Exceptional WWI German U-Boat Photo Album

A fascinating photo album that was assembled by an officer named “Erhard Meyer” of the submarine SM U-22. The photographs are contained in a large album that is approximately 9 inches by 13 inches in size, with a blue leather cover that is embossed with a sailing ship. There are 37 photographs in the album with an additional 15 photographs that are loose. Many of the photos in the album are mounted with photo corner mounts from which the photographs can be removed. The other photographs that are in the album were mounted on the album pages with an adhesive, likely glue. The album contains numerous photographs of the boat’s crew and officers (interestingly, several of the crew photos include a small dog who, in at least one photo, is being groomed by a crew member. It’s hard to imagine that a dog lived aboard a World War I U-Boat, but that seems to have been the case).

The album includes a wedding portrait photograph of an officer who wears the Imperial U-Boat badge, and this is apparently Meyer, based on the notations on the reverse of the photograph. There are also several extraordinary photographs in the album that actually show several ships being sunk. These photographs were taken on the surface as the U-22 was dispatching the ships with torpedoes or gunfire from the deck gun.

Among the loose photographs is a photographic postcard that depicts the crew of U-22 and is dated March 20, 1918. It was mailed from Wilhelmshaven on April 9, 1918, to Frau Anna Meyer. The handwritten note on the postcard begins “Dear Mother” (“Lieber Mutter”) and is signed “Erhard”. Another photograph within the album shows the same Imperial submarine officer from the wedding picture and he is identified on the reverse as “Ed Meyer”.

There is included in the album a film poster for the premier of the 1926 film “U-9: Weddigen, ein Heldenschicksal”, a fictionalized account of the U-Boat ace Otto Weddigen. The poster is approximately 17 by 25 inches in size.

A superb World War I U-Boat album that is absolutely worthy of further research.