Kapitan Werner Vermehlen
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| Kapitan Werner Vermehlen
Born in El Paso, Mexico in 1890, he joined the German Navy in 1909, serving in the battleship Helgoland from 1911 until 1912. He became the Radio Officer aboard SMS Pillau from 1912 until 1914, serving at the battle of Jutland where SMS Pillau was damaged. He applied to transfer to U-boats, but instead was transferred to Naval Airships, serving on L14 and L30. In the autumn of 1917, he took command of the zeppelin L35 (LZ80), testing the innovation of carrying fighter aircraft. From the end of 1917 until the end of the war he commanded L42 (LZ91) and then L65 (LZ111), which participated in the last raid on England on 6th August 1918. He and his crew destroyed the airship in its hangar at Nordholz on 23rd June 1919 to prevent its capture. Following the war he breifly returned to Mexico before joining the the Reichsmarine in 1934. In April 1942 he sailed aboard Dresden to Japan, where he became Naval Attache Chief of Staff until the end of the war, after which he returned to Germany. He died on 26th September 1986. |