Just finished a biography of the WWI sea raider Felix Von Luckner and I can’t decide what my favourite part is… (Thread)

1.) That he was the last military commander of a square rigged sailing ship - the Seeadler (Sea Eagle) cos the Germans figured nobody would suspect a sailing ship of being a military vessel.

2.) That he may have ordered an 18 year old seaman to dress up in drag and pretend to be his wife so they would attract less suspicion while navigating the British blockade. (But that story might actually be complete bollocks cos Luckner was a bit of a liar sometimes).

3.) That he was wrecked in the Society Islands (near Tahiti) after he was tricked into anchoring too close to an atoll by some of his captives - aaaaand then tried to cover it up by claiming he was hit by a tidal wave

4.) That he sailed at least 2,000 miles across the Pacific in a 6 meter motorboat trying to find another ship to steal and that his crew passed the time fishing for sharks using baited hand grenades.

5.) That he was captured and sent to NZ after surrendering to livestock transport ship near Fiji which he somehow mistook for a heavily armed naval vessel.

6.) That he escaped from a PoW camp in the Hauraki Gulf cos the guards were so chilled out they let the prisoners operate the camp’s only motorboat.

7.) That he then captured another, bigger ship using a stolen military sword and two molotov cocktails

8.) That he was sent on a Nazi propaganda tour in 1937 but got in trouble after he punched his Gestapo minder in the face and ordered all Nazi pamphlets and posters thrown overboard.

9.) That he visited Berlin in 1943 in the aftermath of an air raid and saved a young Jewish girl's life by giving her the passport of another dead girl he found in some rubble.

P.s. the biography I was reading is "The Sea Devil" by Sam Jefferson (it's a really good read, I highly recommend it). I'll be putting together Felix von Luckner's full story for a podcast early next year. You can find it here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/black-sheep