General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
National Geographic Explorer: U-boats on U.S. East
Posted by:
Fin Bonset
()
Date: May 21, 2001 01:10PM
<HTML>Hi everyone,
Did anyone catch the National Geographic Explorer episode on MSNBC last night (It was at 11pm)? It was titled: \"World War II, Secret Missions\". It was about u-boat operations off the East Coast of the United States. The show was divided into several segments, including an interesting bit on the \"Berlin Airlift\", and a piece on Dr. Ballard\'s naval ship searches. For the u-boat part (about half an hour long), they had great interviews with Reinhard Hardegen and two other crewmembers of U-123. In addition, they interviewed Michael Gannon as well (author of Operation Drumbeat \"Paukenslag\"). They also interviewed eyewitnesses from the U.S. coast that saw the destruction of U.S. shipping and the actual silhouette of the responsible u-boats first hand. They also showed SCUBA diving footage of one of the sunk u-boats.
Furthermore, they had some great footage of Hardegen returning to Lorient with 9 tonnage pennants from his first trip.
Of course, it seemed a little short, but it was well done. Reinhard Hardegen is definitely an interesting fellow. He talked with a demeanor of a proud u-boat Captain. It seemed like he really enjoyed talking about his successes. He had a smile/smirk the whole time. He does come off as a bit fiesty (and just a little arrogant I might add) and I can sort of understand Captain Duffy\'s incident with him a little :-) But overall, he gave a good view of the situation and he looked good for his age. His IWO gave a better idea of what u-boat men felt. It appeared more personal to him as he said that he was 19 when he served and he had a young naive and impressionable mind. The other crewman had the same views. It just seemed that they were more personable than Hardegen. Of course, these are just my opinions based on what I saw. I don\'t know Mr. Hardegen so I am not passing judgment :-)
Overall, a good show. However, as usual with these u-boat documentaries, the inside u-boat footage was of Erich Topp at the periscope (is that the only footage they have inside a u-boat??). One thing struck me as peculiar about this however. They added sound effects and it really looked like Erich Topp was the man that was speaking while he was at th periscope! They showed it twice and I swear that his lips moved at the same time with the dub of the tape. Did the Kriegsberichters have sound recorders? Any help would be appreciated.
They also mentioned that 400 ships off the US East coast during operation drumbeat was the largest naval disaster in U.S. waters, second to Pearl Harbor. Another interesting discussion item was the mention of Admiral King. Apparantly he hated the British and did not take the warnings from them about Operation Drumbeat, even though the code breakers at Bletchley were the ones who found out, so the source was official! He could have prevented many of the deaths of the 4,000 plus merchant marine men during this operation! It was a turkey shoot.
Anyway, I hope they come out with the video for this. It appeared new, but maybe I\'m wrong. Again, it was well done (as you would expect from the fine folks at National Geographic).
I\'ll be interested in anyone else\'s opinion on this show :-)
Best wishes to you all,
Fin
P.S. Tonya, if you want this for your reviews, please use it by all means :-)
</HTML>
Did anyone catch the National Geographic Explorer episode on MSNBC last night (It was at 11pm)? It was titled: \"World War II, Secret Missions\". It was about u-boat operations off the East Coast of the United States. The show was divided into several segments, including an interesting bit on the \"Berlin Airlift\", and a piece on Dr. Ballard\'s naval ship searches. For the u-boat part (about half an hour long), they had great interviews with Reinhard Hardegen and two other crewmembers of U-123. In addition, they interviewed Michael Gannon as well (author of Operation Drumbeat \"Paukenslag\"). They also interviewed eyewitnesses from the U.S. coast that saw the destruction of U.S. shipping and the actual silhouette of the responsible u-boats first hand. They also showed SCUBA diving footage of one of the sunk u-boats.
Furthermore, they had some great footage of Hardegen returning to Lorient with 9 tonnage pennants from his first trip.
Of course, it seemed a little short, but it was well done. Reinhard Hardegen is definitely an interesting fellow. He talked with a demeanor of a proud u-boat Captain. It seemed like he really enjoyed talking about his successes. He had a smile/smirk the whole time. He does come off as a bit fiesty (and just a little arrogant I might add) and I can sort of understand Captain Duffy\'s incident with him a little :-) But overall, he gave a good view of the situation and he looked good for his age. His IWO gave a better idea of what u-boat men felt. It appeared more personal to him as he said that he was 19 when he served and he had a young naive and impressionable mind. The other crewman had the same views. It just seemed that they were more personable than Hardegen. Of course, these are just my opinions based on what I saw. I don\'t know Mr. Hardegen so I am not passing judgment :-)
Overall, a good show. However, as usual with these u-boat documentaries, the inside u-boat footage was of Erich Topp at the periscope (is that the only footage they have inside a u-boat??). One thing struck me as peculiar about this however. They added sound effects and it really looked like Erich Topp was the man that was speaking while he was at th periscope! They showed it twice and I swear that his lips moved at the same time with the dub of the tape. Did the Kriegsberichters have sound recorders? Any help would be appreciated.
They also mentioned that 400 ships off the US East coast during operation drumbeat was the largest naval disaster in U.S. waters, second to Pearl Harbor. Another interesting discussion item was the mention of Admiral King. Apparantly he hated the British and did not take the warnings from them about Operation Drumbeat, even though the code breakers at Bletchley were the ones who found out, so the source was official! He could have prevented many of the deaths of the 4,000 plus merchant marine men during this operation! It was a turkey shoot.
Anyway, I hope they come out with the video for this. It appeared new, but maybe I\'m wrong. Again, it was well done (as you would expect from the fine folks at National Geographic).
I\'ll be interested in anyone else\'s opinion on this show :-)
Best wishes to you all,
Fin
P.S. Tonya, if you want this for your reviews, please use it by all means :-)
</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
National Geographic Explorer: U-boats on U.S. East
|
Fin Bonset | 05/21/2001 01:10PM |
|
Slight addition
|
Fin Bonset | 05/21/2001 01:15PM |
|
RE: Slight addition
|
Zeke | 05/21/2001 04:43PM |
|
RE: Slight addition
|
Walt | 05/21/2001 05:22PM |
|
RE: National Geographic Explorer: U-boats on U.S.
|
Kris | 05/21/2001 08:00PM |
|
RE: National Geographic Explorer: U-boats on U.S.
|
Torstein | 05/21/2001 09:03PM |
|
RE: National Geographic Explorer: U-boats on U.S.
|
Torstein | 05/21/2001 09:54PM |
|
RE: National Geographic Explorer: U-boats on U.S.
|
Vin | 05/22/2001 04:16AM |
|
RE: National Geographic Explorer: U-boats on U.S.
|
Walt | 05/22/2001 11:02AM |
|
RE: National Geographic Explorer: U-boats on U.S.
|
Capt. George W. Duffy | 05/22/2001 06:56PM |
|
RE: National Geographic Explorer: U-boats on U.S.
|
Vin | 05/23/2001 05:54AM |
|
RE: National Geographic Explorer: U-boats on U.S.
|
Fin Bonset | 05/23/2001 10:46AM |
|
RE: National Geographic Explorer: U-boats on U.S.
|
Vin | 05/23/2001 10:49PM |