Ulrich Mohr

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Ulrich Mohr
Ulrich Mohr in 1940
NationalityGerman
OccupationKriegsmarine officer
Known for

Ulrich Mohr was a German naval officer and the adjutant (first officer) on the Kriegsmarine auxiliary cruiser Atlantis during the Second World War, where one of his functions was to board captured ships and search for secret papers that might be of use to the German war effort.

In November 1940, Atlantis captured the merchant ship Automedon, and Mohr led the search party that found a secret British report that revealed that they would not be able to hold Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaya if they were attacked by the Japanese. The captain of Atlantis,

Bernhard Rogge
, sent the documents to his superiors who gave a summary to the Japanese. Historians have speculated that the knowledge of the weak British defences in Asia may have emboldened the Japanese to invade Singapore and played a part in the development of the war in the Pacific.

In 1944, Mohr published an account of the raiding career of Atlantis titled Die Kriegsfahrt Des Hilfskreuzers Atlantis, and in 1955 he published Atlantis: The story of the German surface raider in conjunction with

Arthur Sellwood
.

Early life

Ulrich Mohr's father was an officer in the German navy. In his early life, Ulrich travelled to Japan, China, and the United States,[1] so that he spoke English with an American accent.[2] He earned the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.[1]

Military career

Atlantis disguised as Tamesis, 1940.[3]
City of Bagdad
The destruction of the British ship Kemmendine by Atlantis, July 1940.[4]

Mohr's early military career was in

Bernhard Rogge, on which Mohr took up the position of adjutant (first officer) to replace a professor of the history of art whom Rogge thought better suited to duties on dry land.[1]

Mohr served on Atlantis for the whole of her time at sea since leaving Germany in March 1940 until she was sunk in November 1941, during which time she sank or captured 22

Allied ships and travelled 112,500 miles (181,100 km) without putting into port.[5][6] It was part of Mohr's duties to board captured vessels and recover documents such as dispatches and code books that might assist the German war effort.[7]

Among the ships he boarded were

invade Singapore and played a part in the development of the war in the Pacific.[6][11][12][13]

In November 1941, Atlantis was attacked by the British ship

U-boats in the area. Mohr and the crew eventually made it home after two rescues were launched from Germany using U-boats and surface craft.[6][14]

In 1944, Mohr published an account of the raiding career of Atlantis titled Die Kriegsfahrt Des Hilfskreuzers Atlantis. Towards the end of the war, he helped to arrange the surrender of Kiel and was a liaison officer between the British and German navies during the disarmament period.[15]

Post-war life

In 1955, Mohr published Atlantis: The story of the German surface raider in conjunction with

Arthur Sellwood. The book was published in the United States in 1956 under the title Ship 16: The story of the secret German raider Atlantis and reprinted with that title in the United Kingdom by Amberley Publishing in 2008.[16]

Publications

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1-84868-115-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  2. ISBN 0-8032-6652-9
    .
  3. ^ Starboard Bow View of the German Auxiliary Cruiser Atlantis (Raider No 16). Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  4. ^ Kemmendine SS (+1940), wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  5. ^ a b Duffy, p. 22.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-1-84832-020-8
    .
  7. ^ a b Duffy, p. 12.
  8. ^ Duffy, p. 15.
  9. ISBN 978-90-04-21353-1
    .
  10. ^ Seki, p. 62.
  11. ^ Duffy, p. 23.
  12. ^ How one merchant ship doomed a colony. Hugh Cortazzi, The Japan Times, 7 January 2007. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  13. ^ "The Sinking of the "Automedon", The Capture of the "Nankin": New Light on Two Intelligence Disasters in World War II" by James Rusbridger, Encounter, May 1985, pp. 8-14.
  14. ISBN 978-1-59884-457-3
    .
  15. ISBN 978-1-84868-115-6
    .
  16. ^ Ship 16: The story of a German surface raider. Amberley Publishing. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
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