As you will read in this issue, we are experimenting with sending your KTB Magazine to Members via the Internet. This came about from the suggestion of several Members, and so we are in the midst of this experiment. KTB #179 has been sent to several Members via the Internet. This issue, KTB #180, will be sent via the Internet to several dozen Members. Sending KTB #179 worked out quite well and we had no problems. If this issue, KTB #180 goes to all the Members we are testing with, then in all probability, this option will be offered to all Members with KTB #181. There are many advantages receiving the KTB over the Internet, and we specify them here in this issue.

Prayers are Working!

Oberleutnant zS d.R. HANS-GEORG HESS We reported recently that our dear friend HANS-GEORG HESS (125-1985) had undergone emergency abdominal surgery and that he needed our prayers. We are cautiously pleased to report that, after a stay in the hospital then four weeks in a convalescent home, he is back at his home. He can even drive his car short distances. This is great news, and are encouraged by it. Many thanks to his son TILMAN HESS (5817-LIFE-1999) for keeping us up to date on his father's condition. By the time this issue is in your hands, I will be in Germany to visit Captain HESS and other friends there in Germany. Keep him in your prayers until he is fully recovered.

Panzergrenadier HANS SCHMIDT

A very serious stroke has it HANS SCHMIDT (1721-1990) and we were really worried about him, but apparently prayers do pay off. I spoke to HANS on the phone a couple times in November and he is mentally still totally sharp. He says that he believes that he will recover fully, and we pray that he does.

We do indeed, have great concern for our veteran Members. They were once merely names on the pages of history but now they are all part of our Sharkhunters Family. I forget who made the statement that these were "ordinary men who, in extraordinary circumstances, were themselves extraordinary" and this applies to all the veterans, no matter what uniform they wore. It was a very difficult time for all and without question, World War II was the defining moment of 20th Century history.

BBC Praise

The BBC considers SHARKHUNTERS to be:

“The most respected and the most authoritative source in the world for German U-Boat history.”
--per BBC reporter Graham Pound; November 1996