General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: Missing uboats
Posted by:
BHenderson
()
Date: April 04, 2011 01:05AM
There were missing U-Boats *during* the war. These are craft that suddenly stopped sending messages by radio and were never heard from again; these also disappeared in areas were there were no recorded Allied attacks so there do not appear to be any reasons for these boats to be lost. I do not have any details but it would not surprise me if there were a few boats that set sail in March or April, 1945 and had been "missing" when the war ended (again, this is "missing" without any info to link an allied attack or other known reason for the boat to be lost).
But, in general, at the end of the war, you'd have many categories of boats:
1) Boats "used up" or damaged and scrapped by Kriegsmarine authorities,
2) Boats lost in training or testing activities,
3) Boats lost to known Allied attacks (or captured, in a few cases),
4) Boats that had "gone missing" over the years,
5) Boats destroyed in docks, bases, and shipyards by Allied bombing or other attacks late in the war,
6) Boats surrendered in bases or ports under German control at the end of the war,
7) Boats that obeyed orders to "hoist a black flag and surrender to an Allied warship on the high seas or make way to an Allied port and surrender".
8) A few boats operating in the Indian Ocean or Far East that were given over to the Japanese Navy,
9) A few (less than half a dozen?) that made their ways to neutral ports (Argentina, Portugal, Spain) and surrendered there.
Of the hundreds of U-Boats, in all conditions of use and sea-worthiness, known to exist at the end of the war, almost all can be accounted for. I don't know of any "unaccounted for" that weren't already listed as "missing - failed to return to port when scheduled" or "missing - sent distress message on XX date and not heard from again" in German records -- ALTHOUGH there may have been very small number of these. But if there were any, there do not appear to have been any that were out of the ordinary or unlike other "mysteriously missing" boats from earlier in the war.
Do you have more specific questions about particular boats or circumstances?
But, in general, at the end of the war, you'd have many categories of boats:
1) Boats "used up" or damaged and scrapped by Kriegsmarine authorities,
2) Boats lost in training or testing activities,
3) Boats lost to known Allied attacks (or captured, in a few cases),
4) Boats that had "gone missing" over the years,
5) Boats destroyed in docks, bases, and shipyards by Allied bombing or other attacks late in the war,
6) Boats surrendered in bases or ports under German control at the end of the war,
7) Boats that obeyed orders to "hoist a black flag and surrender to an Allied warship on the high seas or make way to an Allied port and surrender".
8) A few boats operating in the Indian Ocean or Far East that were given over to the Japanese Navy,
9) A few (less than half a dozen?) that made their ways to neutral ports (Argentina, Portugal, Spain) and surrendered there.
Of the hundreds of U-Boats, in all conditions of use and sea-worthiness, known to exist at the end of the war, almost all can be accounted for. I don't know of any "unaccounted for" that weren't already listed as "missing - failed to return to port when scheduled" or "missing - sent distress message on XX date and not heard from again" in German records -- ALTHOUGH there may have been very small number of these. But if there were any, there do not appear to have been any that were out of the ordinary or unlike other "mysteriously missing" boats from earlier in the war.
Do you have more specific questions about particular boats or circumstances?
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Missing uboats
|
Stud Baker | 04/03/2011 08:58AM |
|
Re: Missing uboats
|
BHenderson | 04/04/2011 01:05AM |
|
Re: Missing uboats
|
Dean Keller | 04/19/2011 01:46PM |