Wolfgang von Gronau

Wolfgang von Gronau
Wolfgang von Gronau being welcomed back home at Templiner See after his 1930 transatlantic flight
Born	25 February 1893 Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia
Died	23 October 1977 Frasdorf, Germany
Buried at	List auf Sylt
Allegiance	Germany
Service/branch	Imperial German Navy
Years of service	1913 - 1919
Rank	Oberleutnant zur See
Awards	Harmon Trophy

Hans Wolfgang von Gronau (25 February 1893 - 17 March 1977) was a German aviation pioneer.

Wolfgang von Gronau was born in Berlin in a family hailing from the ancient dynasty of the House of Berg. He was the son of artillery General Hans von Gronau (1850–1940) and Luise Gerischer (1867–1926).

Right before World War I he joined the Imperial German Navy where he was put in charge of a flying boat squadron. After the disbandment of the imperial military in 1919 von Gronau had reached the rank of Oberleutnant zur See, highest lieutenant grade in the German Navy.

On 18 August 1930 von Gronau flew on a transatlantic flight on a Dornier Wal —the old D-1422 flying boat that Amundsen had flown earlier. He took off from Sylt (Germany) through Iceland, Greenland and Labrador, reaching New York City after covering 7,520 km (4,670 mi) in 47 flight hours.

On 21 July 1932 von Gronau flew from Germany around the world on another Dornier Wal flying boat —named "Grönland Wal" (Greenland Whale)— with a crew of three people. He returned 111 days later, on 10 November, after having taken off from List auf Sylt westwards across Iceland, Greenland, Canada, the Aleutians, Alaska, the Kurils, Japan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malacca, Burma, Ceylon, India, Iran, Iraq, Cyprus, Greece and Italy, landing finally in the Lake of Constance after having covered over 44,000 km (27,000 mi).