Germany
Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière
1886–1941 Most successful submarine commander
Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière was a naval aviator who switched to submarines and took command of U-35 in the Mediterranean. Between 1915 and 1918 he sank 194 ships totaling about 450,000 tons, the highest score of any submarine commander in history. He often followed the prize rules, stopping merchant ships and allowing their crews to take to the lifeboats before sinking the ships, which accounts for the unusually low number of deaths among his victims. After the war he served in the Reichsmarine, taught at the Turkish naval academy, and rose to vice-admiral in the Second World War. He was killed in an air crash at Le Bourget in 1941.