Gotthard Sachsenberg Gotthard Sachsenberg ( 6 December 1891 - 23 August 1961 ) was a German World War I fighter ace with 31 victories who went on to command the world ' s first naval air wing . In later life , he founded the airline Aero Lloyd , became an anti - Nazi member of the German parliament , and also became a seminal designer of hydrofoils . Early life and naval career . Gotthard Sachsenberg was born on Rosslau Mountain , north of the Elbe River , in Dessau , Germany . After his initial schooling , he attended the gymnasium in Eisenach for secondary schooling preparatory to entering university . His major was economics . He volunteered for seagoing service and became a sea cadet on the cruiser " Hertha " on 1 April 1913 . In 1914 , promotion to Fähnrich and transfer to the battleship Pommern followed . He received the Iron Cross First Class in August , 1915 as an officer candidate , for his excellence as an artillery spotter . On 18 September 1915 , he received his leutnant ' s ( lieutenant ' s ) commission . World War I . However , he was fascinated by airplanes , and in December 1915 transferred to the air service . He was posted to Marine Feldflieger Abteilung 2 as a " Fähnrich zur See " observer . He then served as an instructor for observers . He underwent pilot training at Johannisthal , qualifying as a pilot . Returning to MFA 2 to fly a Fokker Eindekker . On 1 February 1917 , Sachsenberg succeeded Oberleutnant von Santen as commanding officer of Marine Field Jasta I . MFJ II was organized somewhat later , and the two were combined into a larger unit , " Marine Jagdgruppe Flanders " . Leutnant de See Sachsenberg was appointed its commanding officer . His friend and rival ace Theo Osterkamp became commander of MGJ II . MFJ III was later raised and added to the larger unit . Still later , two more MFJs were raised and added to the parent unit , bringing its strength up to about 50 fighter planes , comparable to an army Jagdgeschwader . Stationed on North Sea coastal airfields , the MFJ units often fought against Royal Naval Air Service aircraft who were stationed in similar circumstances . Sachsenberg opened his score as a fighter pilot , downing a Farman and a Sopwith 1 1 / 2 Strutter on 1 May 1917 . He scored again on the 12th , claiming a Sopwith Pup into the sea , and then notching a double victory on 7 June to make him an ace . On 20 August , Sachsenberg was awarded the Knights Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern . By the end of 1917 , his victory roll stood at eight . He claimed his ninth victory on 17 March 1918 , and continued to score steadily until 29 October 1918 , when he downed his 31st confirmed . Midway through this run , Sachsenberg was awarded Prussia ' s and Germany ' s highest decoration , the Pour le Mérite , on 5 August 1918 . The MJF switched from the Albatros to Fokker D . VII s in June 1918 . They were as colorfully and distinctively marked as Manfred von Richthofen ' s Flying Circus , with the basic color scheme being yellow and black , as a yellow and black checkerboard had been Sachsenberg ' s personal motif , and it was spread to the entire unit , with minor variations marking the different pilots . Post World War I . Sachsenberg formed Kampfgeschwader Sachsenberg in January , 1919 , consisting of 700 personnel , several of whom were fellow World War I aces . Based at Riga , Lithuania , it gave aerial support to the Freikorps , fighting Russian communist forces on the Baltic borders of Germany , Lithuania , Latvia , Estonia , and Finland . It was successful in establishing air superiority over its opponent , and mainly flew ground support missions on behalf of the Freikorps . Sachsenberg received a promotion to Oberleutnant on 5 March 1920 . After the Baltic war ended , Sachsenberg initially concerned himself with helping his fellow veterans make the transition back to civil life . He then joined with Professor Hugo Junker , whose aircraft he had used in the Baltic , to found Aero Lloyd Airlines . Another business interest of Sachsenberg ' s was his brother ' s shipyard , building river craft and small coastal ships . Sachsenberg became interested in politics and was elected to the German Parliament . He represented Liegnitz from July 1932 onwards , taking a pacifist stance . He wrote and published articles decrying Germany ' s military buildup toward war , and especially its establishment of the Luftwaffe . He predicted it would bring war home to German families and German soil . In retribution for his voiced ' defeatism ' , the Nazis held a secret trial in absentia , although Sachsenberg escaped the consequences of conviction because his family shipyard was producing military ships . In the mid - 1930s , Sachsenberg allied himself with hydrofoil ship pioneer Hanns von Schertel . Hydrofoil ship speeds of 30 plus knots , faster than any warships then on water , attracted attention from the German Ministry of Transportation and Finance , the German Navy , and German Air Force . Commercial exploitation of the hydrofoil was cut short by World War II . Several military hydrofoils of differing sizes , with speeds up to 60 knots , were acquired during World War II . However , they were only prototypes , and most fell prey to war damage of some sort . The end of World War II brought the Russian occupation of Dessau , and their acquisition of the shipyard . Sachsenberg and Shertel set up a new hydrofoil operation named Supramar in Switzerland . In 1953 , they finally saw the first commercial hydrofoil in operation between Ascora , Switzerland and Ascona , Italy . The hydrofoil concept gradually spread worldwide , but Gotthard Sachsenberg did not live to see its general use . He died in Bremen of a heart attack on 23 August 1961 .