Dear All,

Since the end of last year, I have been researching the “sink or scrap” question which is often asked concerning the final disposal of the U-Boats which surrendered, especially in relation to Operation Deadlight, and I am pleased to say that I think I have found the answer.

I have therefore written a definitive article on the subject, and Gudmundur has recently been kind enough to publishit on uboat.net. The article itself comprises some 16 pages, but to give a feel for its content, I offer some extracts from its conclusion:

“Prior to the end of the war in Europe, each of the three Allies had formulated their own views on the disposal of the German Navy, guided by a common determination to see its total elimination. The USA wanted to see the majority of the surviving naval vessels destroyed, as did the UK (which was especially keen to see all the U-Boats sunk), but the USSR’s prime wish was to be allocated at least one-third of any warships that surrendered.

The future of the German fleet was raised by Stalin within two weeks of VE Day, and Churchill and Truman agreed that the topic should be considered at the Potsdam Conference. Neither the UK nor the USA had any particular desire to be allocated any of the surrendered surface vessels. They eventually agreed that each nation would be allocated one-third of the remaining surface vessels, as well as just 10 U-Boats each for experimental and technical purposes.

Throughout the Potsdam Conference the disposal method perceived by each of the Allied leaders for the destruction of the unallocated U-Boats was that they should be sunk. There was no suggestion that they should be scrapped in order to recover metal and other useful materials. Thus it was that the Potsdam Agreement stated clearly that all unallocated U-Boats were to be sunk, a decision that was accepted and reinforced by the TNC.

The implementation of the Potsdam decision, which was classified secret because of the fear that the German crews might scuttle the surviving surface ships, led to Operation Deadlight. However, details of the latter leaked to the UK press, and this led to some suggestions from MPs and others that the U-Boats should be scrapped rather than being sunk. In response, the Admiralty had to maintain the cloak of secrecy which had been agreed at Potsdam, and therefore declined to comment on any of these suggestions. However, whilst there was perhaps an emotional case for scrapping rather than sinking the unallocated U-Boats, this did not become a serious political, economic or industrial issue in the UK.

The Admiralty was however prepared to justify the decision to sink the U-Boats if necessary. The prime reason was that it was part of the Potsdam Agreement. Also, it was estimated that there was more than a million tons of British warships and auxiliary war vessels, including 27 submarines, already available for scrapping, and that this would provide several years of work for the UK ship-breakers”.

I hope that this may be of interest, as well as filling a “hole” in the history of the U-Boats.

Yours aye

Derek