United States of America |
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Office of Strategic Services |
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Washington, D.C. |
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| 1. On the night of November 11, 1943, a German submarine was pursued and disabled in Spanish waters by an American Flying Fortress. She hid among Spanish fishing craft until the plane disappeared. The captain then ordered the submarine sunk and the crew put out in rubber boats. This incident occurred off the coast of the Province of La Coruna, between Cedeira and Vivero. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. The submarine had just returned from a trip to the shores of North America and had been assigned to patrol duty in the Bay of Biscay. At the time of the incident, she purportedly was waiting to attack a convoy, having proceeded from her base in France. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. She was 100 meters in length. She had two 1300-h.p. motors which ran on electricity or oil depending on whether the vessel was submerged or on the surface. She was built in 1942, but did not enter service until 1943. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4. The submarine was armed with one 75mm. gun on the prow turret, which could be operated as an anti-aircraft piece with a 90° range of elevation. She carried one 36mm. anti-aircraft gun on the stern turret and two double-barreled 20mm. machine guns on deck. These could be operated simultaneously with tracer bullets and with regular ammunition. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5. The interior mechanism of the machine guns and cannon were equipped with a device which, on contact with water, fires the weapons and also automatically closes their muzzles and breaches. For this reason they were equipped with two floats ("tanques"). | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6. The machine and deck guns were protected by metal shields and were operated electrically from the interior of the submarine, so that firing direction could be maintained until the very last minute before submerging. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7. She had two 53.3mm. torpedo tubes and carried two periscopes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8. The Technical Commission of El Ferrol Navy Yard went to the site of the sinking, accompanied by the Submarine Commander and a crew of divers. The last were not able to reach the submarine, as it lay 30 meters under water. They took soundings and plotted the position. Salvaging will have to wait until summer, since this coast is very stormy during other seasons. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 9. The Commission then left for Madrid to present plans for the salvaging operations. This trip was arranged on request from the German Ambassy. | ||
| 10. Of the crew, six were killed in action. The rest are not injured, as they are considered shipwrecked seamen. Until early January, they were lodged in various hotels in El Ferrol, except for three who were sent to the Military Hospital there. They were later transferred to the La Grana Naval Base, from which they make daily trips to town in the official launch attached to the Base. | ||
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