The Seeadler (German for "
Sea Eagle") was built in 1878 and
christened the "Pass of Balmaha." She was a
steel,
three masted,
square rigged Bark.
In 1915 The Pass of Balmaha was
seized by the German navy and was outfitted with a
diesel motor and
deck guns. The plan was to run the
English blockade and
break out into the
Atlantic to raid merchant shipping. In order to do this the ship would have to be disguised and the crew would pose as
Norwegians, some logbooks were faked and conveniently damaged and
sea stained as if the Seeadler had just come through a stormy sea. The crew learned to chew
tobacco and speak
Norwegian. The guns were cleverly disguised by stacking a "load" of
lumber around them, the lumber could be lowered and raised to redisguise the ship. She was rechristened the "Seeadler," but sailed under the Norwegian flag as the "
Hero," with
Captain Felix Von Luckner commanding.
The
ruse was successful and the Seeadler passed an inspection by British officers and was sent on her way. She made her way across the
Atlantic capturing and sinking
merchant ships as she went along. Luckner would board the ship and capture her crew, then
scuttle the ship. Her route would take her around
Cape Horn and toward Australia. Nearing
South America her supplies were running low, and her prisoners' quarters were nearly
full. It could often take months to make it around
Cape Horn, so Captain Luckner decided to put his crew to the test once more. They headed for
Rio De Janiero, disguised again as the "
Hero," to purchase supplies. The prisoners were put aboard yet another captured ship to make their own way to Rio. The
topmasts were cut to slow them down and ensure that the Seeadler would make it there first.
After Leaving Rio the Seeadler navigated around the horn and began raiding ships in the
Pacific. On July 31st
1917 she anchored at
Mopelia,
French Society Islands. Unbeknownst to Captain Luckner she had begun to
drag her anchor and two days later she
went aground on a
coral reef and was destroyed. Captain Luckner and five others set out to find another ship to capture and continue their raids. The prisoners were
marooned on Mopelia and were later rescued. The German crew succeeded in capturing another ship and named it "
Fortuna." Captain Luckner and his crew were eventually captured near
Fiji and spent the remainder of the war in an
internment camp.
During their time at sea, Luckner and the Seeadler managed to capture and sink 16
allied ships totalling over 30,000
tons without a single allied death.