from ERNST SCHMIDT (10-+-1983)

Did you know…..

• Oberleutnant zur See Karl Dönitz was sunk and taken prisoner while attacking a British convoy on 4 October 1918 in the Mediterranean? In 1935, he rebuilt the U-Bootwaffe and finally succeeded Hitler in the final moments of the war.
• German U-Boats sank 2,979 merchant ships with a total tonnage of 14.36 million tons as well as 184 Allied warships?
• the Germans built 1,162 U-Boats during World War II of which 863 became operational, and they lost 784?
• At the beginning of the war in September of 1939, Germany had only 56 U-Boats and most of them were training boats? Only 22 were suitable for operations in the Atlantic.
• The British Merchant Navy alone lost nearly 31,000 men who were killed by U-Boat action?

Little Known Submarine (and Naval) Historical Facts

This section is for your own information – please do not send the answers here; they will be in KTB #174 next month.

Answers to questions in KTB #169:

296. The so-called “Laconia Order” from Großadmiral Karl Dönitz forbade any U-Boats from stopping to help the survivors of ships they sank because, even though trying to save thousands of survivors from the sinking of the liner SS LACONIA by U-156, the German submarines were attacked by American air. Even though USAAF was aware that this was a rescue effort, they believed it was so important to destroy U-Boats that they ordered a B-24 LIBERATOR to go back out and attack. We are currently running an article by one of the survivors.

297. The German passenger liner that was stalked by the American warship was SS COLUMBUS.

298. The American warship was USS TUSCALOOSA.

299. The Sharkhunters Member aboard SS COLUMBUS was OTTO GIESE (45-+-1984). The American cruiser spotted German passenger liner as it tried to make a break from Mexico to Germany in the early stages of World War II. TUSCALOOSA steamed along with the liner and broadcast their position to the British so the Royal Navy could intercept. This was in December 1939 when the United States was (allegedly) neutral. On 19 December 1939, Royal Canadian Navy warships came upon the liner off Cape May, NJ and the German crew scuttled their big liner. The German crew was picked up by USS TUSCALOOSA, brought to the United Stated and put into prison camp! OTTO and others were put in a camp on Angel Island, near Alcatraz when Al Capone, the famous American gangster, was imprisoned there. OTTO and some others were able to escape aboard a Japanese freighter and made their way back to Germany.

300. Japanese troops under Lt. General Mitsuru Ushijima on Okinawa were more than 100,000 men and 3,000 planes, many of which were Kamikaze.

Now for KTB #174 next month, try these bits of naval history:

301 The German blockade runner ODENWALD was disguised as an American ship, prior to the American entry into World War II. What name did she use?

302 What was the fate of ODENWALD?

303 What was the name of the American hospital in Pearl Harbor during the December 7th attack?

304 What was the largest battleship ever built?

305 What was her fate?

Operational Questions

FRANK KULICK (6662-2003) has some questions, and we would like some of the U-Bootfahrer to reply with answers, bitte.

1. In an emergency dive, how quickly could the U-Boat dive from the normal surface running with lookouts on station, to periscope depth when an enemy was sighted? Naturally this time would be different for Type VII-C, IX-C and the bigger Type IX-D2, X-B and Type XIV. Antwort, bitte.

2. When you were running at periscope depth & a destroyer was coming for you, would you try to crash dive and maneuver away or would you fire torpedoes to kill it but then crash dive if the torpedoes missed?

3. What was the best tactic for evading depth charges?

4. Does anyone feel that, if the Type XXI boat were put into service earlier, would it have made a difference in the final outcome of the war?

5. Was the Type XXI as good as reported?