After meeting a German-American industrialist in the Midwest around 1914, Duquesne became a German spy.
He was sent to Brazil as "Frederick Fredericks" under the disguise of "doing scientific research on rubber plants."
As an agent for Naval Intelligence in South America, he was assigned to disrupt commercial traffic to countries at war with Germany.
Duquesne received and delivered communiques through German embassies, and he was responsible for numerous explosions on British merchant ships.
From his base in Bahia, Brazil, he planted time bombs disguised as cases of mineral samples on British ships and he was credited with sinking 22 ships; among them were the Salvador and the Pembrokeshire.
Additionally, one of his bombs killed three British sailors and nearly sank the S.S. Tennyson in February 1916, and another started a fire on the Vauban.
After bombing the Tennyson, MI5 (British intelligence) operating in Brazil arrested an accomplice named Bauer who identified Duquesne as both the perpetrator of the crime and the ring leader.
Bauer further revealed that Duquesne was operating under his own name and two aliases, George Fordam and Piet Niacud.
Niacud is the pronunciation of Duquesne reversed.
MI5 confirmed that Duquesne was "a German intelligence officer  ... involved in a series of acts of sabotage against British shipping in South American waters during the war".
His cover now blown, Duquesne moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and several weeks later placed an article in a newspaper reporting his own death in Bolivia at the hands of Amazonian natives.

Duquesne evaded British intelligence in South America and returned to New York around May 1916.
Using the aliases George Fordam and Frederick Fredericks, he had taken out insurance policies for the cargo he shipped and he now filed claims for the "films" and "mineral samples" lost with the ships he sank off the coast of Brazil, including the British steamship Tennyson.
The insurance companies were reluctant to pay and began their own investigations which would go on for another year.

In his book The Man Who Killed Kitchener, biographer Clement Wood states that Duquesne left for Europe in June 1916 under orders from German intelligence.
Duquesne posed as the Russian Duke Boris Zakrevsky and joined Field Marshal Kitchener on HMS Hampshire in Scotland.
Once on board, Duquesne signaled the German submarine that sank the cruiser, thus killing Lord Kitchener.
Duquesne made his own escape using a life raft before the ship was torpedoed and he was rescued by the submarine.
Duquesne was awarded the Iron Cross for this act, and he appears in several pictures in German uniform wearing an Iron Cross in addition to other medals.
Captain Louis Botha, son of the former Prime Minister of South Africa General Louis Botha, further writes that "Duquesne was a great friend of the Botha family" and that Duquesne "rose from the status of a Private in the German Army to the rank of Colonel, and received the Iron Cross during the great war."
The authenticity of several of these claims has been challenged by modern biographers, and the German records that would confirm or deny at least parts of these accounts are now missing and presumed destroyed during the war.

The next confirmed appearance of Duquesne is in Washington, D.C., in July 1917, not long after the U.S. declared war on Germany.
He had contacted Senator Robert Broussard with whom he had worked on the bill to import hippos into Louisiana.
Unaware that Duquesne was now a German spy, Senator Broussard attempted to help him obtain a position with General George Washington Goethals, the acting U.S. Army Quartermaster and former chief engineer of the Panama Canal, but he was not successful.
Additionally, Duquesne filed patents for an underwater electromagnetic mine which he then attempted to sell to the U.S. Navy.

As a covert spy, it was necessary for Duquesne to manipulate people, assume new identities and cover stories.
It is known that he was handsome, charismatic, intelligent, fluent in several languages, and as FBI agent Raymond Newki
After meeting a German-American industrialist in the Midwest around 1914, Duquesne became a German spy. He was sent to Brazil as "Frederick Fredericks" under the disguise of "doing scientific research on rubber plants." As an agent for Naval Intelligence in South America, he was assigned to disrupt commercial traffic to countries at war with Germany. Duquesne received and delivered communiques through German embassies, and he was responsible for numerous explosions on British merchant ships. From his base in Bahia, Brazil, he planted time bombs disguised as cases of mineral samples on British ships and he was credited with sinking 22 ships; among them were the Salvador and the Pembrokeshire. Additionally, one of his bombs killed three British sailors and nearly sank the S.S. Tennyson in February 1916, and another started a fire on the Vauban. After bombing the Tennyson, MI5 (British intelligence) operating in Brazil arrested an accomplice named Bauer who identified Duquesne as both the perpetrator of the crime and the ring leader. Bauer further revealed that Duquesne was operating under his own name and two aliases, George Fordam and Piet Niacud. Niacud is the pronunciation of Duquesne reversed. MI5 confirmed that Duquesne was "a German intelligence officer  ... involved in a series of acts of sabotage against British shipping in South American waters during the war". His cover now blown, Duquesne moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and several weeks later placed an article in a newspaper reporting his own death in Bolivia at the hands of Amazonian natives.
Duquesne evaded British intelligence in South America and returned to New York around May 1916. Using the aliases George Fordam and Frederick Fredericks, he had taken out insurance policies for the cargo he shipped and he now filed claims for the "films" and "mineral samples" lost with the ships he sank off the coast of Brazil, including the British steamship Tennyson. The insurance companies were reluctant to pay and began their own investigations which would go on for another year.
In his book The Man Who Killed Kitchener, biographer Clement Wood states that Duquesne left for Europe in June 1916 under orders from German intelligence. Duquesne posed as the Russian Duke Boris Zakrevsky and joined Field Marshal Kitchener on HMS Hampshire in Scotland. Once on board, Duquesne signaled the German submarine that sank the cruiser, thus killing Lord Kitchener. Duquesne made his own escape using a life raft before the ship was torpedoed and he was rescued by the submarine. Duquesne was awarded the Iron Cross for this act, and he appears in several pictures in German uniform wearing an Iron Cross in addition to other medals. Captain Louis Botha, son of the former Prime Minister of South Africa General Louis Botha, further writes that "Duquesne was a great friend of the Botha family" and that Duquesne "rose from the status of a Private in the German Army to the rank of Colonel, and received the Iron Cross during the great war." The authenticity of several of these claims has been challenged by modern biographers, and the German records that would confirm or deny at least parts of these accounts are now missing and presumed destroyed during the war.
The next confirmed appearance of Duquesne is in Washington, D.C., in July 1917, not long after the U.S. declared war on Germany. He had contacted Senator Robert Broussard with whom he had worked on the bill to import hippos into Louisiana. Unaware that Duquesne was now a German spy, Senator Broussard attempted to help him obtain a position with General George Washington Goethals, the acting U.S. Army Quartermaster and former chief engineer of the Panama Canal, but he was not successful. Additionally, Duquesne filed patents for an underwater electromagnetic mine which he then attempted to sell to the U.S. Navy.
As a covert spy, it was necessary for Duquesne to manipulate people, assume new identities and cover stories. It is known that he was handsome, charismatic, intelligent, fluent in several languages, and as FBI agent Raymond Newki
Fritz Joubert Duquesne