Dirk Nottelmann is a marine engineer by profession, presently working as a civil servant for the German flag-state administration (Deutsche Flagge), and has been working on the history of the Imperial Navy for more than 30 years. He was the last editor of the former Hamburger Rundbrief, and the author of more 150 articles and reviews, and three books: Halbmond und Kaiseradler: Goeben und Breslau am Bosporus, 1914-1918, with Bernd Langensiepen, Die Brandenburg-Klasse: Höhepunkt des deutschen Panzerschiffbaus, and Das Kanonenboot Iltis (ii) – seine Vorgänger und Nachfolger, with Lothar Wischmeyer.