foreign
During World War II before the United States was actively in the conflict German U-boats were
stalking merchant convoys headed to Great Britain from Canada and the United States
starting in 1940 carrying weapons food gasoline and oil. These ships were the lifeline for both
Britain and later the Soviet Union under the Lend Lease Act and Adolf Hitler wanted the British
starved out of the war. Several U-Boat commanders took great risks to do their duty sometimes with
great effect. Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz unleashed his U-Boat commanders and some decided to take
the initiative in a strange way. What drove some U-boat commanders to take the risk of coming deep
into enemy shores even inside the British and U.S coastlines risking their subs and crews?
What benefit did they derive from such actions? What were the perspectives of these Germans as
they watched American nightlife interrupted by the war? Hello I'm Colin
Heaton former soldier Marine Corps scout sniper history professor historian and book author
and we will answer these questions and other issues on this segment of Forgotten History.
On October 13, 1939 Lieutenant Gunther Preen took his U-47 into the Scottish Harbor of Scapa Flow
the Home Port for the Royal Navy considered impossible and sank
the British battleship HMS Royal Oak in a mission that stunned the world.
Following several weeks of aerial and previous underwater reconnaissance Rear Admiral Karl Doenitz
concluded that there was an 18-yard Gap in the northeast entrance between the block ships sunk to
bar the gap from Lamb Holm and the mainland. There was still the anti-submarine net to contend with.
Two previous U-boats had tried and failed. Doenitz selected Prien and U-47 for the mission.
Prien was his favorite and according to Doenitz quote, "possessed all the personal qualities and
professional abilities required,' end quote. After getting snagged possibly on one of the nets Prien
managed to get loose and spotted what he thought were two battleships but there was only one
the HMS Royal Oak. The other was the 6900 ton seaplane tender HMS Pegasus. Prien began the
attack at 00:55 hours just after midnight and concluded it at 01:28.
Prien fired seven torpedoes in two salvoes and none from the first had any effect but the second
salvo was enough. Royal Oak rolled over sank and 835 of her crew were killed including Rear Admiral
Henry Blagrove. At 02:15 hours U-47 exited the harbor and in the U-boat's war diary at 02:15 Prien
wrote, "I still have five torpedoes for any merchant targets that come our way," end quote. Prien became
an instant national hero and he and his crew were flown to Berlin to be decorated by Adolf Hitler,
Prien with a Knight's Cross for a U-boat commander and his crew the Iron Cross in both
classes as warranted. Prien was a strict commander and not well liked by his crew and this was well
known but he was highly effective and that was all that mattered. Prien's success also helped
Doenitz in getting Hitler's support to increase the size of theU-boat fleet and Prien earned the
nickname "The Bull of Scapa Flow." Prien would earn the Oak Leaves for his eighth war patrol
but he would not return from his tenth and last patrol where on March 8, 1941 off the west coast of
Ireland U-47 was bracketed by death charges from HMS Verity and HMS Wolverine. U-47 was blown to
the surface and then dived deep and an underwater explosion was both seen and heard far below.
There were no survivors. Hitler refused to announce Prien's demise publicly so Prime Minister Winston
Churchill beat him to it broadcasting Prien's fate and mocking the Germans in revenge. Prien sailed
on 10 War patrols and sank 30 commercial ships of 162 769 tons one warship with a displacement
of 30,450 tons and damaged eight commercial ships for 62,751 tons and another warship of 10,196 tons.
Reinhard Hardegen was another of Germany's great U-Boat commanders. In late December 1941 Hardegen
took U-123 into New York Harbor up the Hudson River a rather bold move and he could see
the neon lights and signs. He even mentioned that because it was a dark and moonless night and the
lights were so bright he could read a newspaper from the glow of Broadway. He took mental notes
of the ships in the harbor and then slipped out catching the British tanker at Coimbra at
6768 tons that was leaving port. On the night of April 11, 1942 Hardegen torpedoed and sank the
SS Gulf America 8801 tons just over a mile off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida with 90 000 barrels
of fuel oil. After hitting her with the torpedoes Hardegen closed in for the kill with his deck gun
noting the already large crowds gathering on the beach to watch the spectacle as well as all the
beach houses. Hardegen maneuvered around the tanker and attacked from the land side
using his deck gun. Hardegen said "the lights from the beach houses were all glowing
as if there was no war at all it was amazing and made sinking ships much easier," end quote. He had a
similar experience on the night of April 13th when he sank the U.S freighter SS Leslie 2609
tons with his last torpedo. Again the ship was illuminated from the lights on shore. Hardegen
finished the war with the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves. the U-Boat War Badge with Diamonds and
sank 22 ships for 115 656 tons and five ships damaged for another 46 500 tons. After the war
Reinhard Hardegen spent more than a year in British captivity before returning home in November 1946.
He built up a successful oil trading company and was a representative in the parliament of
his hometown of Bremen for 20 years. He died in Bremen on June 9. 2018 at the age of 105.
Ernst Hechler was a former Luftwaffe pilot who volunteered for the U-Boat service and he
did what was thought to be impossible as well as suicidal. He entered the most secure port in
the Allied World. On January 8, 1945 he slipped U-870 into the harbor of Gibraltar knowing the
harbor was full of ships. He blind fired and heard several explosions and confirmed one
ship sunk. Just having to pass that British owned rock made German commanders nervous
either entering or exiting the Mediterranean Sea. Two days later as he was leaving he sank
the British steamer Blackheath and was out of torpedoes so he returned home. He was then assigned
to Doenitz's staff as an instructor. Although he only sank three ships for 6462 tons just
getting into and out of Gibraltar warranted the Knights Cross. He died on October 23, 1965.
Hans Werner Krauss managed to creep into the port of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and pick his targets.
He stalked the American steamer SS Charles Wilson Peale as it left port but his Torpedoes missed.
But sitting offshore he sank the 4161-ton Henzada on July 4th 1943 but alerted to his presence U-199
was tracked down and sunk by aircraft. The U-199 was sunk off the coast of Brazil on July 31st 1943.
Captured he and his crew were sent as POWs to the United States. Krauss was one of the 25 POWs who
escaped from Camp Papago Park Arizona during the night of December 23rd and 24th 1944 but was recaptured.
Krauss sank six ships for 10 836 tons and earned the Knights Cross he died on May 20th 1990 age 74.
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