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Re: Unknown U-boat
Posted by:
Oliver Lörscher
()
Date: April 07, 2016 10:17PM
Hello "Stavros",
oh, that's an very interesting story! Thank you for those details.
Well, you will have no luck with the file from the German Bundesarchiv you've mentioned: RM 86/366. This is the war diary of UB 68, there are several war diaries available.
But I already have checked every war diary from the German and Austrian U-Boats operating in the Mediterranean. And they usually didn't mention that agent work!
kuk U 41 was operating to far to the West, near Malta
UC 37 most likely, as she was off Kalamata to lay a minefield, but dates are not on spot - I will have a look, maybe I can find out more.
I have a likely candidate for the first try:
UB 68 left Pola on 23.02.1918 at 5 p.m. and on 27.02.1918 the war diary just mentions "Sonderaufgabe ausgeführt (siehe Sonderbericht)" - executed special mission, see special report
But, of course, there is no report within the war diary.
While looking within other files I just found the following W/T-message from UB 68: "Ballen ohne Schwierigkeiten am vorgesehenen Platz ausgeladen" - unloaded bales without difficulties at the designated spot
Maybe, maybe, "bales" is an alias for the two greek men. UB 68 was in the Bay of Arkadia that day, South of Zakynthos, but you don't have any details on location or movements. For sure Oberleutnant zur See von Heimburg had the order to do so...
You were thinking about some U-Boats leaving Pola just for that purpose and returning to Pola immediately, so these patrols didn't turn up in the usual records. I'm 100% sure that this wasn't the case. Instead, an U-Boat would have carried out this special mission at the beginning of an patrol, as it was done by UB 68. But as it was "top secret" you will not find any details within the standard files. You have to dig deeper and currently I have no idea where to look!
If you have any other details, I would be glad to read about it :-)
Thanks
Oliver
oh, that's an very interesting story! Thank you for those details.
Well, you will have no luck with the file from the German Bundesarchiv you've mentioned: RM 86/366. This is the war diary of UB 68, there are several war diaries available.
But I already have checked every war diary from the German and Austrian U-Boats operating in the Mediterranean. And they usually didn't mention that agent work!
kuk U 41 was operating to far to the West, near Malta
UC 37 most likely, as she was off Kalamata to lay a minefield, but dates are not on spot - I will have a look, maybe I can find out more.
I have a likely candidate for the first try:
UB 68 left Pola on 23.02.1918 at 5 p.m. and on 27.02.1918 the war diary just mentions "Sonderaufgabe ausgeführt (siehe Sonderbericht)" - executed special mission, see special report
But, of course, there is no report within the war diary.
While looking within other files I just found the following W/T-message from UB 68: "Ballen ohne Schwierigkeiten am vorgesehenen Platz ausgeladen" - unloaded bales without difficulties at the designated spot
Maybe, maybe, "bales" is an alias for the two greek men. UB 68 was in the Bay of Arkadia that day, South of Zakynthos, but you don't have any details on location or movements. For sure Oberleutnant zur See von Heimburg had the order to do so...
You were thinking about some U-Boats leaving Pola just for that purpose and returning to Pola immediately, so these patrols didn't turn up in the usual records. I'm 100% sure that this wasn't the case. Instead, an U-Boat would have carried out this special mission at the beginning of an patrol, as it was done by UB 68. But as it was "top secret" you will not find any details within the standard files. You have to dig deeper and currently I have no idea where to look!
If you have any other details, I would be glad to read about it :-)
Thanks
Oliver
