U - 4 5 9

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(A  SUPPLY  U - BOAT)

INTERROGATION OF SURVIVORS

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September, 1943.

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C O N T E N T S

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I.

Korvettenkapitän	-	Lieutenant Commander
Kapitänleutnant	-	Lieutenant.
Oberleutnant zur See	-	Sub-Lieutenant.
Leutnant zur See	-	Junior Sub-Lieutenant.
Oberfähnrich zur See	-	Senior Midshipman.
Fähnrich zur See	-	Junior Midshipman.
Marinestabsarzt	-	Surgeon Lieutenant.

II.

protection/ . . .

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protection.  It had shields on each side but not to the rear.  In front, the gunlayer had to rely on the guns themselves for protection.  (N.I.D. Note:  This gun is more fully described in C.B. (74), Section II.)

        The above armament was mounted in U.459 following her fifth patrol.  Previously she had carried one 37 mm. gun forward, one 37 mm. gun aft, and four M.G. C.34's mounted on the bridge as required.

        (b)  Gun Deck Levels:

        The deck of the bandstand was flush with that of the bridge.  The deck of the additional bandstand was 3 feet below that of the bandstand proper.

        (c)  Torpedoes:

        Four had been carried in deck containers on all patrols except the send and the last.

        These were for transfer to other U-boats.  Prior to the last patrol the deck containers were removed.

        (d)  Torpedoes:        None.

(vi)    Propulsion:

        (a)  Diesels:        Two 6-cylinder G.W. Diesels, with Rootes type superchargers.

(xii)    Hoses/ . . .

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(xii)    Hoses:        One for fuel, one for lubricating oil and two spares.  The diameter of the fuel hose was 15 cm.  (5.91").

(xiii)    Workshops:        This was in the stern and contained a lathe and small boring mill.

(xiv)    Welding Equipment:        Three acetylene bottles under the bridge structure.

(xv)    Oxygen Equipment:        Three groups of four bottles inside the U-boat.

(xvi)    G.S.R.        Metox R.600.A carried with fixed drum-shaped aerial.  The set was fitted with an oscillograph with a scale graduated from 0 to 100.  There was also a Magic Eye, tube Tuna

        U.459's set had previously been intended for a destroyer.  Four spare G.S.R. sets and two or three spare aerials complete with cable were usually carried for supply to other U-boats.

(xvii)    Radar:         None.  A prisoner said that no spare Radar sets were carried for other boats because the weight of one was the equivalent to that of two torpedoes.

(xviii)    W/T Equipment:

        All transmitters and receivers fitted were by Telefunken.  The range of the short wave transmitter was 20 to 80 meters approx. that of long wave transmitter 100 metres upwards.  An emergency transmitter, driven through rotary converter from a battery, worked on wavelengths between 20 and 60 metres.  A normal standard receiving set was carried.

        Some spare receiving sets were carried for supply to other U-boats.

/III. . . .

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III.

LAST PATROL OF U.459.

(i)    U.459 Sails on Last Patrol with U.117.

        U.459 sailed from Bordeaux at 0930 on 21st July, 1943, and after 7 - 8 hours sailing made fast to a buoy in the mouth of the Grionde estuary.  There she remained overnight.  She was stored for a patrol of eight weeks.

        In the forenoon of 22nd July she was joined by U.117, commanded by Korvettenkapitän Hans Neumann, who secured to a second buoy.  U.461, commanded by Korvettenkapitän der Reserve Wolf Stiebler, also arrived but put back almost at once owing to a leak in Diving Tank 6.  (N.I.D. Note:  U.461 was sunk on 30th July, 1943, survivors being captured.)

        At about 1430 U.459 slipped moorings and proceeded to sea.  She was shortly overtaken by U.117.  Escort consisted of one Sperrbrecher, two destroyers and four minesweepers.  The following line ahead formation was taken up:  The Sperrbrecher, one destroyer, U.117, U.459 and the second destroyer astern.  Two minesweepers took station on each beam.  There was no air escort.  Speed of the group was about 10 - 12 knots, the ships being about 500 yards apart.  Shortly after midnight on 23rd July the escort parted company and the two U-boats dived.

(ii)    Sabotage Discovered.

        In U.459 it was found that the air quick release valve had failed to close properly and that the U-boat was shipping water rapidly.  On surfacing it was found that the boat had been very cleverly sabotaged by the insertion of a thick piece of copper wire bound round part of the valve seating.  This piece of wire having been removed, U.459 dived successfully.  The incident was reported by signal to the Bordeaux base.

(iii)    Operational Orders Changed.

        A prisoner said that, prior to diving, a signal was received to the effect that the operational area had been changed and they were to steer south.  Another prisoner said that he had heard that they were to follow another U-boat to the South Atlantic, which would eventually need supplying.

        In pursuance of her orders, U.117 turned south.  Wilamowitz-Möllendorf decided to continue on a westerly course for a few more hours.  U.459 surfaced for a short period on 24th July, diving again at 0800.  She once more surfaced at about 1500.

IV./ . . .

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IV.

SINKING OF U.459.

(i)    An Aircraft Crashes On U.459.

        At about 1715 U.459 was surprised and attacked by an aircraft approaching fine on the starboard bow, which, in spite of fire from the single 20 mm. guns, pressed home a very determined attack.  (N.I.D. Note:  This aircraft was Wellington Q of 172 Squadron.)  The aircraft had achieved almost complete surprise, for there was no time to bring the quadruple 20 mm. gun to bear.  Ratings were still trying to get additional ammunition supplies up through the conning tower when there was a tremendous explosion.  Few prisoners have been able to give any coherent account of what actually happened, but it is known that the aircraft struck the bandstand on the starboard side, carrying away the single 20 mm. gun, then slowed round and tore the quadruple gun from its mounting and finally crashed into the sea.  Three depth charges became detached, two falling on the bandstand and one right aft.  All ratings abaft the bridge were killed by the impact of the aircraft.  Because of this fact it has not been possible to establish satisfactorily whether the aircraft was brought down by A/A fire, or by the dry explosion of a depth charge, or whether it crashed owing to an error of judgment of the pilot.

        (N.I.D. Note:  The Air Gunner, sole survivor of Q/172, stated that when attacking, the Captain reported over inter-communication that the U-boat was preparing to fight.  At 1000 yards pieces started to fly off the fuselage when at a height of 100 feet.  There was an explosion and he lost consciousness, coming to in the water to find himself beside a dinghy.)

        At the time of the crash U.459 was proceeding slow ahead.  In the brief moment of panic which ensued, the three depth charges were precipitately thrown overboard, and one at least exploded under the stern, wrecking the steering gear and causing considerable damage in the engine room.  Switchboards in the electric motor room caught fire and the Diesels were jolted from their bases.  Out of control, the U-boat began to turn in circles, and because of this no attempt could be made to rescue the single R.A.F. survivor who was observed floating in a dinghy.  Wilamowitz-Möllendorf was still reluctant to abandon ship.  He believed that a chance remained that the damage could be repaired and possibly that the U-boat could make base on the surface.  Accordingly he ordered a signal to be made requesting air escort at the earliest possible moment.  As a precaution, however, he ordered all the thirty rubber dinghies to be brought on deck.  The fire in the electric motor room was got under control, although acetylene bottles beside the bridge, which had been fired by the aircraft, were still burning.

(ii)    Second Aircraft Attack.

        Hopes were dashed when a second aircraft appeared, dropped two or three depth charges wide of the U-boat and then returned to machine gun the decks.  (N.I.D. Note:  This aircraft was V of 547 Squadron.)  Machine gun fire destroyed a considerable number of the dinghies and penetrated the external tanks.  Some ratings tried to clear away the 37 mm. gun, but they were either killed or wounded by a further burst of fire.  It was this attack which decided Wilamowitz-Möllendorf to abandon ship.  A signal reporting sinking and the shooting down of one aircraft was made, although the transmitter was damaged and working only at very low strength.  It was doubted whether the signal was ever picked up.

        Wilamowitz-Möllendorf then ordered every man into the water.  He himself remained on the bridge and, having saluted his men as they pulled away in the remaining rubber dinghies, went below to scuttle the U-boat.  He was never seen again by survivors and it was thought that he made no attempt to save himself.  The U-boat remained about five minutes above water.  There was then a sharp explosion and black smoke poured from the conning tower.  U.459 then settled rapidly and finally sank by the stern.

        The sinking took place at approximately 1730.  A short while afterwards a third aircraft appeared, dropped two smoke floats and flashed the letters "O.K."

Survivors/ . . .

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        Survivors were rescued some 7-1/2 hours later, by O.R.P. "ORKAN".  (N.I.D. Note:  O.R.P. "ORKAN" reported picking up one R.A.F. man and 37 Germans in position 45⁰47'N., 010⁰37'W. at 0230 on 25th July, 1943)

V.

GENERAL REMARKS ON U-BOATS.

(i)    Refueling by Supply U-boats.

        (a)  Arranging Rendezvous.  U-boats generally signal Control at the latest when their fuel supply is down to about 10 tons, requesting a rendezvous with a supply U-boat.  Control then signals a supply U-boat and the U-boat in need of supply, instructing them to proceed to a certain position.  The use of U/T is forbidden in making rendezvous, and the U-boats have to rely on Aldis lamps for establishing contact.  Under no circumstances must a supply U-boat contact other boats direct.  All instructions must proceed via Control.  No special time is arranged for Control to contact supply U-boats.  The latter must always have their sets manned awaiting incoming signals.

        (b)  Amounts of Fuel Supplied.  U-boat may be supplied with any quantity from 8 to 80 tons of fuel, these being the extremes supplied by U.459.  A prisoner said that he had heard that U.511, when proceeding to Japan, had been supplied with 85 tons of fuel by U.460.

        (c)  Description of Hose.  The hose used for the transfer of fuel is made up of various lengths connected together.  Those have an internal diameter of 3.5".  In the supply boat there is an additional 8 metre length of rubber impregnated linen hose, to which is connected an 8 metre length of armored hose to prevent damage through chafing, where the hose leaves the supply boat.

        Between the supply boat the the U-boat being fueled are connected five 16-metre lengths of non-armored hose, with a further 8 metre armored length, where the hose enters the boat being fueled.

        In the boat being fueled three further 16 metre lengths of non armored hose are used.

        Thus the total length of fueling hose is 152 metres (500 feet).

        When lubricating oil is to be transferred, a similar hose of 2.16" internal diameter is also passed across.

The average/ . . .

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        The average time taken between a supply U-boat meeting a U-boat and passing the hose across and connecting it, was said to be half an hour.  Fueling is effected at an average rate of 20 tons an hour.  To disconnect and get clear takes a further half hour.  Thus an average supply will take about three hours.

        (e)  Transfer of Lubricating Oil.  It was formerly the custom to stop the lubricating oil hose to the fuel hose, but now they are normally passed separately, as it is not always necessary to transfer lubricating oil.

         The supply U-boat carried about 15 tons of lubricating oil in internal tanks.

(ii)    Transfer of Torpedoes at Sea.

        A prisoner stated that U.459 only once transferred a torpedo to an operational U-boat.  That was on her third patrol.  The torpedo was hoisted outboard by means of a derrick on the conning tower.  The torpedo had two balloon floats secured to it, one at the head and the other at the tail.  A rubber dinghy supported its centre.

(iii)    Special Bridge Watch in the Bay of Biscay.

        In U.459 a bridge watch of six was on duty in the Bay of Biscay.  This consisted of four men, including the Officer of the Watch, on the bridge itself, and two men to serve the 20 mm. quadruple gun, standing by the helmsman.

(iv)    Quadruple 20 mm. Gun's Crew.

        There was a crew of four for the quadruple 20 mm. mounting.  Number one was the gunlayer and controlled elevation by means of a wheel on a vertical axis.  Number Two was the trainer, operating a wheel on a horizontal axis.  Three and Four were loading members, each man supplying two guns.

(v)    Gun Drill.

(viii)/ . . .

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(viii)    M.A.N. Works at Augsburg.

        A prisoner said that he had visited the M.A.N. Works at Augsburg in August, 1941.  At that time they had about twelve U-boat Diesels on the test bed at once.  He had also seen a big opposed piston Diesel, which he presumed was for a German cruiser.

        In an air raid in that year one machine shop had been smashed up, but only one man, an ex-soldier, had been killed.

(ix)    M.A.N. Mechanically-Driven Diesel Supercharger.

        A Stoker Petty Officer said that M.A.N. had developed their own mechanically-driven Diesel supercharger, as they wished to be free of their connection with the Buchi firm.  The M.A.N. superchargers were not yet fitted in any U-boats, as they had given a lot of trouble.

(x)    Acoustic Torpedoes.

       A Stoker Petty Officer said that he had heard of trials with acoustic torpedoes at the Hamburger Schiffsbau Versuchsanstalt.  An air raid had once been made on this station.

(xi)    U-boat Batteries.

VI/ . . .

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VI.

SURFACE SHIPS.

(i)    Cruiser "KÖLN".

        Stated to be not at present in commission.  (N.I.D. Note:  Reported by reconnaissance at Kiel 31st July, 1943).

(ii)    Cruiser "LEIPZIG".

        Stated to be not at present in commission.  (N.I.D. Note:  Reported at Gdynia 1st August, 1943 (C.3)).

(iii)    Cruiser "NURNBERG".

        At present used as a Cadet's training ship.  (N.I.D. Note:  Reported by reconnaissance to have left Swinemünde between 27th July and 18th August.

(iv)    Cruiser "PRINZ EUGEN".

        Said to be capable of maximum speed of 29.7 knots.  (N.I.D. Note:  Designed speed was 32 knots).

VII/ . . .

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VII.

BASES, TRAINING ESTABLISHMENTS, ETC.

(i)    Bordeaux.

        (a)  12th Flotilla.  The 12th Flotilla, to which all Atlantic supply U-boats belong, is based at Bordeaux, (Field Post Number:  M.47587).  Senior Officer of the flotilla is Korvettenkapitän Claus SCHOLTZ.

        (b)  13th Flotilla.  The 13th Flotilla is in process of formation and will be based on Bordeaux as soon as a sufficient number of U-boat shelters have been built.

        (c)  Camouflage numbers.  Camouflage numbers are now being worn by Bordeaux U-boats.  U.459 was BX 6 in April and BX 24 in June, 1943.  A U-boat never wears the same number twice when entering Bordeaux.

        (d)  U-boat shelters.  On the 17th October, 1942, half one pen had been completed; on 20th April, 1943, four or five pens had been completed; on 3rd June, 1943, eight pens were completed and it was thought that in July, 1943, a total of eleven pens were ready for use.

        French workmen were not allowed in the U-boat shelters during construction, but once they were finished they were admitted if their duties required it.

        (e)  Services' Prison.  There is a special prison for "hard cases" of all three Services in Bordeaux.  Unpleasant conditions were said to obtain there.  Prisoners were chained wrists to ankles and received half rations only.  Food was of inferior quality.  The prison was known in naval slang as the "Löwenkäfig" (Lion's cage).  It was very often full.

        (f)  Sabotage.  In December, 1942, two freighters were said to have been sunk in Bordeaux harbour owing to sabotage.

VIII/ . . .

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VIII.

MISCELANEOUS REMARKS.

(i)    Gas against Aircraft.

        One prisoner believed that Germany was employing a new secret weapon by means of which gas shells were fired at aircraft, causing their engines to fail.

(ii)    Air-raid Damage.

        A prisoner said that at Mannheim one factory making tractors, and a second making tyres for tractors and bulldozers had both been burnt to the ground in air-raids.

(iii)    Superstition.

        It was said that a superstition existed among U-boat men that if a boat was sunk, all of her company who had been awarded the Iron Cross First Class were bound to drown.  Before starting on the last patrol, one of U.459's ratings had written a letter to be sent to his relatives should he not come back.  This was regarded as an invitation to disaster.

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APPENDIX "A".

BUILDING AND WORKING UP OF U.459.

Building and Commissioning.

        U.459 was built by the Deutsche Werke, Kiel being one of the series U.459 to U.464.  It is not known when she was laid down or launched but prisoners stated that they were drafted to Kiel to stand by the boat in October, 1941, and that she was finally commissioned on 15th November, 1941.  Korvettenkapitän der Reserve WILAMOWITZ-MÖLLENDORF was in command.  (See also C.B. 4051 (50) Pages 6 and 9.)

Working up in the Baltic.

        Working up was completed in the Baltic by February, 1942.  During this time, U.459 visited both Hel Peninsular and Danzig, but not Rönne, on the island of Bornholm, where silent running tests are usually carried out.

        U.459 returned to Kiel in February for final adjustments.

APPENDIX "B".

PREVIOUS PATROLS OF U.459.