The German submarine age began well before the eras of the World Wars, in 1850 with the ill-fated Brandtaucher, a very primitive version of the war-ready subs we know today, a three-man vessel which could dive to a less than impressive depth of ten meters, about sixty feet. The Brandtaucher’s maiden voyage was a failure, due to a miscalculation as to how deep it could go, estimated to be fifty meters, a little more than three hundred feet, and lack of a way to tell if the water pressure on the hull was too intense. The tiny U-Boat collapsed under the pressure, killing the three men inside. The ship was recovered sixteen days later, and is now on display in the German National Marine Museum in Berlin. The idea of a boat that could operate successfully underwater was discarded as rubbish.

In 1903, the Forelle, Germany’s first successfully functional “Unterseeboot”, or “Under-Sea Boat,” was designed, sent on her maiden voyage into the Baltic Sea on a twelve-hour mission, and returned unharmed to the dockyard of Kiel. The design was sold to Russia in the Russo-Japanese war in April of 1904.  The U-1, whose date of design is unknown, was commissioned into the German Navy on December 14th of 1906, the beginnings of the U-Boat Force. The U-1 had a double hull, allowing it to go fairly deep into the sea, ran on a kerosene engine, and held a single torpedo tube. Later, the U-2 was fifty percent larger and held two tubes rather than one.

During the first several weeks of World War one, Germany’s submarines sank three British cruisers, the HMS Aboukir, Cressy, and Hogue, all in less than an hour. They were sunk by U-9, the first U-boat to reload its tubes whilst staying submerged. Until then, the British saw U-boats simply as a novelty, not a true threat, as they could only fire once before they had to resurface, exposing them to mortar fire if the ship survived the onslaught.

At the end of the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles restricted the total tonnage of the German fleet and forbade the construction of submarines. However, a submarine design office was set up in Holland and a torpedo research program was started in Sweden. Before the start of World War II, Germany started building U-boats and training crews, labeling these activities as “research” or concealing them, using other covers. By the time the Second World War began, Germany had over sixty-five submarines in its possession, twenty-one of which were already at sea, ready for war.

During the Second World War, a major player in the Battle of the Atlantic, which lasted the entirety of the war, were the U-Boats. They were, however not very effective in the beginnings, as the radio transmitters of Germany were weak and easily intercepted by the British. After the German invasion of France, Germany seized control of the powerful radio transmitters, which were closer to the Atlantic for the receipt and transmission of orders and positions to the U-Boats. This made it easier to coordinate attacks, and was less likely to be intercepted by the British.

Critical to Britain’s survival of the war was the food and combat supplies that were being constantly shipped over the Atlantic from America, where there was a large gap in air cover. Germany took advantage of this, and struck at the cargo ships with a unique strategy for taking them down.

The U-Boats patrolled the Atlantic alone, sometimes for several months, until they found a cargo ship, whose position they sent to the radio transmitters in France. Radio operators then relayed the position to all U-Boats in the vicinity. All subs who could get there in a reasonable amount of time, up to three days, then raced to the area to take down the ship, much like how a wolf patrolling the forest alone until he found a herd of moose or elk, howled to the rest of his pack, who came to help him take down the prey. This hunting strategy earned the German U-boat Force the nickname, the Wolf-Pack.

The Wolf-Pack was easily the most terrifying element of World War II.  They kept the Brits in one state, unable to expand because the U-boats were keeping most the much needed supplies from ever reaching Britain. For every ship sunk by a U-boat, another ship had to be built as well as replacement of any cargo lost, in addition to the men aboard who could no longer serve as they were either killed, taken prisoner, or wounded mentally or physically beyond the ability to continue sailing. The percentage of men who survived a sinking ship was low; the number who sailed again was even lower.

The U-Boats were armed with deck-guns, mines, and their favored weapon, the torpedo. They used straight running torpedoes in the beginning, but later used magnetic, which when fired, did not explode until sensors on the torpedo detected a major change in the magnetic field, triggered by the target ship’s hull. The greatest, most efficient way of using the magnetic torpedoes was to fire them directly beneath the keel of the target ship. There, the explosion would send a shock wave through the entire ship, often causing it to break in half. With further improvements in torpedo technology, came the sound-detecting torpedoes. With these, if they missed, the torpedo would change its course to hit the nearest, loudest sound it could find: the propeller.  By the end of World War II, over three thousand ships had been sunk by the Wolf-Pack. Most of these ships were merchant- and cargo-ships, although several of them were British, French, and American cruisers, battleships, and destroyers. 14,119,413 of total tonnage in cargo and ship mass were lost to the U-boats.

The Wolf-Pack’s battle tactics became all but useless when the Brits introduced the convoy system, in which all cargo ships were to be escorted by several battle-ready cruisers and destroyers. British and American pilots were continuously flying between England, Iceland, Greenland and America, offering air cover as well as the escort. The ships made it difficult for the submarines to have enough U-boats in the area to attack and escape unscathed, and the planes’ aerial views could easily locate the submarines and drop bombs or depth charges to rid them of the congregating wolves. The Americans and the Brits also developed sonar which sent a ‘ping’ that returned information on the depth of the sea, allowing them to know if a submarine was in the area.

The effectiveness of the Wolf-Pack was hindered by the capture an Enigma Machine, an encrypting device used to keep the transmissions to and from the U-boats secret from enemy receivers and a codebook found in the captured U-505. This was kept secret from Germany, who did not know that their transmissions were being both intercepted and understood. Later, the liberation of France, and consequential loss of the French radio transmitters, forced many of the U-Boats to retreat to the Norwegian, Danish, and German bases, greatly limiting the range in which their attacks were coordinated. This meant that the Allies knew almost every move the Wolf-Pack made, and in a much smaller area.

Hitler’s greatest mistake was his invasion of Russia. After this, Russia collaborated with the Allied Powers. Germany was now being attacked on three sides: Russia to the East, Britain, France, and America to the West, and by Allied Powers through Africa and Italy. Germany’s cause was now helpless.

Fellow members of the senate, it is clear that America has a decision to make. America is no longer a bystander, but has been dragged into the consequences of this war by the barbarism of the German navel submarines. As we all well know, on May 7th, 128 American lives were lost on the British ship Lusitana. These 128 lives were innocent Americans, and we must not let the secrecy and barbaric navel tactics of the Germans to go unpunished. America must not risk any more American lives to the German submarines, and the German government must be held responsible for the 128 lost American souls. We must demand for their apologies and concessions, and prevent them from continuing their dishonest submarine tactics.

                While Wilson’s policies may seem like a breaking of neutrality, we must realize that it is foolish to still remain neutral after all that the German’s have done. Germany has repeatedly offended the United States and abused its trust. Their Submarine tactics and use of U boats has gone out of hand and has turned barbaric. The German’s show no indications of stopping their use of U boats and only show signs of wanting to continue to use them to their unfair advantage to harm the lives of Britains and Americans alike out at sea. Even Germany’s own Alfred Von Schlieffen believes that in order for them to succeed they must to control the seas. Certainly, the Germans have listened and are asserting and abusing their powers in the Atlantic with the one advantage they have: the U-boat.

                More importantly, according to the international maritime law, all military vessels must allow notice to an unarmed civilian ship before being allowed to sink it. However, the German U-20 did not abide to the regulations and therefore demonstrated an act of rebellion against international laws. The Germans claimed that the lusitana was armed, but could not show proof; therefore, they had no right to dismantle our American ship, especially a civilian ship.

                They will stop at nothing to win this war even at the cost of American lives. Germany’s nationalism has risen too high and we must quell this before it gets out of hand. We must not allow Germany to upset the balance of power in Europe as if that should happen we will see ourselves in grave danger. America must act now even if it is a trivial resolution. For these reasons, America must break neutrality and support Wilson’s resolution to the sinking of the lusitana and the loss of 128 American lives. It’s either we go in now or face Germany without any allies in the near future. Germany will attack us, it’s just a matter of when. 

Aryan or Indo-European Aryan has its roots way back in the past of Europe. Its roots are closely linked to Iranian history and the Buddhism faith amongst others. Aryan is known in most of the world for being part of the Nazi party in WWII especially Hitler’s Germany.  Post WWII the Aryan vision of supremacy lives on with Neo-Nazi’s and strangely with science fiction writers view of the future of space travel?

Hitler’s Nazi party used the Aryan vision for themselves alone, the German people were to be all blond haired, muscular and tall with blue eyes.  The women were to be well endowed baby making machines for the Aryan/Nazi race. To look back in history this seems absurd and delusional.

Hitler’s dream of an Aryan race of German and German descendents almost came true! I am not talking of his terrible genocide of Jew’s and Pole’s and Gypsy’s. There is a rumour that is picking up pace of an actual society of Aryan German’s living until today! I will relate the story as it was told to me some months ago.

In 1945 WWII was clearly over for Germany.  Russia was knocking on the very doors of Berlin America and Britain with her allies were storming across Germany towards Berlin from the West.  Japan vowed to fight on even if and when Germany collapsed.  For at least a year before Germany’s defeat talks with Japan and Germany had reached a new level of alliance.

Secret blue prints of Hitler’s vengeance weapons, the V1 cruise missile and the V2 rocket were smuggled to Japan in the new class of ocean going U-boats from Germany.  Enigma coding machines were smuggled to Japan, as were blue prints for Germany’s ME262 Jet fighter aircraft. 

Rumours of gold bullion and famous paintings were reported to have been smuggled to Japan in these ocean going submarines.  After WWII such were the strength of these rumours some entrepreneurs have salvaged and raised sunken U-boats all over the world.  No gold or precious metals have been found only secret war documents and Enigma coding machines.

One U-boat U534 was raised and shipped to Liverpool in the UK. Its artefacts were on display for years until the museum could not afford to stay open and the submarine was turned into a children’s amusement! Such is some people’s lack of history and respect in my country. 

The new rumour which does have some credibility is what was smuggled out of Germany in its death throws were people! Hitler’s Aryan founders of his master race. The rumour of gold and treasure being aboard these U-boats was a clever rouse to put people off the truth of these U-boat migrations to Japan.

Around 100-150 Aryan men and women were smuggled to Japan on the proviso that Germany gave up its heavy water technology and blue prints of its vengeance weapons.  Further in this agreement was the proviso that the Aryan Nazi’s were to be housed on a secret island in Japanese waters. 

The split of gender of the Aryan founders were 70% male and 20% female with 10% new born babies! Chosen books and educational materials were smuggled with the Aryan Germans to the secret island.  The island was to be of no military importance for example not long enough to build an airstrip, or to be within a short distance of Japan.  Further to this the island must not be on a shipping lane of any kind.

Apparently Japan was happy with this arrangement and an island was selected that had a fresh water supply and forest enough to hide the settlement from over-flights by American sea planes.  The name of the island was not given to me by the man who told me of this rumour, he claims no one exactly knows its name or location.

In 1967 a Portuguese cargo ship bound for Japan was caught in a terrible storm, the cargo ship was badly damaged, after the storm and small dinghy’s with outboard motors were sent on pre arranged search patterns to find other ships or land fall in the hope of communication with a rescue service or the mainland.

One of the dinghy’s came upon a small island with a volcano being its highest peak.  Two men went to explore the island in hope of help, they left one crewman with the rubber dinghy.  Hours past until a crewman was seen running hell for leather down the beach to the dinghy.  The crewman had lash marks on his back and both his hands had been broken severely by a heavy object!

The dinghy was started and the surviving two crewmen fled back to the cargo vessel.  The injured crewman was in a state of shock due to trauma and blood loss.  The crew on the cargo ship did what they could for the sailor and dosed him with morphine and bandaged his smashed hands. It was a full day before the sailor spoke and he said,

“Nazi’s they killed Juan and did this to me! Nazi’s I tell you, Nazi’s”

The crew assumed the sailor had fallen and hit his head on the island.  With fuel running low for the dinghy’s, the search was called off.  Luckily in a weeks time the vessel was rescued by the Japanese navy and towed to safe harbour in Japan.

In 1978 a British warship on a diplomatic mission to Okinawa picked up a small island that was not on their sea-charts.  A Westland Helicopter was sent to investigate to radar contact.  An over-flight confirmed a small island with a peak assumed to be an extinct volcano.  Strangely the pilot thought he saw a submarine moored in an inlet on the island, it appeared to be half sunken and covered sparsely in tree branches.  The captain added this in his log,

“Encountered un-charted small volcanic island with a possible sighting of an abandoned submarine possible relic from WWII”

No further action was taken by the British on a sensitive diplomatic mission and training exercise.  This is where the story may have ended except in 2008 an article appeared in a Portuguese travel magazine as “Best readers story of 2008” the article was written by a retired merchant sailor, his account read,

“My ship was damaged  after a terrific storm in the Japanese sea. The Captain ordered me and two other sailors to go out in a rubber dinghy and carry out a sweeping search for an island with a radio as our radio mast blown off in the terrible storm.  Just before we had to turn back because of fuel status I saw an island not far away with a volcano at its highest point.  We landed on the beach and me and Juan said we would look for signs of life and we left Pedro with the dinghy.
        The beach was deserted the sand was black due to the volcano we presumed.  A few hundred yards back from the beach we had a feeling of eyes on us! Suddenly I was hit over the head and fell down heavily.  I awoke in an encampment it was full of inquisitive men and women, they all had blond hair! and they were tall at least six feet tall.
        A man came towards me he was dressed in a khaki Nazi uniform! I swear to god.  He looked at me and spoke in German, he became angry when I didn’t understand him.  The leader brought Juan out from behind a kind of alter affair, he threw Juan to his knees in front of me then pulled a Lugar pistol from his pocket and shot him in the head! Just like that no emotion nothing, not a word!
        I was spread eagled over the alter and beaten with a leather whip, I nearly passed out with the pain.  Then from behind a big German guard stepped forward with a machine gun and raised the but of the gun and smashed my hands!  When I awoke from the pain I was released and they shot bullets behind me until I ran to the dinghy“.

This is how the story was told to me by one of my readers.  It does tie up loose ends of hidden Nazi gold and treasures, perhaps the real treasure in the Nazi’s twisted minds is a small Aryan Nazi race?

Lord Banks                                  

It was John Brown and Co who were given the task of building this new dual purpose ship; Canadian Pacific, who had already been involved in the cruising business, placed the order. It was designed for the purpose of operating as an Atlantic liner during the summer, during the winter it was to go on longer cruises. It needed to be built with luxury in mind. There have been three ships in total that have shared the name Empress of Britain, this one was the second. With luxury in mind, some of the ships interior was furnished with walnut and lined with silver panelling. It even had a gymnasium for those passengers who wanted to worl off the effects of the legendary culinary delights that poured out from the kitchen.

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It was on the 11th of June 1930 that the Empress of Britain first set sail. The honours of christening the vessel went to Prince Edward, Prince of Wales. It journeyed around the west coast of Scotland, mainly for trials at this stage. The steam turbines (fitted by Curtis-Brown) were geared to four propellers so as to give a service speed of 24 knots. During the trials though, it, managed to reach 25.27 knots. Everyone was pleased with the performance.

It was nearly a year later that the ship was put into practical use; the trials had gone well, now was the time to get it out there. Her maiden voyage set off from Southampton on May 27th, 1931, its destination was Quebec (with a stop at Cherbourg). Later on that year, as winter closed in, the Empress of Britain set off on her first world cruise. With such a long cruise, speed was not a neccessity. That being so, two of the turbines could be shut down, resulting in less fuel useage – resulting in the ability to sail for longer. It was a win – win situation.

An accident in 1935, when the ship collided with the Kafiristan, resulted in three deaths on board. It wouldn’t be the last incident the ship was involved in. On the 25th of September 1939, the ship was requisitioned as a troop carrier – World War II was in full swing. At first, the ship was used to carry troops between Nova Scotia and the river Clyde. By the following year the ship made its way to Australia and New Zealand. Her mission was to bring more troops to Europe. Later on that year, the Empress was on a trooping mission between England and Suex (via the Cape). Nobody could have foretold that the ship would not be long for the world.

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There were a total of 643 people aboard the Empress of Britain when a German long-range Focke-Wulf condor plane attacked on the 26th October 1940. A fire began raging. The captain gave the orders to abandon ship but a small amount of crew stayed behind in hope of putting the fire out. A Polish destroyer, Burza, and two tugs were in the act of towing the liner. Meanwhile, the German plane had reported the ships position, it wasn’t long before a German U-boat was on its way. The first U-boat to arrive was U-32 and it fired its torpedos towards the already stricken vessel. The torpedoes did their job and the Empress of Britain sank. An amazing vessel had been lost but more importantly 49 lives were lost that day.

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The Lusitania, under full-steam

The Lusitania arrived in New York on 27 April, 1915, and immediately began making preparations for her return journey. In the meantime, her regular Captain, Daniel Dow, was relieved of his command, it was said for a rest because of the stress of sailing the ship during wartime, and William Turner, Cunard’s most experienced Captain was put in command. Among the ships manifest were 4,200,000 rounds of ammunition, 1,250 empty shell cases, and 18 non-explosive fuses. At least, that was the official cargo. Even so, it was enough for the Germans to consider it contraband of war. Some passengers concerned that such a cargo would make the Lusitania a target for German submarines approached the German Embassy for clarification. As a result the German Embassy published a notice that would appear beneath posters advertising the Lusitania’s return journey. It read: ” Travellers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and Great Britain and that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles, in accordance with formal notice given by the German Imperial Government vessels flying the flag of Great Britain are liable to destruction in those waters and that travellers sailing in those waters on British ships do so at their own risk.”

Germany Warning!

The warning did have the effect of frightening some passengers and they let their fears be known, but when they saw the magnificence of the ship they were to be sailing in, it didn’t seem possible that it could be sunk by a torpedo. Captain William Turner, the master-mariner, went on to reassure them that the Lucy was far too fast to be caught by a submarine; and so the Lusitania left New York Harbour on 1 May, 1915, with a full complement, for the last time.

The first few days of the Lusitania’s voyage were untroubled and it seemed as if the war was taking place elsewhere. But everyone on board knew that they had not yet approached the killing zone. Captain Turner, who had decided to ignore Admiralty advice, and not adopt a zig-zag course, relying instead on his instincts as an experienced mariner, had opted to rely on speed. He had also decided to hug the Irish coastline despite this being the preferred hunting ground of the U-Boat. As the Lusitania approached the British Isles the atmosphere on board changed and there was a frisson of excitement amongst the passengers as many now lined the decks on the lookout for the tell-tale streak of foam that would indicate an approaching torpedo. On 6 May, Captain Turner received the message, “submarines active off the south-coast of Ireland.” He immediately took all necessary precautions; all the watertight doors were closed, extra lookouts posted, the lights extinguished, and the lifeboats were swung out on their davits. Despite these precautions the Lusitania continued to sail in a straight line and she had actually reduced speed to just 18 knots as a result of encountering a light mist. She was a sitting target.

At 1.20pm on 7 May, as the Lusitania passed the Head of Kinsale, U 20 under the command of Captain Walther Schwieger surfaced to recharge her batteries. In the distance he spotted the largest Ocean liner then in service. He could not believe his luck but he was also aware that he had only had two torpedoes left. He quickly submerged, but what to do? She was liner, she would have women and children amongst her passengers. He had previously sunk liners but without loss of life, for he had permitted the crew to abandon the ship first. But that wasn’t to be the case on this occasion. Captain Schwieger could clearly see the gun fittings and was aware that she might be armed, he also knew that liners had been ordered to ram submarines where possible. At 2.10 pm, Schwieger let loose a single torpedo. His decision to do so caused some friction among his crew and one of them, Charles Voegele, refused to participate in an attack on women and children, for which he was to serve time in prison.

A lookout saw the the torpedo approaching and shouted the warning, “Torpedo coming on the starboard side!” But it was too late to take evasive action. Just 70 seconds after it was launched the torpedo struck, there was a terrific explosion, but this was followed soon after by a secondary much bigger explosion. One torpedo should not have been enough to sink the Lusitania but this second explosion doomed the ship. She began to list severely. Captain Turner knew that he could not keep the Lusitania afloat, he also knew they were within sight of land, so he ordered that the ship be turned towards the Irish coast and at full-speed ahead he hoped to be able to beach her. In the meantime, he gave the order to abandon ship. On board chaos reigned and panic soon spread as the electricity failed and the lights went out. Some people found themselves trapped in the electric elevators and could not get out. By now the ship was listing so severely that the passengers were struggling to remain upright. It was also proving almost impossible to launch the lifeboats. Some were smashed against the side of the speeding ship throwing the people inside around like rag dolls, others overturned tipping people into the swirling sea below. Of the 48 lifeboats aboard only 6 were successfully launched. Just 18 minutes after the torpedo struck the Lusitania went to the bottom taking 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard with her.

Irish fishing vessels, the crews of which had been able to witness the scene from shore, rushed out from Queenstown to help those still struggling in the water. Captain Turner survived, plucked unconscious from the sea. Cunard offered a cash reward for bodies recovered but only 289 ever were.

The tragedy of the Lusitania was a propaganda coup for the British and Allied Governments for amongst the victims were 128 American citizens. President Woodrow Wilson was never going to take America to war over the sinking of the Lusitania, but he did protest in the strongest possible terms and the Germans fearing American intervention in the war abandoned temporarily the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. They resumed it again in February 1917, and as a result in the next 10 months Britain came close to starvation. Without the sinking of the Lusitania continued unrestricted submarine warfare may well have brought Britain to its knees. It also made convincing the American people to go to war in April, 1917, that much easier. In the meantime, the Germans had struck a medal to commemorate the event. It carried a picture of the sinking Lusitania with the words – No Contraband!  

Jinxed 

All these precautions were double necessary with the U-65, because one day at the shipyard a heavy steel girder crashed to the ground and killed two workmen. And some time later yells were heard, coming from the engine room. The rescuers found the sliding door in the bulkhead jammed and when they got through, three men were lying dead on the floor, amid lethal fumes. An inquiry failed to establish what had happened. It couldn’t have been carbon monoxide from the diesels, because they were not running. Chlorine from sea water getting into the batteries then? But the submarine had been in dry-dock…

The U-65 sailed for her trails off the Schelde Estuary (between Belgium and the Netherlands) in good conditions: sea force 3, light airs, excellent visibility. A submarine’s first dive always is an anxious moment, so before diving the captain sent someone to check the upper deck. The bridge watch later declared that the man deliberately walked overboard, without a sound.

Perhaps those anxious looks and muttered words would cease if the U-65 could have a successful first dive. So the heavy hatch cover was closed and the U-boat angled down to the sea-bed… and there she stuck. It took the crew twelve hours to cure the trouble, staggering about like drunkards, some of them already fainted for lack of oxygen.

But okay, there was a Great War going on and German soldiers were not fighting ghosts. Jinxed or not, the U-65 had to sink ships. So she loaded supplies for her first patrol and when the last torpedo was being lowered down the forward hatch the warhead exploded. Five men were instantly killed, among them the second officer, known to the crew as “der Schwarze”, because of his dark complexion. The U-65 was badly damaged and put into dry-dock, and the dead men were taken to Wilhelmshaven for burial.

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Der Schwarze

While the boat was in the dock, the men were given leave. When they were coming up with their kit-bags again for the delayed patrol, an officer counted them all: 31, including the new men, that was correct. And then number 32 appeared, also known as der Schwarze. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the officer from those dark eyes of his, which got the poor man white-faced and trembling like an old lady. The captain believed some joker from ashore had played the dangerous trick. Two days later however, and just before the U-65 was due to sail, the officer deserted what he called a “death boat”.

On her first patrols down-Channel nothing unusual happened with the U-65. She sank some ships, she eluded pursuit… and the morale of the crew slowly improved. In January 1918, the U-boat was heading for a dock-side in Flanders again, and nothing happened there either. The captain of the U-65 got orders to seek out shipping off Portland and one evening, when the weather was stormy, the U-boat surfaced to recharge the batteries. As they were near an enemy naval base, the captain had three men on the bridge keeping a lookout. 

It was the lieutenant of the U-65 who was the first to see a figure standing on deck near the bow, with his feet straddling the plates as the submarine lurched and pitched in the seas. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the lieutenant shouted. “Get below or you’ll be overboard!”

Then the figure turned, and it was Der Schwarze.

The lieutenant called the other lookouts and the captain, and they all stared in numbed horror as the apparition folded its arms and stared back… until, after nearly a minute, it vanished.

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The Death Boat

Some weeks later,  when the U-65 was tied up again at the port of Bruges, the captain went ashore to visit an officers club. There was an air-raid and a splinter from a shell neatly sliced his head from his body.

The new captain found the crew in a state of shock. High-ranking officers came on board and listened carefully to what each man had to say. Those most demoralized were drafted to other duties and the gap was filled with a fresh draft. A priest was called in to exorcise the U-65 and drive out all evil spirits in the name of God. To decommission the submarine on the grounds of diabolic possession would have created a dangerous precedent, so in May 1918 the Death Boat set out for another patrol, this time in the Bay of Biscay.

It was a terrible trip. The seas were high and the success against enemy shipping was poor. A torpedoman went mad and had to be given morphia. When he came round he was sent to the upper deck to get some air, accompanied by another man. The torpedoman went berserk again and took a running jump overboard. He made no attempt to swim.

Off Ushant, when the U-65 was rolling heavily, the chief engineer slipped and was washed overboard. Twenty-nine of the men were left now. Everyone felt that a malevolent fate had the U-65 in its grip. And it had yet to pass through the Straits of Dover on the way home… Three U-boats had recently been destroyed there.

On 31 July 1918, German naval headquarters reported that the U-65 was missing, presumed lost… and that would have been the end of the story. But three weeks previously an American submarine on the west coast of Ireland had spotted from periscope depth a surfaced U-boat and read the number on the cunning tower: “U-65″. The captain already was manoeuvring for attack, when right in front of his eyes the U-boat just blew up, “sky high, with a roar you could have heard in Arizona”.

Had a warhead exploded by accident? Was it sabotage by an unhinged crewman? Had another U-boat attacked the U-65 in error and then made off undetected? This one thing can be said for sure: once belief in the haunting had established itself among the crew, panic was inevitable, and from that much else may have flowed.

And you can leave a haunted house, but you can’t leave a steel cigar, fathoms beneath the sea, amid the perils of a Great War…

Other True Ghost Stories of the Great War:

• The Hell Hound of No Man’s Land
• Ghost Cavalry of the Great War
• Phantoms of the Great War
• The Angels of Mons

Are you scared of going out to sea? Would you ever venture on a boat? How about being torpedoed by an enemy submarine? Well German U-boats, which is an acronym for Unterseebo-ot (“Undersea boat”) were assigned to torpedo fuel tankers and merchant vessels during the first and second World War. If you have ever read “The Cay” by Theodore Taylor, the German U-boats had represented sharks.

Submarines had been equipped with a periscope that had a clear view of the surface. The periscope was a useful tool for hounding Allied, or enemy, vessels. Just like the shark, which intimidates with the fin protruding out of the surface of the sea, the U-Boat had come to bear a similar resemblance. Sharks attack swiftly and deadly; the German U- boat was just as swift but a hundred times deadlier. The first German submarine was the U-1 and was built in 1905. During World War one, Germany had been the first country to employ the service of submarine warfare in the First World War. During World War 2 Germany had dominated the “Battle of the Atlantic” until the allies developed new anti-submarine tactics. Their targets were usually oil tankers, fuel ships and merchant vessels.

Britain had been a country that aided the Allies’ efforts had depended heavily on imported goods. If the Germans could get to the merchant vessels, Britain might lose the war and the Allies would risk losing everything. Germany had then chosen to destroy fuel ships and oil tankers. If these high priority targets were destroyed, the Allies fuel chain would be severely weakened, thus Allied ships, planes, tanks, and everything else ran by fuel, would be halted to a complete stop. Fuel ships and Oil tankers, which were easy prey for U-Boats, had been vulnerable due to their size, lack of speed, and the fact that they required heavy amounts of fuel, but eventually this changed. The Allies eventually figured how to counter the oppressive U-Boats. The Allies used coordinated attacks, or hunts, that resembled the way medieval England’s navy had searched for pirates.