The LOST BUNKER

Let’s remember all the way back to 1988 when three SHARKHUNTERS Members actually found three TYPE XXI U-Boats still in their bunker in Germany. JAK MALLMANN SHOWELL (73-1984), author of U-BOATS UNDER THE SWASTIKA and other books, researched the location, so he and HARRY COOPER (1-LIFE-1983) and EDDIE PHILLIPS (220-A-1986) went to the spot JAK had discovered. We had asked permission of the current property owner, but were not only denied this permission, we were told in plain language to KEEP OUT. So we organized an almost commando-like operation, using aerial photos of the facility etc to plan our entry.

We walked a mile through the REHPERBAHN, the largest RED-LIGHT district in the world, to board a shuttle boat for a ride down the Elbe River. We jumped off on the fly at an old, rickety dock where the boat operator refused to stop. We walked another mile through a rail yard, ducking behind boxcars if we heard a car or human voices. Then we were near the front gate.

Since we visited on a Saturday, security was light so we executed our plan to enter the gate swiftly, go to the rear of the main building where we found a crack in the thick concrete wall of the LOST BUNKER and we slipped through! Once inside, no one could see us and since we kept our voices low, no one outside had the slightest hint that we were inside.

We had to wait for the tide to drop and for the sunlight to move to where it would flood inside the open end of the bunker for us to see THREE TYPE XXI boats still in their bunker! But there they were, and EDDIE lost no time in slithering down a twenty-foot wall and he actually walked on board the deck casing! With videocamera in hand, I quickly followed and filmed the first EVER videotapes of U-2505, U-3004 and U-3506, the last boat of our very good friend GERHARD THATER (194-LIFE-1986).

THIS IS TAPE H-5 IN OUR SHARKHUNTERS/EAGLEHUNTERS CATALOG

At the time of our visit, the boats were in pretty rough shape from the years of exposure, but they were history on our tapes. When SHARKHUNTERS returned to Germany in ‘92, STEVE AMES (2331-1992) made another videotape, about an hour in length, of these boats. The tape is professionally made, as STEVE is a television producer, but the condition of the boats can be seen to be rapidly deteriorating due to someone using acetylene cutting torches to remove large sections of plating.

THIS IS TAPE H-21 IN OUR SHARKHUNTERS/EAGLEHUNTERS CATALOG

I am extremely sorry to report that, according to a news clipping sent by STEVE, the LOST BUNKER WILL BE NO MORE! It seems there have been many injuries and at least one fatality in the LOST BUNKER in the past few years. In one case, a young man was in the LOST BUNKER by himself and he evidentiary fell (it is approximately twenty feet from the walkway of the bunker to the decks of the boats below) and he broke a sufficient number of bones to incapacitate himself and so he drowned when the tide came in. The Mayor of Hamburg has decided to fill in the bunker with sand to, in a way, remove the ability for anyone to view these boats, these pieces of history so U-2505, U-3004 and U-3506 will soon be lost forever to history.

It is a sad commentary that the German Government was so afraid of some type of condemnation when the boats were first located, and rather than preserve these boats as the historical artifacts they really are, they told the city government of Hamburg to destroy the bunker and the boats.

While we, as a historical organization, feel the German Government could - and SHOULD - have done something to preserve these boats, we have at least put them on videotape for all to see.

AMBER ROOM Sought

Let’s do a quick history lesson here - the AMBER ROOM was a magnificent room of twelve panels, made of amber from the forest along the Baltic Sea, and trimmed with a great amount of silver, in the castle of King Friedrich I of Prussia. Like so many who spend more than they take in, he was forced to sell this room to the Czar of Russia. The room was carefully taken down, piece by piece, and re-assembled in PUSHKIN Palace outside St. Petersburg, Russia (SHARKHUNTERS visited this Palace in 1992). Then came WWII!

Almost all the art treasures of the Soviet Union were rapidly removed in the face of the advancing German troops. Statues put in hay wagons, rare paintings literally cut from their frames and rolled up for the journey into Siberia. But to move an entire room - there simply was not enough time, so the room remained and under the occupying German forces, the AMBER ROOM was disassembled for shipment back to Germany. It is known that these crates made it as far as Konigsberg, now called Kaliningrad, but there is where the trail grows cold.

Historians and treasure hunters alike believe the AMBER ROOM is still crated up as the German troops left it - but where is it? Were the German troops forced to leave these boxes behind, well hidden in Russia? Some think this is the case. Did these crates actually get loaded onto a ship bound for Germany? Some think this is the case. Some believe the AMBER ROOM was on board WILHELM GUSTLOFF when she sailed from Konigsberg, only to be sunk in the Baltic with great loss of life. Others believe the crates containing the AMBER ROOM did actually make it back to Germany aboard a different ship, and these crates are hidden there.

NORMAN SCOTT (3550-1994) is off to Europe and he thinks he has actually figured out exactly where the AMBER ROOM is located. He told a local newspaper: “It is the biggest art mystery in the world. I’m very confident we’ll find cultural assets like Russian icons that were hidden by the Germans, but the chances of finding the AMBER ROOM are about 50-50.”

Thanks to BUD DANA (245-A/LIFE-1987) for this news clip - NORM, let us know how you make out.

Member seeks Mangold

PAUL MASTERSON (3339-1993) is seeking all information about Ernst Mangold, the Skipper of U-739. Our RESEARCH CENTER has almost nothing on this boat or this Skipper - who can help? Thanks.

The Story of U-505

This story will NOT be continued in the KTB Magazine of SHARKHUNTERS. The complete history of U-505 will be reported when we profile that boat and it will be much more complete that the story by one former crew member that had been this article.

Why is this article stopped before conclusion you might ask - keep reading, the answer may surprise you.

‘The Story of U-505’ Ends With Dishonorable Discharge

We promised that you would read the reasons we stopped running the Story of U-505 by Hans Gobeler. The reason is simply that we have been forced to terminate the Membership of Hans Gobeler. Recently, his continued detrimental statements and actions have reflected negatively on his credibility; and his fallacious slander of our SHARKHUNTERS Organization cannot be tolerated. Hans is expelled from SHARKHUNTERS; in effect he has been given a DISHONORABLE DISCHARGE from our group. That means that he may never resume his Membership at any time for any reason. This is only the 5th time in the 12 year history of SHARKHUNTERS, with more than 4,000 Members in 47 countries, that we are forced to expel anyone and block the possibility of their ever returning to Membership. The fact that Hans was a CHARTER Member of SHARKHUNTERS as well as a U-Bootfahrer with combat experience made this action even more difficult - but his behavior was so severe and unacceptable that we had no choice.

Election Predictions?

No, not US elections but rather in Austria. We think that our friend and SHARKHUNTERS Member, DR. JORG HAIDER (1616-1990) will be the new Chancellor of Austria in 1998.

Those who were with our SHARKHUNTERS History Trip in 1990 will remember our engraved invitations to a reception hosted by DR. HAIDER, and our special welcome atop Ulrich Mountain at the ULRICHSBERGFEST, and at the torchlight STERNMARCH parade late at night. The same HAIDER is our pick to win the position of Chancellor of Austria in 1998.