{"id":2822,"date":"2024-12-17T23:52:57","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T23:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=2822"},"modified":"2024-12-17T23:52:57","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T23:52:57","slug":"hunt-and-capture-of-german-submarine-u-505","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=2822","title":{"rendered":"Hunt and Capture of German Submarine U-505"},"content":{"rendered":"


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By Friedrich Seiltgen<\/a><\/p>\n

T<\/span>he story behind the hunt and capture of German Submarine\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0during World War II is incredible. It was the first enemy warship taken as a prize of war since the War of 1812\u00a0and the only captured warship to be towed to the United States.<\/p>\n

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A U.S. Navy boarding party works to save\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0shortly after she was abandoned by her German crew. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The German crew was transferred to a P.O.W. camp in America, and the submarine was disguised as a U.S. submarine to fool the enemy, all of which was done in total secrecy until Germany\u2019s surrender in May 1945.<\/p>\n

Das Boot<\/h2>\n

Commissioned in August 1941,\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0was an IXC Class German submarine built in Hamburg, Germany, by Deutsche Werft. It was powered by two\u00a0MAN\u00a0SE supercharged\u00a0four-stroke, nine-cylinder\u00a0diesel engines\u00a0producing a total of 4,400\u00a0horsepower for use while surfaced and two\u00a0Siemens\u00a0double-acting electric motors\u00a0producing a total of 1,010\u00a0horsepower for use while running submerged. It was equipped with six torpedo tubes for its 21-inch G7es passive\u00a0acoustic torpedoes, a twin 20mm anti-aircraft gun, a 10.5 cm (4.1 inch) deck gun mounted forward of the conning tower, and a 37mm anti-aircraft gun.<\/p>\n

\"German\n<\/picture>
The U.S. flag flies over\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0before she was taken under tow by the\u00a0Casablanca<\/em>-class escort carrier USS\u00a0Guadalcanal<\/em>. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On January 19, 1942,\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0set sail from Kiel with Capt. Axel-Olaf Loewe in command\u00a0on a training and familiarization cruise. The boat patrolled the British Isles, engaged no ships, and returned after 13 days to its new port of Lorient, France. The second patrol resulted in four ships sunk, and the third patrol netted three ships.<\/p>\n

\"Captain\n<\/picture>
Capt. Daniel V. Gallery, Commanding Officer of USS\u00a0Guadalcanal<\/em>, on the\u00a0U-505<\/em>. Later an admiral, Gallery helped to save the boat for preservation in a museum. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With its fourth patrol and new Capt.\u00a0<\/strong>Peter Zschech,\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0started to run out of luck. Zschech was described as a \u201chard\u201d commander, indifferent to the men\u2019s morale, and ill-tempered. On October 4, 1942,\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0left her base at Lorient, headed to South America, and sank its first ship under the new captain. The victory was short-lived, however.<\/p>\n

\"Captain\n<\/picture>
Capt. Daniel V. Gallery (L) and Lt. j.g. Albert L. David on board USS\u00a0Guadalcanal<\/em>. David led the\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0boarding party and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On November 11,\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0was spotted and attacked in the Caribbean Sea by an RAF Lockheed Hudson light bomber. The sub was struck by a 250-pound bomb on the foredeck, which blew the deck gun off and breached the hull. The Hudson was hit by shrapnel from the explosion and crashed into the sea, killing the pilot and crew. Capt. Zschech gave the order to abandon ship, which his crew ignored. The crew made hasty repairs and limped its way back to Lorient.<\/p>\n

\"boarding\n<\/picture>
A boarding party from USS\u00a0Pillsbury<\/em>\u00a0works to secure a tow line to the bow of\u00a0U-505<\/em>. Note the large U.S. flag flying from the submarine\u2019s periscope. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The repairs took over six months, and on July 1, 1943, she left Lorient to begin its 5th<\/sup>\u00a0patrol. Three British destroyers hunted her for over 30 days, and she escaped and returned to Lorient.<\/p>\n

A Shocking Result<\/h2>\n

The next four patrols were all scrubbed shortly after getting underway, as the boat suffered from mechanical issues caused by sabotage from the dockworkers in Lorient who were working with the French resistance. The boat then became the subject of jokes around the port, with a sign posted that read \u201cU-505<\/em>\u00a0Hunting Ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"USS\n<\/picture>
German sailors are cooled off with a salt water hose on the USS\u00a0Guadalcanal<\/em>. In the center distance,\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0is towed to Bermuda by USS\u00a0Abnaki<\/em>\u00a0(ATF-96). Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After months stuck in Lorient,\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0attempted her 10th<\/sup>\u00a0patrol. On\u00a0October 24, 1943, while she was positioned near the\u00a0Azores, she was spotted by\u00a0British destroyers. The boat submerged and rigged for depth charges. During the attack, Zschech committed suicide in the submarine\u2019s control room by shooting himself in the head in front of his crew.<\/p>\n

\"US\n<\/picture>
Sailors of the USS\u00a0Guadalcanal<\/em>\u00a0stand in an Oerlikon 20 mm cannon tub as their ship takes the German submarine\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0in tow. Men on the submarine\u2019s bow are members of a salvage party. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first officer, Paul Meyer,\u00a0took command and brought the boat back to Lorient. Zschech made history as the only submariner during the war to commit suicide in response to the stress of a depth charge attack. Lt. Harald Lange would replace Meyer two weeks after Zschech\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

Hunted Down<\/h2>\n

Allied forces learned from decrypted messages that U-boats were operating near\u00a0Cape Verde. On May 15, 1944, the U.S. Navy dispatched Task Group 22.3, a\u00a0hunter-killer group\u00a0consisting of the escort aircraft carrier\u00a0USS\u00a0Guadalcanal<\/em>\u00a0(CVE-60) and the destroyer escorts\u00a0USS\u00a0Pillsbury<\/em>\u00a0(DE-133), USS\u00a0Pope<\/em>\u00a0(DE-134), USS\u00a0Flaherty<\/em>\u00a0(DE-135), USS\u00a0Chatelain<\/em>\u00a0(DE-149), and USS\u00a0Jenks<\/em>\u00a0(DE-665), and began searching for the U-boats.<\/p>\n

\"U-505\n<\/picture>
Salvage parties at work on\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0as a Grumman TBM Avenger flies overhead. In the background is the USS\u00a0Chatelain<\/em>, an\u00a0Edsall<\/em>-class destroyer escort. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

U-505<\/em>\u00a0began its last patrol with Lt. Harald Lange commanding. On June 4th<\/sup>, 1944, approximately 150 miles west of Rio De Oro, Africa,\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0was detected on sonar and the attack began.<\/p>\n

\"USS\n<\/picture>
USS\u00a0Chatelain<\/em>\u00a0with survivors of the captured German submarine\u00a0U-505\u00a0<\/em>on her forecastle. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The USS\u00a0Chatelain<\/em>\u00a0began depth charge attacks, along with two Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters. After a few minutes oil began to surface, and a Wildcat pilot came over the radio with the message, \u201cYou\u2019ve struck oil.\u201d When\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0surfaced, it came under immediate attack and surrendered. The depth charges caused the rudder to jam, its auxiliary rudder controls were disabled, and\u00a0aft compartments were flooded.<\/p>\n

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Believing that the submarine was about to sink, Lt. Lange ordered his crew to abandon ship, and scuttling procedures began. As\u00a0its crew was being picked up,\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0was boarded by U.S. Navy personnel from\u00a0the USS\u00a0Pillsbury<\/em>\u00a0led by\u00a0Lt. j.g. Albert David, who started securing sensitive materials, closed valves, and disarmed explosive charges to prevent the sub from sinking. With the flooding contained and the engines shut down, the boat\u00a0was taken into tow.<\/p>\n

\"US\n<\/picture>
Members of the U.S. salvage party use a small handy-billy pump to dewater the partially scuttled\u00a0U-505<\/em>. Note the twin 20mm anti-aircraft machine guns. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although the capture occurred close to Morocco,\u00a0Casablanca\u00a0was known to be full of German spies, and a secure port was needed. On June 19, the submarine arrived at the United States Navy\u2019s\u00a0Naval Operating Base, Bermuda. Now, the work began on learning this enemy submarine\u2019s secrets. While moored in Bermuda,\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0was painted to resemble a U.S. submarine and renamed USS\u00a0Nemo<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"torpedo\n<\/picture>
The forward 53.3cm torpedo tubes of the\u00a0U-505<\/em>. Note the Roman numerals on each tube (even numbers to starboard, odd to port) and nicknames affixed to the two upper tubes. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The sub was a treasure trove of intelligence filled with classified publications, an Enigma cipher machine with up-to-date cipher rotors, the month\u2019s\u00a0Kriegsmarine\u00a0codebook, and most damaging of all, the\u00a0G7es passive\u00a0acoustic torpedo, which was reverse-engineered\u00a0to address the British-built\u00a0Foxer\u00a0decoy system used to confuse\u00a0the torpedoes.<\/p>\n

\"electric\n<\/picture>
The control panel for the electric motors of the\u00a0U-505<\/em>, a German Type IXC submarine. The image was taken after the boat\u2019s capture by the United States. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now that the submarine was in Allied hands, the United States had to consider the German sailors who were now in their custody. The 58 crew members of\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0taken prisoner by the United States Navy were transferred to\u00a0Camp Ruston in northern Louisiana, one of the largest P.O.W. camps in North America.<\/p>\n

\"German\n<\/picture>
Radio detection and communications equipment on board the U-505. The photo was taken shortly after the boat was taken as a prize of war. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Secrecy was crucial to the mission, as the U.S. was gaining intelligence from the\u00a0captured sub, and the Germans believed the crew was lost along with the submarine. The crewmen were isolated from other prisoners of war, and the\u00a0Red Cross\u00a0was denied access to them. The crewmen were not returned to Germany until 1947.<\/p>\n

\"rescued\n<\/picture>
Rescued German crewmen on the bow of USS\u00a0Chatelain<\/em>. They are wearing U.S. survivor issue uniforms in place of their own clothing which was soaked when they abandoned\u00a0U-505<\/em>. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Second Life as a Museum Ship<\/h2>\n

After the war in Europe ended, German U-boats<\/a> no longer posed a threat to Allied shipping. As the need for secrecy around\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0vanished, it was sent out on a war bond tour to raise funds for the war against Japan. In June\u00a01945, the\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0visited New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., where spectators could tour the boat in exchange for purchasing war bonds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Grumman\n<\/picture>
A Grumman TBF Avenger approaches the USS\u00a0Guadalcanal<\/em>\u00a0for a landing.\u00a0Guadalcanal<\/em>\u00a0kept up flight operations for days while towing the captured submarine toward Bermuda. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eventually,\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0was sent off to Portsmouth Naval Yard for storage until a decision was made about its future. Eventually, it was decided to use\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0for target practice. Rear Adm. Daniel Gallery vehemently opposed the decision, as he was the Task Force Commander when\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0was captured.<\/p>\n

\"US\n<\/picture>
The U.S. flag flies over the German naval ensign with\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u2018s periscope serving as the flagstaff. Note the hoses running from U-505\u2019s fairwater indicating that she is still being dewatered. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gallery contacted his brother, Father John Gallery, who contacted the President of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Lenox Lohr, to ask if he had any interest in a submarine. Mr. Lohr told him that the museum was looking for a submarine for display. The U.S. Government donated\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0under the condition the museum pay for transport. The citizens of Chicago donated $250,000 for transportation and installation, with the U.S. Coast Guard escorting the boat through the Great Lakes.<\/p>\n

Today you can see and tour the German submarine\u00a0U-505<\/em>\u00a0at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: Please be sure to check out The Armory Life Forum, where you can comment about our daily articles, as well as just talk guns and gear. Click the \u201cGo To Forum Thread\u201d link below to jump in and discuss this article and much more!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Griffin Museum of Science and Industry <\/h3>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Friedrich Seiltgen The story behind the hunt and capture of German Submarine\u00a0U-505\u00a0during World War II is incredible. It was the first enemy warship taken as a prize of war since the War of 1812\u00a0and the only captured warship to be towed to the United States. A U.S. Navy boarding party works to save\u00a0U-505\u00a0shortly after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}