VizeadmiralLothar von Arnauld de la Perière, born in Posen and of French-German descent, was a German U-boat commander during World War I. With 194 ships and sunk, he is the most successful submarine captain ever. His victories came in the Mediterranean, almost always using his 8.8-cm deck gun. During his career he fired 74 torpedoes, hitting 39 times. Arnauld de la Perière remained in the German Navyafter the war ended. During World War II, he was recalled to active duty as a rear admiral, and was killed in a plane crash near Paris in 1941 while taking part in secret negotiations with the Vichy French government.
Arnauld de la Perière entered the Kaiserliche Marine in 1903. After serving on the battleships, and, he served as torpedo officer on the light cruiser from 1911 to 1913. At the outbreak of the First World War, Arnauld de la Perière served as an adjutant to admiral Hugo von Pohl in Berlin. Upon the mobilization, he was transferred to an active post where he served in the Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung. In 1915, Arnauld de la Perière transferred to the U-boats. After a course in Pula, he was given command of the in November 1915. He made 14 voyages with the U-35 during which he sank 189 merchant vessels and two gunboats for a total of. One of his kills was the French troop carrier, which sank with great loss of life. Transferred to the in May 1918, he sank a further five ships with a combined tonnage of. His record number of sunken tonnage and number of sunken ships is unsurpassed since then. For his service, he was awarded the Iron Cross, second and first class, and the Pour le Mérite in 1916.
Interbellum
After the end of the war, Arnauld de la Perière stayed in a vastly reduced German Navy. During the 1920s, he served as navigation officer on the old pre-dreadnoughts and. From 24 September 1928 to 10 October 1930, he commanded the light cruiser. Promoted to captain in 1931, he was put on the retired list. He then taught at the Turkish Naval Academy from 1932 to 1938.
At the start of World War II, Arnauld de la Perière was again called up for active duty. Until March 1940, he served as naval commandant in Danzig until he was sent to the Low Countries as naval commandant for Belgium and the Netherlands. Promoted to Konteradmiral Arnauld de la Perière was made naval commandant in Brittany and later for the entire western French seacoast. He was promoted to Vizeadmiral on February 1, 1941. Transferred to take up command of Navy Group South, he was killed when his plane crashed on takeoff near Le Bourget Airport. He is buried in Berlin at the Invalidenfriedhof.
