From Dresden escapee to naval intelligence officer

Canaris joined the Imperial German Navy at eighteen and served as an intelligence officer aboard the cruiser SMS Dresden during the First World War. His advice may have helped Dresden evade the Royal Navy after the Battle of the Falklands, though that claim remains uncertain. His own escape from internment in Chile is better attested: fluent Spanish helped him return to Germany by October 1915. A route through several ports, including Plymouth, demonstrated the resourcefulness that brought him to the attention of German naval intelligence.