Famous German submariners of World War II. The last underwater ace of the Kriegsmarine. Werner Henke and death in captivity

Dispassionate statistics show that during the Second World War, the best submariners were German submariners. They sank 2,603 ​​Allied warships and transport ships with a total displacement of 13.5 million tons. As a result, 70 thousand military sailors and 30 thousand sailors of the merchant fleet died. The ratio of losses and victories, thus, was 1:4 in favor of the German submarines. Soviet submariners, of course, could not boast of such successes, but they nevertheless delivered major troubles to the enemy. List of German submarine war aces who sank ships with a total displacement of more than 100 thousand tons: 1. Otto Kretschmer- sank 44 ships, including 1 destroyer - 266629 tons. 2. Wolfgang Luth- 43 ships, including 1 submarine - 225,712 tons (according to other sources, 47 ships - 228,981 tons). 3. Erich Topp- 34 ships, including 1 American destroyer - 193684 tons. 4. Herbert Schulze- 28 ships - 183432 tons (on his account the first of all the ships officially sunk by German submarines - the transport "Bosnia" - was sunk on September 5, 1939). 5. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock- 25 ships - 183253 tons. 6. Karl-Friedrich Merten- 29 ships - 180869 tons. 7. Heinrich Liebe- 31 ships - 167886 tons. 8. Günther Prien- 30 ships, including the English battleship "Royal Oak", sunk by him on October 14, 1939 in the roadstead in the main naval base of the British fleet Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands - 164953 tons. Günter Prien became the first German officer to receive oak leaves for the Knight's Cross. An outstanding submariner of the Third Reich died very early - on March 8, 1941 (during the attack of a convoy en route from Liverpool to Halifax). 9. Joachim Schepke- 39 ships - 159130 tons. 10. Georg Lassen- 26 ships - 156082 tons. 11. Werner Henke- 24 ships - 155714 tons. 12. Johan Mor- 27 ships, including a corvette and an air defense cruiser - 129292 tons. 13. Engelbert Endras- 22 ships, including 2 cruisers - 128879 tons. 14. Reinhardt Hardegen- 23 ships - 119405 tons. 15. Werner Hartmann- 24 ships - 115616 tons.

Also worthy of mention Albrecht Brandi who sank a minelayer and a destroyer; Reinhardt Suhren(95,092 tons), which sank a corvette; Fritz Julius Lemp(68607 tons), which damaged the English battleship "Barham" and actually sank the first ship of all destroyed by the German submarine fleet, the passenger liner "Athenia" (this happened on September 3, 1939 and was not then recognized by the German side); Otto Shewhart(80688 tons), which sank the English aircraft carrier Courageous on September 17, 1939; Hans Dietrich von Tiesenhausen, which sank the English battleship Barham on November 25, 1941.

Only five of Germany's best submariners sank 174 combat and transport ships allies with a total displacement of 1 million 52 thousand 710 tons.

For comparison: Soviet submarine fleet By June 22, 1941, he had 212 submarines in combat strength (to this must be added 54 submarines built already during the war). These forces (267 submarines) were sunk 157 enemy warships and transports- 462,300 tons (meaning only confirmed data).

The losses of the Soviet submarine fleet amounted to 98 boats (of course, excluding 4 submarines lost by the Pacific Fleet). In 1941 - 34, in 1942 - 35, in 1943 - 19, in 1944 - 9, in 1945 - 1. The ratio of losses and victories is 1: 1.6 in favor of submarines.

The best submariner of the Soviet Navy Alexander Ivanovich Marinesko sank 4 passenger and commercial vehicles with a total displacement of 42,507 tons:

January 30, 1945 - passenger liner "Wilhelm Gustlov" - 25484 tons (on the submarine S-13); February 10, 1945 - large transport ship "General von Steuben" - 14660 tons (on S-13); August 14, 1942 - Helene transport ship - 1800 tons (on M-96); October 9, 1944 - a small transport "Siegfried" - 563 tons (on S-13).

For the destruction of the Wilhelm Gustlov liner, Alexander Marinesko was "honored" to be included in the list of personal enemies of the Fuhrer and Germany.

On the sunken liner, 3,700 non-commissioned officers died - graduates of the diving school, 100 submarine commanders who graduated from a special advanced training course in managing boats with a single engine of the Walter system, 22 high-ranking party officials from East Prussia, several generals and senior officers of the RSHA, a battalion of the auxiliary service of the Danzig port from the SS troops numbering 300 people, and only about 8000 people (!!!).

As after the surrender of the 6th Army, Field Marshal Paulus in Stalingrad, mourning was declared in Germany, and the implementation of Hitler's plans to continue the all-out submarine war was seriously hampered.

For two outstanding victories in January-February 1945, all Marinesko crew members were awarded state awards, and submarine S-13- Order of the Red Banner.

The legendary submariner himself, who fell into disgrace, was awarded his main award posthumously only in May 1990. He was awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union 45 years after the end of the war.

Without a doubt, Alexander Marinesko deserved to have monuments erected not only in Russia, but also in Great Britain and the United States of America. His feat saved the lives of many thousands of English and American sailors and brought closer the hour Great Victory.

Captain 3rd rank Alexander Marinesko tops the list of Soviet submariner aces not in terms of the number of enemy ships destroyed, but in terms of the amount of their displacement and the amount of damage inflicted on Germany's military potential. Following him are the following most successful submariners:

2. Valentin Starikov(lieutenant captain, commander of the submarine M-171, K-1, Northern Fleet) - 14 ships; 3. Ivan Travkin(captain of the 3rd rank, commander of the submarine Shch-303, K-52, Baltic Fleet) - 13 ships; 4. Nikolai Lunin(captain of the 3rd rank, commander of the submarine Shch-421, K-21, Northern Fleet) - 13 ships; 5. Magomed Gadzhiev(captain of the 2nd rank, submarine division commander, Northern Fleet) - 10 ships; 6. Grigory Shchedrin(captain of the 2nd rank, commander of the S-56 submarine, Northern Fleet) - 9 ships; 7. Samuil Bogorad(captain of the 3rd rank, commander of the Shch-310 submarine, Baltic Fleet) - 7 ships; 8. Mikhail Kalinin(lieutenant commander, commander of the Shch-307 submarine, Baltic Fleet) - 6 ships; 9. Nikolai Mokhov(lieutenant commander, commander of the Shch-317 submarine, Baltic Fleet) - 5 ships; 10. Evgeny Osipov(lieutenant commander, commander of the Shch-407 submarine, Baltic Fleet) - 5 ships.

V United States Navy The greatest success was achieved by the crews of the Totog submarine - it sank 26 enemy warships and transports. By displacement best result belongs to the crew of the Flasher submarine - 100231 tons. But the most famous US submariner during the Second World War was Joseph Inright.

NewsInfo based on materials from the website "Russian Submarine Fleet"

Otto Kretschmer entered the history of World War II under the nickname "King of the tonnage". For his achievements, he is often called the best Dönitz submariner or underwater ace No. 1. But is this so? After all, some of his colleagues also committed deeds that no one could surpass. Will they push Kretschmer off the pedestal? Let's try to figure out who could be the best submariner of the Third Reich.

German submarine aces

The French word "ace" began to be actively used in military terminology during the First World War. It meant "a specialist of the highest class" or "the best of the best." Initially, this was the name of military pilots who were fluent in the art of piloting and air combat and shot down at least five enemy aircraft. Soon aces appeared among the submariners. Already in September 1914, German submarines declared themselves as a formidable weapon, when their torpedoes sent four British cruisers to the bottom. After that, the submarines engaged in the destruction of merchant ships and achieved impressive success.

A distinctive feature of the submarine ace of the Kaiser fleet was the awarding of the submarine commander with the highest military order of Prussia "Pour le Mérite" ("For Merit"). V armed forces In Germany, because of the color of the cross, he was nicknamed "Blue Max". The first cavalier of the order among submariners was the famous Otto Weddigen. In total, 29 submarine commanders were awarded this award in World War I. Prominent figures among them were Lothar von Arnaud de la Perriere and Otto Herzing.

The Treaty of Versailles deprived Germany of submarines for 16 years. But with the coming to power of Hitler, Versailles was denounced, and submarines reappeared in the German fleet. By the beginning of World War II, it consisted of 57 boats. The Kriegsmarine made extensive preparations for submarine warfare: as of September 1, 1939, 80 new submarines were laid down.

Since submarines were once again at war with merchant shipping, their commanders needed to be encouraged to sink as many ships as possible. Therefore, according to the new rules, the Knight's Cross relied for 100,000 brt, and for 200,000 - Oak leaves to it. The destruction of an enemy battleship or aircraft carrier automatically made the submarine commander a holder of the Knight's Cross.

During World War II, 124 commanders received this award. However, only 34 of them managed to overcome the bar of 100,000 GRT, another 50 sank over 50,000 GRT. Seven commanders were made knights of the Knight's Cross for sinking or damaging large warships: Prien, Shewhart, Esten, Hugenberger, von Tizenhausen, Bigalk and Rosenbaum.

Let us pay attention to the particularly outstanding submariners of Dönitz.

Otto Kretschmer

Kretschmer began the war as the commander of a small "two" U 23. He had all the qualities to achieve success: a fearless, prudent, cold-blooded and aggressive submariner. His dislike for chatter became the talk of the town on the submarine. Colleagues gave him the nickname "Silent Otto".

Until March 1940, U 23 operated in the North Sea. During this time, she was credited with the sinking of a destroyer and 25,738 GRT of merchant tonnage. But in reality, the "two" sank less: five ships at 10,736 gross tons - and caused irreparable damage to two ships at 15,513 gross tons.

On April 2, 1940, Kretschmer was appointed commander of the U 99, a type VIIB boat, which was being completed. On April 18, she entered the Kriegsmarine. From that moment, the ascent of the "silent Otto" to the underwater Olympus began, since the Atlantic was much more promising than the North Sea.

Otto Kretschmer in Berlin after the ceremony of awarding the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross for the sinking of 200 thousand brt. Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-L16644 / CC-BY-SA 3.0.
de.wikipedia.org

In his first campaign, Hessler acted confidently and aggressively, sinking four ships in the Atlantic with a total tonnage of 18,482 gross tons. The second campaign of U 107 was a unique event in the history of the Kriegsmarine. The boat was sent south to the African port of Freetown. After spending 96 days at sea, she sank 14 ships at 86,699 GRT. This was the best result shown by a German submarine in one campaign, and it remained unsurpassed.

Since the sum of the tonnage sunk in two campaigns of U 107 exceeded 100,000 GRT, Hessler was entitled to the Knight's Cross. But Dönitz was silent. The commander felt inconvenience: the one presented for the highest award was his son-in-law. Even the intervention of high authorities did not spur Dönitz to action. As a result, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder himself signed the award documents, and his headquarters sent a personal congratulation to U 107.

The third campaign of U 107 was the last for Hessler in his career as a submariner. He again received the task of operating off the African coast, but he could not repeat his previous success. After the Freetown massacre in the spring and summer of 1941, the British limited the movement of single ships by introducing a system of convoys there.

Nevertheless, Hessler managed to distinguish himself. On September 24 of the same year, U 107 successfully attacked convoy SL-87, sinking three ships at 13,641 GRT. Upon the return of the boat to the base, Günter Hessler was transferred to the headquarters of the commander of the submarine forces, where he served until the end of the war.

Erwin Rostin came to the submarine from minesweepers. At the beginning of the war, he commanded the 7th minesweeping flotilla, and then alternately was the commander of the minesweepers M 98 and M 21. In March 1941, already being a lieutenant commander, Rostin switched to submarines and, after completing his training, became the commander of the brand new "nine" U 158 .

Rostin literally burst into the ranks of the Dönitz underwater guard like a meteor. In the first half of 1942, he made two trips to the US coast, during which he sank 17 ships at 101,321 GRT. In the first of them, Rostin sent five vessels to the bottom at 38,785 gross tons.

The second campaign began on May 20, 1942. U 158 successfully operated in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Rostin made a real massacre there, sinking 12 ships with a total tonnage of 62,536 gross tons. Upon learning of this success, on June 29, Karl Dönitz sent a message to U 158 congratulating the commander on his award of the Knight's Cross.

Erwin Rostin's star went down as fast as it came up. The very next day after the commander's congratulations, U 158 was attacked by an American aircraft and sunk west of Bermuda. The entire crew was killed.

Wolfgang Luth

Now let's turn our attention to the last candidate - the outstanding submariner Wolfgang Lüth. His personality, well known to lovers of maritime history, needs no introduction. So let's move on to the arguments in his favor.

Lut became the first and only commander of a boat of the II series who was awarded the Knight's Cross for real, not imaginary success. During the command of the "twos" U 9 and U 138, he was credited with 12 merchant ships for 87,236 GRT. And although the real result was less - 13 ships (12 as a result of torpedo attacks and one more after laying mines) with a total tonnage of 56,640 gross tons - none of the commanders of the "twos" managed to get close to such figures.

Wolfgang Luth. By many standards, he was a unique submariner who stands out among the aces of Dönitz for his achievements.
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Wolfgang Lüth holds the absolute endurance record among German submarine commanders. For four years he commanded combat submarines, having made 15 military campaigns with a total duration of 640 days. At the same time, Lut traveled more than 160,000 km, or, in other words, circled the equator four times, so that he can be recognized not only as a talented submariner, but also as an excellent navigator. Diesel submarines of that time were very far from comfortable conditions. It was necessary to be able to walk such a distance in that stink, dampness and other "charms" for which they were famous.

Separately, there is a question about its effectiveness. In the Kriegsmarine, Wolfgang Luth received the nickname "Great Hunter", which was quite right. In the official German and post-war assessments of the success of German submarines, Otto Kretschmer took the first place in terms of tonnage sunk. But it is precisely the trading tonnage that is more on Luth's account.

The result of the "silent Otto" consisted of 40 ships for 208,954 gross tons and three auxiliary cruisers with a total tonnage of 46,440 gross tons. This gave a total of 255,394 brt. Luth's successes amounted to 46 ships sunk at 225,204 GRT. That is, the "Great Hunter" sank the "merchants" more than Kretschmer. Of course, this does not deprive Otto of leadership in the overall results, but it clearly indicates that Lut was more successful in the war with merchant ships.

Who is who

The analysis of the successes and achievements of the above German aces allows us to conclude that Otto Kretschmer is the most effective submariner in the Kriegsmarine. But given the controversy of his merit in the sinking of the Terje Viken mother ship, the result can be reduced by 20,000 GRT. Although even with such a deduction, Kretschmer overtakes Luth in the overall standings: 234,756 against 225,204 brt.

Nevertheless, Wolfgang Luth showed a better result in the number and tonnage of merchant ships sunk than Kretschmer. This means that Lut can be recognized as the best submariner in the Kriegsmarine in terms of the war with merchant tonnage and share the first place with Kretschmer.

At the same time, it is worth noting the role of the much lesser-known Hessler and Rostin. They received their Crosses honestly, without any exaggeration. Of course, the specifics of the actions of the boats of the IX series differed from the "sevens", but this does not negate the uniqueness of the phenomenon of "100,000 brt in two trips", which no one could repeat. This allows Hessler and Rostin to also claim the title of the best submariner.

Thus, places on the pantheon of the underwater "Olympus" can be distributed as follows:

• Otto Kretschmer - the best result of the sunk tonnage in the overall standings;
• Wolfgang Luth - the best result in the number and tonnage of merchant ships;
• Günter Hessler and Erwin Rostin - the fastest achievement of the 100,000 GRT mark.

What about Prin? Günter Prien was and remains the No. 1 submarine ace. Thanks to the British Navy's raid on the holy of holies and success in the tonnage war, he retained this title in the history of the Kriegsmarine submarine.

Sources and literature:

1. NARA T1022 (captured documents of the German Navy).
2. Blair, S. Hitler's U-boat War. The Hunters, 1939–1942 / S. Blair. - Random House, 1996.
3. Blair, S. Hitler's U-boat War. The Hunted, 1942–1945 / S. Blair. - Random House, 1998.
4. Busch, R. German U-boat Commanders of World War II / R. Busch, H.-J. Roll. - Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1999.
5. Busch, R. Der U-boot-Krieg 1939–1945. Deutsche Uboot-Erfolge von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 / R. Busch, H.-J. Roll. - Band 3. - Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg-Berlin-Bonn.
6. Rohwer, J. Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two / J. Rohwer. - Annapolis, 1999.
7. U-Boat War in the Atlantic 1939–1945: German Naval History by Hessler, Günther (editor). - HMSO, London, 1992.
8. Wynn, K. U-Boat Operations of the Second World War / K. Wynn. - Vol. 1–2. - Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998.
9. Churchill, W. World War II / W. Churchill. - In 6 vols. Vol. 1: The impending storm. - M.: TERRA; "Bookshop - RTR", 1997.
10. http://www.uboat.net
11. http://www.uboatarchive.net
12. http://historisches-marinearchiv.de

In this article you will learn:

The submarine fleet of the Third Reich has its own interesting history.

The defeat of Germany in the war of 1914-1918 brought her a ban on the construction of submarines, but after Adolf Hitler came to power, it radically changed the situation with weapons in Germany.

Creation of the Navy

In 1935, Germany signed a naval agreement with Great Britain, which resulted in the recognition of submarines as obsolete weapons, and thus obtaining permission for their construction by Germany.

All submarines were subordinate to the Kriegsmarine - the Navy of the Third Reich.

Karl Demitz

In the summer of the same 1935, the Fuhrer appointed Karl Dönitz commander of all submarines of the Reich, in this post he remained until 1943, when he was appointed commander-in-chief of the German Navy. In 1939, Dönitz received the rank of Rear Admiral.

Many operations were developed and planned personally by him. A year later, in September, Karl becomes vice admiral, and a year and a half later he receives the rank of admiral, at the same time he receives the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.

It is he who owns most of the strategic developments and ideas used during submarine wars. Dönitz created a new super caste of "unsinkable Pinocchios" from his subordinate submariners, and he himself received the nickname "Papa Carlo". All submariners underwent intensive training, and knew the capabilities of their submarine thoroughly.

Dönitz's submarine tactics were so talented that they earned the nickname "wolf packs" from the enemy. The tactics of the "wolf packs" was as follows: the submarines lined up in such a way that one of the submarines could detect the approach of the enemy convoy. The submarine that found the enemy transmitted an encrypted message to the center, and then it continued its journey already on the surface parallel to the enemy, but rather far behind him. The rest of the submarines focused on the enemy convoy, and they surrounded him like a pack of wolves and attacked, taking advantage of their numerical superiority. Such hunts were usually conducted in the dark.

Building

The German Navy was armed with 31 combat and training fleets of the submarine fleet. Each of the fleets had clearly organized structure. The number of submarines included in a particular flotilla could change. Submarines were often withdrawn from one unit and introduced into another. During combat exits at sea, one of the commanders of the operational group of the submarine fleet was in command, and in cases of very important operations, the commander of the submarine fleet, Befelshaber der Unterseebote, took control.

During the war, Germany built and fully manned 1153 submarines. During the war, fifteen submarines were seized from the enemy, they were introduced into the "wolf pack". Turkish and five Dutch submarines took part in the battles, two Norwegian, three Dutch and one French and one English were training, four Italian were transport and one Italian submarine stood at the docks.

As a rule, the main targets of the Dönitz submarines were enemy transport ships, which were responsible for providing the troops with everything they needed. During the meeting with the enemy ship, the main principle of the "wolf pack" was in effect - to destroy more ships than the enemy can build. Such tactics bore fruit from the first days of the war in the vast expanses of water from Antarctica to South Africa.

Requirements

The basis of the Nazi submarine fleet were submarines of series 1,2,7,9,14,23. At the end of the 30s, Germany mainly built submarines of three series.

The main requirement for the first submarines was the use of submarines in coastal waters, such were the second class submarines, they were easy to maintain, well maneuverable and could sink in a few seconds, but their disadvantage was a small ammunition load, so they were discontinued in 1941.

During the battle in the Atlantic, the seventh series of submarines, which were originally developed by Finland, were used, they were considered the most reliable, since they were equipped with snorkels - a device through which it was possible to charge the battery under water. In total, more than seven hundred of them were built. For combat in the ocean, submarines of the ninth series were used, since they had a large radius of action and could even sail to the Pacific Ocean without refueling.

complexes

The construction of a huge submarine flotilla meant the construction of a complex of defense structures. It was supposed to build powerful concrete bunkers with fortifications for minesweepers and torpedo boats, with the presence of firing points and shelters for artillery. Special shelters were also built in Hamburg, Kiel at their naval bases. After the fall of Norway, Belgium and Holland, Germany received additional military bases.

So for their submarines, the Nazis created bases in Norwegian Bergen and Trondheim and French Brest, Lorient, Saint-Nazaire, Bordeaux.

In German Bremen, a plant for the production of submarines of the 11th series was equipped, it was equipped in the middle of a huge bunker near the Weser River. Several bases for submarines were provided to the Germans by the Japanese allies, a base in Penang and the Malay Peninsula, and an additional center was equipped in Indonesian Jakarta and Japanese Kobe for the repair of German submarines.

Armament

The main weapons of Dönitz's submarines were torpedoes and mines, the effectiveness of which was constantly increasing. Also, the submarines were equipped with artillery pieces of 88 mm or 105 mm caliber, and anti-aircraft guns with a caliber of 20 mm could also be installed. However, starting from 1943, the artillery guns were gradually removed, as the effectiveness of the deck guns decreased significantly, but the danger of an air attack, on the contrary, forced the power of anti-aircraft weapons to be increased. For the effectiveness of underwater combat, German engineers were able to develop a radar detector, which made it possible to avoid British radar stations. Already at the end of the war, the Germans began to equip their submarines with a large number of batteries, which made it possible to reach speeds of up to seventeen knots, but the end of the war did not allow the fleet to be re-equipped.

fighting

Submarines participated in combat operations in 1939-1945 in 68 operations. During this time, 149 enemy warships were sunk by submarines, including two battleships, three aircraft carriers, five cruisers, eleven destroyers and many other ships, with a total tonnage of 14,879,472 gross register tons.

The sinking of the Korages

The first major victory of the "wolf packs" was the sinking of the aircraft carrier "Koreydzhes". This happened in September 1939, the aircraft carrier was sunk by the submarine U-29 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Shewhart. After the sinking of the aircraft carrier, the submarine was pursued by the destroyers accompanying it for four hours, but U-29 was able to slip out, almost without damage.

Destruction of Royal Oak

The next brilliant victory was the destruction of the battleship Royal Oak. This happened after the U-47 submarine under the command of Lieutenant Commander Gunter Prien penetrated the British naval base in Skala Flow. After this raid, the British fleet had to be relocated to another location for six months.

Victory over Ark Royal

Another resounding victory for Dönitz's submarines was the torpedoing of the aircraft carrier Ark Royal. In November 1941, the submarines U-81 and U-205, located near Gibraltar, were ordered to attack British ships returning from Malta. During the attack, the Ark Royal aircraft carrier was hit, at first the British hoped that they could tow the wrecked aircraft carrier, but this did not work out, and the Ark Royal sank.

From the beginning of 1942, German submariners began to conduct military operations in US territorial waters. The cities of the United States were not even dark at night, cargo ships and tankers moved without military escort, so the number of American ships destroyed was calculated by the stock of torpedoes on the submarine, so the U-552 submarine sank seven American ships in one exit.

Legendary submariners

The most successful submariners of the Third Reich were Otto Kretschmer and Captain Wolfgang Luth, who managed to sink 47 ships each with a tonnage of over 220 thousand tons. The most successful submarine was U-48, whose crew sank 51 ships with a tonnage of about 305,000 tons. The submarine U-196, under the command of Eitel-Friedrich Kentrath, stayed on the voyage for 225 days.

Equipment

To communicate with the submarines, radiograms were used, encrypted on a special Enigma encryption machine. Great Britain made every possible effort to obtain this device, since there was no other way to decipher the texts, however, as soon as it became possible to steal such a machine from a captured submarine, the Germans first of all destroyed the device and all encryption documents. However, they succeeded after capturing U-110 and U-505, and a number of encrypted documents also fell into their hands. U-110 was attacked by British depth charges in May 1941, as a result of damage, the submarine was forced to surface, the Germans planned to escape from the submarine and sink it, but they did not have time to sink it, so the boat was captured by the British, and Enigma fell into their hands and magazines with ciphers and maps of minefields. In order to keep the secret of the capture of the Enigma, the entire surviving crew of submariners was rescued from the water, the boat itself was soon sunk. The resulting ciphers allowed the British until 1942 to keep abreast of German radio messages, until Enigma was complicated. The capture of encrypted documents on board U-559 helped break this cipher. She was attacked by British destroyers in 1942 and taken in tow, a new variation of the Enigma was also found there, but the submarine began to sink quickly and encryption machine along with two British sailors drowned.

victories

During the war, German submarines were captured many times, some of them were also subsequently put into service with the enemy fleet, such as U-57, which became the British submarine Graf, which conducted combat operations in 1942-1944. The Germans lost several of their submarines due to the presence of defects in the structure of the submarines themselves. So the submarine U-377 went to the bottom in 1944 due to the explosion of its own circulating torpedo, the details of the sinking are not known, since the entire crew also died.

Fuhrer convoy

In the service of Dönitz, there was also another subdivision of submarines, called the Fuhrer's Convoy. The secret group included thirty-five submarines. The British believed that these submarines were intended to transport minerals from South America. However, it remains a mystery why at the end of the war, when the submarine fleet was almost completely destroyed, Dönitz did not withdraw more than one submarine from the Fuhrer's Convoy.

There are versions that these submarines were used to control the secret Nazi Base 211 in Antarctica. However, two of the convoy submarines were discovered after the war near Argentina, the captains of which claimed to be transporting an unknown secret cargo and two secret passengers in South America. Some of the submarines of this “ghostly convoy” were never found after the war, and there were almost no mentions of them in military documents, these are U-465, U-209. In total, historians talk about the fate of only 9 out of 35 submarines - U-534, U-530, U-977, U-234, U-209, U-465, U-590, U-662, U863.

Sunset

The beginning of the end for the German submarines was 1943, when the first failures of the Dönitz submariners began. The first failures were due to the improvement of the Allied radar, the next blow to Hitler's submarines was the growing industrial power of the United States, they managed to build ships faster than the Germans sank them. Even the installation of the latest torpedoes on submarines of the 13th series could not tip the scales in favor of the Nazis. During the war, Germany lost almost 80% of its submariners; at the end of the war, only seven thousand were alive.

However, Dönitz's submarines last day fought for Germany. Dönitz himself became Hitler's successor, later arrested and sentenced to ten years.

Nearly 70 years have passed since the Second World War, but even today not everything is known to us about some episodes of its final stage. That is why, again and again, in the press and literature, old stories about the mysterious submarines of the Third Reich that surfaced off the coast of Latin America come to life. Argentina was especially attractive to them.

There were reasons for such stories, real or fictional. Everyone knows the role of German submarines in the war at sea: 1,162 submarines left the stocks of Germany during the Second World War. But not only this record number of boats could rightfully be proud of the German Navy.

The German submarines of that time were distinguished by the highest technical specifications- speed, diving depth, unsurpassed cruising range. It is no coincidence that the most massive Soviet submarines of the pre-war period (series C) were built under a German license.

And when in July 1944 the German boat U-250 was sunk in the Vyborg Bay at a shallow depth, the Soviet command demanded that the fleet raise it at any cost and deliver it to Kronstadt, which was done, despite the stubborn opposition of the enemy. And although the boats of the VII series, to which the U-250 belonged, were no longer considered the last word in German technology in 1944, there were many novelties in its design for Soviet designers.

Suffice it to say that after its capture, a special order from Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Kuznetsov appeared to suspend the work begun on the project of a new submarine until a detailed study of the U-250. Later, many elements of the "German" were transferred to the Soviet boats of project 608, and later of project 613, of which more than a hundred were built in post-war years. The boats of the XXI series had especially high performance, one after another leaving for the ocean since 1943.

Dubious Neutrality

Argentina, having chosen neutrality in the world war, nevertheless took a clearly pro-German position. The numerous German diaspora was very influential in this southern country and provided all possible assistance to their warring compatriots. The Germans owned many industrial enterprises in Argentina, vast lands, and fishing boats.

German submarines operating in the Atlantic regularly approached the coast of Argentina, where they were supplied with food, medicine and spare parts. Nazi submariners were treated as heroes by the owners of German estates scattered in large numbers along the Argentine coast. Eyewitnesses said that real feasts were arranged for bearded men in marine uniforms - lambs and pigs were roasted, the best wines and kegs of beer were exhibited.

But there were no reports of this in the local press. It is no wonder that it was in this country that after the defeat of the Third Reich, many prominent Nazis and their henchmen, such as Eichmann, Pribke, the sadistic doctor Mengele, the fascist dictator of Croatia Pavelic and others, found refuge and escaped from retribution.

It was rumored that they all got to South America aboard submarines, a special squadron of which, consisting of 35 submarines (the so-called "Fuhrer's Convoy"), had a base in the Canaries. To this day, dubious versions have not been refuted that Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun and Bormann found salvation in the same way, as well as about the secret German colony of New Swabia allegedly created with the help of a submarine fleet in Antarctica.

In August 1942, Brazil joined the warring countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, taking part in the battles on land, in the air and at sea. She suffered the greatest loss when the war in Europe had already ended, and in the Pacific Ocean she was burning out. July 4, 1945, 900 miles from their native shores, the Brazilian cruiser Bahia exploded and almost instantly went to the bottom. Most experts believe that his death (together with 330 crew members) was the work of German submariners.

SWASTIKA ON THE COTTAGE?

Having waited out the time of troubles, making good money on supplies to both warring coalitions, at the very end of the war, when its end was clear to everyone, on March 27, 1945, Argentina declared war on Germany. But after that, the flow of German boats, it seems, only increased. Dozens of residents of coastal villages, as well as fishermen at sea, according to them, more than once observed submarines on the surface, moving south almost in wake formation.

The most open-eyed eyewitnesses even saw a swastika on their deckhouses, which, by the way, the Germans never put on the deckhouses of their boats. The coastal waters and coast of Argentina were now patrolled by the army and navy. An episode is known when, in June 1945, in the vicinity of the city of Mardel Plata, a patrol stumbled upon a cave in which various products were in sealed packaging. To whom they were intended remains unclear. It is also difficult to understand where this endless stream of submarines allegedly observed by the population after May 1945 came from.

After all, on April 30, the Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, ordered Operation Rainbow, during which all the remaining Reich submarines (several hundred) were subject to flooding. It is quite realistic that up to some of these ships that were in the ocean or in ports different countries, the directive of the commander-in-chief did not reach, and some crews simply refused to comply with it.

Historians agree that in most cases, various ships dangling on the waves, including fishing boats, were mistaken for submarines observed in the ocean, or eyewitness reports were simply a figment of their imagination against the backdrop of general hysteria in anticipation of a German retaliatory strike.

CAPTAIN CINZANO

But still, at least two German submarines turned out to be not phantoms, but quite real ships with live crews on board. These were U-530 and U-977, which entered the port of Mardel Plata in the summer of 1945 and surrendered to the Argentine authorities. When an Argentine officer boarded U-530 in the early morning of July 10, he saw the crew lined up on deck and its commander, a very young lieutenant who introduced himself as Otto Wermuth (later Argentine sailors called him Captain Cinzano) and stated that U- 530 and her crew of 54 surrender to the mercy of the Argentine authorities.

After that, the submarine's flag was lowered and handed over to the Argentine authorities, along with a list of the crew.

A group of officers from the naval base of Mardel Plata, who inspected U-530, noted that the submarine did not have a deck gun and two anti-aircraft machine guns (they were thrown into the sea before being captured), as well as not a single torpedo. All ship's documentation has been destroyed, as has the cipher machine. The absence of an inflatable rescue boat on the submarine was especially noted, which led to the idea that it was not used to land some Nazi figures (possibly Hitler himself) ashore.

During interrogations, Otto Wermuth said that U-530 left Kiel in February, hid in the Norwegian fjords for 10 days, after which it cruised along the US coast, and on April 24 moved south. Otto Wermuth could not give any intelligible explanations for the absence of the bot. A search was organized for the missing bot with the involvement of ships, aircraft and marines, but they did not give any results. On July 21, the ships participating in this operation were ordered to return to their bases. From that moment on, no one was looking for German submarines in the waters of Argentina.

THE TALE OF THE PIRATE

Concluding the story about the adventures of German submarines in the southern seas, one cannot fail to mention a certain corvette captain Paul von Rettel, who became widely known as the commander of U-2670 thanks to journalists. He, allegedly being in the Atlantic in May 1945, refused to sink his submarine or surrender and simply began to piracy off the coast of Africa and Southeast Asia. The newly-minted filibuster seemed to have made a huge fortune for himself. Fuel for his diesel engines, water and food, he replenished at the expense of his victims.

He practically did not use weapons, because few people dared to resist his formidable submarine. How this story ended, journalists do not know. But it is known for certain that the submarine number U-2670 was not included in the German fleet, and von Rettel himself was not on the list of commanders. So, to the disappointment of fans of sea romance, his story turned out to be a newspaper duck.

Konstantin RISHES

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The German submarine ace, a participant in the Battle of the Atlantic - Reinhard Hardegen went down in history not only thanks to naval victories. Once, at a gala dinner, he criticized not just anyone, but the Fuhrer personally ...

Underwater ace Hardegen

In the spring of 1942, the commander of the submarine U 123 Reinhard Hardegen (and underwater ace Erich Topp) was called to the Fuhrer's headquarters for decoration. The commander of the submarine fleet, Karl Dönitz, presented the submariner, holder of the Knight's Cross (the highest order of the Third Reich), to the Oak Leaves.

After the ceremony ended, Hitler invited the officers to dinner. During the meal, the Fuhrer began his monologue about affairs at the front and politics.

Suddenly Hardegen interrupted him. Underwater ace began to teach strategy leader naval war. Moreover, he criticized his views on submarines and naval aviation, which greatly spoiled Hitler's mood.

How did it happen that Dönitz, invited by him, dared to criticize the entire leader of the Reich, and how did Hardegen rise to such a high award?

(photo: Petra Stubbe)

By the way, the desperate submariner is still alive. On March 18, 2018, he turns 105 years old. At the moment, Hardegen remains the only living underwater aces of the Third Reich and is the oldest submarine commander on the planet.

Sailor from Bremen

Reinhard Hardegen was born in Bremen. Since childhood, he dreamed of connecting his life with the fleet. Thanks to a family friend - a retired sea captain - the young man strengthened his desire even more. The old sailor explained to Hardegen that the fleet needed educated officers, and the guy sat down for textbooks.

On April 1, 1933, Reinhard applied for the Navy, wishing to become a cadet. He was enrolled in the 33rd naval crew. The training lasted three and a half years. During this time, the cadets circumnavigated the world on the cruiser Karlsruhe, studied at the Mürvik Naval School and chose a military specialty. Hardegen decided to link his fate with aviation and became a naval pilot.

From pilots to submariners

After the flight school, Hardegen was supposed to be sent to serve in one of the Kriegsmarine squadrons, but chance intervened.

On September 19, 1936, a plane crash occurred at the Kiel airfield, the future underwater ace was seriously injured. With a severe fracture of the leg (which has now become shorter than the other) and injuries to internal organs, he spent six months in the hospital. From that moment on, the future ace began to have systematic health problems.

The pilot received the rank of lieutenant zur see while in a hospital bed.

After leaving the hospital, Hardegen continued to serve in naval aviation in one of the PLO (anti-submarine defense) squadrons. However, in November 1939, when the Kriegsmarine aviation was transferred to the Luftwaffe, it was transferred to submarines.

Hardegen (right) aboard U 124

A diving school, various training courses - and in August 1940, yesterday's naval pilot became a watch officer on the U 124 submarine. On it, he made two trips to the Atlantic, and in December of the same year he took command of the U 149 submarine (a small boat of type IID ).

On this ship, the future ace opened an account by sinking his first ship - the Norwegian steamer Augvald.

"Einz, zwei, dry"

But what about health? While Hardegen studied at various courses and went on campaigns, none of his superiors suspected that he was not fit for service on submarines. Documents from the hospital with his medical examination were sent to the place of service late.

They got to Dönitz's deputy, the captain of the zur see ( rank similar to captain 1st rank of the Navy of the USSR / Russian Federation - approx. Warhead) von Friedeburg, when he wanted to transfer the submariner from U 149 to U 123 - a large boat of the IXB type. Hardegen re-passed the medical examination, which made a disappointing conclusion: he was fit for service only on surface ships. However, this did not stop Reinhard. He persuaded von Friedeburg, who nevertheless approved his appointment to U 123.

On May 19, 1941, Hardegen arrived at the base in the French port of Lorian. U 123, nicknamed "Einz, zwei, dry", was waiting for him there. On this submarine, the submariner fought until the end of front-line service.

"Kick the Timpani"

After the United States declared war, the headquarters of the German submarine forces developed Operation Timpani Strike. Its goal is to destroy shipping in American waters. For the "strike" Karl Dönitz sent a group of submarines, including U 123.

Submarines "hit the timpani" on January 12, 1942. For weeks they sank ships from New York to Florida with impunity. Hardegen showed the best result.

He reported sinking ten ships at 65,635 tons. For these merits, the officer was awarded the Knight's Cross.

Dönitz was now sending his boats to the US coast in greater numbers. Hardegen had to go there again, although the commander of the submarine forces again wanted to remove him from the boat for health reasons.

The operations of the Reich submarine forces off the coast of the United States is one of the most dramatic periods of the Battle of the Atlantic. But, fortunately, the Kriegsmarine could neither achieve a reduction in the transport tonnage that the Allies had, nor seriously interfere with the movement of convoys. American factories and shipyards worked more and more intensively, and an increasingly powerful flow of cargo was flowing across the Atlantic, distributed between Britain and the USSR.

In March 1942 U 123 was nearly sunk. Hardegen distinguished himself again, but now the situation has become seriously complicated - the United States is gradually building up coastal defenses. At first, his submarine had to endure a battle with a trap ship, and miraculously emerged victorious. And at the end of the voyage, U 123 almost died under the depth charges of the US Navy destroyer Dahlgren. The ship bombed the boat when it lay at a depth of only 22 meters.

Hardegen was very lucky: U 123 escaped with damage and managed to hobble to the base. During the campaign, the submariner recorded nine more ships for 69405 tons on his combat account.

In total, according to Dönitz's calculations, the underwater ace sank ships for 170,000 tons (in reality, Hardegen sank 21 ships for 112,447 tons).

The commander of the submarine fleet introduced the officer to the Oak Leaves. Hitler approved the initiative and invited the ace to the headquarters. Where he burst into a critical speech.

Hardegen never went to sea again. For health reasons, Dönitz transferred him to a coastal post.

Definitely, with this decision, the commander of the German submarine and the future commander-in-chief of the Kriegsmarine saved Hardegen's life. The scope of the Allied anti-submarine operations, starting from the autumn of 1942, left almost no chance for even aces submariners to survive - sooner or later everyone received their bomb.

The underwater ace continued to serve in training flotillas, taught torpedo business in Mürvik. At the end of the war, he commanded a battalion in the 2nd Marine Division of the Kriegsmarine and was taken prisoner by the British in May 1945. He spent a year and a half in captivity and was released in November 1946 "without claims" - unlike many of his colleagues, Hardegen did not commit war crimes.

Returning to his family, the submariner tried to find himself in a peaceful life. He began to do business - and created a successful oil trading company. Then he became a member of the Parliament of Bremen, where he was elected for 32 years. And in the end, despite poor health, Hardegen outlived his fellow submariners.