Talk:Julius H. Kroehl

Diagnosing Cause of Death

I was suspicious of Delgado's claim that decompression sickness was the real cause of Kroehl's death. First, the symptoms of decompression sickness and malaria, or even yellow fever, are quite distinct from each other. Physicians in the 19th Century were good at diagnosis, not that good at determining cause. The US Consul's letter specified the "Fever" - assumed to be malaria. Defining the fever was debated throughout Mrs. Kroehl's petition for a pension - the main point was whether his death was service-related or the hazards of the climate. Keep in mind that the consul was a Union officer during the siege of Vicksburg, and would have been quite aware of the sicknesses and deaths affecting his troops due to malaria. Decompression sickness was diagnosed more than 20 years before.

Second, I do not have any description of his death - did he die as he emerged from the submarine? Did he die while in Panama City or on San Telmo? Was there an inquest? His brother Henry as well as his widow stated that he was still under the effects of malaria when he departed for Panama. (BTW, malaria is incurable - once infected, the patient will have to continue taking medicinal treatments to mitigate the effects of disease.)

Third, what rate of ancension was the Sub Marine Explorer capable of? If slow, then decompression sickness was not likely. Its operation was essentially an autonomous diving bell - not built for speed. Reports of Flach's demise in South America was already known (reported in Scientific American). Information on diving bell technology and salvage operations were already available for anyone serious enough to inquire. How was it operated? It seemed it was kept mainly to depths around 30 feet - the single joyride to 75 feet was unplanned and there was no reported panic by the crew, or problems in the months following.

Fourth, how many others did actually die? Recall that there were many accounts stating that scores of men were killed in the CSS Hunley during trial runs in Mobile, AL. In fact, only three mishaps were identified to the vessel - all at Charleston, SC - and the first two to operator error - the third has yet to be determined. Similar tales affected the Intelligent Whale - but were proven baseless. My own impression from some early newspaper accounts (not press releases) is that operations ceased immediately after Kroehl's death - the only human casualty from the expedition.

I believe that Kroehl was careful enough to consider decompression sickness based on his familiarity with the marine technologies of the time - which were considerable. He simply died from a recurrence of malaria and nothing else. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Maclilus (talk • contribs) 03:01, August 20, 2007 (UTC).

Lithuania Project

I just noticed that Julius Kroehl is being linked to the Lithuania project. However, I question the academic relevance. First, Kroehl was likely descended from the Scotch "peddler" John Crail who settled in Konigsburg (now Kaliningrad). The family, like many others of Scotch origin blended in with East Prussian society, adopting the German language and customs, politically identifying themselves with the Prussian Kingdom. However, the family were likely members of the Reformed Church, not Lutheran. Kroehl himself left Memel (now Klaipeda) when he was approximately seven years old, living in Berlin until the early 1840s. Most likely, Prussian culture formed his identity, along with some Calvinistic viewpoints on morality and civil liberty. But this is my opinion on shifting through the context of his times. However, nothing seems to survive that would link him to Lithuania except the accident of history that moved Memel to Lithuania's control. In addition, Memel was involved in extensive trade with England, and the family primarily being merchants, most likely kept contacts with English institutions, requiring some profiency in English for business purposes.

Second, when he settled in America, he interacted with both the nativist community and the emigre community, especially the Germans who settled in what is now called Kleindeutschland, and the 48er community in general. He participated in the Turner movement and the Freemasons, was likely a Republican and opposed slavery, but also supported the capitilism that was emerging in the latter half of the 19th century America. Unlike most other emigres, he had assimilated as much as possible with American society, being involved in civil works and the Civil War. His writings are in good English, but more like the Queen's English (based on some spellings) - his fluency in the English language probably traced back to childhood, given the Kroehl family showing up in both Prussian and English records in the decades prior to his birth. Personally, I imagine that he spoke with a slight English accent rather than German. I have met many non-English Europeans who speak English very fluently, but with the English accent, not American.

Third, Klaipaida does not resemble the old city of Memel - war, geopolitics, and a host of longstanding issues unfortunately have destroyed much of that community. It's like trying to link Troy I with Troy X - they just happen to be collocated but separated by more than just centuries. Linking Kroehl with Lithuania makes as much sense as linking Immanuel Kant (another descendent of the Scotch peddlers) with Russia because the former Konigsburg is part of the Russian Republic.

I cannot control what the Wikipedia community ultimately decides. If linking this article to Lithuania will help get his story out, then I will abide. However, I want a fair shake as to identify with which national community would be more appropriate.maclilus (talk) 21:17, 22 July 2012 (UTC)

GiW has reviewed and determined that Kroehl should be unlinked from the WikiProject Lithuania. (Thanks for reviewing and acting on this.) But another question is identifying to which WikiProjects that Kroehl should be linked. All documents to him personnally date from 1844 onwards - primarily in the United States. His life prior to that time is inferred. I notice Projects for former countries (e.g., the Prussian Kingdom), but would like to consider which projects might also apply - by trade (e.g., engineering and architecture), citizenship (e.g., Prussia and the US), affiliation (e.g., Freemasons and US Navy), or other (e.g., American Civil War).maclilus (talk) 02:19, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

Captain

Currently the article says Kroehl was called "captain" and speculates "This may indicate that he had held an officer's commission in the Prussian Army prior to his emigration,..."

Kroehl arrived in the US in 1844, aged 23. A 23 year old young man is never ever promoted to the rank of a captain in peacetime, never. 87.188.213.110 (talk) 04:55, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Actually, age 24 - small difference - and never say "never." However, this question was why he the US Army referred to him as captain in 1863 when he clearly held rank as a Naval officer. In 1861, when Asboth tried to form his special Union brigade, he again was referred as "captain."maclilus (talk) 05:41, 22 October 2012 (UTC)

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