Johannes Lohs

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Johannes Lohs
Johannes Lohs.jpg
U-Boat ace Oberleutnant zur See Lohs
Birth date 24 June 1889
Place of birth Einsiedel, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire
Death date ⚔ 14 August 1918 (1918-08-15) (aged 29)
Place of death North Sea, English Channel, off the Belgian coast
Allegiance  German Empire
Service/branch  Kaiserliche Marine
Years of service 1909–1918
Rank Oberleutnant zur See
Battles/wars World War I
Awards Pour le Mérite

Johannes Oswald Lohs[1] (24 June 1889 – 14 August 1918) was a German officer of the Kaiserliche Marine and U-boat commander (U-Boot-Kommandant), finally Oberleutnant zur See (First Lieutenant) and Knight of the Order "Pour le Mérite" in World War I.

Life

Wer war Johannes Lohs?, in: "Die Wehrmacht", Nr. 24, October 1937
Johannes Lohs' grave can be found at Block C, Grave 70 of the Ysselsteyn German War Cemetery.

Johannes Lohs was born in 1889 in Einsiedel near Chemnitz as the son of Karl Oswald Lohs, who was a manufacturer of woollen machine knitted garments and owner of the "Strumpffabrik Carl Friedrich Lohs", which was founded by his father Carl Friedrich Lohs (1790–1868) and was a very successful factory until it was destroyed by Allied bombs in 1945.

After his Abitur in March 1909, Lohs joined the German Navy on 1 April 1909 as a Seekadett and his first posting was on the cruiser SMS "Victoria Louise". The ship began another major cruise overseas in August 1909, passing through the Azores on her way to the United States. She arrived in Newport News on 12 September, where she met SMS "Hertha"; the light cruisers SMS "Bremen" and SMS "Dresden" joined them there on 13 and 22 September, respectively. There, under Fregattenkapitän Franz Mauve's overall command, the squadron participated in the Hudson–Fulton Celebration, which lasted from 26 September to 9 October. Großadmiral Hans von Koester was Germany's official representative, and he hoisted his flag aboard "Victoria Louise" for the duration of the ceremonies. Following the conclusion of the event, "Victoria Louise" departed for a training cruise in the West Indies that ended with her return to Kiel on 10 March 1910.

Lohs was then sent for further training at the Marineakademie at Kiel. On 12 April 1910, he was made Fähnrich zur See and on 3 November 1911 he was transferred to the light cruiser SMS "Berlin" and was promoted on 19 September 1912 to Leutnant zur See. By 23 December 1912, Johannes was signal officer on the new light cruiser SMS "Straßburg". From December 1912 to the start of World War I, the "Straßburg" visited many countries including German South-West Africa, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, and many Spanish controlled ports.

WWI

SMS "Straßburg" participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914. The next major action SMS "Straßburg" participated in was the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914, along with three Battlecruisers, three other Light Cruisers and 18 Destroyers, all under Franz Hipper.

Lohs was transferred after 10 July 1915 to the battlecruiser SMS "Seydlitz" as radio officer (2. Funkoffizier). The "Seydlitz" participated in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga on 8 August to 19 August 1915 and was sent to the Uboat training school around the end of August 1915. He was then posted to the Torpedo Boat Division and spent some time as a Deck Officer on Torpedo Boats. On 17 March 1917, he was named Kommandant of the minelaying Uboat SM UC 75, on which he did 9 patrols (Feindfahrten) along the British coast.

He took command of his first submarine, UC75, in March 1917, and patrolled the east coast of England. He arrived off Cork in May 1917, where he sank 3 sailing ships, 1 steamer, the sloop HMS Lavender, and 7 fishing boats off The Staggs, on the 3rd. The sinking of the fishing boats is interesting, as it highlights a particular policy adapted by some U-boat commanders. This was not one of cruelty (sometimes vehemently argued), as there were by enlarge few casualties. It was instead, strategic. By creating such mayhem among fishing boats, it subsequently tied up some of HM naval resources. There were also some reports that fishing boats possessed radio. In any event, there is no doubt that many ‘fishing boats’ were converted and armed. They held onto their painted registration numbers, were fitted with radio communication and hydrophones, crewed by naval personnel, and patrolled the same waters. An attack on fishing boats was also an attack on a decreasing supply of food.

He was to damage or sink 53 vessels by mine, gunfire or torpedo, ranging from fishing vessels of 10 tons to coasters of 9389 tons. SM UC 75 under Oberleutnant zur See Walter Eduard Alexander Schmitz (1891–1919) was rammed and sunk by HMS "Fairy" on 31 May 1918 while attacking a convoy at 5357N 0009E with 17 dead and 14 survivors.

In August, letters began to arrive at the world famous brewery Guinness in Dublin. Their barrels had washed up along the shoreline on both sides of the Alley and finders were looking for reward or recompense for their trouble saving the porter from the sea. The barrels had got there after commander Lohs in UC75 sunk the cross channel Guinness steamer W.M. Barkley on the 12th. Dublin port had been closed due to submarine activity in the Alley but temporarily opened again to allow some ships to leave. This included the Barkley and its crew, who were not to know that the submarine had returned. Lohs had been laying in wait off the Kish lightship, and torpedoed the steamer aft of the bridge on the starboard side, sinking her. Lights on this side had not been ‘darkened’. The ship was armed, but sure the gunner was below doing his washing with McGlue, who was making the tea. Dublin man, ABS Thomas McGlue, survived the attack and later gave a remarkable account of events. Describing how, only for the barrels of Guinness, they would not have had enough time to get into a boat. So, it may be true that – ‘Guinness is good for you’. Four were in the boat when Lohs came alongside. He queried the survivors as to the ship’s identity and cargo, and eventually gave them directions for shore. McGlue later marvelled at the encounter with the submarine, describing it “as big as a collier”, and at Lohs’s linguistic skills, “Sure he spoke better English than I did.”

On 2 January 1918 he became Kommandant of SM UB 57, taking over the command of this boat from another legendary U-boat commander, Otto Steinbrinck. The U-boat belonged to U-Flottille Flanders I (Flandern I) and operated from Zeebrugge in Flanders, just like SM UC 75 before that. Oberleutnant zur See Johannes Lohs damaged and sunk many sea going vessels, to a total for the SM UB 57 of 40, the last one being "The City of Brisbane" that was carrying ballast, on 13 August 1918, off the coast of Newhaven, East Sussex, the ship suffered no casualties, the crew was, as almost always, allowed to abandon ship.

Ace of the seas

Lohs sank during his patrols 77 ships with a total of 143,606 GRT and damaged another 18 ships with a total of 94,871 GRT (together 238,477 GRT),[2] among them the British Q-ship "Mary B. Mitchell".

Death

On 3 August 1918, Lohs sailed from Zeebrugge for the last time. The last contact he made with the base was on the evening of 14 August as SM UB 57 was homeward bound roughly in the area of the Sandiette Bank, east of the Strait of Dover. The Uboat, on the surface during a changing of the guard (Wachwechsel), struck a sea mine, killing Lohs and his 33-man crew (all 34 hands lost).

The bodies of Oberleutnant zur See Johannes Lohs, first officer Oberleutnant zur See Siegfried Fuchs and those of several other crew members washed ashore on 22 August 1918 at Zeebrugge as well as Walcheren and buried in Vlissingen, Netherlands. At first in the section III for the "unknown fallen". Later his brother Heinrich could identify his socks, in which his name was written, his jacket with the initials "J. L.", his wedding ring and four gold crowns on the back teeth. Lohs left behind a wife and daughter.

Ysselsteyn

The remains of the crew of SM UB 57 were later exhumed and interned at Ysselsteyn German Military Cemetery (Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof in Ysselsteyn).

Promotions

  • 1 April 1909 Seekadett (Crew 1909)
  • 12 April 1910 Fähnrich zur See
  • 19 September 1912 Leutnant zur See
  • 2 May 1915 Oberleutnant zur See

Awards and decorations

Honours

  • In the later Kriegsmarine, the on 4 October 1937 established 3rd U-boat Flotilla (3. Unterseebootsflottille) in Kiel was named after him (Unterseebootsflottille „Lohs“).

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Most sources claim Johannes Oswald Lohs, other sources like this and this claim Oswald Johannes Lohs.
  2. ↑ Johannes Lohs, uboat.net
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