U-47 in Scapa Flow

[Music] through the [Music] I'm Rear Admiral Thomas M Dyck has retired the story you're about to see concerns an achievement which may never again be duplicated to hear this story we will go to the submarine school at New London and fit in with the office of students training for duty and the silent service the training given you here in New London has been thorough up-to-the-minute and exact read books head lectures solve problems and practice theory further application of what you've learned will come in due time however I should like to warn you it's the most valuable asset as a Submariner does not necessarily come from these classrooms whatever your academic or intellectual capacity may be nothing to make the place of your own ingenuity that ingenuity is the greatest factor in the success of a commanding officer was demonstrated to a high degree by our own skippers during the war and also by the enemies I should like to choose an example to illustrate the point an enemy example his name was good to clean captain of the you 47 German Craig Medina when war started on 3 September 1939 Crean was already an experienced skipper in the favorite of commodore dennis commander of the u-boat fleet janice wasted no time in activating his debt plan to strike a crippling blow against the british navy on 8 september Prine was called in and offered the assignment called for a man whose seamanship and self-control was above question cream qualified in every respect the Duty was dangerous Green was to take the u47 into the home base of the British fleet at Scapa Flow and wreak destruction on the ships anchored there was not a new plan during World War one two u-boats had been destroyed attempting the same mission the second boat had been manned entirely by officers also of importance to Denis was the fact that in 1919 the sailors of the German Navy scuttled their ships in Scapa Flow rather than turn them over to the British now what you said to his lieutenant I am honored that you have chosen me hired me alive here are the two entrances youthspan abolition here we once failed because of supply net and here we failed because it was too closely guarded both conditions remain all other channel a block Thank You except this one at Kirk South now intelligence has learned that only to block ships are sunk here and between them is space enough for one you both to pass north space is not needed sir another black sheep sunk in the channel and our plan is finished I need not tell you the importance of your success you will make scapa flow the grave yes for the waiting that it was for us in 1919 in the weeks that followed doughnuts and seen carefully studied air reconnaissance navigation data and tide chart greens biggest problem would be the high and fast running tide which flowed at speeds up to 10 knots and was capable of dodging any ship against the rocks with this tide behind him he would have to pass between the two block ships on his return he would have to bust the tide with the u-boats top speed of 16 knots Derleth decided as the new attempt would be made when the new moon affording complete darkness coincided with suitable tides both these conditions would be fulfilled on the night of October 13th on 9 October the customary send-off was given the you 40 as far as the two and their families were concerned it was a routine patrol nothing had been left to child era colonies over scapa flow was doubled agents in England reported every movement of the British fleet only a handful of high officers and Hitler himself knew appeals destination the u47 was escorted out of the harbour and after receiving the customary well-wishing signals from her escort submerge to begin the 4-day voyage northwards [Music] crane found his problem velocity clear of British ships and made his run without contact until three days later [Music] what appeared to be an innocent-looking sailing vessel crossed his bow suspecting that his periscope has been sighted stream surface to investigate Green had to know the nature of this class [Music] the British had put into operation a fleet of radial picket ships to signal the cause the location of enemy submarine [Music] breanne could take notes on [Music] after destroying the picket ship beam changes course westward if the radio message had been received by the British patrol planes would be out looking for him [Music] [Music] on October 12 green received word from German intelligence that an aircraft carrier several battleships ten cruisers and many small warships lay at anchor in Scapa Flow good news covered in very good height you may as well know where we're headed but I don't understand everything the speed of these warships is far beyond that we are not waiting for them outside the harbor you mean that the committee of intelligence has found us away Hind why don't you tell the men sir it would be as excited as I am that is why I'm not selling them until tomorrow night the excitement must be fresh it gives them less time to consider the danger on the morning of 13 october the u47 cruised in Bensonhurst 50 miles from scapa flow the battery recharge had just been completed when troubles suddenly zoomed down from the sky three British planes attacked before preen could submerge [Music] [Music] by evasive action green maneuvered out of danger and continued submerged toward the fall [Music] afternoon clean bottom dand waited for nightfall the crew has been briefed and the weight of the past reporters the pre sites and careful preparations had only to be executed but he knew that between conception and execution laid the bones of many a u-boat it soon darken up the surface entertain sunlight when I'll be going in sir after midnight I says this will be better than night you which will have your own command tell me with a title seven to eight knots behind you what's people do make oh maybe five knots why to keep control of the boat good Eddie give it an obstruction well to back off that's out of the question I Do's control he knocked sideways against it I swing rather hard over and speed up if necessary exactly and hope you would skirt the obstruction because when you hit if the damage is already done the most difficult situation at best at everything well let us hope we do not have to face it but you said intelligence gave us the way tight if there's one thing I live by it is never to trust the intelligence of others at least not without the suspicion that they may be wrong yes sir now according to our information the block ships that sank in shallow water you will tell your lookouts to watch for surface turbulence yes negative all right now let us study this chart so we can find the opening without having to back down when the u47 service later that night green received his first surprise why is it so bright Thomas like Jay the owner of borealis naturally overlooked by our intelligence we can't go in here now we can't help but feel tight is our HP class tomorrow night sir will you tell the heavens not to shine on it but that retains the brilliance of the borealis changes from night to night yes and tomorrow it may be even brighter what's more the British fleet will not wait on anchor for our convenience then we are going in yet pass the word to be doubly watchful there's cab again [Music] right then right then [Music] with violent operations force cream steered the u47 fully serviced through the narrow channel of church time it was just past low water the tide was flowing strongly back in Shore sapote grazed one of the block ships but escaped without damage inside the bowl cream crept slowly toward the main Anchorage the second surprise awaited [Music] of all the bad luck Freda moved out we were trying to no die left home that food up again one of the Balaton behind her I think occlusion hey go behind [Music] Prine identifies the battleship as the Royal Oak the ship he took to be the repulse was actually the obsolescent aircraft carrier Pegasus because the battleship was anchored alongside the carrier he decided to sink it first should one of his torpedoes miss it would find its mark in the other ship the u47 moved into firing position under the nose of a patrolling destroyer in spite of the Northern Lights she was able to remain undetected I think he is turning south they won't suspect us until we fire for the moment we are one of them oh very well stand by 2,000 yards and a gauzy it's like training exercise and everything with only one different types our target is the Royal Oak [Music] I won I to by loading the five torpedoes or forward and one aft was loose to the Royal Oak Prine and his crew waited impatiently finally one explosion was heard and they saw the Royal Oaks shuddered with the impact one our fight of all the luck hit understand the others must have passed under all ahead full right rudder three no two three headed through Kirk sounds ready to run for the open sea after reaching the middle of Java flow he changed his life I see now reaction no life no warning maybe they think it's an internal explosion all engines stopped we make another attack it depends on what happens of Cabot tenants are bright suddenly submerged while reloading know if we have to run forward we must be ready go below & gell holida centimeter depth at 0 feet see how things are going alright cab again tell him to hurry [Music] last time for reloading in a u-boat is 20 minutes Treena drained his men to equal this time but sitting in the middle of scapa flow it seemed like an eternity nearly ready got him I know that the gyroscope in depth setting on the torpedoes was exactly alike the exploders must have been detected how many more rotten eggs in our basket that's what worries me we can't know until we fire them a brilliant observation Heights I wouldn't have thought of it myself [Music] right full rudder right full rudder happy every honest I'm going in closer double-check torpedo personally yeah all that happen [Music] Green had two reasons to go in closer the first is to shorten the distance of the torpedo run and minimize the action of the trend on the torpedoes the second was to take advantage of the shadows thrown by the surrounding hills the u-boat silhouette would merge into the background and make detection more difficult it seems they have decided it was not an internal exposure attached for aircraft and everything of course kappa flow is impregnable to you what attack they know that [Music] by one [Music] firing at point-blank range clean loose DeSalvo with the Royal Oak [Music] the battleship was literally blown into the air [Music] the British defense is strictly marshaled against what now could be either an air or u-boat attack destroyers spread to the channels to cut off the unseen enemy there was still no proof that he existed and preened knew it at flank speed the u47 could only make 7 knots over the ground against the onrushing tide so wake foams like a finger of death but a clean cut speed he would stand still in the current British understeer probe vainly for the enemy they thought would be submerged if he existed at all [Music] destroy a heavy smoker Tom Jack up again [Music] hugging the shoreline was almost Greene's undoing [Music] [Applause] [Music] you thought I gotta say we take the chance he doesn't know you vote from a British submarine Queens decision was the right foot any change in tactics would have made him vulnerable to the searches between success and failure now proves the lone British destroyer in order to enter the channel clean had to vacate the projection of the shore stiff with tension the bridge watch stared toward the oncoming destroyer it looked like the end well their backs to the shore and only one way out Prine could have submerged to avoid visual detection by the destroyer and made his surface run out later but submerged he ran the substantial risk of being picked up on the destroyers as dick some gear beam decided to play out his hand and remain safe [Music] we could only leave their signals if they've seen us they won't attack without verification au bord for battleships we still in academia dream consider changing course to move back to the shadows of the shore but any change in the line of his wake would be sure to bring attention from lookouts on the destroyer it was just possible that his wake was being taken for the swirling Eddie's dashing through the narrow passage when it seemed impossible for the destroyer to miss discovery of the u-boat it suddenly turned away and sped in the opposite direction how can we fail Heinz with enemy touches beach [Music] the destroyer gone for the moment preen turned to the tortuous business of getting back out the narrow channel this time against the Swift running hide his luck held he made his escape unharmed and undetected the u47 returned to germany to receive the attained an award that were just ahead British ship elusively recognized the skill and daring a clean vacuum [Music] for the following year and a half preen and the u47 paid havoc was British shipping it sinking a total of two hundred and forty five thousand tons by nine March 1941 [Music] on 10 March cream crossed the path of a convoy south of Iceland and drove in for the kill before he could fire his torpedoes he was cited by hmm Wolverine the improved anti-submarine tactics of the British were just being felt and their sting was dead [Music] on 10 March 1941 the u47 was destroyed by hms wolverine there were no survivors we will never know what part teams contempt for the enemy played in making his fatal mistake one thing is certain ingenuity speeds on danger and the proper awareness of danger can only come from a proper respect for your enemy I'll be back in a moment there are a couple of interesting footnotes to the story you've just seen on the day before you 47 made a successful entry into scapa flow the British were in the process of towing an old vessel from London to close the gap in Kirk Sound but several weeks previous the Admiralty had desired to move the traditional block ship the only thing that delayed it was negotiation over the price of the ship the week of March 10th 1941 was a bitter one for the German Green was only one of three u-boat aces who met his fate at the hands of the same group of anti-submarine vessels sunk on March 16th was u-100 commanded by Captain your team shefte with 230,000 tons of shipping to his credit a few hours later you 99 commanded by Captain octo fetch my top man was 282 thousand tons was destroyed and Captain Crutcher then taken prison along with most of his crew be with us again when we will bring you another true story from the history of the silence sir [Music] [Music] [Music] and [Music]