Karl Flach

According to another version, originated in the studies of one of his great-grandchildren, Guillermo Stegen Ahumada, his birth name was Gottfried Cornelius.

He was forced to change his identity to Karl Flach, the name of a deceased man, after his failed participation in the 1848 revolution that tried to overthrow the Kaiser.

The crew was made up of Flach and his 16-year-old son, two Chileans (Adolfo Pulgar and Francisco Rodríguez), five Germans (Valentín Baum, Gustavo Maas, Augusto Warmuth, German Schmidt and Luis Grinewinke) and two French people, totalling 11 people.

The submarine had been commissioned by the Chilean government of José Joaquín Pérez who wanted to oppose the Spanish in the Chincha Islands War following the Bombardment of Valparaíso.

The submarine, with Karl Flach as captain, carried out several successful test and dive trips.