Photo used with permission by Justin Lee at: Scary For Kids
While many ships have gone down during treacherous storms or wars, others have disappeared mysteriously or met their fate under stranger circumstances that defy logic. No matter how these ships met their ends, some have left behind sad or terrifying remnants that eventually gained momentum and morphed into ghostly maritime folklore. Weather these legends hold any credence among experts of history or the believer of the supernatural, they continue to intrigue and thrive.
One such vessel that has captured the minds of historians, skeptics, and believers of the supernatural is the German U-boat, UB-65. This gliding mechanism of destruction seemed to be doomed from the start. But when many think of U-boats, one might argue that death often came with the territory of such a weapon. So why should UB-65 differ from any other submarine that surrendered to the deep? Because it was believed to be haunted, even before it made its way out into the endless blue. And if this tale is true, it still does not answer the question in many minds...how did UB-65 really meet its end? Was it mechanical error, an accident, or something much more ominous that took her down to her murky death?
A Brief History of German U-Boats During the Wars
World War I
The Germans designed one of the most formidable killing machines called das Unterseebootein, das boot, or undersea boat, which were the first commissioned U-boats to hit the waters in 1914, at the onset of WW I. And while the war was newly underway, the Germans tried to prevent merchant ships from importing goods, men, and weapons from North America to Britain while their adversaries were protecting the waters. Clever measures were used by the Germans. While being outnumbered by the Royal Navy, they found a way to skirt around the blockades of battleships with the ingenuity of the U-boat that could glide under the surface of the deep and surprise the enemy.
It was obvious early on in the war that this weapon was to be feared. On September 5th of 1914, after the German submarine U-21 sunk the HMS Pathfinder with 296 men aboard, the U-boat seem relentless and unstoppable. On September 22, 1914, U-9 was patrolling just off the Dutch coast waters and managed to sink three powerfully armed ships, the Cressy, Hogue, and Aboukir. As a result, more than 1,459 men died at sea in less than one hour. In 1915, the Germans declared unhindered submarine warfare and as a result, the British liner Lusitania was sunk off the Irish coast, 1,198 lives were lost at sea, including over a hundred Americans.
U-20's Torpedo Strikes and Sinks the Lusitania in less than ten minutes May 7, 1915
Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger COMMANDER OF U 14-20-88
This photo was used with permission from Scaryforkids.com and cannot be reproduced without consent of the author
SCHWIEGER WAS KNOWN AS "THE BABY KILLER" FOR SINKING THE Lusitania
His U-boat, the U 88 sank on September 5, 1917 after striking a mine.
Source : U-boat.net
Convoy
Losses of ships by the Royal Navy were sunk by the tons and the numbers were climbing. The U-boat proved themselves worthy as a war machine. The submarines inflicted so much damage that the British had to think of new ways to avoid the deadly subs. By 1917, the British tried a new approach in order to save ships and lives; they implemented the help of warships to surround them in a convoy, to protect their merchant ships from coming under attack by the enemy. The convoy system worked; many ships and lives were spared. But while more ships were still lost in the following years, this system proved to be successful, hence eliminating the Germans from becoming the victor of the war.
World War II
After WWI, the Germans were restricted the use of or to produce submarines, but that fell on deaf ears as Adolf Hitler took power in 1933. Arming themselves became paramount and it was only a matter of time before the onset of WWII in 1939 and the killing machine resurfaced from the deep. The Germans had about 50 U-boats in the water while others were being produced, but some of the submarines were not built for deeper sea patrol so the Germans utilized a system known as "The Wolf Pack." The system was quite genius.
One U-boat spotted a fleet of ships, tracked them while sending a message out that would be radioed back to other U-boats in the area, then the other U-boats came to the aid of the first U-boat and together they attacked enemy ships. Their attacks were so devastating that even Winston Churchill later wrote, "The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril."
By 1943 the U-boat had many successes, but soon techniques and devices were created to thwart the U-boat and put an end to their bloody dominance with the use of high frequency radio command, sonar, and radar to zero in on enemy subs. Another technique called "Hedgehog" was applied, which shot out a massive series of bombs at once, which would detonate under water around the U-boat position. Hedgehog sent many submarines to the bottom of the ocean. By 1944, advances in warfare, along with long range air command virtually put an end to the U-boat in the north Atlantic by surprise attacks at all hours of the day or night. They could no longer hide as easily as they once did and it seemed that Germany's surrender was imminent.
On April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler put a gun to his head and committed suicide. He appointed Admiral Karl Donitz his successor unknowing that Germany had already begun to surrender. On May 4, 1945, Germany surrendered to British Field Marshall Montgomery. May 6, General Alfred Jodl and General Eisenhower agree to a ceasefire, and on May 7, Germany signed the surrender document, thus putting an end to the European war and Hitler's Third Reich.
In the end, Germany lost over 700 U-boats and at least 30,000 men. The U-boat managed to sink thousands of ships and send many men to their deaths. As a weapon, the German submarine inflicted much damage before succumbing to their adversaries. But what an impact they left in their wake, and one that will not be forgotten.
The Haunted UB-65
While submarines were a powerful military weapon, they were also considered a dangerous place to be during the war. Most of the service men died on board the U-boats when they were attacked because there was no easy way to escape once submerged. And on board the UB-65, (Type UB III) or
"The Iron Coffin" as she was called, it was no different.
UB-65 was laid down in May of 1916 and commissioned in 1917, but even before she made it to open seas, bad luck struck and seemed to follow from there on. In fact, this U-boat would go down in history as a true ghost ship by many. Terrified crewmen grew increasingly hesitant to sail on her even before she set sail because disaster seemed to follow her from the moment she was constructed.
German Submarine U-12 1915
First Bad Omen
In 1916, during construction, the submarine, had it's first encounter with death up close. This is perhaps when the streak of bad luck first originated for the U-boat. While a giant girder was being lower into the hull, it broke loose from the crane and fell on top of one man, crushing him. He lay mortally wounded in horrible pain. Other men worked feverishly trying to free him but he died just as the girder was being lifted off of him. Some accounts say that a second man was also wounded, taken to the hospital, and later died there.
When UB-65 was completed, and just before she was launched, there was another terrible accident on board. While three men were working in the engine room, they were overcome by lethal fumes from tests conducted on dry cell batteries. The deadly chloride fumes leaked from the batteries killing them before they could be rescued. It seems that death had already began tallying up its souls on the vessel even before she hit the open seas.
Trial Runs
After UB-65 was launched and the trial-runs began, a crew member was inspecting the hatch when he was suddenly swept out to sea and lost forever. The mood on the submarine was somber after losing one of their own. But that was not the end of the bad luck.
After that incident, a test dive was in order. As UB-65 submerged a ballast tank sprang a leak and sea water began filling the engine room and noxious vapors filled the sub, leaving the sailors on board coughing and gagging. After being trapped under the water for nearly 12 hours, the UB-65 finally made it back to the surface of the sea.
All crew members were ill from the fumes, but grateful to be alive. Several stories surrounding this particular episode claim that two sick sailors were transported to the hospital and perished as a result of this incident. And so it seems, the grim reaper sat on board, waving his sickle right in their faces, and picking and choosing his next victims at will.
Later in 1917, while under the command of Oberleutuant Karl Honig, another terrible accident occurred. The submarine was being loaded with torpedoes for its initial patrol at sea. While the crew began inserting the torpedoes into the tube, a warhead explosion shook the vessel, killing the Second Officer and eight more men while also wounding several more. It was soon after this horrible accident that the ghostly sightings began.
Ghostly Apparition
While being towed back to the dock for repairs, one of the sailor's became hysterical. When questioned about his behavior he claimed to have seen the ghost of the Second Officer who was killed in the explosion. He said the ghost stood on the forward deck and just stared out to the open sea then disappeared. Then another crew member also told of his ghostly encounter after being found by crew members. He was sobbing after having just witnessed the ghostly apparition of the Second Officer, he was later said to desert before UB-65 it set sail again.
By now the boat had a bad reputation with at least 17 men killed, and the panic-stricken men on board the vessel were actually more frightened of the spectral visitations on the haunted the sub, along with the mishaps surrounding the submarine, rather than combating the enemy. To the men, the ghostly visitations were a bad omen and they feared for the future on board the sub and for their lives. Still other unlucky men replaced those lost on board.
Later several crew members spotted the same ghost staring at the instrument panel, just as he had done while on board. The men were terrified. The captain tried to allay fears by saying it was all nonsense, but the captain did change his mind later however, when he witnessed the ghost for himself. As the sub surfaced, the ghostly officer was spotted through the periscope, standing on the deck as waves lashed over him. All hell broke loose as crew members heard the news. The captain had seen the phantom himself.
Looking Through a Periscope from a U.S. Navy Submarine
Several more men claimed to have seen the ghost and a few claimed he walked through steel doors, another said he was visited as he slept, and still another saw the phantom officer in the forward torpedo room. One sailor was so disturbed by the apparition that he was said to have become disoriented and fell overboard, never to be seen again. But other variations tell of the terrified man leaping into the water to escape the ghost.
For all the bad luck that seemed to follow UB-65, she also had some success at sea. She sank seven ships and damaged 5 more. But the sightings of the ghost on the submarine seemed to quash any victory they may have felt, and the mood on board was somber and fearful.
While docked at Bruges port, UB-65 was suddenly attacked by a British aircraft and Captain Honig was decapitated by flying debris and shrapnel as he walked on the gang plank. His body landed on the deck and was carried back to the sub and covered by the crew. Later that same night several men, including an officer, discovered the ghost of the Second Officer standing over the corpse of the Captain Honig, as if warning the men of the impending doom that was headed their way.
A Blessing
The entire crew became hysterical and most tried to transfer off of the sub. The dark energy that enveloped the vessel was said to be so intense that a German minister, Reverend Franz Weber, was contacted about the ghostly events and mishaps that were transpiring on UB-65. He conducted a blessing on board. After repairs the boat was put back to waters as the war raged on and more U-boats were needed to fight the enemy. On June 30, UB-65 set sail once more... to her destiny.
The End of UB-65
On July 14, 1918, near the coast of Cornwall, UB-65 was sighted on the ocean surface by an American submarine L-2. What happed next is a mystery. The L-2 set the German sub in her sights and assumed a firing position when suddenly and inexplicably, the U-boat exploded, spewing out death and debris on the oceans surface. The Americans were completely astounded, they had never fired a shot. But what was most frightening of all was that only seconds before the explosion occurred, a lone figure of a German officer appeared out of nowhere on the forward deck.
What happened to UB-65 remains a mystery to some, but others hypothesize that while UB-65 was firing a torpedo it went off prematurely, inflicting damage to itself. Another theory has another German U-boat firing on the wrong sub by mistake. Another theory is an internal problem caused the submarine to explode. Perhaps we will never know the real answer, but what is known is that the trail of death UB-65 left in her wake was profound. 34 men died that day (not counting the others lost before her demise nor her successes) forever taking with them the ghost and the deadly secrets of the U-boat to their watery graves. God rest their souls.
In 2004, UB-65 was discovered by Wreck Detectives and is now under the Protection of Military Remains Act.
UB-65 Damages
October 31, 1917 The Margrete
December 12, 1917 The Bellville
December 12, 1917 The Charleston
December 14, 1917 The Nor
December 16, 1917 The Arbutus
Total Tons: 11, 443
UB-65 Successes
March 2, 1918, The Havana
May 4, 1918, The Pensilva
May 5, 1918, The Pandora
May 5, 1918, M.J. Hedley
May 8, 1918, The Elizabetta
May 8, 1918, The Thoralf
May 13, 1918, The Esperanza de Larrinaga
Total Tons: 7, 487
Copyright© Sylvia Zimmer 2009
Sources:
Special thanks to Ric Hedman and his knowledgeable insight on U-boats.
To learn more about U-boats, please check out his fantastic website at:
http://pigboats.com/
http://www.pigboats.com/subs/legends.html
Also Special thanks to Uboat. net for all their information on U-boats.
Information on UB-65 successes found at Uboat.net. Want to find out
more about U-boats? Follow this link: http://www.uboat.net/
Special thanks to Justin Lee for the use of his UB-65 photo /Walther Schwieger.
Check out his terrific website at: http://www.scaryforkids.com/
Other sources:
WWI History of Submarines
U-65 Haunted Sub
WWII history.com
Ghost Tales
Ghost Ships
IN MEMORY OF ALL THE SOULS LOST DURING WWI AND WWII, AND UB65
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