early 1919, Koehler was attached as translator for Vice Admiral Samuel S. Robison, the ranking American representative on the commission. For one month there were dinner parties every night and on weekends at Longleat, before the commission headed to Scapa Flow in early February 1919, where nearly 80 ships of the German High Seas Fleet had been interned while awaiting disposition through peace treaty negotiations. From there the commission headed to various German ports to assess the condition of German warships and merchantmen. Post war intelligence gathering Following the war, Koehler was part of a navy reconnaissance team sent to report on the Russian Civil War. He met many of the major military figures of both the Bolshevik and White Russian factions, including General Anton Denikin, Lt. General Alexander Kutepov and General (Baron) Pyotr Wrangel, notably taking part in Wrangel's raid into Taurida, where Koehler narrowly escaped capture at Melitopol. He was awarded three of the small number of Russian Imperial military decorations that were distributed during this time and also recommended for award of the Distinguished Service Medal by his commanding officer, Rear Admiral McCully. Germany Koehler reconissanced Germany in 1919, shortly after their defeat in World War I. Germans were outraged by what they saw as the "Versailles diktat", as a German "Red Soldiers" League fought and defeated a reactionary Freikorps of ex-soldiers that for a time threatened a Bolshevik revolution in Germany. The Kiel mutiny of German sailors at the beginning of November 1918 had been the death knell of the German empire, bringing about the Armistice a couple weeks later. Koehler's instincts were aristocratic but his impulses were proletarian. During his initial six week inspection tour of various German port cities and towns, beginning with Wilhelmshaven and on to Hamburg, Bremen and Kiel, he observed conditions of both the German capital ships and the general population. "We found the German ships all in a frightful state, both as regards cleanliness and preservation. They had evidently been hastily put out of commission for there was no one on board... The ships that were in commission, as for example the new light cruiser Koenigsberg were also in hopeless condition, although they had large crews on board... As this rabble came out on deck, where we were patiently waiting, the men crowded around us so it was necessary to ask the captain to have them withdraw sufficiently to allow