General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
U843 and SS Nebraska coreections to dates
Posted by:
don whitehead
()
Date: October 20, 2006 04:07PM
Nebraska left Taranto in Italy in April bound for Buenos Aires via Gibraltar .
On the 8th April she was sighted by Oskar Herwatz, commander of U 843 heading south near Ascension Island.
At first he had difficulty identifying Nebraska but when he was sure of the identity he manoeuvred and fired two torpedoes that hit Nebraska.
He heard the radio operator sending a distress signal
He observed the hits through the periscope but nothing happened so he fired two more torpedoes from the other side.Two crew members died in the attack and he saw the rest of the crew get into lifeboats which stayed near the ship which still did not sink.
U 843 therefore fired more torpedoes and eventually Nebraska sank.
The bursting of compartments and bubbling could be heard from within the submerged U843
Jack Whitehead,engineer on Nebraska survived the attack and made land in West Africa 6 days later .
One of the survivors in his lifeboat was the cabin boy who now lives in Toronto and a stowaway who was coming to the UK to enlist.
Two days later on 10th April U843 was attacked by a US Liberator from Ascension and sustained serious damage which meant she had to return to base for repairs.
U 843 could not be repaired at base at Lorient so went to Singapore for expensive repairs.
In December she left Singapore for home loaded with 145 tons of strategic goods like Wolfram, tin and opium.
She was refuelled in the Indian ocean by Freiwald and on 2nd April entered the harbour at Bergen
from Bergen she sailed for Stavangar and Christiansand en route to Kiel but at 1723 was discovered on the surface by a British Mosquito from Banff.(F/O A J Rendell pilot and F/O R R Rawlins navigator)
Because the Skagerrak was not deep enough U843 could not submerge and was attacked with rockets and gunfire and sank.
Only those on deck at the time(13) survived.
It is not clear if the cew of the Mosquito are aware of the fate of the U843
In August 1958 U 843 was lifted and taken to Sweden. The remains of the crew were buried at Kviberg churchyard, Gothenberg.
Oskar Herwartz survived the war and died near Bonn in 2002.
John Whitehead(Jack) continued to sail with the Merchant Service until 1958 when he emigrated Michigan to the US where he died a few years later.
On the 8th April she was sighted by Oskar Herwatz, commander of U 843 heading south near Ascension Island.
At first he had difficulty identifying Nebraska but when he was sure of the identity he manoeuvred and fired two torpedoes that hit Nebraska.
He heard the radio operator sending a distress signal
He observed the hits through the periscope but nothing happened so he fired two more torpedoes from the other side.Two crew members died in the attack and he saw the rest of the crew get into lifeboats which stayed near the ship which still did not sink.
U 843 therefore fired more torpedoes and eventually Nebraska sank.
The bursting of compartments and bubbling could be heard from within the submerged U843
Jack Whitehead,engineer on Nebraska survived the attack and made land in West Africa 6 days later .
One of the survivors in his lifeboat was the cabin boy who now lives in Toronto and a stowaway who was coming to the UK to enlist.
Two days later on 10th April U843 was attacked by a US Liberator from Ascension and sustained serious damage which meant she had to return to base for repairs.
U 843 could not be repaired at base at Lorient so went to Singapore for expensive repairs.
In December she left Singapore for home loaded with 145 tons of strategic goods like Wolfram, tin and opium.
She was refuelled in the Indian ocean by Freiwald and on 2nd April entered the harbour at Bergen
from Bergen she sailed for Stavangar and Christiansand en route to Kiel but at 1723 was discovered on the surface by a British Mosquito from Banff.(F/O A J Rendell pilot and F/O R R Rawlins navigator)
Because the Skagerrak was not deep enough U843 could not submerge and was attacked with rockets and gunfire and sank.
Only those on deck at the time(13) survived.
It is not clear if the cew of the Mosquito are aware of the fate of the U843
In August 1958 U 843 was lifted and taken to Sweden. The remains of the crew were buried at Kviberg churchyard, Gothenberg.
Oskar Herwartz survived the war and died near Bonn in 2002.
John Whitehead(Jack) continued to sail with the Merchant Service until 1958 when he emigrated Michigan to the US where he died a few years later.
U843 and SS Nebraska coreections to dates