Gotthard Sachsenberg

Gotthard Sachsenberg (6 December 1891 - 23 August 1961) Pour le Merite, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern Iron Cross was a World War I fighter ace with 31 victories who went on to command the world's first naval air wing. In later life, he founded the airline Aero Lloyd, became an anti-Nazi member of German parliament, and also became a seminal designer of hydrofoils.

Early Life And Naval Career

Gotthard Sachsenberg was born on Rosslau Mountain,north of the Elbe River, in Dessau, Germany. After his initial schooling, he attended the gymnasium in Eisenach for secondary schooling preparatory to entering university. His major was economics.

He volunteered for seagoing service. He became a sea cadet on the cruiser Hertha in 1913. In 1914, promotion to Fahnrich and transfer to the battleship Pommern followed. He received the Iron Cross First Class in August, 1915 as an officer candidate, for his excellence as an artillery spotter. On 18 September 1915, he received his leutnant's (lieutenant's) commission.

Aerial Service During World War I

However, he was fascinated by airplanes, and in December 1915 transferred to aerial service. He was posted to Marine Feldflieger Abteilung as a Fahnrich zur zee or observer; he may also have had some pilot's training by this time.

He then served as an instructor for observers. He also seemed to have undergone at least some pilot training at Johannisthal, qualifying as a fighter pilot qualified to fly a Fokker Eindekker. The usual progression in the German air service was from observer in a two seated reconnaissance craft to pilot in a single seat fighter, with training preceding both phases.

On 1 February 1917, Sachsenberg succeeded Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant) von Sasnten as commanding officer of Marine Field Jasta I. MFJ II was organized somewhat later, and the two were combined into a larger unit, Marine Jagdgruppe Flanders. Because Leutnant de zee Sachsenberg already commanded one of its constituents, he was appointed its commanding officer. His friend and friendly rival ace Theo Osterkamp became commander of MGJ II.

MFJ III was later raised and added to the larger unit. Still later, two more MFJs were raised and added to the parent unit, bringing its strength up to about 50 fighter planes, comparable to an army Jagdgschwader. Because they were naval aviation units in the days before aircraft carriers, they were stationed on North Sea coastal airfields, and often fought against Royal Naval Air Service aircraft who were stationed in similar circumstances.

It was as the leader of MFJ I that Sachsenberg opened his score as a fighter pilot and all his victories would be credited to that unit. Mounted on an Albatros fighter, he succeeded in downing a Farman and a Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter on 1 May 1917. He scored again on the 12th, splashing a Sopwith Pup into the sea, and then notching another double victory on 7 June to make him an ace.

On 20 August, Sachsenberg was awarded the Knights Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern. By the end of 1917, his victory roll stood at eight.

There was a lapse before he started scoring again, with number nine on 17 March 1918, but once restarted he continued to steadily tally up victories until 29 October 1918, when he downed his 31st confirmed. Midway through this run, Sachsenberg was awarded Prussia's and Germany's highest decoration, the Pour le Merite, on 5 August 1918.

The MJF changed from Albatroses to Fokker D.VIIs in June 1918. They were as colorfully and distinctively marked as Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus, with the basic color scheme being yellow and black. Yellow and black checkerboard had been Sachsenberg's motif, and it was spread to the entire squadron, with minor variations marking the different pilots.

Post World War I

Armistice Day, 11 November 1918, did not end Gotthard Sachsenberg's war. He formed Kampfgeschwader Sachsenberg in January, 1919. It was a fighter wing consisting of 700 personnel, several of whom were fellow World War I aces. It was based at Riga, Lithuania. Its purpose was aerial support of the Freikorps fighting Russian communists on the Baltic borders of Germany, in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland. It was successful in establishing air superiority over its opponent, and mainly flew ground support missions on behalf of the Freikorps.

He fought on into 1920, finally receiving a promotion to Oberleutnant on March 5.

After the Baltic war ended, Sachsenberg initially concerned himself with helping his fellow veterans make the transition back to civil life.

He then joined with Professor Hugo Junker, whose aircraft he had used in the Baltic, to found Aero Lloyd Airlines. Another business interest of Sachsenberg's was his brother's shipyard, where they built river craft and small coastal ships.

Sachsenberg became interested in politics and was elected to the German Parliament. He represented Liegnitz, from July 1932 onwards. Surprisingly, e took a pacifist stance. He wrote and published articles decrying Germany's military buildup toward war, and especially its establishment of the Luftwaffe. He presciently predicted it would bring war home to German families and German soil. In retribution for his perceived defeatism, the Nazis then forced through a secret trial in absentia, but Sachsenberg escaped the consequences of conviction because his family shipyard was producing military ships.

Beginning about 1935, Sachsenberg allied himself with hydrofoil ship pioneer Hanns von Schertel. Hydrofoil ship speeds of 30 plus knots, faster than any warships then on water, attracted attention from the German Ministry of Transportation and Finance, the German Navy, and German Air Force. Commercial exploitation of the hydrofoil was cut short by World War II. Several military hydrofoils of differing sizes, with speeds up to 60 knots, were acquired during World War II. However, they were only prototypes, and most fell prey to war damage of some sort.

The end of World War II brought the Russian occupation of Dessau, and their acquisition of the shipyard.

Sachsenberg and Shertel set up a new hydrofoil operation named Supramar in Switzerland. In 1953, they finally got the first commercial hydrofoil into operation between Ascora, Switzerland and Ascona, Italy. The hydrofoil concept gradually spread worldwide, but Gotthard Sachsenberg didn't live to see its general use. He died in Bremen of a heart attack on 23 August 1961.

References

* http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/sachsenberg.php Accessed 2 October 2008.
* http://www.theaerodrome.com/medals/germany/index.php Accessed 2 October 2008.
* http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthard_Sachsenberg Accessed 2 October 2008. Translated via babelfish.
* "Albatros Aces of World War 1. Norman Franks." Osprey Publishing, 2000.
* http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://membres.lycos.fr/asduciel/marine.htm&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=10&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522gotthard%2Bsachsenberg%2522%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DfmM%26sa%3DG Accessed 2 October 2008. Translated via Google.
* "Fokker D VII Aces of World War 1: Part 2." Norman Franks, et al. Osprey Publishing, 2004.
* http://www.pourlemerite.org/ Accessed 2 October 2008.
* http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=6713 Accessed 2 October 2008.
* http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/w1/ger/cleaverrd7.htm Accessed 2 October 2008.
* http://www.foils.org/sach.htm Accessed 2 October 2008.
* http://74.125.93.104/translate_c?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.nl/wiki/index.php/Gotthard_Sachsenberg&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522gotthard%2Bsachsenberg%2522%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DGAq%26sa%3DN&usg=ALkJrhgMS-D_xlnMgVYjko-nwsyukjUJeA Accessed 2 October 2008.