Felix Nikolaus Alexander Georg Graf von Luckner, sometimes called Count Luckner in English, was a German nobleman, naval officer, author, and sailor who earned the epithet Der Seeteufel, and his crew that of Die Piraten des Kaisers, for his exploits in command of the sailing commerce raider SMS Seeadler during the First World War. After the war, Luckner became a war hero in Germany and was renowned around the world for his seamanship and chivalrous conduct during the war, which resulted in a minimal loss of life on both sides.
The ensign which Luckner would raise on the Seeadler to convey hostile intent is now on display at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Seeadler wrecked
Luckner with his wife Ingeborg in Sydney during his goodwill trip to Australia, 1938
Luckner with captain Leopold Ziegenbein in Bremen, 1930
SMS Seeadler was a three-masted steel-hulled sailing ship. She was one of the last fighting sailing ships to be used in war when she served as a merchant raider with Imperial Germany in World War I. Built as the British-flagged Pass of Balmaha, she was captured by the German submarine SM U-36, and in 1916 converted to a commerce raider. As Seeadler she had a successful raiding career, capturing and sinking 15 ships in 225 days until she was wrecked, in 2 August 1917, in French Polynesia.
The German auxiliary cruiser SMS Seeadler capturing the French bark Cambronne off the Brazilian coast on 20 March 1917. Depicted by Willy Stöwer.
Seeadler wrecked