100963 | GERMANY. Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen cast iron Medal.

100963 | GERMANY. Kapitänleutnant Otto Eduard Weddigen cast iron Medal. Issued 1914. World War I series: The victories and U-boat sinkings during the 'Broad Fourteens' campaign (104mm, 12h). By M. Ziegler & H. Grünthal in Berlin.

 

KAPITÄNLEUTNANT OTTO WEDDIGEN, uniformed and capped bust facing slightly left / British ship sinking; two other ships sailing in background; in four lines in exergue, DIE VERNICHTUNG DER ENGLISCHEN / PANZERKREUZER ABOUKIR / HOGUE CRESSY DURCH / U 9. Edge: Some light marks as made, otherwise plain.

 

Zetzmann 4003 note; Westfälische Auktionsgesellschaft 29, lot 2471. Choice Mint State. Attractive blackened surfaces, with great relief. A powerful naval scene in an extremely large and rare format.

 

Otto Weddigen was a U-boat commander during World War I, most notable for his involvement in the 'Broad Fourteens' campaign during the latter part of September 1914, where he destroyed three British cruisers. The Broad Fourteens were so named on account of nautical terminology; on a map with the sea's depth given in fathoms, the area west of the Netherlands contains numerous markings indicating a consistent depth of 14 fathoms (84 feet), thus the 'broad fourteens.' While his vessel, U-9, was patrolling this area, he encountered not one, but three British cruisers—HMSs Aboukir, Hogue, and Cressy, successfully destroying all three with the U-9's torpedoes. Highly decorated for these exploits, he later succumbed at sea, commanding the U-29 which was rammed and cut into two pieces by the HMS Dreadnought in March 1915.

 

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