5 Years Ago in our KTB

KTB #59 celebrated the 6th ANNIVERSARY of SHARKHUNTERS! We reported that PHILLIP ATTENBOROUGH (440-1988) was the winner of the Membership Contest. Our THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION (in Charleston, SC) was about to become reality. We reported on the ridiculous plans of Abe Resnick, the Mayor of Miami Beach, to bring what he called 'Hitler's Yacht' to Miami and sink it as a Memorial of some sort, offshore of Miami Beach. There was no 'Hitler's Yacht' and the boat in question was nothing more than the decks of a former Olympic racing yacht.

Several of our Members wrote to Resnick, telling him how idiotic his idea was, but that was a waste of time - Resnick went ahead with his plan which we read later, turned into a disaster for Resnick and the city of Miami Beach. We reported that our very good friend F.K. GERHARD THATER (196-LIFE-1986) had helped to form a U-Boat Veterans group in his city. There was an article by SIGMUND KLAUSSNER (211-1986) on the U-BOAT ACES of the ROYAL NAVY. KTB #59 reported that LARRY DAUPHEMIA (423-1988) and his friend were diving on the wreck of U-853 off Block Island when something went terribly wrong. LARRY barely escaped with his life, but his buddy was not so lucky - he drowned.

With the disgrace brought upon USS REQUIN by the Boy Scout Leader who was a child molester, we wrote a scathing editorial and gave the address of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, asking our Members to write and demand this submarine be removed from Tampa and taken to any city where the administration could be counted on to take decent care of her.

There was a photo of the big U-Boat bunkers at Trondheim, thanks to JOE BURGES (605-1988). We ran the exact PLAN OF THE DAY that was posted aboard USS GUADALCANAL on Tuesday, 25 April, 1944. There was a huge centerfold photo of SURCOUF, the giant French submarine that disappeared under strange circumstances during the War. We reported that ALBERT SAENGER (847-1988) has the binoculars of Kapitan Paul Konig, Skipper of the WW I cargo submarine DEUTSCHLAND, when that boat made its famous runs under the nose of the ROYAL NAVY from Germany to the USA. We reported that U-307 carried an infra-red night vision device on board called FLAMINGO, but as we were told by the II. W. O. of that boat OBLT EBERHARD von KETELHODT (854-C-1988), the device did not work well.

The 16 page KTB #59 would require only 4 pages of the computer-set KTB Magazine of today - but the Membership dues were the same as they are today. That's real value.

10 Years Ago in our KTB

In KTB #13 we mentioned that two American magazines gave us pretty go d publicity. They were SKIN DIVER Magazine and WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURE Magazine. We were still trying to locate K.K. Becker of the shadowy MarineSonderDienst Auslands with no luck. We were told that this was a naval group, similar to the American CIA, responsible for gathering material, information, intelligence and assistance from others in other countries. Becker was the officer in charge of the loading and cargo of U-234 when she sailed from Germany toward Tokyo with a load of high tech information, two Me 262 jet fighters and 560 kilos of Uranium for the Imperial Japanese Army.

We reported that a German mine was found off Hartlpool, England which was part of a mine field laid down by the German destroyers HERMANN KUNNE, FRIEDRICH IHN, ERICH STEINBRINK, RICHARD BEITZEN and BRUNO HEINEMANN on the night of 12/13 December, 1939.

Membership dues were still $25 per year, for a 6 page-long KTB that was done on an old typewriter and run off on a photocopier. KTB #13 would take just a little more than one page of today's computer type- set KTB Magazine. We have grown a bit.