General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: U-Boat Base @ Heligoland
Posted by:
Jeff
()
Date: March 31, 2001 09:26PM
<HTML>Woody,
There was indeed a U-boat base on the German island of Helgoland. However, it\'s hey-day was during WWI when it was an actual U-boat base. The Germans did use it during WWII, but more as a refueling and resupply point for their boats. Reinhardt Hardegen stopped there to do just that and it is mentioned in Michael Gannon\'s \"Operation Drumbeat\" on pages 35, 39 along with a famous U-boat pub called the \"Tante Lotte\".
Helgoland and the island of Dune (right next to it) were heavily fortified and manned, as the Germans saw it as a control point for their boats entering the North Sea.
The Germans even built a large U-boat bunker facility there (Nordsee III). there were no flotillas based there and towards the end of the war, the base was used for K-Verband (small unit) operations using the Seehund U-boat.
At the very end of the war, the British bombarded the island, destroying over 80% of it (Including the Tante Lotte) and the island was surrendered to RN Admiral Gould by Kapitän zur See Roegglen on May 11,1945.
In mid-August of 1946, the British began destroying the military facility there in what was called \"Operation: Big Bang\". All of the gun emplacements and underground tunnels were targeted, including the Nordsee III bunker.
Today, virtually nothing of the island\'s military past remains. I went to Helgoland a year ago in September while visiting the U-boat Archive. I searched and searched but found little WWII era items. There is a small nautical museum/gift shop on the island, but it covers neither WWI or WWII\'s time periods. There was however a fascinating book I found regarding the island\'s war years in the gift shop. They have one book for WWI and one for WWII.
(see followup posting for, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story!)</HTML>
There was indeed a U-boat base on the German island of Helgoland. However, it\'s hey-day was during WWI when it was an actual U-boat base. The Germans did use it during WWII, but more as a refueling and resupply point for their boats. Reinhardt Hardegen stopped there to do just that and it is mentioned in Michael Gannon\'s \"Operation Drumbeat\" on pages 35, 39 along with a famous U-boat pub called the \"Tante Lotte\".
Helgoland and the island of Dune (right next to it) were heavily fortified and manned, as the Germans saw it as a control point for their boats entering the North Sea.
The Germans even built a large U-boat bunker facility there (Nordsee III). there were no flotillas based there and towards the end of the war, the base was used for K-Verband (small unit) operations using the Seehund U-boat.
At the very end of the war, the British bombarded the island, destroying over 80% of it (Including the Tante Lotte) and the island was surrendered to RN Admiral Gould by Kapitän zur See Roegglen on May 11,1945.
In mid-August of 1946, the British began destroying the military facility there in what was called \"Operation: Big Bang\". All of the gun emplacements and underground tunnels were targeted, including the Nordsee III bunker.
Today, virtually nothing of the island\'s military past remains. I went to Helgoland a year ago in September while visiting the U-boat Archive. I searched and searched but found little WWII era items. There is a small nautical museum/gift shop on the island, but it covers neither WWI or WWII\'s time periods. There was however a fascinating book I found regarding the island\'s war years in the gift shop. They have one book for WWI and one for WWII.
(see followup posting for, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story!)</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
U-Boat Base @ Heligoland
|
Woody | 03/31/2001 01:14PM |
|
RE: U-Boat Base @ Heligoland
|
Jeff | 03/31/2001 09:26PM |
|
RE: U-Boat Base @ Heligoland
|
Jeff | 03/31/2001 09:35PM |
|
RE: U-Boat Base @ Heligoland
|
Kris | 04/04/2001 01:56AM |