Johannes Spieß

Johannes Spieß
Born	25 July 1888, Berlin, German Empire
Died	30 March 1972(1972-03-30) (aged 83), Hamburg, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire
Service / branch	Imperial German Navy
Years of service	1907-1920
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Commands	U-9, 12 Jan 1915 - 19 Apr 1916 U-19, 11 Aug 1916 - 4 Jul 1917 U-52, 19 Sep 1917 - 29 Oct 1917 U-19, 17 Nov 1917 - 31 May 1918 U-135, 20 Jun 1918 - 11 Nov 1918
Battles / wars	U-boat Campaign (World War I)
Awards	Iron Cross First & Second Class, Military Merit Order (Bavaria), Royal House Order of Hohenzollern

Johannes Spieß (25 July 1888 – 30 March 1972) was an Imperial German Navy U-boat commander during World War I.

World War I

Spiess, first row, 4th from left together with Otto Weddigen and the crew of the U-9

Johannes Spiess was born in Berlin on 25 July 1888.

Spiess served as executive officer to Otto Weddigen on the U-9 and was present at the often recounted sinking of the British cruisers HMS Aboukir, HMS Hogue and HMS Cressy.

Due to an injury, in January 1915, Weddigen was forced to hand over command of the U-9 to Spiess where he remained a submarine commander until the end of the war. During this time, he also commanded the U-19, U-52, and U-135.

He was active in the North Sea during the 1915 Restricted Submarine Phase, patrolled the Baltic Sea during 1915–1916, the English Channel, Irish Sea and North Sea in 1917-1918 during the Unrestricted Submarine Phase and later was a key actor in suppressing the initial German Naval Mutinies in 1918. He also initiated the only confirmed landing of German military personnel on British shores.

Memoirs

After his retirement from the navy, he wrote his memoirs in the book "Six Years of Submarine Cruising".

Spiess died in Hamburg on 30 March 1972.