I just returned from Europe where I met with the divers and researchers who found and raised the sunken U-534, which is currently on display in England.  What they found on this boat and others - will astound you and will rewrite history. All this, with photos, can be found on our website.

Anyone even remotely interested in the history of the U-Bootwaffe knows the story of U-534.....the finding, the raising and the humorous stories about nothing being aboard but cases of wine and condoms.  Those are nice 'romance' stories for the press with nothing to do - but the true story is incredibly different.

The boat was found many years ago by salvage diver AAGE JENSEN (3783-1994) and the project was pulled together by LARS SUNN PEDERSEN (3782-1994), both long-time Members of Sharkhunters.  LARS invited me to Denmark to look at the treasure trove of historic information and artifacts removed from the boat.  Let us hasten to mention that there were no bodies on board, so there was not the problem of a war grave.  LARS gave me his apartment for the week and all the Sharkhunters Members in this section of Denmark went out of their way to make my stay in their country memorable - and the history is amazing!

Naturally, there were other items of historical interest above and below the water such as the battered prop from an Me 110 that splashed in the sea and the Luftwaffe hangar and runway still standing in great repair. Naturally, there was a sign which stated “SHARKHUNTERS WELCOME HERE”. Actually, the sign (in Danish) said to keep out, but we all know what that means.

STYG THORNSEN (new Member) set up an interview on Danish television with me for release on international television.

What was found on U-534?  It was not just a few cases of wine and some condoms as the press said.

German U-Boats, according to the German habit of keeping written records on everything, had literally a couple tons of documents aboard.  U-534 was no different, and almost all of these documents have been preserved by this group.  When a block of totally soaked documents come off the boat, they are immediately put into deep freezers.  Clump by clump, piece by piece, bit by bit they are removed from the freezer and scientifically desalinated and then carefully dried and separated.  What then appears is the entire life story of the German submarine U-534 and more important - the stories of the young men who were her crew.

But what about those condoms the press so gleefully wrote about?  Keep reading...........

In addition to the endless logbooks, maintenance sheets, radio logbooks and all the other paperwork that goes into the running of a warship, we must also remember that there were people aboard as well.  Young men worked and lived in these close quarters for long periods of time and there were their personal memories.

Found aboard U-534 and beautifully restored and preserved were the Skipper’s rain hat, the dress dagger of the I.W.O., medals, several cameras, clothing, bibles, songbooks, photos and letters have all been recovered. They played in their spare time, as we see with the chessmen, dominos and playing cards still in great shape and large amounts of cigars and cigarettes.

The Skipper, Captain Nollau, had been I.W.O. aboard U-505 and only he knew the purpose of the mission, the destination and the cargo aboard. Unfortunately, he committed suicide shortly after the end of the war and took his first-hand knowledge to the grave.

Enigma - did we say something about the Enigma?  And what about those famous condoms? Read on to learn the real story about the condoms - and another piece in a major puzzle!     

There were some very unique facts about U-534 and what she had aboard.  It will be rather difficult to determine what was really on board and what was the mission since Nollau was the only one aboard who had that information, and when he committed suicide a few years later, he took this to his grave.  It is however, possible that researchers, aided by the tons of paper and the artifacts found aboard U-534 could shed the proper light.

U-534 had three of the brand new Zaukönig torpedoes aboard.  These were not the early acoustic torpedoes, but they were the vastly improved T-11 Zaukönig torpedoes that could home in on specific sounds rather than just the loudest or the closest and thereby discriminate which ship they wanted to hit.  Less than three dozen of these T-11 Zaukönig torpedoes were ever made, and three were aboard U-534.  Why?

There is little doubt that this boat was headed for Japan with these high-tech weapons.  Many U-Boats were headed for Japan in the closing months of the war, loaded with Germany's high-tech weaponry technology so the Japanese could continue the fight and hopefully bring the Axis back to a point where a negotiated peace could be reached and all would not be lost.  We know that various U-Boats carried crated Me 163 KOMET rocket propelled fighters and Me 262 jet fighters with the technological data for Japan to build them as well as other jet and rocket technology plus weaponry of all types.  Several more U-Boats were loaded with uranium for Japan's nuclear war machine.  Japan test fired her first nuclear device a week before the Americans, but they ran out of fissionable material and the German U-Boats were supposed to bring it to them.

There are other reasons why we feel most strongly that U-534 was bound for Japan - but first, what about the condoms?

Condoms? What a Joke!

Okay, if you look at those supposed condoms with any logic at all, you'll realize that these were meant to fit a horse – or they really were not condoms at all. Actually, they were balloons.  No, not the kind for your teen-ager's birthday party, but balloons that would be filled with hydrogen to lift the aluminum strips aloft - known as APHRODITE - to foil radar.  The hydrogen bottles were still aboard along with many of these "condoms" but the aluminum had long since been dissolved by the sea.

Why did U-534 carry three of the highest-tech torpedoes developed by any side in World War II?  Why did they have the "APHRODITE" aboard, which normally was only used in the open and mostly unpatrolled stretches of the Indian and Pacific Oceans?  We must conclude that U-534 was bound for the Far East.  And what else was so suspicious with U-534?

U-534 carried not one, but two Enigma machines WIRED TOGETHER and with a lot of spare rotor wheels, to make a super code scrambler.  The radio operator would have been a good source to get more information from since he was the one who used the 'double Enigma' but when the boat went down, seven men were trapped in the forward torpedo room.  They opened the valves, which allowed the pressure to equalize and they opened the hatch and escaped that way.  The 18 year old radio operator forgot the first rule of escaping from depths (more than 200 feet for U-534) and he held his breath on the ascent.  His lungs embolized (inflated) and burst, and he died before reaching the surface.

Some years ago we learned through SEIG Agent Be 583, one of our most reliable sources in Germany, that a truck with a very powerful radio transmitter/receiver had been parked atop the Obersalzberg near where Hitler and many of the Party officials had homes AND near the "Southern Redoubt" where they anticipated holding off the advancing Allies.  This truck was code named CROCODIL and I have been to that spot.  Agent Be 583 learned that this CROCODIL and one other truck like it were to maintain radio contact with certain U-Boats breaking out in the final days of the war.  Was U-534 one of these boats?  Was she Japan bound?

We cannot imagine any other reason and maybe the researchers using the data found aboard this boat will find the key to this mystery U-Boat.  When they do, you may be assured that you'll read it first here in Sharkhunters.

To LARS, AAGE and STYG - many thanks for your hospitality, and for your tireless work on this project. It is immensely important, and the same is true for the other U-Boats you’ve found.

Go to our website for the really great photos we shot there.

And now to Germany!

This was a wonderful time in Germany, organized by the Friendship Circle, a group of Germans who wish to honor their veterans of the U-Bootwaffe.  This is a great thing for Germans to do, although not popular with the German Government and so our Sharkhunters applauds what they are doing.

HANS-GEORG HESS (125-LIFE-1985) and GERD THÄTER (194-1987), two Skippers with heavy combat experience, and many combat veterans joined in the fun and friendship during these days in late April.

Thursday, the beginning of this meeting, found the weather in northern Germany to be picture perfect, as many sat outside the hotel for fun, friendship - and a great amount of history.

German U-Boats, like any other ship in war or peace, have a ceremony when crossing the equator and U-180 was no different.  One of the crewmen of this rare Type IX-D1 boat brought his one of a kind document, signed by the Skipper and the officers of that boat, to commemorate their crossing of the equator on their way to the Far East.  He signed autographs for everyone and let all shoot photos of this rare document.

Naturally, we toured the fascinating museum of Peter Tamm, and we will again in September.  This is without question, the most complete and most awesome museum in the world on the German Navy over the centuries.

Time for lunch, and we ate at a unique restaurant on the Elbe River that raises the national flag of every ship (over 500 tons) that passes either inbound or outbound, a loudspeaker blares a welcome or a farewell - and then plays the national anthem of the ship's country!  Some of the group came here while the others toured a Russian submarine in Hamburg.

Friday 25 April, the Friendship Circle held a dinner with singing and lots of good German beer. Younger people hung on every word from the veterans while the Seaman's Chantey Chorus entertained us. At our table sat an Oberstleutnant with the Army.  I sat between the Burgermeister (Lord Mayor) of the city and GERD THÄTER. Across the table was HANS-GEORG HESS. Also at this table was the veteran from U-180 and another from U-3506. In the room were many other veterans as well as officers from the Bundsmarine, the merchant navy and other groups. Many of these veterans will be with us on our “Patrol” in September/October.

Our time together closed with a fish fry on the river by a marina. Many new friendships sprung forth, and we will meet again.

Hearty congratulations to HARTMUTH GÜNTHER (6228-2000) and his wife Karin for this splendid gathering!