German submarine U-505
U-505 shortly after being captured, pictured from the USS Pillsbury in preparation for towing
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History | |
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Nazi Germany | |
Name | U-505 |
Ordered | 25 September 1939 |
Builder | Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg-Finkenwerder |
Yard number | 295 |
Laid down | 12 June 1940 |
Launched | 24 May 1941 |
Commissioned | 26 August 1941 |
Fate | Captured by |
Status | Preserved as a museum ship[2] |
General characteristics | |
Type | Type IXC submarine |
Displacement | |
Length |
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Beam |
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Height | 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in) |
Draught | 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range |
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Test depth | 230 m (750 ft) |
Complement | 48 to 56 |
Armament |
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Service record | |
Part of: |
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Identification codes: | M 46 074 |
Commanders: |
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Operations: |
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Victories: |
8 merchant ships sunk (45,005 GRT) |
U-505 (IXC U-boat) | |
Coordinates | 41°47′30″N 87°34′53″W / 41.79167°N 87.58139°W |
Built | 1941 |
Architect | Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg, Germany |
NRHP reference No. | 89001231 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | 1989[3] |
Designated NHL | 1989[4] |
U-505 is a German
In her uniquely unlucky career with the Kriegsmarine, she had the distinction of being the "most heavily damaged U-boat to successfully return to port" in World War II on her fourth patrol, and the only submarine in which a commanding officer killed himself in combat conditions on her tenth patrol, following six botched patrols.[5] She was captured on 4 June 1944 by United States Navy Task Group 22.3 (TG 22.3), one of six U-boats that were captured at sea by Allied forces during World War II. All but one of U-505's crew were rescued by the Navy task group. The submarine was towed to Bermuda in secret and her crew was interned at a US prisoner of war camp, where they were kept in isolation. The Navy classified the capture as top secret and went to great lengths to prevent the Germans from discovering it.
In 1954, U-505 was donated to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois. She is now one of four German World War II U-boats that survive as museum ships, and just one of two Type IXCs still in existence with U-534.
Design
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18.3 knots (33.9 km/h; 21.1 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.3 kn (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph).
Service history
U-505's keel was laid down on 12 June 1940 by
She conducted 12 patrols in her career, sinking eight ships totaling 45,005 GRT. Three of these were American, two British, one Norwegian, one Dutch, and one Colombian.[1]
First patrol
U-505 was assigned as an operational boat to the 2nd U-boat Flotilla on 1 February 1942, following training exercises with the 4th U-boat Flotilla from 26 August 1941 to 31 January 1942. She began her first patrol from Kiel on 19 January, while still formally undergoing training. For 16 days, she circumnavigated the British Isles and docked at Lorient in occupied France on 3 February. She engaged no enemy vessels and was not attacked.[7]
Second patrol
U-505 left Lorient on 11 February 1942 on her second patrol. In 86 days, she traveled to the west coast of Africa, where she sank her first vessels. In less than one month, U-505 sank four ships: British Benmohr, Norwegian Sydhav, American West Irmo, and Dutch Alphacca for a total of 25,041 GRT. On 18 April, U-505 was attacked by an Allied aircraft in the mid-Atlantic, but suffered little damage.[8]
Third patrol
U-505 began her third patrol on 7 June 1942, after leaving her home port of Lorient. She sank the American ships Sea Thrush[9] and Thomas McKean and the Colombian Urious in the Caribbean Sea.[10] Urious was a sailing ship belonging to a Colombian diplomat, so its sinking gave Colombia political grounds to declare war on Germany.[11] U-505 then returned to Lorient on 25 August after 80 days on patrol without being attacked.[12]
Fourth patrol
U-505's fourth patrol sent her to the northern coast of South America. She left Lorient on 4 October and sank the British vessel Ocean Justice off the coast of
Aborted patrols
After six months in Lorient for repairs, U-505 started her fifth patrol. She left Lorient on 1 July 1943 and returned after 13 days, after an attack by three British destroyers that had stalked her for over 30 hours. While U-505 was not badly damaged in this encounter, she had to return to France for repairs.[14] U-505's next four patrols were all aborted after only a few days at sea, due to equipment failure and sabotage by French dockworkers working for the Resistance.[15][16][17][18] Faults found included sabotaged electrical and radar equipment, a hole deliberately drilled in a diesel fuel tank, and faulty welds on parts repaired by French workers. This happened so many times that she became the butt of jokes throughout the base at Lorient. Upon returning from one botched patrol, her crew found a sign painted in the docking area reading: "U-505's Hunting Ground". At a time when many U-boats were being sunk, U-505's commander, Kptlt. Zschech, overheard another U-boat commander joke, "There is one commander who will always come back ... Zschech."[19]
Tenth patrol and Zschech's suicide
After 10 months in Lorient, U-505 departed for her 10th Atlantic patrol, seeking to break her run of bad luck and bad morale. British destroyers spotted her east of the Azores on 24 October 1943, not long after crossing the Bay of Biscay, and she was forced to submerge and endure a severe depth-charge attack. Zschech committed suicide in the submarine's control room, shooting himself in the head in front of his crew. First-watch officer Paul Meyer took command and returned the boat to port with minimal damage. Meyer was "absolved from all blame" by the Kriegsmarine for the incident.[20][21] Zschech is recorded as the only known submariner during the war to commit suicide underwater in response to the stress of a prolonged depth charging.[21]
Eleventh patrol
The boat was placed under the command of Oblt.z.S. Harald Lange. U-505's 11th patrol began on Christmas Day 1943. She again returned early to Lorient on 2 January 1944, after she rescued 33 crew members from the German torpedo boat T25, sunk on 28 December by British cruisers in the Bay of Biscay.[22]
U-505 took part in wolfpack Hela from 28 December 1943 until 1 January 1944.
Twelfth patrol and capture
Antisubmarine task force
The Allies had learned from decrypted German messages that U-boats were operating near
Detection and attack
At 11:09 on 4 June 1944, TG 22.3 made
Chatelain was so close to U-505 that depth charges would not sink fast enough to intercept the U-boat, so she fired Hedgehog antisubmarine mortars before passing the submarine and turning to make a follow-up attack with depth charges.[23] One of the aircraft sighted U-505 and fired into the water to mark the position while Chatelain dropped depth charges. Immediately after the detonation of the charges, a large oil slick spread on the water and the fighter pilot radioed: "You struck oil! Sub is surfacing!"[27] Less than seven minutes after Chatelain's first attack began, the badly damaged submarine surfaced less than 600 m (700 yd) away.[26] Chatelain immediately opened fire on it with all available weapons, joined by other ships of the task force and the two Wildcats.[23]
Lange believed U-505 to be seriously damaged and ordered his crew to abandon ship. They obeyed the order promptly, but they did not successfully scuttle the boat; they opened some valves, but left the engines running.[23] The rudder had been damaged by depth charges, so the submarine circled clockwise at roughly 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph). The commanding officer of Chatelain saw the submarine turning toward his ship and thought that she was about to attack, so he ordered a single torpedo to be fired at her; the torpedo missed, passing ahead of the abandoned U-505.[23]
Salvage operations
Captain Gallery was keen to capture a U-boat and had encouraged his captains to plan for such an eventuality.[28] Chatelain and Jenks collected survivors, while an eight-man party from Pillsbury led by Lt. Albert David came alongside the submarine in a boat and entered through the conning tower. They found the body of Signalman First Class Gottfried Fischer on the deck, the only fatality of the combat, and U-505 was deserted. They secured charts and codebooks, closed scuttling valves, and disarmed demolition charges. They stopped the water coming in and the submarine remained afloat, although she was low in the water and down by the stern, and they also stopped her engines.[23] U-boat researcher Derek Waller has written that a German crewman, Ewald Felix, helped foil the scuttling attempt.[29]
Pillsbury attempted to take the submarine in tow, but repeatedly collided with her and had to move away with three compartments flooded. A second boarding party from Guadalcanal then rigged a towline from the aircraft carrier to the U-boat.[23] Guadalcanal's chief engineer Commander Earl Trosino joined the salvage party. He disconnected the submarine's diesels from her electric driving motors, while leaving them clutched to the propeller shafts. With the U-boat moving under tow by Guadalcanal, the propellers "windmilled" as they passed through the water, turning the shafts and the drive motors. This caused the motors to act as electrical generators charging the batteries. With power from the batteries, U-505's pumps cleared out the water let in by the attempted scuttling, and her air compressors blew out the ballast tanks, bringing her up to full surface trim.[23]
Despite the capture taking place close to French Morocco,
Awards
Historian
LTJG
Final journey
The US Navy kept U-505 at the US Naval Operating Base in Bermuda, and Navy intelligence officers and engineers studied her intensively. To maintain the illusion that she had been sunk rather than captured, she was painted to look like a US submarine and renamed USS Nemo.[35] At the end of the war in Europe, she was used to promote E War Bond sales as part of the "Mighty 7th" War Loan drive. Anyone who purchased a bond could also purchase a ticket to board and inspect her. In June 1945, she visited New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Captain Gallery was present for the opening of the exhibition in Washington, DC.[36]
The Navy had no further use for U-505 after the war. Experts had thoroughly examined her in Bermuda, and she was moored derelict at the
Museum ship
Nearly every removable part had been stripped from the boat's interior by the time she went to the museum; she was in no condition to serve as an exhibit, so museum director Lohr asked for replacements from the German manufacturers who had supplied the boat's original components and parts. Admiral Gallery reports in his autobiography Eight Bells and All's Well that every company supplied the requested parts without charge. Most included letters to the effect that the manufacturers wanted her to be a credit to German technology.[38]
A reunion was held at the museum in 1964, 20 years after the ship's capture, where Gallery returned to Lange some binoculars from the ship that had belonged to him.[39]
The Navy had removed the periscope and placed it in a water tank used for research at its
In 2019 the Museum refurbished the submarine, restoring her to be closer to her original condition. Also, a special exhibit with many additional artifacts from the submarine was opened in the general-admission section of the museum.[42]
In popular culture
Captain Gallery recounted the capture of U-505 in his 1951 memoir Clear the Decks. Gary Moore recounts a dramatized story of the captured crew in his 2006 historical fiction book Playing with the Enemy. Hans Goebeler recounts the story of the boat's patrols and her crew in his 2005 memoir Steel Boats, Iron Hearts: A U-Boat Crewman's Life Aboard U-505.[citation needed]
Summary of raiding history
Date | Ship Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[43] |
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5 March 1942 | Benmohr | United Kingdom | 5,920 | Sunk |
6 March 1942 | Sydhav | Norway | 7,587 | Sunk |
3 April 1942 | West Irmo | United States | 5,775 | Sunk |
4 April 1942 | Alphacca | Netherlands | 5,759 | Sunk |
28 June 1942 | Sea Thrush | United States | 5,447 | Sunk |
29 June 1942 | Thomas McKean | United States | 7,191 | Sunk |
22 July 1942 | Urious | Colombia | 153 | Sunk |
7 November 1942 | Ocean Justice | United Kingdom | 7,173 | Sunk |
See also
Wartime captured German U-boats
- German submarine U-110 (1940)
- German submarine U-570, later HMS Graph
- German submarine U-559
- German submarine U-744
- German submarine U-1024
Surviving German U-boats
Other
- List of submarine museums
- Playing With the Enemy
- U-571
References
- ^ a b c Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC boat U-505". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ a b Kemp 1999, p. 193.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 23 January 2007.
- ^ "U-505 (German Submarine)". National Historic Landmarks Program. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-517-38597-5.
- ^ a b c d Gröner 1991, p. 68.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol info for U-505 (First patrol)". U-Boat Patrols - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol info for U-505 (Second patrol)". U-Boat Patrols - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ Wiberg, Eric (26 April 2014). "SS Sea Thrush sunk by U-505/Loewe 28 June 1942 off Bahamas, Antigua". Eric Wiberg. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Urious (Colombian Sailing ship)". Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ^ Goebeler, Hans (2005). Steel Boat, Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman's Life Aboard U-505. Savas Beatie. p. 60.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol info for U-505 (Third patrol)". U-Boat Patrols - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol info for U-505 (Fourth patrol)". U-Boat Patrols - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol info for U-505 (Fifth patrol)". U-Boat Patrols - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol info for U-505 (Sixth patrol)". U-Boat Patrols - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol info for U-505 (Seventh patrol)". U-Boat Patrols - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol info for U-505 (Eighth patrol)". U-Boat Patrols - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol info for U-505 (Ninth patrol)". U-Boat Patrols - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ Gallery 2001, p. 203
- ^ Gallery 2001, p. 213
- ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol info for U-505 (Tenth patrol)". U-Boat Patrols - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol info for U-505 (Eleventh patrol)". U-Boat Patrols - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Capture of U-505 on 4 June 1944". Naval Heritage and History Command. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ Gallery 2001, pp. 354–356
- ^ Gallery 2001, p. 354
- ^ a b Gallery 2001, pp. 294–295
- ^ Andrews, Lewis M. (2004). Tempest, Fire and Foe. Trafford Publishing. p. 78.
- ^ Blair 1998 p.552
- ^ a b Bell, Jonathan (19 June 2019). "German sailor helped US Navy seize U-505". Royal Gazette. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^
Moore, Gary W. (2006). Playing with the Enemy: A Baseball Prodigy, a World at War, and a Field of Broken Dreams. Savas Beatie. pp. 107–168. ISBN 1-932714-24-3.
- ^ Division, Columbia University Libraries Digital Program (2010). "Columbia University Libraries: Oral Histories Portal: Collection Overview". oralhistoryportal.library.columbia.edu. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ Sebag-Montefiore, 2000, p. 343
- ^ a b c Blair 1998 p.553
- ^
ISBN 0-7538-1130-8.
- ^ McCurtie, Francis E. (2001). Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II. p. 290.
- ^ "Captured Submarine Goes on Exhibition Today to Bond Buyers". The Evening Star. The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 23 June 1945.
- ^
Wise, James E. Jr. (2005). U-505: The Final Journey. ISBN 978-1-59114-967-5. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
- ^
LCCN 65-18021.
- ^ "75 Facts About the U-505". Museum of Science and Industry. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ Green, Jack A. (7 February 2003). "Periscope Reunited with WWII German U-boat". Retrieved 12 April 2012.
- ^ "U-505 (German Submarine)". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
- ^ Johnson, Steve (3 June 2019). "U-505 Submarine Gets a Makeover and New Exhibit for 75th Anniversary at MSI". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-505". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
Bibliography
- Clay Blair : Hitler's U-Boat War Vol II:The Hunted 1942-1945 (1998). ISBN 0-304-35261-6
- Foster, Kevin J. (9 July 1988). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: U-505 (IXC U-Boat)" (pdf). National Park Service. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- "Accompanying Photos" (pdf). National Park Service. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- Gallery, Daniel V.(1958). We Captured a U-Boat. London: The Popular Book Company.
- Gallery, Daniel V. (1978). U-505. New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-32012-9
- Gallery, Daniel V. (2001). Twenty Million Tons Under the Sea. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-806-2.
- Goebeler, Hans Jacob, with Vanzo, John. (1999) Steel Boats, Iron Hearts: The Wartime Saga of Hans Goebeler and U-505 (Wagnerian Publications). OCLC 45116124. This privately distributed paperback book was later reprinted as Steel Boat, Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman's Life aboard U-505. New York: OCLC 751578149.
- Vanzo, John P. (6 December 2006) [July 1997]. "German Submarine U-505 Crewmember Hans Goebeler Recalls Being Captured During World War II". World War II. HistoryNet. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- Vanzo, John P. (6 December 2006) [July 1997]. "German Submarine U-505 Crewmember Hans Goebeler Recalls Being Captured During World War II". World War II.
- Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). "U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels". German Warships 1815–1945. Vol. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
- Harris, Wesley. (2006). Fish Out of Water: Nazi Submariners as Prisoners in North Louisiana During World War II. RoughEdge Publications.
- Kemp, Paul (1999). U-Boats Destroyed – German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. London: Arms & Armour. ISBN 1-85409-515-3.
- Kohnen, David. "Tombstone of Victory: Tracking the U-505 From German Commerce Raider to American War Memorial, 1944–1954" in The Journal of America's Military Past (Winter 2007).
- Kohnen, David. Commanders Winn and Knowles: Winning the U-boat War with Intelligence, 1939–1943 (Enigma Press, 1999).
- Kohnen, David. "F-21 and F-211: A Fresh Look into the Secret Room" in Randy C. Bolano and Naval Institute, 2001).
- Moore, Gary W.(2006) Playing with the Enemy: A Baseball Prodigy, a World at War, and a Field of Broken Dreams. Savas Beatie LLC, New York.
- Rogers, J. David. "Capture of the U-505" (PDF). Missouri University of Science and Technology. Retrieved 3 June 2013. Popular description of the capture of U-505 by a former naval officer and professor.
- Savas, Theodore P., Editor. (2004) Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the U-boat War in the Atlantic. Savas Beatie LLC, New York.
External links
- U-505 at MSIChicago.org
- U-505 Archived 19 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine at uboatarchive.net
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "U-505". uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- U-505 at HNSA Ship (archived)
- The short film Away Boarders is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
- Panel Discussion, Pritzker Military Library, 4 February 2013, about the U-505 moderated by John Allen Williams with panelists Marc Milner, Stephen Budianskyand Kurt Haunfelner
- U-505 personal diary. WorldCat. OCLC 51730895. Oberfunkmatt Gottfried Fischer's personal diary
- Mark Felton's video report on U-505