This was an interview we did with GERD THATER in 1994. As you will learn in the interview, he transited the "Gates of Hell" at Gibraltar not once, but twice. His father retired as a VizeAdmiral (three stars); his brother retired as a KonterAdmiral (two stars) but he retired as a Fregattenkapitan, which is a rank between the USN's Commander and Captain. The rank of Fregattenkapitan has three and a half strips on the sleeve. With a twinkle in his eye, he always said that he was the black sheep of the family - but he was loved by everyone who ever met him, as you can tell by the letters we received upon learning of his departure on his "Eternal Patrol'.

SHARKHUNTERS: You commanded a Type VII, correct?

GERD: That's correct.

SHARKHUNTERS: Please tell us something about the Type VII. What did you like about it? Was there anything you didn't like about that boat?

GERD: That was our typical Atlantic boat which more or less all well known German Skippers had during the war. You started out normally with the Type II and then we went over to the Type VII boat. What shall I tell you about the boat at all. It was a very successful boat, as you know, but it was not a U-Boat in the main consideration because the boat was just able to dive. It could not stay underwater for a very long time, which meant it was not a real U-Boat like later on the Type XXI was. That was really a U-Boat and as you know, these Type VII boat -- at the beginning of the war, 1940, 41 and 42 -- very, very successful in the Atlantic and then lateron, you know what happened since 1943.

SHARKHUNTERS: Maybe we should talk about that a bit. You took your Type VII into the Atlantic in the winter of 1943,

GERD: That's correct. January 1943.

SHARKHUNTERS: That was the very height of the Battle of the Atlantic.

GERD: It started out in May '43. That was the first month; losses of more than 40 boats.

SHARKHUNTERS: So it was very difficult to operate. What was the most important of the Allied weapons that you feared?

GERD: In my feelings, certainly the radar. But even all other counter-weapons had made progress during the years of the war. But in my opinion, because I always had trouble with planes which just recognized us by radar so in my opinion, radar was the most problem for us at the time.

SHARKHUNTERS: To change the subject just a little bit, you passed through Gibraltar twice. Once as a Skipper and once as a Watch Officer, correct?

GERD: The first time when I went through Gibraltar was in December '41. At that time I was First Watch Keeping Officer on U-568. The Skipper was Kapitanleutnant Preuss. That was a big difference to the second time because when we went through with U-568, we went surfaced with 12 knots and passed a British destroyer approximately at 100 to 200 meters but he didn't even see us. When I went through the second time with U-466 as Skipper, there I dived already west of Gibraltar and all the way down to Malaga and I came up again. I had been under water for 39 hours, which was quite a lot because C02 was quite a lot in the boat at that time and even I was attacked by - I don't know what, bombs somewhere. We thought it was a bomb which was towed between two patrol boats and there I ran out from under these bombs right away and more or less the whole bow was gone out and I went into Toulon, I was coming in on the forward tubes. Everything in front of the tubes was absolutely completely gone.

So that was the difference between the two times.

SHARKHUNTERS: You sank a destroyer. Could you tell us about that -- it must have been a difficult target.

GERD: That was the 9th of November '43 and my First Watch Keeping Officer at that time was (now) Captain Hess and he was on watch and he brought me up out of the bed and I saw the destroyer in approximately 1,000 meters away and then I figured his speed out and I was shooting acoustic torpedo and that was running very well and we hit that destroyer and he sank. And he sank on my boat, partly at least.

SHARKHUNTERS: So as the destroyer was sinking, you were beneath it?

GERD: I was just underneath it, yes. I was on 60 meters when he was hit by my torpedo and then he sank and on 40 meters, I think, all his waterbombs (depth charges) went up and there I got quite something from that! All torpedo tubes broken, both periscopes broken and all these "nice 'things which happened to my boat.

SHARKHUNTERS: Did your torpedoes explode?

GERD: No, they didn't explode. No, no - just the tubes broke from the detonation o t he waterbombs.

SHARKHUNTERS: From the sinking destroyer

GERD: Yah, yah.

SHARKHUNTERS: The North Atlantic in 1943 was a very difficult place to operate and I know that you had some difficulty, all Skippers had great difficulties in penetrating the escort screen of the convoys. Was this because of the increased skills on the part of the Allies or increased numbers of or aircraft?

GERD: I would say both. Increased skill and certainly, the increased numbers. Doesn't matter where you had been - in the North or Middle or South Atlantic, all over - you had planes. I went down to the Brazilian coast, because I wanted to enter one of these harbors there, and there I was caught by one plane and always when I came up again, I had another plane. I shot down there one LIBERATOR and one CATALINA, just on the coast of Brazil. All over you have these - what we said, these @#$ damn planes around!

SHARKHUNTERS: Okay, let's switch topics again just a little bit and rather than talking about the operations on the oceans, I'd like to explore a little bit, some of the personalities. First of all, can you tell me a little bit about Admiral Donitz. Was he still meeting the boats at the dockside when you first came in?

GERD: He met the Skippers Admiral Donitz always took the time meet every Skipper who came back from a war patrol, and so I made as Skipper, five war patrols and so I met him five times and in my opinion, he was the most wonderful admiral we ever had in our Navy. By chance, at the end of the war, when he took over the German Government, I founded together with Captain Cremer, the guard battalion because we founded a tank destroying battalion before and went out in the defense of Hamburg because both our boats were not ready anymore to go somewhere because we had trouble with spare parts. So we founded this tank battalion and were defending Hamburg for a while and then when Donitz took over (the German Government) Captain Cremer and myself, we drove down to Plon where Donitz was at the time, and I told him he has to get a Guard Battalion now and then he has to take submariners, what he did. And then we went to the Government with him - to Plon first and then from Plon over to Flensburg.

EDITOR NOTE - The Captain Cremer he refers to was PETER "Ali" CREMER (114-+-1985), and they both had Type XXI boats at the time. GERD's boat was - and still IS - in the Bunker Elbe II in Hamburg awaiting parts. CREMER had pulled out of his bunker with the periscopes raised and sheared them off. They replaced the 'scopes and the tanker trucks were filling his boat with fuel and one of the crew was heard to make an offhand remark that they were going to make a run for Argentina. When they returned the next day, the fuel had been pumped out and the boat never left port.

SHARKHUNTERS: So at that time, you were waiting for command of another Type XXI boat?

GERD: I had it. I commissioned the XXI Type, this U-3506 on the 14th of October '44 and I had made all the normal exercise in training, which is necessary before you go then on war patrol, and then I went to Hamburg, to the shipyards, for the last works which were to be done and there they found out that I needed a new engine for slow, noiseless speed. On the XXI Types, we had special engines for noiseless driving, very slow and small engines only, and I needed another one because mine was worn out and the industry couldn't give us any more.

SHARKHUNTERS: Can you tell us what happened to your boat and you made a decision to scuttle it. Tell us what the eventual state of your boat was.

GERD: My boat was, as I told you, was in Hamburg in the shipyards, at the time for repair and I had been out with Cremer and two other men and so my boat was in a bunker and on the 2nd of May (1945) it was scuttled by my order. I personally was not there at the time, but I sent the order. It was in a bunker, which you can still see, there is one bunker still there where three boats are scuttled and are in the bunker right now.

EDITOR NOTE - The three boats are U-2503, U-3004 and GERD's U-3506 and it was possible to see them when this interview was made in 1994. We have been in those bunkers and HARRY COOPER (1-LIFE-1983) and EDDIE PHILLIPS (220-A/LIFE-1986) walked on their decks. Sadly, the German Government has filled in the bunker with sand, burying the boats. They then blew up the bunker walls and roof, then paved over the sand. These three Type XXI boats should have been saved as memorials, but it did not happen.

Gerd Thater Interview

Gerd Thater Part 1
Gerd Thater Part 2