15 Years Ago

In KTB #19 we were still working on finding the correct emblem to be the official SHARKHUNTERS emblem. We began to look into what had eventually become of U-573 which had been interned in Spain during the war - we have since found out. We looked at the book ‘Trading with the Enemy’ by CHARLES HIGHAM (35-1984) which tells all about the so-called ‘American’ companies which were actually multi-nation, who were selling to all sides all through World War II - fuel, oil, rubber, weapons, technology etc. He had also written a book that uncovered Errol Flynn’s work for the Abwehr. There was a reunion in London with Captain KARL-FRIEDRICH MERTEN (34-+-1984) and some survivors of the ship CITY OF CAIRO that he sank in the South Atlantic. We were learning even back then, that the German Government would like all memories of World War II and the German veterans to just quietly disappear.

Even back in 1984 when KTB #19 came out, the dues were only $25. Let’s do a short comparison between ‘then’ and ‘now’.

Element	1984	2001
Dues	$25	$50
Length	6 pages	40 pages
Photographs	none	nice
Magazine content	nice	impressive

It is actually a bit more than 15 years ago. In that time our dues have doubled, but what else has doubled. The number of pages and the content of our KTB Magazine has gone up not double, but more than eight times! Our postal and printing costs have gone up by about 400%. A new car or a new house will cost 3 to 4 times as much today as it did in 1984. All things considered, I think we have kept our costs to Members pretty reasonable. We try.

10 Years Ago

KTB #58 covered many topics, including how Members of our SHARKHUNTERS refloated and moved USS REQUIN in the Hillsborough River (Tampa) and was stabbed in the back by the mayor. We covered Kapitänleutnant Heinz Eck, Skipper of U-852 who was accused and convicted of shooting men in the water, and shot in December 1945. We covered - in depth - our Convention in France and Germany, which was fantastic! I was a lot thinner in those photographs - guess I’d better get back to the gym.

“SHARKHUNTERS are seekers of the truth!” That is what HANS-GEORG HESS (125-LIFE-1985) said about us, and we covered some of the things we had reported on including - it was SHARKHUNTERS who proved that some U-boats were trying to reach Japan at the end with cargoes of uranium, even though the ‘experts’ all said this was possible; SHARKHUNTERS found three Type XXI boats still in their bunker in Hamburg (they are there still today) - in fact, HARRY COOPER (1-LIFE-1983) and EDDIE PHILLIPS (22-A/LIFE-1985) walked on their decks!

5 Years Ago

The cover of KTB #103 carries a photo of U-103 on patrol. We continued the last patrol of U-3030. Our Membership Contest for the previous year was won by PETER STANFORD (1761-1991) with 9 new Members. GASPAR BONGIOVANI (1886-1991) had 7 new Members, JACK GOODIER (127-1990) had 6 new Members and JOE BURGES (605-A-1988) brought 5 new Members aboard. PETER HANSEN (251-LIFE-1987) gave us some new facts about U-234 and the last U-boat to depart Germany for Japan - who and what it carried. We learned more about the loss of the liner WILHELM GUSTLOFF and the Soviet Skipper who sank her. The column by CHUCK MYLES (1068-1989) on the refueling of U-boats anywhere in the world other than Germany continued. We covered another of Germany’s secret weapons; some imagined and some very real - this time we covered the Schallkanone (sound cannon).

There were first-person memories of the war from OTTO KRETSCHMER (122-+-1987) and how he almost lost his I.W.O., Adalbert Schnee who went on to become one of the most successful and well-liked U-boat Skippers of the war. We reported that ‘JOE IS DEAD’. So who is Joe? Marion Carstairs was a flamboyant lesbian living in the Bahamas during the war years and since she acted like a man, she insisted on being called Joe. She was so rich that she bought an island in the Bahamas and rumors galore flew about her wartime sympathies. What a web of intrigue was woven about the Bahamas and many of the notables there like the former King of England (Duke of Windsor), Sir Harry Oakes, Axel Wenner-Gren, the president of General Motors, of the aluminum industry & so many more. What a fascinating story could be told about the Bahamas in the war years!