What the evidence can and cannot say about Diesel's disappearance

The surviving evidence around Diesel's disappearance from the Dresden in September 1913 includes his planned paper and engineering meetings, money left for his wife, a marked diary date, the condition of his cabin, and personal effects recovered from a body at sea. Neither financial suicide nor a German attempt to monopolize the engine offers a simple answer. Diesel held income-producing patents, and the technology was already widely licensed. He was also travelling to discuss submarine engines and possible improvements with British organizations, which gives the disappearance a direct naval connection. The unusual circumstances justify uncertainty, but they do not turn any theory into a settled explanation.