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STEEL CASKETS - U-Boat Weapons, Men, and Myths
by Jim "Twitch" TittleTHE MEN
Otto Kretschmer
The human statistics are sobering. Of the 39,000 men in U-boats, 28,000 never made home port again. 779 vessels out of a total force of 842 were lost. But the silent hunters accounted for 2,800 merchantmen and 175 war ships. The world was gripped with terror as they sortied all the way to the United States to sink vessels in sight of American cities.
There were aces too. Kretschmer, Topp, Hardegen, and their likes all sank huge tonnages during WWII. There were 32 captains that accounted for over 100,000 tons each and 50 more who racked up at least 50,000 tons. Nineteen boats sank over 50,000 tons in one patrol. All were Knights Cross holders. 144 Knights Crosses were presented to U-boat men.
"The so-called 'happy times' of the early war days were a myth," said Otto Kretschmer, describing a time of untried boats and crews with many mechanical problems and logistic challenges. It took much fortitude to master the whole scenario and be successful. Until his capture in 1941 he captained the U-35, U-23, and the U-99 in that order. The U-99 was his most successful boat in eight patrols with 39 ships and 246,794 tons claimed. His total tonnage of 274,386 and 47 vessels was never surpassed.
Medal of Honor winner, Captain Richard O'Kane, of the fabled Tang, sank 227,800 tons and 31 ships in five patrols against Japan in the Pacific.
Depth charges by the HMS Walker on March 17th, 1941 off Iceland forced the crew to scuttle the boat. He was interned in Canada returning to Germany in 1947 where he joined the Bundesmarine post war navy in 1955. He rose to the rank of Chief of Staff of the NATO Command retiring in 1970 as Flotillenadmiral.
Erich Topp
Erich Topp survives as the third ranking U-boat commander in tonnage at 198,658 tons and 26 ships sunk. His successes came in type II (U-57 ) and VII (U-552) boats. The U-552 was used against shipping off the East coast of the U.S.A. "In later times we were always submerged using the schnorchel," he recalls. Topp commanded U-3010 and U-2513, both type XXIs, from March 1945 on. When asked the question if the excellent XXIs would have made a difference in the war if they were in service earlier he replies much the same as ace pilots did about the ME 262, "It would not have changed the final outcome but may have prolonged the war somewhat."
Re-joining the navy in 1958, Topp spent four years in the U.S on the Military Committee of NATO retiring in 1969 as a Konteradmiral. He has been interviewed in excellent History Channel documentaries regarding U-boats.
Reinhard Hardegen today is a feisty, vibrant man who recalls his service on U-147 and U-123. He sunk many ships on the Eastern U.S. seaboard with U-123 in 1941-42, but had a close call off St. Augustine Florida when depth charges did damage to the boat. More than two dozen other boats rest on the bottom off the American coastline. Admiral Dönitz "grounded" him due to lingering injuries suffered in a 1936 plane crash. So, by mid-1942 he became an instructor in the 27th Flotilla and finished the war out of combat.
Though standing 24th in tonnage, at 118,984 and 23 ships, he ranks as superb skipper with his daring feats and successful patrols.
Hardegen never re-joined the navy but was a member of Parliament in his home town of Bremen for 32 years.
By "Black May" of 1943 the U-boat losses exploded and escalated until the war's end. Technology had caught up and efficient radar was everywhere. Even the Snorkel alone could be detected on a submerged boat now. B-24s, with their long ranges, soon overlapped coverage of all the Atlantic.
HITLER'S ESCAPE BOAT
One of the more legendary U-boats was not the instrument of an ace skipper with thousands of tons to his credit. U-977, a VIIC, made one cruise only under Captain Heinz Schaeffer, but thereafter was the most controversial U-boat of the war.
Rather than surrender, as ordered, in a defeated Germany, Schaffer and crew opted for a risky run to Argentina where the government was sympathetic to the German cause. U-977 left Christiansund South Norway on May 2, 1945 with orders to lie off Southhampton England. After the May 8th capitulation the boat headed for South America staying submerged using the Snort for sixty-six days at one stretch until well clear of Atlantic's enemy traffic. She arrived at Mar del Plata on August 17th. Most of the time she'd stayed at 80 meters depth.
With only 80 tons of fuel available, her bunkers were not full when she sailed and the electric motors were used as fourteen hours a day to conserve oil. The other ten hours, one diesel turned at 60 R.P.M. charging the batteries at the same time.
The majority of the crew had voted to go to Argentina but the remainder created tension with complaints and quarrelling. After finally surfacing in free waters the boat was cleaned of rust and mold and painted inside where needed.
Being able to see sky and sun again gave the crewmen a new attitude and their edginess was gone. The men even rigged up a surfboard, towed from the bow, to ride for recreation. Swimming was a pleasure they enjoyed as well. Once they delighted as a whale paced them for several hours.
Upon arrival in Argentina after another boat, U-530, they were accused of transporting Hitler to South America since they left after the capitulation and U-530 didn't. In the tradition of today's media, the stories were taken to bizarre ends. People had interviewed Hitler in Patagonia. Hitler was off-loaded in Antarctica with Eva Braun and were at the new Berchtesgaden. U-530 and U-977 escorted a phantom ship convoy of hardcore nazis escaping there. Until recent forensic evidence released by the Russians confirming Hitler's death in 1945, there was always that shadow of doubt born in Argentina.
Though finally sent to the U.S. as a P.O.W., Schaeffer returned to Buenos Aires to write his book. The U-977 met ignoble fate of being a U.S. Navy torpedo target on February 2, 1946.
U-505 controls
THE SURVIVORS
The famous type IX, U-505, captured on the high seas, resides today at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry Go to http://www.msichicago.org/index.html for a virtual tour.
The type XXI U-2540 was raised in 1957, after war end scuttling, and pristinely resides at the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven.
The U-534, was found and raised in 1993. The type IXC has been moved to the U.K, near Liverpool, and is not restored.
The U-995 type VIIC/42, survived the war and was used by both Great Britain and Norway before she was sold back to the German Navy League in 1965. She is restored and displayed at Laboe, north of Keil.
As an eerie footnote to the U-boats, a final message from the U-583 was received in 1979. On a Danish was found a container with a note signed from Captain Heinz Ratsch dated November 11, 1941.
It read, "We have been hit by a bomb. Our submarine is resting on the sea bottom, torpedo and engine rooms flooded. Five men besides me are still alive. The sky was overcast. Suddenly a four-engined English plane was over us. We had not seen or heard it coming. It is the end of us . . . The enemy has a new apparatus picking up sound waves . . ." Alluding to sonar tracking equipment.
German records had her incorrectly listed as "lost by collision- Baltic Nov. 15, 1941."
CREDITS
Many thanks to http://www.uboat.net which supplemented my information and where you can find out EVERYTHING you want about U-boats plus see and hear interviews with Kretschmer, Topp and Hardegen.
Bibliography:
Bekke, C.D.
Defeat At Sea
Ballantine Books, N.Y., 1955
Blair Jr., Clay
Silent Victory Vols.1 & 2
J.B. Lippincott Co., N.Y. 1975
Lenton, H.T.
German Submarines Vols. 1 & 2
Macdonald & Co., London, 1965
Morison, Samuel Elliot
The Two-Ocean War
Little, Brown & Co. Boston, 1963
Schaeffer, Heinz
U-Boat 977
W.W. Norton & Co., N.Y., 1952
Werner, Herbert
Iron Coffins
Holt, Rinehart & Winston, N.Y., 1969
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