Adolf Hitler's 'lost fleet' found in Black Sea (U-Boats had been carried 2,000 miles overland)

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | February 3, 2008 | Jasper Copping

[Stoat]

Adolf Hitler's 'lost fleet' found in Black Sea

By Jasper Copping
 

Last Updated: 2:36am GMT 03/02/2008

 

 

The final resting place of three German U-boats, nicknamed "Hitler's lost fleet", has been found at the bottom of the Black Sea.

• The submarines had been carried 2,000 miles overland from Germany to attack Russian shipping during the Second World War, but were scuttled as the war neared its end. Now, more than 60 years on, explorers have located the flotilla of three submarines off the coast of Turkey.

  	On the road: One of the U-boats being taken to Ingolstadt

  The vessels, including one once commanded by Germany's most successful U-boat ace, formed part of the 30th Flotilla of six submarines, taken by road and river across Nazi-occupied Europe, from Germany's Baltic port at Kiel to Constanta, the Romanian Black Sea port.

  In two years, the fleet sank dozens of ships and lost three of their number to enemy action. But in August 1944, Romania switched sides and declared war on Germany, leaving the three remaining vessels stranded.

  With no base and unable to sail home - the Bosporus and Dardanelles were closed to them because of Turkish neutrality - their captains were ordered to scuttle the boats before rowing ashore and trying to make their way back to Germany. However, all three crews were caught and interned by the Turks.

  Now the submarines' hulls have been discovered by a team led by Selçuk Kolay, a Turkish marine engineer, who will present his findings to a shipwreck conference in Plymouth this week.

  Mr Kolay established the boats' positions through research in German archives, interviews with surviving sailors and by sonar studies of the seabed.

  He has already completed successful dives to the wreckage of one vessel, U-20, two miles offshore in about 80ft of water. He believes he has discovered another, U-23, at twice that depth, three miles from the town of Agva, but bad weather forced him to suspend diving until the spring.

  He thinks he is also close to pinpointing the third boat, U-19, thought to lie more than 1,000ft down, three miles from the Turkish city of Zonguldak.

  "It's one of the least well known stories of the war but one of the most interesting," said Mr Kolay.

  "It is a quite incredible story. To get to the Black Sea these boats had to be taken across the land, and once they got there they had no way out."

  All three U-boats had been operating against British shipping in the North Sea. U-23 gained notoriety for scoring one of Germany's earliest successes, sinking a British ship off the Shetland Islands days after war began. It was later commanded by Otto Kretschmer, known as "Silent Otto", the most successful U-boat ace.

  In 1941, Germany invaded Russia and decided it needed a presence in the Black Sea to harass Soviet shipping there. Unable to use the Bosporus, the only shipping route into the Black Sea, the boats were dismantled at Kiel and taken by canal to the River Elbe, and upstream to Dresden.

  Here, they were partly dismantled and taken by lorry to Ingolstadt, on the Danube, and then ferried downstream to the Black Sea and Constanta, where they were re-assembled.

  When Romania switched sides the crews were ordered to scuttle out of sight of the Turks so the submarines' locations would remain a mystery. Mr Kolay was helped by a map drawn by Rudolf Arendt, 85, the former captain of the U-23, showing where his crew came ashore.

  Mike Williams, secretary of the Nautical Archaeology Society, said: "This is a significant find because these U-boats were all scuttled, so they should be intact, like a sealed tube. They are unique survivors of the war."

[Stoat]

They formed part of the German U-boat fleet that almost brought Britain to its knees during the Second World War

 

 

Six submarines were taken almost 2,000 miles across Nazi-occupied Europe, by road and river, from Germany’s Baltic port at Kiel to Constanta, on Romania’s Black Sea coast

 

 

The epic odyssey, which lasted several months, saw them taken from their base at Kiel, by canal to the river Elbe, and upstream to Dresden

 

 

From here, they were partly dismantled and loaded onto lorries for a cross country trip to Ingolstadt, on the Danube, and then downstream to the Black Sea, where they were rebuilt

 

 

In a two year campaign, the fleet attacked more than 50 enemy vessels, sinking 46,500 tonnes of shipping

 

Otto Kretschmer, known as “Silent Otto”, commanded U-23, and became the most successful U-boat ace of the war

 

 

But, in August 1944, the remaining three vessels suddenly found themselves stranded in the Black Sea after Romania switched sides and declared war on Germany

 

 

Without a base to return to and unable to sail home, their captains were ordered to sink their U-boats at secret locations along the Turkish coast

 

 

Now, more than 60 years on, explorers have located the final resting place of a flotilla of three submarines, dubbed “Hitler’s lost fleet”

 

They have now been discovered by a team led by Turkish marine engineer, Selçuk Kolay, who established the positions of the ships through research in German naval archives, interviews with surviving members of the fleet, and by sonar studies of the seabed

 

 

Mr Kolay was also helped by a map drawn by Rudolf Arendt, who, in 1944 was the 21-year-old captain of U-23

 

He has already completed successful dives onto the wreckage of one of the vessels, U-20, and believes he has discovered the position of another, U-23

[Stoat]

Military History Ping request :-)

[Kirkwood]

Thanks for posting this!

[Stoat]

Thanks for posting this!

You're quite welcome, and I'm delighted if you're finding it interesting  :-)

[Thrownatbirth]

I’m impressed that the Germans were able to keep track of all those nuts and bolts. I’d hate to be the one to admit I left a bag of screws back in Kiel.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

bkmark/ great article. thanks.1

[Stoat]

I’m impressed that the Germans were able to keep track of all those nuts and bolts. I’d hate to be the one to admit I left a bag of screws back in Kiel.

LMAO!

Indeed, and I'm amazed that the vessels were able to be designed in such a way that a major disassembly / reassembly of such incredibly complex vessels such as this could even be done in the field.....just astonishing!

[Stoat]

bkmark/ great article. thanks.1

You're quite welcome!  Thank you for your kind words  :-)

[Cold Heart]

Great article. Trailer Boat magazine never covered anything like that.

[Stoat]

FYI :-)

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Great article! Reminds me of how the British sought to attack the US forces on Lake Champlain in 1776. They sailed their fleet up the St. Lawrence River to the Richelieu River where they disassembled their ships, transported them overland around the rapids on the river, and then then reassembled them for service on Lake Champlain. The showpiece of the British fleet was the HMS Inflexible, an 18-gun man-of-war.

[hc87]

Type II’s?

[Stoat]

Great article.

I'm delighted that you're finding it interesting  :-)

Trailer Boat magazine never covered anything like that.

LMAO!

Perhaps they might enjoy it if you were to send it to them?

Perhaps re-titled: "And so you think that trailering your 18' runabout is hard work?"

"snicker"

[Larry Lucido]

I can’t even keep track of a few U-bolts, let alone a fleet of U-boats.

[null and void]

I’m impressed!

[Calvin Locke]

I believe that was because Benedict Arnold built boats to attack the British reinforcements coming down from Canada.

He lost the battle (of Valcour Island), but delayed the British enough for Winter to set in, and Washington to build an Army.

Didn't the Germans also move a ship across land in Africa during WWI?

[Stoat]

Type II’s?

Yes, the U-19, U-20 and U-23 were all Type IIB's.

You can read more about them here:

uboat.net - U-boat Types

[Kevmo]

I see Indcons has been pinged. I suppose I should have some witty comment available so that I can bump a cool thread like this.

[george76]

Thanks for posting this.

[Peanut Gallery]

ping