Re: U-505, non alfa but . ..

[Richard Welty <rwelty@domain.elided>]

[i posted this, it bounced, and now i see that i have information that others
lacked, so i'll go ahead and push it through, even if it is way off topic. --
rpw]

At 08:04 PM 3/14/00 +0200, Wille R in Scandinavia wrote: 
>During WWII my late uncle was in the Royal Navy and he was often 
>telling stories about a sub-marine that was capturerd by the US 
>Navy and brought to Chicago!!! He told me that it is a museum 
>now and that it was in quite good condition. The number of the sub 
>was U-505, German fleet. He also told me (when I was i kid in the 
>-40's) that the sub was captured outside Africa??? and brought to 
>Boston? 
>Anybody on the digest who knows or can confirm or deny this. Once 
>again, sorry to take your time from the Alfa topics.

U-505 was captured by an Escort Carrier Task Force commanded by a Captain 
(later Rear Admiral) Gallery, who later wrote a book about the capture 
which was (as i recall) named _20,000 Tons Under the Sea_. U-505 is now on 
static display in Chicago.

it is a very interesting subject, for reasons having to do with Enigma and 
Ultra (Enigma being the German coding device of WWII, and Ultra being the 
name for intelligence gathered by the British using their Colossus 
decryption machine at Bletchley Park.) Enigma was compromised early in the 
war, after the poles stole an Engima machine and supplied the machine, 
along with much other useful information, to the British.

so what Gallery did was capture an intact German sub with a naval version of 
Enigma on board. it was necessary to suppress all knowledge of this capture 
until the war was over, so that the Germans would not realize that an 
Enigma machine had fallen into Allied hands. Gallery nearly got 
courtmartialed over the whole thing, because as a task force commander he 
was aware of Ultra and was supposed to know better -- the sub was supposed 
to go to the bottom with the machine on board.

cheers, 
   richard (amateur military historian)
- -- 
Richard Welty rwelty@domain.elided 
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