48 NAVY NEWS, NOVEMBER 2009
● U128 in Kiel Harbour. The boat sank more than 80,000 tons of
Calling all Hans
shipping before she was sunk during ‘bloody’ May 1943
From: Jak Mallmann Showell’s Hitler’s Navy
“THE surrender of
Germany came not with a
bang but a whimper,” the
great war correspondent
Alan Moorehead observed
in 1945.
But then Moorehead wead wead waas inas in s in
north-west Germany. He wHe wasn’t t
on the Eastern Front – or on t – or on
the high seas, where wwar was as
waged to the bitter end.nd.
The very last ships to s to
fall victim to U-boatts s
were sunk on May
7 1945 – some 20
or so hours after
Eisenhower had
tersely signalled
“The mission of this his
Allied Force was fulfiullfi ll lled ed
at 3:00 a.m., local time,me, May y
7, 1945.”
Indeed, the U-bootwUb affe ff
may have lost the war at sea –
comprehensively – two years
before, but there were more than
60 German submarines at sea as
May 1945 began.
Their demise is recounted by
Lawrence Paterson, arguably the
foremost authority on U-boats
in the English-speaking world,
in Black Flag: The Surrender
of Germany’s U-boat Forces
(Seaforth, £25 ISBN 978-184832-
0376), a work based on published
and unpublished material, plus
the author’s interviews with the
dwindling band of survivors.
The surrender of the German
Navy a generation before was one
Wehrmacht troops.”
of the defi ning moments in British
The sailors fi ghting in northern
– and German – maritime history.
Germany and Berlin weren’t
The 1945 surrender was every
the only land-locked Matrosen
Sink the Bismarck (again)
bit as comprehensive, every bit
(matelots) at the war’s end.
as dramatic, even if it lacked that
The U-boat bases at La Pallice,
famous procession of dreadnoughts
Saint Nazaire and Lorient had THE dramatic circumstances surrounding the fi rst and last
which marked Der Tag in 1918.
been invested by the Allies since cruise in 1941 of the German battleship Bismarck have
the fall of France (unlike Brest,
The Grove Review
And if the U-boat continued the been covered in many books over the years.
war to the bitter end, so too did the
which the Americans made a
This new one is by two Swedish authors, Niklas Zetterling and
RN. On May 4 1945, the Fleet Air
point of seizing). They served
Michael Tamelander. The former works at the Swedish National
Admiral Lütjens, who was to go down in Bismarck.
Arm unleashed the wonderfully-
little purpose other than to tie
Defence College and is best known for his studies of the Eastern
Lütjens’ skill as a raider commander is recognised, as are his
titled Operation Judgment to
down Allied troops and devour
Front.
diffi culties of operating in an ocean commanded by his opponent.
wipe out German naval forces in
re-supply forces (the Luftwaffe
With his co-author he has published joint studies of the Normandy
It is a shame that this intelligent and calculating offi cer was
Harstad, northern Norway.
suffered heavily trying to ferry
and Norwegian campaigns.
portrayed as such a bombastic Nazi oaf in the classic fi lm Sink the
U711 and a number of supply/
mail, ammunition and medicine
This book seems to be the authors’ fi rst move into the ‘pure’
Bismarck.
depot ships were sunk by Wildcats
to these forlorn outposts).
naval fi eld, the fi rst of a pair of works on the sister ships Bismarck
The authors’ discussion of the vexed subject of sinking of the
and Avengers, while the RAF
The fortresses surrendered, like
and Tirpitz, writes Prof Eric Grove of the University of Salford.
Hood is interesting and fair. The Germans in Bismarck considered
joined in the U-boat cull the next
the rest of the German Armed
There is not much really new in the Bismarck book – Bismarck:
the ‘Mighty Hood’ to be their opponent of choice and could hardly
day, sinking six submarines off
Forces, in May 1945. U-boat ace
The Final Days of Germany’s Greatest Battleship (Casemate,
believe it when she came into sight on the morning of that fateful
Norway.
Jürgen Oesten spent two years in
£19.99 ISBN 978-1-935149-04-0) – but it is a good read and does
May 24.
Other boats ended their days
captivity. “I think the Allies viewed
the subject justice.
The authors accept that the actual nature of the fatal penetration
more peacefully. U977 famously
us as Super Nazis as we had kept
The British and especially the German soururces, both ces, bbothoth
of the ship will always be uncertain but in a footnote they give p
surrendered in Argentina on
fi ghting a lost battle.”
secondary and primary, have been trawled once more more to
their theory that the shell penetrated Hood’their thetheor s side, which,
August 17; most tamely surfaced
They were not and nor were
produce a comprehensive and interesting account that stands haat stands
as my old sparring partner Bill Juras my om ens has explained, is
and were escorted into Allied
their boats. Most were sunk under
comparison with any.
entire ely plausible.
harbours, such as Loch Eriboll or
Operation Deadlight at the war’s
The fi rst-hand accounts of Mullenheim-Rechberg and g and
The authors do however agree with me that
Gibraltar.
end – not an act of vengeance or
Ted Briggs receive particular attention and, as the authors hors
therth e was secondary explosion forward. They
Most were sunk, some were
malice, says Paterson, more an
say, they developed a special acquaintanceship with ith
quote ‘Corporal’ (Able Seaman) Tilburq n seeing
handed over to Allied navies as
act of mercy. “The boats were
both. When the book was written the German offi cer err
a “tra emendous fl ame between the bridge and B
booty to be put into service, such
neglected and barely seaworthy by
had already died; sadly he has now been followed
turrturret,” the origins no doubt of the Hood’e s conning
as U995 used by the Norwegians,
the time of their destruction,” he
by Ted.
tower’towerw s long journey from the wreck and Ted Briggs’
to undergo trials, such as the
points out.
What is most useful from the book’s unusual
clear memories of a “sheet of flcleaar m ame”.
formidable Type XXI boats (just
Today there are just four WW2
provenance is the neutral approach to a story that
The authors also quote Coxswain FrThe ae ench’s key
entering service as the war ended),
U-boats left around the world, but
has previously been told from a British or German
observation frobservatiov om Prince of Wales of “fl ames shooting up
the power of these grey wolves
perspective.
frfrom the water” along most of the ship’om thee wa s starboard side and
some such as U234 were used as
gunnery or torpedo targets.
to captivate remains as strong as
This gives the book a particular new and refreshing eshing
his seeing the ship brhis seeing theg eak ahead of ‘A’ turret, both observations
Paterson peppers his excellent,
ever.
fl avour that makes it an especially worthwhile addition to the ion to the oon to the
being rbeing reeflfl ected eected in the actual wrc eck that has lost most of its
Bismarck library.
starboard plating as is indeed brd platin oken exactly where French saw
detailed book with fi rst-hand
it happen
accounts from captors and
■ ANOTHER doyen of the
There are, however, drawbacks. As the book, from a primarily
it happen.
captives.
Kriegsmarine is Jak Mallmann
American publishing house, is not translated into American spelling,
Bismarck was herself damaged by Prince of Wales in this
He also describes how the
Showell who has updated his
it looks as if the Swedish authors wrote it in English.
engagement and was forced to abandon her mission.
German naval archives fell almost
standard work on the subject for
Their script did, however, need some further editing to give it
She shrugged off the attack of Esmonde’s Swordfi sh from
intact into British hands – more
the 21st Century. the proper language to make it seem as authoritative as I think the
Victorious, the miracle being that the carrier’s untrained air group
than 70 years of naval history
Hitler’s Navy: A Reference book really is.
carried out any attack at all.
which remains a treasure trove
Guide to the Kriegsmarine The authors compounded their linguistic challenge by a self-
The authors are refreshingly positive in their assessment of the
for historians; copies remain in
1935-1945 (Seaforth, £35 confessed desire to keep seamanlike terminology to a minimum
features of the much derided biplane torpedo bomber – spotter-
the fi les of the Naval Historical
ISBN 978-1848320208) is a with the aim of attracting the widest range of readers.
reconnaissance machine which, eventually, fl ying from Ark Royal,
Branch in Portsmouth to this uth to this uth to this
lalavvishly-illustraihishlyl -illilluustr ted oversize This produces some doubtful results. The persistent use of
sealed Bismarck’s fate.
day.
introduction to evintroduuctio ery ‘machine’ for engine gets a bit wearing as is the use of ‘corporal’
The fruits of the latest dive on Bismarck seem not to be
And just in case the se the
facet of the subject:acet e as a rank for seamen and ‘division’ for squadron of both ships and
refl ected in the authors’ account of the fatal damage infl icted on
chances of survival in a in a
the ships,the the aircraft.
Bismarck’s stern but they do succeed in their attempt to put over
U-boat were too high igh
organisaor tion, the Gunnery control positions are not ‘turrets’ but director control
the atmosphere on board Bismarck during its last doomed night.
(three out of four men n
campaigns,ca the towers. The complexities of British air organisation also seem to
The story of the fi nal action is accurately and fairly told. There is
died), there was the
uniforun ms, the defeat the authors both in terms of ranks and organisation. The
a very valid defence of Admiral Tovey’s natural desire to sink the
opportunity for
aawwards. uninitiated reader might think from his short biography that Eugene
ship by close range gunfi re that should have worked if Bismarck
German sailors
And as a reference An Esmonde was still in the Royal Air Force in 1941.
had not had such a formidable protective system.
to die as cannon
guide do not,guide i of It may be a linguistic problem also when Bismarck and d
Certainly suggestions that somehow the British were
fodder at the war’s
cour Prinz Eugen are described as being ‘at sea’ when they y
ttataking rakin evenge on Bismarck’s ships company for the loss
course, expect anything
were photographed by ‘Lieutenant’ (Flight Lieutenant)
oof Hood ought to be consigned to the dustbin they deserve. f Hof
end.
too in-depth (although too in-dn
Suckling near Bergen. They were in fact at anchor – as
Her HHer fl ag was still fl ying; the bombardment had to go on.
The 2nd NaNavaval l
an excellent annotaan exxcell ted
the reproduction of his famous picture in the book clearly
AAlthough they do admit it is rather sterile, the authors
Infantry Division – mostly – mostly
bibliogbibliographraphp y points readery s
shows.
cocome down on the scuttling side of the debate on the
ex-submariners – wwas throh wn
in the direction of a min the directiithdi yriad
The Swedish dimension does have its uses however.
fi n nal cause of Bismarck’s foundering.
into battle in north-wwest Gerest Germany y
of reading maof reading materte ial, in English
in March 1945… the same month
One of the fi rst sightings of Bismarck’s sortie had been
Their point that, even if she had not been torpedoed
and German, if your appetite is
by the Swedish cruiser Gotland, news of which had been
bby Dorsetshire, her scuttling measures would have
in which it was formed. Other whetted).
leaked to the British via the Norwegian Naval Attaché in
tataken her down is a valid one. I do, however, think they
sailors were committed to defend Aside from updating that
Stockholm. The Swedish intelligence offi cer who did so
puput too much stress on the lack of implosion damage on
Berlin – against the wishes of bibliography, this revised guide
the German Army commander,
has previously been identifi ed as a Major Tornberg but t
thethe wreck as evidence of scuttling as the primary cause;
features some stunning colour
Gotthard Heinrici.
he never existed. It was probably a Captain Ternberg who ho hho
tortotorpedo hits would surp ely have made the fl ooding of the
images of U-boats (presumably
passed on the information to the Norwegians.
wreckeck even more extensive. Again the latest diving evidence,
Karl Dönitz, head of the originally produced for the glossy
The authors usefully put the Bismarck sortie into the context of
whiwhich would have rch wo einforced the authors’ view, is not cited.
German Navy – and Hitler’s wartime magazine Signal), and
surprise successor – ignored the
previous voyages by German major units, especially Operation
I have to admit to having enjoyed this book. The little niggles
a very useful illustrated guide to
general’s (very just) protestations.
Berlin the cruise of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau (correctly identifi ed
did not put me off, indeed they endowed the work with a certain
ranks, uniforms and badges (of
“I tell you the crews of warships
as ‘battleships’) in January to March 1941 under the command of
Scandinavian charm. My only serious gripe is that the photographs
which, as in the RN, there was a
are mostly common views and not very exciting.
are every bit as good as your plethora).
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