Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Last World War II U-Boat Commander Has Died at 105
Military.Com ^ | 24 Jun 2018 | Richard Sisk

Posted on 07/05/2018 10:56:27 AM PDT by Gamecock

Four months after the Pearl Harbor attacks, Kapitanleutnant Reinhard Hardegen decided that Americans should see for themselves what war with Adolf Hitler's Germany was going to look like.

He began with Florida sunbathers. On April 11, 1942, Hardegen's submarine, U-123, torpedoed the tanker SS Gulfamerica off Jacksonville. He maneuvered U-123 around the flaming wreck and surfaced between the SS Gulfamerica and the beach. He sank it with U-123's deck gun.

Hardegen later wrote in his log: "All the vacationers had seen an impressive special performance at [President Franklin D.] Roosevelt's expense. A burning tanker, artillery fire, the silhouette of a U-boat -- how often had that been seen in America?"

Hardegen was one of the few "Unterseeboot" commanders to survive the war. Most did not, as the U.S. turned to the convoy system and sonar to devastate the "wolfpacks" and keep open the supply lines to Britain.

(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: germany; navy; reinhardhardegen; secondworldwar; submarine; uboat; worldwar2; worldwarii
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-83 next last
To: politicianslie

I wonder if the afterlife for him will be like that Twilight Zone episode?


41 posted on 07/05/2018 12:27:34 PM PDT by wally_bert (Just who are you? The Archduke of Guacamole?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Uversabound

My German grandfather was a civilian construction foreman and oversaw the construction of some of the fortifications on Normandy.

My dad came ashore a couple days after D-Day. I often wonder if Dad passed by my Grandfather’s work.


42 posted on 07/05/2018 12:47:34 PM PDT by Gamecock (In church today, we so often find we meet only the same old world, not Christ and His Kingdom. AS)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

Prayers for his soul.


43 posted on 07/05/2018 12:52:05 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj ("It's Slappin' Time !")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Uversabound

” Full circle my parents were kids during Musolini.
I am only 56 but can tell their stories of when the german soldiers came to their homes.... “


Mussolini was Hitler’s friend, both are NAZIonalist leftists.
So what could German soldiers do when they came to the home of their Italian fascist buddies? Be served pizzas and chianti?


44 posted on 07/05/2018 12:55:01 PM PDT by miniTAX
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

Love this movie, but I can't watch the last five minutes of it.

45 posted on 07/05/2018 12:55:03 PM PDT by Slyfox (Not my circus, not my monkeys)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DesertRhino; Bringbackthedraft
I think the WWII US submariner mortality rate was around %20.

Had one neighbor that was in training when the war ended.

And, an in-law that was accepted for training just before the end of the war, having been in one island invasion on an LST.

46 posted on 07/05/2018 12:55:58 PM PDT by Calvin Locke
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Slyfox

It is the only movie where you do have some sympathy for the Germans.


47 posted on 07/05/2018 12:56:00 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

“Hardegen later wrote in his log: “All the vacationers had seen an impressive special performance at [President Franklin D.] Roosevelt’s expense. A burning tanker, artillery fire, the silhouette of a U-boat — how often had that been seen in America?”

And how did that work out for you and your wolfpack compadres, skippy? How long before that smirk was wiped off your face?


48 posted on 07/05/2018 12:56:10 PM PDT by mikeus_maximus (The Truth does not require our agreement.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: miniTAX

When Mussolini was tossed out in 1943, the Nazis occupied much of Italy.


49 posted on 07/05/2018 12:56:56 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: moovova

Is that the sub that surrendered at Germany’s surrender, carrying nuclear material for Japan? And two dead IJN officers that didn’t want to surrender?


50 posted on 07/05/2018 12:59:08 PM PDT by Calvin Locke
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: xrmusn
I always thought it ‘strange’ that the only High Command Officer that virtually survived the war and Nuremberg ‘unscathed’ was Doenitz, the Submarine Leader and a short time successor to Hitler.

He did 10 years in Spandau.

51 posted on 07/05/2018 1:05:55 PM PDT by Snickering Hound
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

“On April 11, 1942, Hardegen’s submarine, U-123, torpedoed the tanker SS Gulfamerica off Jacksonville.”

My father was in Florida at that time and told of going down to the beach and watching the torpedoed tankers burn.


52 posted on 07/05/2018 1:05:56 PM PDT by PLMerite ("They say that we were Cold Warriors. Yes, and a bloody good show, too." - Robert Conquest)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Snickering Hound

It’s hillarious that you basically had Bormann, Goebbels, Goering, and Himmler all vying to replace Hitler, and who does Hitler pick, Doenitz.


53 posted on 07/05/2018 1:07:14 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: Calvin Locke

“Is that the sub that surrendered at Germany’s surrender, carrying nuclear material for Japan? And two dead IJN officers that didn’t want to surrender?”

I think that’s U-505, captured on the high seas by Adm. Daniel Gallery and crew.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-505


54 posted on 07/05/2018 1:09:53 PM PDT by PLMerite ("They say that we were Cold Warriors. Yes, and a bloody good show, too." - Robert Conquest)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator
It’s hillarious that you basically had Bormann, Goebbels, Goering, and Himmler all vying to replace Hitler, and who does Hitler pick, Doenitz.

Goering had attempted his 'telegram coup' days before Hitler's suicide and he blew a gasket.

Himmler was seeking a separate peace and was also out.

Bormann and Goebbels were in the bunker and would barely outlive Hitler.

55 posted on 07/05/2018 1:12:44 PM PDT by Snickering Hound
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: Calvin Locke

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-234

U-234 was carrying 1200lbs of Uranium that went to the Manhattan Project.

The Japanese officers committed suicide.


56 posted on 07/05/2018 1:15:53 PM PDT by Snickering Hound
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: Snickering Hound
All because of "FEIGELEIN, FEIGELEIN, FEIGELEIN", and his antics!


57 posted on 07/05/2018 1:15:54 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

I sometimes wonder if Hitler had spent more money on submarines and less on ships like Bismarck, how that might have changed things. A couple of times early in the war more subs might have forced England out of the war. No matter how many subs Germany had sonar, air cover and other things would have caught up with them. But there were a couple of windows there to change things with enough subs.


58 posted on 07/05/2018 1:23:54 PM PDT by nomorelurker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

78 years too late.


59 posted on 07/05/2018 1:27:46 PM PDT by jmaroneps37 (Conservatism is truth. Liberalism is lies.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: shanover

> “A proper use of U-Boats would have drastically changed the war by strangling Britain and choking American supplies.”

If Hitler had built more U-boats early instead of wasting time, money, and raw material on battleships and an aircraft carrier, he would have strangled Britain. That doesn’t automatically mean he would have won the war, but it sure would have increased his odds.

My father was in submarines in the Pacific during WWII.


60 posted on 07/05/2018 1:40:56 PM PDT by jim_trent
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-83 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson