Interrogation of UN 5631/40S                   U-701                                       September 10, 1942
	Werner Karl Seldte by Capt. H.W. Boesch
	Q. Come in.     A. Good day.     Q. Good day.  How are you today?     A. Very well, thanks.     Q. Just have a seat.     A. Yes, sir.     Q. Are you getting cigarettes?     A. Yes, cigarettes and chocolates.     Q. Fine; you see, that's what the Army does for you; quite different from the Navy.  How many cigarettes are you getting now?     A. We've gotten six packages.     Q. Six packs?  Then maybe you have more than I.  Well, you probably won't remain here very long, and so I'll make another little examination in order to determine exactly how to classify you.  We have prisons where we send men who did not belong to the Party, then we have others where we send just Party- members who want to be with other Party-members, etc.  We do this so that people can have free contact and association with each other, and feel at home, and so there won't be any disputes among prisoners of different political opinions.  Do you understand that?     A. Yes, sir.     Q. Therefore.  I'd like to know a little more as to what your opinions are.  I believe you never have been a party member.     A. No, I never have been a party member, but when I was twelve years old, I was in the Jungvolk, and in the Hitler Jugend, but I finally gave it up.
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	Q. Well, what do you think about your Führer, and the rest of your leaders?     A. I have a great deal of respect for the commanders; as for the government itself.     Q. Yes, but tell me your opinion of your Führer.  I want to know that so that we won't send you to the wrong prison.     A. Yes, sir.  I think a lot of the Führer himself.     Q. I see.  How many trips did you make with Kapitänleutnant Degen?     A. I've made every trip with him     Q. Were you with him in Iceland?     A. Yes, sir.     Q. They were only small steamers?     A. Yes, sir.     Q. Were you more successful on the trip before that?     A. No sir, We sank just one steamer that trip.     Q. Just one?  How big was it?     A. It was 3,400 tons.     Q. That didn't even pay     A. No, sir.     Q. Can you tell me anything about Baarke?  I've found out that it is up there near Oldenburg.  How large a place is it?     A. Oh, it's just a little place.     Q. And that's where you went for your training, isn't it?     A. Yes, indeed.     Q. It lies on the coast?
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	A. Not directly on the coast, it's a little bit removed.  You can go to Wesermünde from there.     Q. Wesermünde, I believe, is on the other side of the "Weser".     A. Yes, sir.  On the other side of the Weser.     Q. To be sure.  And about Wilhelmshaven.  Have you ever been through the Kaiser Wilhelm canal?     A. Yes, sir.     Q. Is it still in good condition?     A. Yes, it is.     Q. I thought there'd been a few bombs dropped on it.     A. I don't know about that; haven't heard of it.  It must have been later.     Q. When were you there last?     A. Just before Christmas.     Q. Shortly before last Christmas?  It must have bee repaired then; or else it was propaganda.  That's the reason I ask you these things; one has to listen to so much, that he thinks; "Heavens! There's nothing left over there!"     A. I heard on the English radio once that they had completely demolished Hamburg; leveled it to the ground.  Now, what can you think of the English news broadcasts?  Imagine yourself walking in the streets of a town, and a little later hearing them say that it had been destroyed before you were there.     Q. Yes, that's what I say.  We read things in the newspaper and wonder how much of it is true, for example; the Hauptbahnhof, is it still there?     A. Yes, it is still there.     Q. And all the hotels near the Depot, are they still all right?     A. Yes, they are all there, too.     Q. Tell m; the Kiel canal, that I've heard was bombed, is it still in order?
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	A. Yes, it too.  The locks are still in order.     Q. The locks too, oh?  What about Wilhelmshaven?  Was it bombed too?     A. We had air-raid warnings frequently, but for the most part the planes flew over Wilhelmshave to Berlin.     Q. Or perhaps toward Kiel?     A. Once we had a very long alert; we thought that they had flown to Berlin, or even further.     Q. That must have lasted for hours.     A. Yes, that was all night long.  We had to stay in the shelter all night.      Q. Were there many ships, such as destroyers and cruisers?     A. I saw a few destroyers and torpedo-boats in Wilhelmshaven.     Q. Didn't you see any of the big ones, like the pocket battleships or even the Tirpitz?     A. No, sir.  I did not.     Q. Did they have U-boat bunkers or blockhouses there?     A. No, sir, there weren't any of those there at that time.     Q. But they had them in St. NAzaire.  How big are they anyway?     A. There quite visible.     Q. Are they all combined into some large hall?     A. Yes, a long hall affair, and entrances everywhere.     Q. So it was described to me.  At first I thought that it is a large hall, as big as this building.     A. Yes, sir.  A great deal bigger.     Q. I wondered how ten or twenty submarines could get into a building like this.     A. Impossible, it was much larger.     Q. Of course.  And I was told that there was an entrance for every submarine.
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	Q. I can picture that now.  It was said to be large enough to shelter twenty; could that be so?     A. I have not counted them, but that may be the case.     Q. My informant had been in Lorient.     A. I haven't seen the bunkers in Lorient.     Q. Didn't see them there at all?     A. No, sir.     Q. But you stopped there, didn't you, on you outward journey?     A. Yes, but we only landed to take provisions aboard.     Q. One of you told me - - was it you, that you were in La Rochelle?     A. No, that must have been somebody else.     Q. Did you touch at any other French ports?     A. No, sir.     Q. Did you get to Ostend in Belgium?     A. No, sir.     Q. That's a very nice city.     A. That's what I've heard from a friend who was in the last war.     Q. They have gambling houses there, etc., on the beach.     A. Yes, it's a nice place to have fun, I understand.     Q. How big is Pillau?  It's pretty far north     A. Yes, the last time I was there it was damned cold.     Q. When was that?     A. At the end of last year, in October.     Q. Oh, October and November of 1940?     A. Yes, sir.     Q. How big is that town?     A. Pillau is a small town.  Little old houses.     Q. And a little harbor, too?
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	A. Yes, sir.     Q. There were various submarines there?     A. Just the school flotilla.     Q. Yes, and then Flensburg and Möbig.  When did you leave Pillau?  In April or March.     A. When I arrived it was still cold.     Q. Then you came to Kiel?     A. No in Hamburg.     Q. And the torpedo school is in Möbig.  How big is it?     A. That's all one area; the Navy school, the signal school, and the torpedo school.     Q. That's a big section; it lies outside of Flensburg.     A. It's about five miles out, and there is a trolley line.     Q. Tell me how it was last winter.  I hear it was so cold last winter in Germany, that the farmers lost their potato crop; they gather them with their hands you know.     A. I wasn't in Germany at all last winter.     Q. You left at the first of the year?     A. Yes, I left at the beginning of the year.     Q. And when was you next-to-last trip to Iceland?     A. That must have been around March.     Q. And before that you were in the Atlantic?     A. Yes, in the North Atlantic.     Q. And you last one too?     A. On this trip I - -     Q. On your last trip you left in May from St. Nazaire; that was on the twenty-fifth.  Before that you'd been in St. Nazaire for six weeks.  The submarine was there too; and before that, in April or March, you were -
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	Q. up around Iceland.  One man told me that it was very lovely there with the icebergs, and so on.     A. Yes, it was, too.  It was the first time I had ever seen such high mountains, ice covered.     Q. Where were you before that?     A. In the North Atlantic.     Q. Still in the North Atlantic!  Didn't you sink any ships there?     A. No     Q. That must have been in February.     A. Yes, that was around the beginning of the year.     Q. And before that, where were you?     A. Just in Germany.     Q. Then you must have seen something of the severe winter.  I was told that the weather was so cold that the peasants couldn't dig their potato pits.     A. I can't believe that.     Q. It does seem unlikely.  They cover the potatoes with manure and leaves, I understand to keep them from freezing.     A. I don't know how they do it, but I know that a large amount of the potato crop suffered from the frost.     Q. Yes, we knew that.     A. Potatoes were not rationed before that.  That started during the last winter.     Q. Now the potato crop is being harvested again.     A. Yes, it is harvesting time now, I would say.     Q. I understand that quite a number of Italians have been taken to Germany lately.
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	A. Yes, there are many Italian workers in Germany now.     Q. Italian laborers only?     A. Yes, sir.     Q. It is said, too, that a lot of Italian soldiers and Officers are transferred into Germany for training in special schools.     A. Is that so?     Q. Yes, I was told that.     A. I have not heard about it, but I do know about the Italian laborers.     Q. Where are they being employed?     A. In all kinds of factories and on farms, wherever they need help.     Q. Say, maybe you could help me out a little, I'd like to get some kind of an idea about things on board.  For example; how do you detect an approaching plane?  I presume you have some kind of a device.     A. (Very low voice)  Yes, we remain motionless under the water.     Q. In that case you cannot prepare yourself for AA fire and get your guns into action.     A. (Very low voice)  When the plane arrives - - -     Q. I still can't quite make it out.     A. It is a good practice to remain quiet and that lends the impression of a dead point.     Q. Whenever you spot a plane do you remain on the surface and point your AA guns at it or do you rather submerge?     A. We have only one cannon with us.  We do not have much of a chance though.     Q. What caliber gun is it?     A. It has only (2 cm) 20 mm.     Q. I thought it was a larger caliber.     A. No, but in addition we have an 8.8 cm gun.  It's place is on deck in front of the turret.  But that is not an AA gun.
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	Q. You use it only to destroy larger ships by cannon fire, don't you?  I've always wondered what kind of a feeling it is whenever you dive.  Is it the same all the time?     A. That is hardly noticeable.  Most of the time we sleep and upon waking up, we notice that we are submerged.     Q. Do you know, how the diving proceeds.  Whether you do it all at one time, or are there different phases to it.  A certain depth at a time.     A. That depends entirely upon the situation.     Q. How steep an angle can you take for your dive?  About 450?     A. (Mumbling)     Q. How fast can you travel during the diving process.  At which speed can it be done.     A. Yes.  (Hesitating) well.     Q. Don't you have a slight idea at least?  Approximately how fast?     A. I don't know it.     Q. Suppose now, you are on the surface.  An aircraft is spotted, you all enter thru the valve and close it tight behind you.  And then how long does it normally take until you are down?     A. That's a moment's affair.     Q. About 10 minutes?     A. (Laughing)  That's too long.     Q. Too long.     A. Sure, it's only about half a minute.     Q. But how deep can you dive in such a short period.  All you can accomplish in such a short time, is to get started in your diving process.     A. Well, its deep enough to keep us out of sight of the plane.      Q. However, if you are no more than 10m under water, the plane can still locate you.
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	A. Yes, that's . . .     Q. The aircraft is still in such a position as to spot you.     A. Yes, but first the aircraft has to definitely locate us and by the time they get ready for us, we dive further down.     Q. Yes.  Do you have any idea at all as to how deep you dive after you locate an aircraft?     A. I couldn't tell you about that.  It depends on whether we are attacked.     Q. Do you ever go as far down as 150 m?  I am curious to know how deep you can dive.     A. One goes as far down as needed to be safe.     Q. I see, so that nothing can happen.     A. Mumbling ???     Q. Does it take very long to bring the two air torpedoes inside and load them in the tubes?     A. A different crew takes care of that.  Special knowledge is required.  The seaman might give them a hand though, but the crew is trained for this work.  It takes hours sometime, when the sea is rough or choppy.     Q. You have to be left alone and be pretty safe, I suppose, during the process.  By that, I mean if you were surprised by an aircraft or a destroyer, you'd be doomed.     A. Yes, sir, that is true.  It would be our end.     Q. You carried twelve (12) electric torpedoes and two (2) air torpedoes on the outside.  Isn't that right.     A. Yes, sir.  It makes it pretty crowded on the inside.
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	Q. Yes, I can understand that.     A. In addition to that, the rations and all the other stuff which is needed leave very little space for us to move around in.     Q. You were with Degen at the time when his boat was bombarded for fifteen hours I suppose.  Do you remember that?     A. Yes, sir, but it was not for fifteen hours.  It was only about five hours.     Q. Somewhere I read it was for fifteen hours, and I thought that couldn't be possible.     A. No, sir.  It was from noon until in the late afternoon 4:00 or 5:00 O'clock.  For five hours continuously.     Q. Where did it take place?     A. Here along the coast.     Q. An aircraft is the only means to carry out such a terrific bombardment.     A. No, it was a destroyer.     Q. How long were you forced to remain submerged at the bottom of the ocean?     A. No, sir.  We did not go to the bottom; however, we were deep under water.     Q. I suppose if you could have gone down to 150 meters, you would have been out of danger.     A. Oh no, We did not have to go that far down     Q. You said that the glasses burst?     A. Yes, the water gauges went to pieces.  They are not very resistant.     Q. Can you substitute them?  Do you carry spare water gauges?     A. Yes, sir.  Several of them.     Q. If those burst also, then it is all over, I suppose.     A. We carry plenty of them with us.     Q. What else can happen if depth charges (Wasserbomben) are fired?     A. Much more can happen.  It is possible that the motors come loose from their foundations, all the screws break and things like that.  It causes a terrific noise.  A man may even stumble or fall and be hurt badly.
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	Q. Don't most of the crew get extremely nervous and lose their nerve altogether?     A. It all depends on the individual.  Nothing can ever happen to me.  I can keep very calm on such occasions.  Some fellows can even keep on sleeping.  (Pause).     Q. Well, I believe that you should be classified with the good fellows we have here.  There are quite a number of them.  There is, for instance, one of them who is an Obermaschinist or something.     A. Is it Kunert?     Q. Is he from U-Degen?     A. Yes, he is helmsman (Obersteuermann) Kunert.     Q. Yes, Kunert.  He is a very nice chap and the night before last we even had a little party for him.  There are two more Oberfeldwebels from the U-Lemke.     A. Yes, sir.  U-Lemke.     Q. Then we have other here, who feel so much different and behave badly.     A. From our sub?  I have been together with them all.  We swam in the water for fifty hours and I would like to be with them.     Q. Well, we will try to send you all to the same camp.  Didn't you have two other U-boats with you along our coast?     A. No, sir.  We were alone really.     Q. You did not see any others?     A. On our way, we met several which were on their return trip.     Q. I thought you were accompanied by two other subs.  Maybe I got you mixed up with some other subs.  We have so many different crews here like Rathke, Degen, Schulz usw.  I thought you were with this submarine which operated with two others at the same time.     A. No sir, we were alone
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	Q. Well, you want to be together with the other fellows, and I will try to arrange it.     A. Good bye.
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