On an autumn day in September 1913, the steamer Dresden set off on a voyage from Antwerp to England. On the upper deck of the ship, looking at the receding port lights, three gentlemen were talking leisurely. These were Georg Grace, Alfred Luckmann and the well-known inventor Rudolf Diesel.
R. Diesel and T. A. Edison.
The gentlemen went down to the restaurant deck, where they returned to discussing the political activities of Lord Winston Churchill. The gentlemen also touched upon the issues of international relations, since by this time Europe was already engulfed in the flaring war, and the Balkans were involved in hostilities.
In the evening, at the beginning of ten o'clock, the new acquaintances, satisfied with each other, bowed and dispersed to their cabins. Rudolf Diesel, approaching the door of his cabin, lingered slightly, asking the steward to wake him up in the morning at about half past six. The steward was the last person to talk to the inventor and see Rudolf Diesel.
In the morning, fulfilling the designer's request, the steward tried for a long time to reach the passenger, but alas, to no avail. When the door was opened, those who entered found an untouched bed with pajamas lying on it, as well as Mr. Diesel's pocket watch hanging on the wall. The worried crew of the steamer began to search for the missing designer on the decks.
Diesel Secrets
All that was found during the search was a cloak that belonged to the designer and his hat, thrown on the deck. Also, as a result of the investigation, find out that none of the crew of the steamer and the passengers saw Rudolf Diesel. Georg Grace and Alfred Lückmann were especially thoroughly questioned, because apart from the steward, they were the last who spoke with the missing person. Both spoke in detail about the evening conversation with the designer, and noted his talkativeness and good mood.
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In the press, the mystery of the disappearance of Rudolf Diesel was presented in several versions. The idea was expressed that in the last months of his life the talented inventor was in a state of a nervous breakdown and suffered from insomnia. Allegedly, going out on the deck of the steamer to breathe in fresh air before going to bed, as a result of a sudden heart attack, he fell over the railing and fell overboard.
However, the attending physician denied the newsmen's version. According to him, Rudolf Diesel did not suffer from heart failure. And as the captain of the steamer affirmatively stated, the railings on the steamer more than one meter high exclude the version with an accident.
Diesel's first sketch of the future engine.
Of course, during the investigation, the words were heard that the passenger was probably drunk and could have fallen over the railing. But, as everyone close to Rudolph said, the inventor did not drink alcohol even in small quantities - he did not drink it at all!
Newspapers put forward another version of the death: the inventor was threatened with ruin and complete bankruptcy. Experimental work on the creation of a new engine was funded by Krupp. A lot of money was invested in the development and the industrialist received a monopoly on the invention in Germany. So the talented inventor-designer shouldn't have had financial difficulties.
Was it suicide? Maybe Rudolf Diesel had some kind of life problem that no one knew anything about? But how can one explain the suicide of a person in a great mood, who talked a lot, joked around, prepared pajamas for sleep, asked the steward to wake him up …
Rudolf Diesel's disappearances - kidnapping?
There is a third version of the event that answers the question of why Rudolph Diesel went to England. According to British and American journalists from that time, it was not without the participation of special services. Newspapers in their own investigation put forward an interesting suggestion. The designer wanted to sell the invention of a new engine to the British, but was killed by the Germans, who wanted to keep the secret of creating the newest powerful engine, so necessary for German submarines.
The proposed version looks the most logical, still remaining the most plausible. Perhaps Winston Churchill himself initiated the trip. Striving with all his might to modernize the British fleet, the Minister was vitally needed advanced developments.
Returning at that time, we note that Germany was preparing for war, and Rudolf Diesel's thoughts against this background looked like a treacherous fact. Most likely, the authorities decided to eliminate Rudolf Diesel and the technology of a powerful engine that found a place on submarines.
Of course, the violent death of Rudolf Diesel by intelligence agents is an unproven story. But think of Diesel's clock hanging on the wall of the cabin and the prepared pajamas for sleeping. It seems very inconvenient to prepare pajamas for bed without taking off your raincoat and hat. Moreover, the designer, for some reason, lays out the watch without taking off his outerwear.
A year after this incident, the First World War began. A world event halted the investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Rudolf Diesel. The designer was declared missing, although some conspiracy theorists considered the inventor kidnapped by the German services for the benefit of the fatherland and the Second World War.