Aug-Sep-Oct, Nov-Dec 1971-Jan 1972 - Navy League of Australia

U-BoatSurrendereeTo R.A.F.AircraftBy JACK MILLAR |Th« German U Boat (U-570) hiving beenstraddled In tha Atlantic. 80 mile« »ooth ofIceland by 4 depth charge* containing Torpex.ferried the crew by cartey float to captivity.On 8 September, thirty years ago, the Admiralty announced that aGerman U-boat had been attacked In the Atlantic by a Hudson aircraft and| forced to surrender. Behind that announcement lies one of the most amazingexploits of the war — a story which thrilled the world.It began on the morning of 27 all the time keeping a good air andAugust. 1941. when Squadron sea lookout for the enemyLeader James Thompson and hisSITTING DUCKcrew, of Coastal Command's 269Squadron took off from Iceland intheir Lockheed Hudson aircraft "Sfor Sugar' Destination: that portionof the vast Atlantic assigned them.Objective: to seek out and attack U-boats. of which many were reportedin the area.The weather was typical of theAtlantic, cold and bleak, with rainsqualls and winds approaching galeforce.Secured beneath the plane werefour lethal depth charges, eachcontaining 250 lb. of the newexplosive Torpex. ready for instantrelease.In the plane the crew busiedthemselves with their various duties.Suddenly, the dream of every pilotwas sighted dead ahead — a nice bigjuicy U-boat coming to the surface.Thompson's crew, keyed to feverpitch, watched breathlessly as he put"S for Sugar'' into a shallow dive forthe attack.Bomb doors were opened, andwhen dead on target the order todrop was given. Four depth chargeshurtled down on the unsuspectingsubmarine. It was a perfect stradole.two exploding close to the pressurehull on either side, the gigantic wallof water temporarily blotting out theU-boatAboard the U-570. for such shewas. all was chaos, the submarinebeing almost turned upside down bythe blast. All lighting systems wereblown, broken glass and instrumentsscattered everywhere, and the crewtumbled into all manner ot oddplaces, suffering many injuries.ALL ON DECKHer commander. Kapitan-leutenantHans Rahmlow. wonderingwhat had hit them. andremembering the effects of deadlychlorine gas. had but one thought, toget the crew on deck as quickly aspossible from what he felt was asinking submarine.Opening the conning tower hatchhe ordered "All out!"In the air the crew of the Hudsonwere ready, spraying the conningtower with machine-gun fire toprevent manning of the 3.5 Run onU-BOAT SURRENDERED TO R A F PLANEthe fore-deck. After the fourthstrafing, the Germans, still groggyfrom the terrible pounding received,had taken all they could stand, andRahmlow exhibited a white flag as atoken of surrenderA quick check by key personnelbelow informed Rahmlow that thesubmarine was badly damaged,whereupon he ordered all wirelessequipment to be smashedPLANE IN LUCKTo those in "S for Sugar" thesurrender v«as a staggering piece ofluck beyond their wildest dreams.Immediate signals were despatchedgiving the sub's position and askingthe navy to take over. By morse theU-570 was told to get all hands ondeck, keeping well away from thegun under threat of being bombedout of the water.Jubilation ashore was followed byswift action as planes and ships weredirected to the scene. Thompsonmaintained his vigil until reliefplanes arrived, when with low fueltanks and the weather worsening, heheaded for base and a tumultuouswelcome from 269 Squadron.To Thompson and his navigator,the award of the D.F.C. was a fittingclimax to the most astoundingsurrender of all time. Several hourslater, during the evening, navalvessels reached the U-boat,wallowing helplessly in mountainousseas.U-570's captain was warned not toscuttle, being told no crew would berescued if he did.THE RESCUEGale force weather prevented anyrescue attempts till the afternoon ofthe following day. when by expertseamanship a carley float was gotacross the heaving ocean, and theGermans, injured first, a few at atime, were ferried to captivity.U-570 was taken in tow to Iceland,where surprised naval officers foundthat damage was not nearly as badas Rahmlow had first imagined.The colossal capture was quicklyturned to good effect, and when U-570 was taken to England, navalintelligence went over the sub with afine-tooth comb, and many secretsof German torpedoes and submarineequipment, hithertounknown to the navy, were revealedfor the first time.The aftermath of U-570s capture,fitting her out as the British submarineH.M.S. Graph — is anotherstory. Suffice here to say that whileon patrol in the Bay of Biscay shetorpedoed and sank one of her kind— another U-boat.The capture of U-570s crew was tohave a strange sequel. In a Germannaval officers' prisoner-of-war campin England her officers faced aprisoner council-of-honour — thecharge, cowardice in the face of theenemy.Senior officer of the camp wasOtto Kretschmer. one of Germany'sU-boat aces, who was in command ofU-99 when sunk by Royal navaldestroyers.Kretschmer. a prominent figure intoday's re-born German navy,presided. Each was asked what stepswere taken to escape with U-570. oralternatively, why she was notscuttled to prevent her falling intoenemy hands.FOUND GUILTYAll pleaded they merely obeyedRahmlow's orders. Two were foundnot guilty, but First LieutenantBerndt. as second in command, wasfound guilty. He was told to expect aproper court-martial and the firingsquad when the German Armyoccupied England.In a desperate effort to retrieve hisfallen status. Berndt askedpermission of the council-of-honourto escape in an effort to sink orsabotage his old ship, the U-570.then in an English dockyard port.Permission was granted, all theprisoners helping to engineer theescape. Berndt being supplied withmaps, fake papers and passports.The breakout was successful.However, the alarm was givenshortly after and Berndt recaptured.In a last-ditch chance he made a boltfor nearby woods, and was shotwhen he refused to obey the order tohalt. By the time a doctor arrived hewas dead. Berndt was buried with fullnaval honours.THE CAPTAINIt was then the turn of KapitanHans Rahmlow. who had just arrivedin camp following interrogation inLondon, to face the council-ofhonour.Ignoring Rahmlow's outstretchedhand. Kretschmerinformed him of his "trial" on themorrow.Meantime, he was shunned by theentire camp.The council-of-honour. however,was never held, the British campcommander, realising what was inthe wind, had Rahmlow quietly transferredto a Luftwaffe prisoner-of-warcamp in another part of England.Page TwentyTHE NAVY November-December-January, 1971/72November-Docember- January. 1971/72 THE NAVY Page Twenty-one