--- title: "Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music was a hardcore naval combat veteran" description: "In the 1965 film The Sound of Music, Captain von Trapp ran a tight ship at home. He was also a hardcore Navy veteran. Read his story on WATM!" date: "2022-03-22" modified: "2023-03-19" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/veterans/sound-of-music-von-trapp-veteran/" categories: - "Entertainment" - "History" - "Movies and TV" - "War History" - "World War II" --- # Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music was a hardcore naval combat veteran ![]() In the 1965 film *The Sound of Music*, Captain von Trapp ran a tight ship at home. He also ran a tight ship at sea, commanding two U-Boats for the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I. By the war's end, he was the most decorated [naval]() officer in Austria-Hungary. Looking at the life and family of Captain Baron Georg Johannes Ritter von Trapp through the lens of the *Sound of Music* alone, you'd never know this man spent WWI on a u-boat that spewed poisonous fumes to its crew or that he sank tons of allied shipping in the Mediterranean — killing hundreds of enemy sailors — and was basically the best thing Austria-Hungary had going for it. ![captain von Trapp]() *He even married the daughter of the guy who invented the torpedo. That's dedication.* Aside from the [14 ships sank and one captured during his World War I service](), he led Austria's troops during the Boxer Rebellion in China, circumnavigated the globe twice, and saw his navy switch from sails to steam to diesel engines over the course of his career. At the war's end in 1918, von Trapp's record stood at 19 war patrols taking 11 cargo vessels totaling 45,669 tons sunk, two enemy warships sunk, and one captured. ![u-5 naval battle]() U-5 was just 100 feet long but packed a terrible punch, with just a crew of 19 and four torpedoes. ## Command of U-5 Captain von Trapp conducted nine combat patrols [in the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas](), and most of them were full of action. He got his first kill just two weeks after taking command of U-5, sinking the French cruiser *Leon Gambetta* off the coast of Italy. 12,000 tons and 684 sailors went to the bottom. Four months later, he sank the Italian submarine *Nereide.* For his command during the sinking of the *Leon Gambetta*, von Trapp was awarded the Military Order of Maria Theresa, Austria's highest military award. ![u-5 naval battle]() *U-14 in the Adriatic.* ## Command of U-14 His next command was a reclaimed French submarine that was upgraded and modernized. He was the bane of British and Italian shipping in the Mediterranean, sinking 11 more enemy vessels. He earned a knighthood and then became a Baron for his service in Austria's navy for his actions in World War I. ![naval battle]() *That's one helluva way to start a naval career.* That's one helluva way to start a naval career. ## Training, Circumnavigation, and China service He trained in the Officer Training School of the Austrian-Hungarian Imperial Navy through the Maritime-Academy at Fiume in what is today Croatia, starting his career on sailing ships, going around the earth on the corvette SMS *Saida II.* He returned to Austria and joined the crew of the SMS *Zenta,* an iron steamship, in 1897. By 1899, the crew of the *Zenta* was fully engaged in China, part of the eight-nation alliance sent to relieve the foreign legation in Peking from the siege of the Chinese Boxers. Georg was one of the seamen detached to the alliance to take one of the Taku Forts. The Austrian helped assault Fort Pei Tang with 8500 others in the multinational force. Many were killed in the bloody fighting but the allies took the fort and went on to relieve the legation in Peking. Unfortunately for Capt. von Trapp, World War I did not end well for Austria-Hungary and he soon found himself out of a job, seeing as how the new Austria was landlocked and had no use for a Navy – and he was no about to become a Nazi just to command a ship. So he trained his children to perform and took them on tour, eventually settling down and starting the Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont. After World War II, he founded Trapp Family Austrian Relief, Inc. to help aid the recovery of Austria and Austrians from the war's devastation. ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()