liverpool. The Lusitania did not follow the precaution of zigzagging to evade danger.
In the immediate vicinity was the German U-boat U-20. In addition to being watch officer, Raimund Weisbach was also torpedo officer. He oversaw the preparations… and it was under orders from Walther Schwieger that Weisbach fired a tandem of torpedoes at the British ocean liner!
The Lusitania sunk eighteen minutes after the initial strike. Nearly twelve hundred lives were lost, including 128 Americans (mainly women and children).
Hatred of Germany mounted in the United States. Sentiment for neutrality and peace at any price diminished. The Germans apologized and tried to moderate policy in an effort to placate the U.S. Even direct compensation failed to stem the tide of bitter resentment!
Colonel Edward M. House (President Wilson’s personal emissary) predicted that America would be at war within a month. But the President believed in the notion of a man being too proud to fight. Wilson’s view, however, did not resonate well with his own people!
Despite the “sink on sight” campaign of submarine warfare being called off in September 1915, Raimund Weisbach was praised for his handling of the Lusitania. He was decorated with the Iron Cross, First Class.
Weisbach provided a concise account of his recollection of the sinking of the Lusitania which was published in The Irish Times just after his death in 1970. After the torpedo was fired, he was called to the periscope. Weisbach witnessed the explosion… which he claimed was far more severe than expected. He surmised then… and still believed in 1966 (when being interviewed) that the ocean liner must have been carrying a significant cargo of high explosives.
SIR ROGER CASEMENT
Not long after the sinking of Lusitania, Raimund Weisbach received his first independent command. He became head of the submarine U-19 on March 16, 1916.
Just over one month later (April 20th), a passenger embarked the U-19 on the island of Heligoland. His name was Roger Casement… an Ulster Protestant, humanitarian, and freedom fighter who was credited for exposing the slave trade in the Congo.
Back in November 1914, Casement travelled incognito to Germany via Norway in an attempt to subvert Irish POWs. Many of them were loyal to Britain, but some were ready to cooperate. Thus, a plan was hatched to organize a rebellion in Ireland.
And so, with both Weisbach and Casement on board, the U-19 set a course for the Emerald Isle in late April 1916.
However, British intelligence had been monitoring Casement from the moment he left German soil. On the night of April 20, 1916, Weisbach and U-19 put Casement ashore in Tralee Bay at Banna Strand in County Kerry. The following day (Good Friday), waiting guards pounced on Casement before he could make a move!
To add further woes to Casement’s plans, a German ship loaded with armaments failed to arrive! Masquerading as the SS Aud (an existing Norwegian vessel of similar appearance), the SMS Libau (under the command of Karl Spindler) set sail on April 9, 1916 from the Baltic port of Lübeck… bound for the southwest coast of Ireland. Under Spindler was a crew of twenty-two men, all of whom were volunteers. Libau, laden with an estimated 20,000 rifles, one millions rounds of ammunition, ten machine guns, and explosives (under a camouflage of a timber cargo), evaded patrols of both the British Tenth Cruiser Squadron and local auxiliary patrols.
After surviving violent storms off Rockall, the Libau arrived in Tralee Bay on Holy Thursday, April 20, 1916. Once there, the ship was due to meet with Sir Roger Casement, who had negotiated the arms transfer. But as there was no radio on board the ship, the crew was unaware that the Kerry volunteers had been told to meet the ship on Easter Sunday off Fenit pier.
On Good Friday (April 21st), the Libau was approached by three British destroyers and attempted to leave the area… but was soon cornered. Spindler allowed his ship to be escorted towards Cork Harbor, in the company of the Acacia-class sloop HMS Bluebell. The German crew then scuttled the Libau to keep the weapons from falling into British hands. Spindler and crew were interned for the duration of the war.
The rebellion in Ireland had been timed to explode the moment Casement stepped off the U-19. After nearly a week of fighting in the streets of Dublin, the British were able to crush the uprising.
For Sir Roger Casement, he was charged with treason and given a formal trial at the Tower of London. He died smiling at the gallows of London’s Pentonville Prison on August 3, 1916 at the age of fifty-one. Fifteen co-conspirators in Dublin got a speedy court martial and summary execution as well. These men soon became martyrs, and for that moment… American sentiment for England sunk to a wartime low!
For Reimund Weisbach, his role in the rebellion was recognized many years later. He was an official guest of the Irish government at the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1966.
LATE CAREER
Weisbach commanded U-19 until August 10, 1916. His next command was U-81, which he took over just three weeks later.
During his time in command, Weisbach’s submarines sunk thirty-six ships for a total of 107,763 GRT… and damaged another two for a total of 3,481 GRT.
However on the first of May 1917, U-81 was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS E54. Twenty-four members of the U-boat crew were killed… with Weisbach, his watch officer Otto Walter, and five other Germans surviving to be rescued by the British. These men spent the rest of the conflict as prisoners of war in Britain.
Raimund Weisbach soon returned to Germany after the war. He would live through the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, the Second World War, and witness the division of his country into East and West. Weisbach died in Hamburg on June 16, 1970 at the age of eighty-three.