THE DEFINITIVE TRUCKING SITE

October 2007

While researching the history of the diesel engine, Paul Collings chanced upon a bit of information on an American biodiesel website that could be the kernel of trucking's greatest conspiracy theory. Forget JFK, 9-11, Hansie, Marilyn etc. We know what kills a diesel engine but who killed its inventor?

Rudolph Diesel was born in Paris in 1858 to German parents, both hailing from the Bavarian town of Augsberg. The young Diesel was a disciplined student with a talent for engineering and the arts. He spoke German, English and French fluently. 

After studying mechanical engineering at Munich Polytechnic, Diesel rose to prominence with his ideas on how compression-ignited engines powered by a biomass fuel like vegetable oil, could outperform both steam and petrol-powered engines, as well as empower small businesses and farmers in a world where energy production was becoming increasingly monopolized by large petroleum corporations.

The first diesel engine was ready for testing on December 31st 1896 and by the turn of the century, Diesel (by now a devout family man) was a multi millionaire. His patents were being bought by engine manufacturers in Europe and the USA. Despite his financial windfalls, Diesel was a big spender and his money woes contributed to severe headaches and even a nervous breakdown. 

By 1912, Europe's troubled politics were approaching their own breakdown. Diesel was courted by Germany, France and England to supply their naval fleets with diesel engines. Diesel's politics were somewhat anti-Kaizer at the time, being more Anglo/Franco-friendly, which is the fuel that feeds the conspiracy surrounding the cause of his death on the 29th September1913, when he vanished during an overnight crossing of the English Channel on a mail steamer sailing from Antwerp to England. 

Was he on his way to England to sell the Royal Navy his engine when a German or French assassin pushed him overboard? Or was it a murderer hired by the giant oil conglomerates to 'neutralise' this 'alternative upstart'? Or was it a depressed, bankrupt Rudi himself, who, according to historians, left 20 000 Marks and bank statements showing all his accounts empty in a bag he told his wife not to open, who, wracked by the pressures of success, threw himself over the railings of the steamer into the chilly waters of the channel?

What we do know is that shortly after his death, the German submarine fleet became powered solely by diesel engines, called itself the 'Wolf Pack' and went on to inflict major damage to Allied shipping during World War One. 
His family refuses to believe it was suicide...what do you believe?