As Kriegsmarine submarine U-1206 left Kristiansand to conduct her first war patrol one cloudy day
in April of 1945, the flushing of a toilet proved her tragic demise.
The warship was a revamped Type VIIC submarine with several technological innovations,
one of which included a new toilet mechanism that allowed her to save precious weight and space.
However, when a sailor failed to activate the system correctly, the submarine started to flood,
catching the crew entirely by surprise. As chlorine gas started to leak out from
the submarine’s batteries, 27-year-old Captain Karl-Adolf Schlitt had to react quickly and make
a difficult decision, risking being spotted by British patrols surrounding the area...
Submarine Warfare U-boats were the naval submarines
used by Germany during the First and Second World Wars, and even though they were produced
in limited numbers during both conflicts, they proved to be highly effective for the most part.
Although the Kriegsmarine expected to sink dozens of Allied warships with the submarines,
the British and American forces were quick to neutralize the
threat by traveling in large convoys. Still, the U-boats served as an effective
deterrent to Allied offensive incursions into German-controlled waters and the European shores.
The German submarines were primarily feared because of their commerce raiding or economic
warfare capabilities, which ultimately became a naval blockade against allied shipping.
And they mostly targeted merchant vessels carrying war supplies from the United States,
Canada, and United Kingdom to specific territories of Great Britain and the Soviet Union.
During the first years of World War 2, the U-boats reigned supreme and almost succeeded
at draining Great Britain out of supplies and isolating the Allied nations from each other.
But the Anglo-American navies eventually learned how to defend themselves from
these hunters by developing advanced radar technology, breaking the Enigma machine,
and operating with convoys and escorts. The U-boat operations then became riskier
and more challenging, but that did not prevent submarine captains from accomplishing perilous
sabotage operations across the world until the Normandy landing of June 1944, which turned
the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic. Still, U-boat wolfpacks went as far as
the Gulf of Mexico, the coasts of Brazil, the Eastern United States, Canada, and the Arctic,
to get rid of any commercial or military vessel that dared venture into desolated waters.
The Kriegsmarine also built dozens of heavily fortified U-boat pens throughout Europe
to quickly get back into the action after maintenance or resupply,
or simply to find shelter from enemy ships or aircraft.
The pens or wolf dens were built with several thick layers of concrete that
made them shockproof against conventional artillery from warships and aircraft bombloads.
Only the British Tallboy bomb developed by the Royal Air Force led to the end of
these impressive cave-like structures where the precious U-boats were stored and taken care of.
Evolution As the war dragged on and the British
and American forces figured out cunning ways to eliminate the U-boat menace using radar, sonar,
and the Enigma Machine, the submarine doctrine had to adjust. And so did the submarines themselves.
There were over 15 different types of submarines envisioned by the Kriegsmarine, but not all
of them made it out of the drawing boards. The Type 1 and 2 prototypes were the first
submarines produced by the German Navy during the post-war period, and they were based on
Finnish and Spanish submarines designed by undercover German military engineers.
Meanwhile, Type 3 and 4 submarines never materialized but had some very unique features.
For instance, Type 3 was a minelayer capable of carrying up to 50 mines and two small motor
torpedo boats. Some of these ideas would later be integrated into the Type X cargo submarines.
Type 4, on the other hand, was intended to be a resupply and repair U-boat
that would meet other submarines at sea to resupply them with food,
water, torpedoes, and spare parts that later evolved into the Type XIV U-boat.
The Type 5 submarine would eventually become Germany's first midget U-boat
and the Type XVII coastal submarines powered by hydrogen peroxide propulsion systems.
Then there was Type IX, which were specially modified U-boats capable of long-range operations.
Out of all the different types of German submarines, the most produced was the Type
VII U-boat, which became the main force of the Kriegsmarine wolf packs. Over 700
models were built during the war, and it was heavily modified throughout the conflict.
Type VIIC Submarines
Type VII was based on several incomplete submarine types and was initially designed
in the mid-1930s when the Third Reich began working on its new generation of submarines.
These U-boats were popular within the Kriegsmarine due to their crash-dive speed,
making them more maneuverable during combat. They were also robust, carrying torpedoes and a
3.5-inch deck gun with more than 220 rounds. Type VII was powered on the surface by two
6-cylinder, 4-stroke M6V 40/46 diesel engines generating over 2,000 horsepower. In addition, two
double-acting electric motors gave the submarine a total of 750 horsepower when submerged.
While on surface level, their maximum speed was 32 kilometers per hour,
in contrast to 14 kilometers when submerged. Their maximum depth was 230 meters.
These submarines displaced more than 800 tons when submerged and over 750 when surfaced. Their length
was 67 meters, with almost 10 meters in height. The VIIC version was the workhorse of the
wolfpacks. It had an estimated range of 8,500 miles and included an array of technological
innovations that were not incorporated into U-boats until very late in the war.
Some of these novelties included the active sonar, snorkel,
and a unique German creation: a state-of-the-art high-pressure toilet
that became the center of attention when U-Boat 1206 flooded because of it.
Disposing of Waste As World War 2 was coming to an end,
the Kriegsmarine was still sending U-boat crews to try and tilt the tide in Germany's favor.
Such was the case of U-boat 1206, one of the last German submarines to be put into service.
This Type VIIC submarine was laid down in June of 1943
and was commissioned in March of 1944 to participate in training exercises.
Under the command of 27-year-old Kapitänleutnant Karl-Adolf Schlitt, this Type VIIC submarine then
successfully then completed her training patrol in the North Sea on March 28, 1945.
A few days later, U-boat 1206 was fitted with a Schnorchel underwater-breathing apparatus
and left the Horten Naval Base, Kristiansand, on April 2, 1945, to conduct her first war patrol.
The submarine's emblem, a white stroke on a black shield with green beak and legs,
was suddenly lost on the horizon as the crew ventured off to the seas.
U-1206 was equipped with an innovative high-pressure toilet that allowed the
crews to use it while moving through the depths of the ocean. This state-of-the-art
toilet was very different when compared to the ones used by British and American crews.
While the Britons did not have a problem storing human waste in septic tanks aboard the vessel,
the Germans preferred to save precious weight and space.
Consequently, the Kriegsmarine developed a high-pressure system that ejected waste directly
into the sea as if it were a sewage torpedo. However, the system had a fault:
it could only be used when the submarine was near the surface. And if a sailor wanted to
answer nature's call, he had to use buckets the old-fashioned way until the U-boat surfaced.
Late in the war, U-boats spent most of their time underwater to avoid detection.
These circumstances did not help in clearing the stench that permeated the U-boat, including the
smell of diesel, body odor, cigarettes, and human waste. Still, the sailors got used to it and never
allowed the scent to disturb their duties. The unique toilet system was not easy to use,
and a specialist was required to operate the complex system. Formerly called a WC waste
disposal manager, the crew liked to call this highly trained sailor "The Shitman."
A series of valves had to be operated in a particular order to avoid any problems,
and Captain Schlitt would find this out the hard way on April 14, 1945.
Sunk by a Toilet After nine days into the mission,
it is said that Captain Schlitt went to the toilet but failed to operate the flush correctly,
calling the specialist for assistance. Unfortunately, the sailor accidentally
turned the wrong valve, and the toilet cabin began to fill with human waste and seawater.
The stanching liquid then began to leak into the battery compartment located below, provoking a
chemical reaction that released chlorine gas. Captain Schlitt then ordered his men to fire
all the torpedoes to liberate the ship of unnecessary weight and surface quicker.
But when this embarrassing moment appeared to have ended, the situation got worse.
As the U-boat surfaced, it was spotted by Royal Air Force aircraft.
The Britons fired instantly, which led the crew to scuttle the submarine
after destroying all valuables onboard.
Captain Schlitt ordered the crew to make way for the shores of Peterhead, Scotland,
where they had surfaced, but of the 50 crewmen, four did not make it to the coast.
The rest of the men were taken prisoners by British forces once they reached land.
And although the most popular version of the story blames the Captain for causing this incident,
Schlitt himself wrote another statement that read:
(QUOTE): "I was in the engine room when, at the front of the boat, there was a water leak.
What I have learned is a mechanic had tried to repair the forward WC's outboard vent."
"The engineer who was in the control room at the time managed to make the boat buoyant
and surfaced, despite severe flooding." "Meanwhile, the batteries were covered with
seawater. Chlorine gas started to fill the boat." "We were then incapable of diving or moving. At
this point, British planes and patrols discovered us. I let the boat sink."
In May of 2012, divers found U1206 buried 86 meters below Cruden Bay in Aberdeenshire.
The submarine was in excellent conditions after seven decades,
but forever cursed by the stench of failure.
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