It was great news for me, that after so many years and several search divings they finally located U 550.

Research for the U 550 I did and still do did start nearly 25 years ago and still goes on, and I am still finding information.

The research I do, I like to do it well, here an example of U 550.

U 550 was my first sub.

Well I like to research every piece of the historical puzzle, and for Uboats it did all start with an U 550 Soldbuch, boat went out – torpedoed one ship for New-York and was sunk, 44 killed 12 rescued of which 1 died.
U 550 was attacked by Canadian flying boat near Iceland, resulting in two KIAs and several wounded.
Sunk by three USA Destroyers.

24 years later the research is packed in 4 large binders.

- Contact with the surviving U 550 crewmembers.
- Contact with the crewmembers of the three Destroyers.
- Contact with the survivors of the US Merchant Tanker.
- Contact with crewmembers that served on other ships in that same convoy and who were witness of what happened.

No contact with the Canadians, later their plane crashed at sea, and all except the pilot were KIA, and I couldn’t find the right C.C.Cunningham in Canada or the UK.

Found photos of the air attack in the Archive of the Imperial War Museum.

Got some photos and information from all parties involved, so I have photos from the beginning till the end, for a Uboat that isn’t a famous one at all.

Found a lot of information during my visits in the Uboot Archive in Cuxhaven Germany, as mentioned in the IWM, in the National Archive in London (former PRO).
Information from archives in Canada and the USA, also from the cemeteries as later bodies of U 550 crewmembers were found at sea and broad ashore, and later buried.

Found a nice grouping of a man who served on one of the Destroyers who sunk U 550 on Ebay.com. couple of years ago.
And in 2002 a Soldbuch to one of the U 550 men who died during the air attack near Iceland.

Two years ago I was able to find some other extra “new” puzzle pieces in archives , so over all those years the research is still active.

Enough material for a book……but the problem is that I am not a good writer.

No idea what will happen further on, but they are welcome to use my material and research.

Best regards

Eric-Jan