16 Facts About Paul Wenneker

Paul Werner Wenneker was a German admiral and diplomat who was most notable for serving as the German naval attache in Japan from 1940 until the end of World War II in 1945.

Paul Wenneker served as the commanding admiral of German naval forces in Asia, and oversaw the activities of German U-boats and commerce raiders in the waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans during the war.

Paul Wenneker became associated with Richard Sorge and his Soviet spy ring at the German embassy in Tokyo.

Paul Wenneker was detained by American occupation authorities after the war and then returned to Germany.

Paul Wenneker returned to Germany at the end of the war and continued serving in the Reichsmarine.

Paul Wenneker was promoted to Oberleutnant zur See in 1919 while serving in the Baltic Sea aboard a minesweeper, and was promoted to Kapitanleutnant in 1920.

Paul Wenneker served on and commanded several minesweepers and torpedo boats, before serving on cruisers in the second half of the 1920s.

Paul Wenneker became a Korvettenkapitan in 1928 and a Fregattenkapitan in 1933.

Paul Wenneker was promoted to Konteradmiral in 1939.

Paul Wenneker met with Richard Sorge, a diplomat at the German embassy in Tokyo and secretly a Soviet spy, who became well acquainted with Wenneker, providing the admiral with the details of army and navy politics in Japan.

Paul Wenneker believed that Japanese submarines were inferior to German designs, being too large to be maneuverable and having worse radar capabilities, and on his initiative, Hitler eventually agreed to send two Kriegsmarine U-boats to Japan for the Japanese to be able to study their technology.

Paul Wenneker managed the Yanagi missions, the exchange of technology and key personnel between Japan and Germany during the war using submarines.

Paul Wenneker, who spoke fluent Japanese, built up contacts over his many years in Japan, and because Japanese and German naval personnel were serving alongside each other in the "Southern Region," referring to southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean.

Paul Wenneker was responsible for the network of German spies that existed in major cities across East Asia, who were part of the Abwehr.

Paul Wenneker was allowed to board the ship for an hour long tour, exploring parts of the main deck and traversing through the Pagoda mast.

The Americans noted the Paul Wenneker had been an associate of the former German ambassador to Japan, Eugen Ott, who had been in contact with the Soviet spy Richard Sorge and had a falling out with the German government.