General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: RN Submarines in Trincomalee in WW2
Posted by:
Capt. Geeorge W. Duffy
()
Date: April 02, 2013 08:09PM
Dan:
You may email me at geowduffy@comcast.net
As for Konrad Hoppe, others may be interested in how we came together. Back in the 70s and 80s, a young fellow named Ian Millar who grew up in Massachusetts, whose father had been a British merchant officer in WWII, began writing about the United States merchant marine. Somehow or other, he learned of Konrad and another German named Jürgen Herr and struck up a correspondence with them. It turned out that Konrad was spearheading an organization of Germans, civilian and military alike, who had served in Japan. Annual social meetings were organized and Konrad would send photos to Ian, who passed them along to me. Frankly, I was not interested.
Eventually, a third man came on scene. He had been a cadet, a class ahead of me,in the Massachusetts Nautical School. Bill Wallace is his name, and he had been in a ship sunk by Konrad's and Jürgen's raider Michel about two months before they got us. Bill corresponded with both Konrad and Jürgen, and in a 1985 letter from Konrad, Bill was asked to pass his best regards along to me!
By this time, I was working for a shipping company which represented Hapag-Lloyd in the New England states. Every week a German-flagged container ship would call at Boston and I was detailed as her Port Captain. It didn't take long to break down my inhibitions. So when that 1985 letter arrived, I was ready to go to Germany and shake hands.
You will read about the rest of it in my book.
Cordially.
George.
You may email me at geowduffy@comcast.net
As for Konrad Hoppe, others may be interested in how we came together. Back in the 70s and 80s, a young fellow named Ian Millar who grew up in Massachusetts, whose father had been a British merchant officer in WWII, began writing about the United States merchant marine. Somehow or other, he learned of Konrad and another German named Jürgen Herr and struck up a correspondence with them. It turned out that Konrad was spearheading an organization of Germans, civilian and military alike, who had served in Japan. Annual social meetings were organized and Konrad would send photos to Ian, who passed them along to me. Frankly, I was not interested.
Eventually, a third man came on scene. He had been a cadet, a class ahead of me,in the Massachusetts Nautical School. Bill Wallace is his name, and he had been in a ship sunk by Konrad's and Jürgen's raider Michel about two months before they got us. Bill corresponded with both Konrad and Jürgen, and in a 1985 letter from Konrad, Bill was asked to pass his best regards along to me!
By this time, I was working for a shipping company which represented Hapag-Lloyd in the New England states. Every week a German-flagged container ship would call at Boston and I was detailed as her Port Captain. It didn't take long to break down my inhibitions. So when that 1985 letter arrived, I was ready to go to Germany and shake hands.
You will read about the rest of it in my book.
Cordially.
George.
