PETER HANSEN (251-LIFE-1987) spent time working for the ABWEHR (the German Secret Service) during World War II and he has information that is known to a mere handful of people. He gives this secret information exclusively to SHARKHUNTERS. Here he tells us (continued from KTB #109):

Captain von Dresky decided surfacing and attempting to get away while it was still dark would be their best chance under the circumstances, even though the engineroom folks were uncertain if the diesel engines could still be started due to damage.

II. W. O. Becker prepared all secret material for destruction and placed explosive charges at several places to make sure U-33 could not be captured. The Executive Officer (I. W. O.) in the meantime expelled the loaded mines from the torpedo tubes to lighten the U-Boat. Everybody was told to dress as warmly as possible in order to have a better chance to survive some time in the ice cold waters.

With the rest of the compressed air still available after U-33 had been lightened by expelling all mines from the torpedo tubes, she finally rose to the surface.

At 0522 hours, the spotlight from HMS GLEANER caught the breaching boat and fired five rounds with its 4 inch gun, then turned towards U-33 to ram.

Von Dresky, upon reaching the conning tower, saw the British ship immediately and shouted down into the U-Boat: 'ABANDON SHIP!'

Chief Friedrich Schilling yelled that the diesel engines seemed to be in working order but Capt. von Dresky ordered again:

'Blow her up. Report the situation by radio and get off the ship!'

HMS GLEANER now also used its 10 inch signaling lamp to illuminate the sea further and noticed the crew tumbling out of the submarine, holding up their hands in surrender. Suddenly a shower of sparks erupted from the conning tower of U-33, the explosive charges had set off signal rockets and small caliber ammunition. U-33 sank immediately at an angle of 40 degrees below the surface and disappeared.

The sea was ice cold and choppy & the night still totally black. I. W. O. Rottmann dropped his (ENIGMA) rotors, so did III. W. O. Lt. zS Karl Vietor and the II. W. O. Becker likewise. The Captain called:

Men; stay together as much as possible

But there was some indecision and uncertainty aboard the GLEANER what should be done, resulting in some delay in launching the boats. One of the search lights had burned out; and one by one, men vanished and dropped exhausted and cold from the frigid water below the surface.

Suddenly Chief Schilling saw the side of a ship and a manila rope coming his way, and he grabbed it before passing losing consciousness. He had drifted almost two hours in the sea and only the many extra layers of his clothing had saved him. HMS GLEANER and some other vessels that had been called for assistance pulled four officers and seventeen men out of the water eventually. Captain von Dresky and 24 other crewmembers were not amongst those picked up. His body was never recovered.

Rottmann was pulled out by one of the GLEANER's cutters. He woke up in a bathtub, full of hot water. A Royal Navy Ensign was guarding him. Rottmann, though naked, asked if he could check how many of his men had been rescued, and got a blanket to wrap around himself. All clothing had been removed from those pulled out of the sea and hung up in the engineroom for drying. Even some rum rations were handed out to the shivering men by the British crewmembers.

When Rottmann looked around & Fritz Kumpf saw him, he suddenly remembered those three rotors he had received for dumping and realized that he had totally forgotten to do so and in the confusion and under the prevailing stress of the situation, and told Rottmann so with a low voice.

Rottmann moved on to the engineroom to look after other crewmembers and checked Kumpf's pants while doing so, but the pockets of the drying leather pants were empty! The British had been faster and the three recovered rotors were already in Captain Price's safe, to Rottmann's chagrin.

British intelligence specialists met HMS GLEANER upon arrival in port and took over this find immediately, dispatching same by motorcycle courier to Bletchley Park. Amongst them were naval rotors VI and VII which were totally unknown to the British. These were inserted in the Polish built copy of the ENIGMA machine that had been handed over to the British, together with another sample for the French, in August of 1939.

The HUT 8 cryptoanalysts attempted to try them out, but apart from gaining additional technical understanding of the wiring schemes and connection plugs and possibilities, there three rotors did not suffice to crack the naval radio messages and codes, therefore Bletchley Park remained on the look-out for a pinch and worked hard on different schemes and deals how to achieve this. Some did not work out, while eventually picking up additional rotors during the course of the next months, but this still did not do the trick. Only once the complete M-3 ENIGMA machine with all rotors and solution tables was captured from U-110 on May 9th, 1941 did Bletchley Park succeed finally to crack the German Naval Codes. The consequences were far reaching indeed!

And there are still people who claim that little goofs and forgetting minor things does not really make much difference! We all know that facts frequently are stranger than the most far-out fiction can ever be!