meeting recaps the dolphin brotherhood · the dolphin brotherhood us submarine veterans inc....

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US Submarine Veterans Inc. (USSVI) Volume 7, Issue 5

Seattle Base September-October 2005

Commander’s Corner By Karl ‘Dutch’ Krompholz, Base Commander

Meeting RecapsHere are some short recaps of the mostrecent Seattle Base meetings. Please notethat the Tolling of the Boats ceremony willtake the place of September’s meeting.

July MeetingIn July, Dave Goodson and PeterMcCafferty talked to us about their hobbyof model yard railroading. Dave brought asample of the type of train that he runs inhis backyard. He started with this hobbywhen he was three years old. Whatstarted out as a hobby has turned into abusiness for Dave. Using his ET, knowledgehe converts trains to run, whistle, toot,and sound like real trains, all by remotecontrol.

Dave and his family have turnedtheir backyard in to a maze of track andcan run up to 20 trains at one time. It hastaken them over 5 years to construct thisproject. He brought a movie along to showthe work that went into his hobby. Therailroad has survived rain, snow, blackouts,and even an earthquake to keep onrunning. Anyone is welcome at Dave’s

The USSVI NationalConvention in KansasCity is the next bigevent on ourcalendar. It will be myfirst as an officer, so Iam looking forward tomeeting other Base

house every 1st and 3rd Friday to becomean engineer.

August MeetingIn August we all got a chance to enjoy, orbe subjected to (depending on your pointof view), the tale of Bob Opple’s, ourfavorite DC Electrician, trip to visit the‘Rusty Ruskie’ in San Diego. While therewere some doubts about a few of Bob’sclaims, there was plenty of plausibleinformation too. The B-39 (AKA Cobra)submarine is now part of the MaritimeMuseum of San Diego’s collection. Bob metup with the museum manager and a fewmembers, and led them on a walkthroughof the boat. During the walkthrough, Bobexplained some submarine operations tothe group (this is where many of his mostoutlandish claims were stated). Right nowthe museum is planning on having someretired surface officers act as the primarytour guides, which may give visitors aslightly skewed view of submarines.Unfortunately it seems that issuesbetween the museum and the San DiegoSubVet Base will probably inhibit anyvolunteer efforts by the SubVets.

The October Business Meeting (nomeeting in September) will showcase theUW Engineering Department with thisyear’s entry in the submarine racecompetition and the students who builther. By then we should be well into theplanning phase of our Christmas Luncheon.So, if you have ideas or suggestions aboutit or other activities, please be preparedto discuss them at that time.

Passing on the reigns to next year’scommander would not be right unless thebase was better off than it was when Iassumed the position. You can help withthis task. Feel free to contact meanytime. Keep me honest, but most of allCONTRIBUTE. Be active. We can make thisBase an example for others to follow.

Fraternally,Karl “Dutch” Krompholz

Commanders from around the country,and sharing ideas.

When I return we will only bedays away from our local Tolling of theBoats Ceremony (September 10th). Wehave several members being inductedinto the Holland Club, so lets show themour support them by making this the bestattended event of our season. Inviteyour friends, neighbors, and people youmeet on the streets (okay, maybe notthose on First Ave. downtown).

THE DOLPHIN BROTHERHOOD

Eyes from the Deep

A History of U.S. Navy Submarine PeriscopesBy Thomas Holian, from Undersea Warfare Fall 2004

Mention the word ‘submarine’ to anyone, and a hostof images will spring to mind. The sleek, low, blacksilhouette pier-side or sliding through the ocean.The drama of an “emergency blow” as the boatbroaches the surface in a volcanic eruption ofwater. And of course, the sinister image of the tipof a periscope feathering the surface, hinting whatlies lurking below. And Inside? The one imageindelibly marked on the popular mind is that of thecommanding officer crouching in the middle of thecontrol room peering through the periscope –“dancing with the gray lady.”

Protector. The Omniscope, which Lake hadenvisioned as early as 1893 in his application for apatent for his “Submarine Vessel,” consisted ofeight prisms, including two trained ahead, twoastern, and one on each quarter. While the forward-looking prisms afforded an upright view, the viewsto the side were on edge, and the rear view wasinverted. This allowed the operator to view theentire horizon from below and even to estimaterange. Moreover, the omniscope could be rotated,but the view was considered excessively dim.

Around 1900, Irish-born American inventorJohn Holland, the so-called father of the modernsubmarine, experimented with a lens and mirrorsystem called a camera lucida that was mounted ina long tube and projected an image of the above-water scene onto a white sheet of paper. However,this technique provided little advantage, becausethe image gave no sense of distance and wasessentially the same as viewing a photograph.Holland abandoned this approach and reverted backto the then-standard method of fitting a smallconning tower with view ports on top of the hulland “porpoising” the submarine at the surface sothat the conning officer could establish his courseand aim torpedoes when the tower broke the water.Unfortunately, this approach had the adverse effectof revealing the attacking submarine to the enemy.

The first U.S. Navy periscope was a British-made “altiscope” rigged through the forwardventilator of USS Adder (SS-3, later A-2). Thefixed-direction device underwent trials in November1902 and impressed the trials board, but they askedfor additional improvements, including two differentlengths. Follow-on tests onboard Adder and USSMoccasin (SS-5, later A-4) were less impressive,with the CO of the test boats stating in September1903 that he preferred Lake’s Omniscope. The Navyattempted to purchase periscopes from Lake, buthe was only interested in selling entire submarines.In any event, the Omniscope was apparently toolarge physically to gain lasting favor. Electric Boat,created in 1899 with the Holland Torpedo BoatCompany as a wholly owned subsidiary, developed arotating periscope, but these eventually fell out offavor because, as it rotated, the image rotated aswell, so that when the periscope faced aft, theimage was inverted (similar to Lake’s Omniscope). Itappears now that while periscopes had becomestandard equipment on U.S. submarines by 1905,their design had not yet been standardized. TheNavy continued to experiment with both fixed androtating periscopes – the latter with either a fixedeyepiece or walk-around design – and varying sizesand diameters. In 1909, the Navy also began

An officer aboard USS Bullhead (SS-332)“dancing with the gray lady.” This photo was

taken during a Pacific war patrol in the spring of1945.

Continued on next page

These last two images arise from oneinescapable fact. Once submerged, submarines areessentially blind to the visual world above thesurface. Windows and portholes are more or lessuseless, since they provide only the minutest viewof the submarine’s surroundings, especially atdepths where the sun’s light never penetrates.Early submariners realized early in the game thatthey needed a way to see at least some distanceabove the surface of the water while submerged,without compromising their boats’ inherent stealth.In 1854, the Frenchman Marié-Davy designed an“optical tube”, which was simply a cylindricalhousing with mirrors placed at 45-degree angles ateach end. Similar primitive devices were first addedto submarines in the 1880s, but they provided onlya very poor view of the surface, often less than 10degrees wide, and were generally considered nextto useless. Various navies and inventors made minorimprovements to this design in the following years,but a breakthrough came in 1902, when Americansubmarine pioneer Simon Lake included his patented“Omniscope” on his own 65- foot, 130-ton

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experimenting with periscopes that could partiallyretract into the submarine, to reduce drag. As aresult of this continuous experimentation, the Navyonly awarded small-specialized periscope contractsas new submarines were built or as replacementoptics were needed.

Meanwhile, Holland still refused to use theseearly periscopes, believing that they were toolimiting operationally. Because the early instrumentswere relatively short, with a fixed height, a certainamount of “porpoising” was still necessary to bringthe boat near the surface. If the periscope tubewas too short, the submarine hull could easilybroach the rolling waves, but if it was too long, theimage became too dim and was significantlydistorted by vibrations in the mast induced by themoving water. A thicker tube damped the vibrationsbut also increased the wake created by theperiscope as it cut through the surface of thewater.

The basic design for the modern periscopewas perfected by the industrialist Sir Howard Grubbin Britain. His father founded a Dublin telescope-making firm, which Grubb eventually inherited.Renowned for his optical expertise, Grubb wascommissioned to develop periscopes for the BritishRoyal Navy’s new Holland-designed submarines inthe early 1900s. Improving upon Lake’s omniscopedesign, Grubb eventually perfected his own versionduring World War I, which was installed on themajority of the British Royal Navy’s submarines, andon several U.S. Navy boats. The Grubb periscopeand subsequent variants remained the submarine’sonly visual aid for over fifty years, until underwatertelevision was installed aboard the first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus (SSN-571).

From these early days through World War II,various improvements were made to periscopes,including the ability to rotate and be retracted intothe hull. This allowed periscope tubes to becomelonger while the diameter was decreased to reducewake. Around 1911, Dr. Frederick O. Kollmorgenproposed the introduction of two telescopes intothe periscope, instead of a series of lenses. Thisallowed the window at the top of the periscope tobecome a simple piece of glass, as opposed to aprism, which in turn allowed for a much smallerhead. The telescopes also made it easier to developtubes of various lengths because of the lack ofintermediary lenses. In 1916, during World War I,Kollmorgen formed the Kollmorgen Corporation,which quickly became the dominant U.S. periscopemanufacturer. The two-telescope design was testedduring the war, and became standard for periscopesinto the modern day.

In the late 1930s, submarine operatorsconvinced the Bureau of Ships to develop a newtype of periscope that eventually became the“needle nose” Type 1 attack design. This featured atube that tapered at its head to reduce the surfacewake. Recognizing that by this time aircraft were amajor threat to submarines, Kollmorgen in 1940offered a modified Type 1 periscope, dubbed theType 2. The Type 2’s field of view extended to 90.5degrees of elevation, which enabled the attackperiscope to cover the entire sky. The Type 3designation was used for earlier large-head searchperiscopes, but this was replaced in World War II bythe Type 4 night periscope, which featured a muchfatter head (for greater light-gathering power) anda shorter tube (to reduce loss of light inside). Amajor innovation during this period was the adventof quality periscope photography. Throughout thecourse of World War II, most submarines sailed withtwo instruments – an attack periscope and asearch/night periscope The Type 2 periscope couldonly operate during daylight, but it was known forsuperb optics and minimal wake. Improvementswere made for greater depth, improved optics andoptical coatings, and photo capabilities, and itremained in use through the 1990s.

By the 1950s, evolutionary improvements tothe Type 4 design resulted in the Type 8 periscope.Frequent modifications during the decades sincehave made it one of the primary “hull-penetrating”periscopes in the fleet today, used on all USS LosAngeles (SSN-688), USS Seawolf (SSN-21), and USSOhio (SSBN-726) class boats. The Type 8 periscopefeatures multiple levels of optical magnification, aday-and-night viewing capability, and an antennasystem for EHF Low Data Rate (LDR) satellitecommunications.

Also in the 1950s, a special stabilizedperiscope, the Type 11 “star-tracker,” wasdeveloped specifically for ballistic missile submarinesto facilitate the more accurate navigation neededfor missile launches. It was designed to takeazimuth sightings of stars to update the plannedShips Inertial Navigation System (SINS), and it wasthe first periscope developed specifically for thenuclear-powered age.

With the advent of the Los Angeles classfast attack submarine design in the late 1960s, theNavy developed a new attack periscope, the Type18, which offered 18-times magnification, asopposed to its precursor’s eight. Kollmorgen againwon the contract to design and build theperiscopes, partly because their design allowedusing a camera without removing the periscope’sfaceplate. This design eventually permitted the use

Continued from previous page

See “Eyes” on Page 4


of television cameras, whose images can bedisplayed throughout the submarine and recorded.The Type 18 periscope is one of the primary hull-penetrating periscopes in the fleet today, used onall Los Angeles and Seawolf class submarines.Important features of the Type 18 include multiplemagnification levels, single-axis stabilization, digitalphotography, low-light image intensification, colortelevision, and day-and-night viewing capabilities.The Type 18 periscope is currently undergoingupgrades for a video package known as SUBIS(Submarine Imaging Subsystem), a set of analogvideo and digital still cameras that record the viewfrom the periscope and provide image enhancementsoftware for image analysis.

Although the Type 18 represents the currentstate-of-the-art in U.S. submarine periscopes, theNavy’s new USS Virginia (SSN-774) class submarinewill be getting a completely new set of eyes.Virginia’s AN/BVS-1 Photonics Mast has replacedthe traditional optical lenses and prisms ofconventional periscopes with electronic imagingequipment. Each Virginia class submarine will havetwo photonics masts that do not require physicalpenetration of the ship’s hull, but instead“telescope” out of the sail. Importantly, this allowsVirginia’s Control Room to be moved from thecramped first deck to the more spacious seconddeck. Additionally, there will be no “gray lady” todance with – or take up valuable control-roomspace – since the customary periscope in its below-deck well gives way to a fiber optic system thatcarries images from the photonics masts to twoworkstations and a commander’s control console,each equipped with two flat-panel displays and akeyboard, trackball, and joystick. The masts areequipped with three cameras – color, high-resolutionblack-and-white, and infrared – in addition to amission-critical control camera in a separate,pressure-proof and shock-hardened housing and alaser range finder that will provide accurate rangesto targets and aids to navigation. All of thesesensors are housed in the mast’s rotating head.

Capt. David Portner, the Program Managerfor the Imaging and Electronic Warfare ProgramOffice, notes that “the Photonics Mast is one of therevolutionary systems aboard Virginia. Its digitalimagery design eliminates the need for a major hullpenetration required for optical periscopes. Not onlydoes it keep the CO from having to focus entirelyon the top-side scene, but it has allowed the shipdesigners to break the hard link between the sailand the Command and Control System Module(CCSM). In doing so, Virginia’s sail has been movedforward for improved hydrodynamics and its CCSM

Kollmorgen’s Photonics Mast, the nextgeneration in submarine optics. The infraredcamera is located in the lower rectangular

housing, while the optical cameras and laserrange finder are located directly above. To the

right is the mission critical camera, and themast head is topped by the antenna assembly.

“Eyes” continued from Page 3 relocated down one deck and aft, affording thiscritical space more room and an improved layout.The non-penetrating design also increases hullintegrity and simplifies maintenance.”

In a hundred years, submarines haveprogressed from having to porpoise at the surfaceto see outside, through crude viewing devices fixedin height and direction, to today’s hull-penetrating,multi-purpose, camera-equipped scopes, whichallow the boats to get a clear view of the outsideworld from up to 60 feet below the surface, whilerevealing almost nothing of themselves. And yet,today’s periscopes are based on the samefundamental principles of prisms, lenses, andtelescopes that their predecessors exploited acentury ago. But radical change is on the way. Withthe first of the new Virginia class submarinesalready in the water, the submarine’s capability forviewing the world above the surface is taking off inthe first fundamentally new direction since the daysof John Holland and Simon Lake.

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Naval Undersea Museum Unloads Historic

TorpedoesBy JO1 Mary Popejoy, Northwest Navigator staff writer

The Naval Undersea Warfare Museum at Keyportwelcomed 13 World War II Mk 14 Torpedoes intotheir space May 4 after 11 years of paperwork,preparation and persistency.

The journey began in 1994 when DustyRhodes, Industrial Specialist (Ordnance andElectronics) and a former Master Chief Torpedomanof Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Keyport,discovered the historical torpedoes at the ArmyAmmunition Depot in Hawthorne, Nev.

“We were climbing through magazines in thestorage areas at Hawthorne, and Bob Bennett, oneof the guys who was helping me out said that hehad found some of the “big boy” torpedoes incrates,” said Rhodes. “I went over to where he wasstanding and noticed a Naval Ammunition LogisticalCode (NALC) of 1502 stenciled on one crate. Irecognized the number from my days in the Fleet asa Torpedoman’s Mate as being a Mk 14 Torpedo,” headded.

They soon discovered they had eleven ofthe famous torpedoes. Once Rhodes checked themout he found that they were on the Army’sdemilitarization list. As Single Manager ofConventional Ammunition it is the army’sresponsibility to coordinate and fund thedestruction or demilitarization of virtually allexplosives or weapons within the Department ofDefense (DoD). This method is the Army’s way oftracking the destruction of weapons or explosives.

“Back in 1994 I had to ensure the priority ofthese torpedoes was low enough to permit me thetime to sell the concept of transitioning them tomuseum status. It was,” said Rhodes.

After many discussions with the Army, theyestablished a partnership to allow the famoustorpedoes to be transitioned to museum status tobe placed on display, vice being destroyed. Twoadditional MK 14 Torpedo main assemblies weresubsequently discovered in a storage building andthe army agreed to melt the explosives from twoadditional MK 16 Mod 6 Warheads to increase thenumber of torpedoes from 11 to 13.

“In Oct. 2003, the warheads were removedfrom the torpedo and exploders checked forexplosives. The igniters, alcohol fuel and air flaskswere also drained,” said Rhodes. “The next stepwas to turn the warheads over to the Army so theycould put the warheads through a melt out processto remove the HBX 1 explosives and then through aflash furnace and burn the any residual explosiveout. They then did a swab test to certify that thewarheads were inert. Once that was done, the

warheads were reattached to the main assembliesof the torpedoes,” said Rhodes.

He added that safety was paramount duringthe process.

“We didn’t know what we were going to seeinside the weapons, so we took every conceivablesafety caution imaginable so we could be preparedfor the worst case scenario,” added Rhodes.

Once the torpedoes were cleared, they wereshipped from Nevada and taken to the KeyportMuseum where they will be refurbished so they canbe suitable for display in historic ships, museums orqualified organizations.

In order to get one of these fine pieces ofhistory there is a certain criteria that must be met.

“Organizations who want to put one of theseon display must meet the security and theenvironmental criteria because we want them tokeep their beauty for many years to come,” said BillGalvani, director of Keyport Museum.

Preserving these torpedoes allows history tobe a part of our present.

“Having these torpedoes preserved gives theyoung people of today and in the future an idea ofwhat we used back during WWII to keep ourcountry free because we do not start wars just forthe fun of it,” said Rhodes.

And for Rhodes having this project come fullcircle before his retirement from government serviceis simply bitter sweet.

“I am ecstatic that 11 years of intenseeffort finally paid off, but I couldn’t have done itwithout the help of the Keyport Museum, the armydepot in Hawthorne, our NUWC Keyport Detachmentin Hawthorne, the U.S. Army Joint MunitionsCommand in Rock Island, Ill., the Day-ZimmerCorporation, Hawthorne, NV, TMCS (SW) TerryPheabus (ret), BAE Systems Keyport and TMC BobPallat (ret) Akron, Ohio. Everyone worked togetheras a team and made this process a huge success,”he added.

One of the Mk 14 torpedoes being moved at themuseum


Surviving crew members of the German

U-505 recall the warBy William Mullen, Chicago Tribune

On a pleasant evening in early June, two formerGerman U-boat crewmen quietly dined together inthe new $35 million exhibit hall built by the Museumof Science and Industry for one of its most prizedholdings, the captured German submarine, the U-505. The occasion was a small dinner for themuseum staff and selected guests the night beforethe exhibit’s grand opening.

Karl Springer, 83, and Wolfgang Schiller, 82,were the only two of the seven surviving U-505crew members who could attend the ceremonies.Each was still a teenager when he joined the crew,and the mortality rate for submarine duty was sohigh that both men assumed they would beentombed inside the boat on the ocean bottom bywar’s end.

“I didn’t expect to live,” said Schiller, a tall,craggy-faced, white-haired grandfather who joinedthe U-505 crew in 1942. “None of us did. How couldwe? As the war went on, more and more boatsfailed to return from their missions.”

Since the Museum of Science and Industryinstalled the submarine in 1954, it has been themuseum’s most popular single attraction. More than24 million people have toured its interior, and formany, it remains one of their primary memories ofthe museum.

In telling the boat’s story, the museumemphasizes the remarkable saga of the U-505’scapture two days before D-Day in 1944. It remainsone of the most daring acts of seamanship andcourage in naval history, a tale even more vividlytold in the new exhibit.

What isn’t as well-known is the story of theU-505’s combat service before its capture. Few whofile through its impossibly cramped passagewayshave an inkling of its dark, violent wartime past, avessel plagued with bad luck and, for much of theconflict, a hated, tyrannical captain. Some of thatstory was relived the night of the dinner as Springerand Schiller reminisced. Two books on the U-505published last year also detail its wartime service:“Hunt and Kill”, a collection of articles edited bymilitary historian Theodore Savas, and “Steel Boat,Iron Hearts”, a memoir by crew member HansGoebeler, published posthumously.

Being selected for duty on the U-boats, themost elite unit in the German navy, was a greathonor. Only 10 percent of sailors were selected fortraining, and only 10 percent of them made itthrough. Most were bright, working-class teenagerswho had proved their proficiency in skills like diesel

mechanics or electronics in trade schools. Nouniform in the German military was more respectedthan that of the U-boatmen, but there was a grimreality behind the honor of serving on thesubmarines. As the war wore on, the average lifeexpectancy of German subs and those aboard themdropped to just three months.

Early in the war, it appeared that U-boatsmight carry Germany to victory as they sank fleetsof freighters trying to bring food and munitions fromthe Americas to European armies struggling againstthe German war machine. German “wolf packs” -several subs operating in tandem to attack and sinkconvoys - were the terror of the high seas. HadGermany’s success against Allied shipping continuedfor another year, it might have won the war. But bythe summer of 1942, the Allies began to gain theupper hand with improved sonar locating devicesand a rapid increase in anti-submarine surfaceships. Their “wolf packs” decimated, the Germansturned to a “lone wolf” strategy, using bigger,better-armed subs that could roam widely and huntenemy ships by themselves. The U-505 was one ofthese, capable of missions up to 12,000 miles fromhome.

U-boat pens in Lorient

Home for U-505 was Lorient, one of fiveFrench coastal towns the Germans used as heavilyprotected submarine ports. Like all the port towns,Lorient had a “sin strip,” a nightclub and bar districtstocked with beer, bands and women to entertainsubmariners on leave. Because the crews facedsuch terrible peril on their missions, they got nearlydouble what other German soldiers were paid. Thatgave the young seamen plenty to spend while inport, packing in as much living as they could.“We’d be gone for three or four months at a time,coming back and retrieving all that back pay everytime,” says Pete Peterson, 84, a mechanic on oneof the U-505’s sister ships. “We bought the wholetown, sometimes.” Peterson married an Americanwoman after the war, moved to Ohio and becamean American citizen. He has helped the museum foryears with insights into the history of the submarinewar and technical information on the U-boats.Commissioned in 1941, the U-505 sailed out of


VOLUME 7, ISSUE 5

Lorient in early 1942 on its first operational missionoff the coast of Africa. It was under the commandof Capt. Axel-Olaf Loewe, a skipper who demandedthe highest shipboard performance from his men,but was otherwise casual about military regimenand things like the dress code. Approachable andsympathetic, he was extremely popular with hiscrew. Under his command in the early months of1942, the U-505 sank seven Allied freighters in theAtlantic. As it returned periodically to Lorient forrefitting and restocking, it was met with a hero’swelcome, the men standing on deck in formation asbrass bands blared and cheering crowds applaudedthem from the docks.

At sea in September 1942, Loewe suffered aruptured appendix and was hospitalized in Lorient.By then, Allied units, using sonar and blanketing theskies with aircraft that worked in concert with sub-killing surface ships, were making life hell for U-boats. On the U-505, Loewe’s replacement, Capt.Peter Zschech (pronounced “check”), was about tomake life even worse for the boat’s crew. Just 25when he took command of the U-505, Zschech wasthe youngest cadet ever graduated from theGerman naval academy, according to “Hunt and Kill.”He proved to be an aloof, hot-headed tyrant, hisapproach rigid and by-the-book. Almost everyaccount paints him as quick to blame others for isown ineptitude, and to treat most of his 50-mancrew with contempt.

front of the men who served under them. Such drillswere a favorite form of punishment by Zschechwhile the U-505 was in port.

The men decided he drove them hardbecause he craved personal glory. Wrote Goebeler:“We suspected that Zschech had a bad case ofHalsschmerzen, the ̀ sore throat’ common to manyyoung officers that could only be cured by wearinga Knights Cross medal around the neck.”

At sea, submarine crews were used to longperiods of tedium broken by episodes of breathlessexcitement and terror. Electricians, mechanics andradiomen worked in shifts, manning their posts forseveral hours. When the shift changed, the mengoing off duty jumped into the still-warm bunksvacated by those going on duty. When the subcaptain spotted a vulnerable enemy ship, he mighttrail it for hours as he maneuvered the boat intoposition to fire its torpedoes. It was a trickybusiness that tested a skipper’s skill, and mostpursuits ended in failure when target ships steamedout of range.

Having sunk seven ships in a few months,Loewe obviously was a skilled captain. And when hesank an enemy ship, he was also a gentleman,surfacing to make sure that the life rafts of thesurvivors had adequate food, water and medicalsupplies, according to Goebeler’s account.

Zschech, on the other hand, had troublecalculating the direction and speed of his targets.In his 14 months on the U-505, he sank only oneship, the British freighter Ocean Justice, but did it ina way that bothered the crew even more.

After Ocean Justice sank, “Zschech orderedus away from the site without checking on thecondition of the survivors,” Goebeler wrote. “Thatunsettled me. Under Loewe, we had done all wecould to adhere to the rules of war and commondecency.” Under Zschech, “I felt that we wereacting like the heartless hunters that the enemypropagandists portrayed us to be.”

Most German submarines, including the U-505, were not equipped with snorkel tubes thatwould have allowed them to use diesel enginesunder water, and they had to rely on electricmotors for propulsion. The motors were powered bybatteries that ran down within a few hours, forcingthe sub to surface and run on diesel power whilethe batteries recharged. That made them vulnerableto being spotted and hit by Allied sub hunters.

Two days after it sank Ocean Justice onNov. 7, 1942, the U-505 surfaced in the Caribbean.A British bomber suddenly roared down and droppeddepth charges, one ripping a huge hole in theU-505’s hull. The bomber was so close that the

See “U-505” on Page 8


“He certainly didn’t like petty officers, I cantell you that,” said Springer. Though enlisted men,petty officers were the crew bosses who weresupposed to be accorded special deference byofficers and crewmen alike.

Springer, a master electrician, oversaw ateam who tended the electric motors that propelledthe sub while underwater. Springer still snorts indisgust at the memory of Zschech falsely accusinghim and other petty officers of a breach ofregulations for having a woman in their quarterswhile at Lorient. He made them drill for hours on aparade ground in infantry gear and field packs in

KapitänleutnantPeter Zscheck

U-505’s secondcommanding officer


blast’s concussion exploded the plane in midair,leaving the wounded sub safe but thousands ofmiles from Lorient. It took 37 agonizing days toreturn home, but heavy seas and bad weatherhelped shield it from other Allied encounters. It wasthe most severely damaged U-boat ever to returnto Lorient for repairs, and was out of the war formost of a year. It was May, 1943, before the vesselwas deemed seaworthy again, but for months itwould discover problems and have to return to port.The crew suspected French workers weresabotaging the vessel.

“Whenever we went out to test the boat,something else broke down,” said Schiller, whojoined the U-505 as a 19-year-old torpedoman.“Other officers in Lorient got angry at Zschechbecause they thought he should have been incharge of repairs and more vigilant. They made funof him, I think. Usually when we returned from sea,there was a band playing on the dock, but as wekept returning for repairs, there was no bandanymore. We didn’t get the respect we used to.”

By then, Germany was losing 90 subs amonth under the Allied onslaught. The U-505 crewknew hundreds of men who were lost at sea and,from their own experiences under enemy fire, knewintimately the fearful way most of them died.

“When the (depth charges) started comingdown, you had to sit and take it,” said Springer.“The explosions threw you about and knocked youto the floor. Switches fell off the equipment, lightbulbs burst and everything would go dark. Watersprayed from leaks. You were defenseless and hadto take what was coming. You certainly couldn’ttake a walk in the forest to wait it out.”

Because sound carries so well underwater,the crew had to keep silent no matter how terrifiedthey became. Allied ships attacking the subslistened carefully to see if their depth charges weredoing damage or were aimed at a false target.

“First the noise is incredible,” said Peterson,recounting how each had to silently confront hisown mortality during such attacks. “Then there wasa lull while (attackers) tried to hear you, then thebombs came down again. I would crouch and thinkthat, if I ever got out of this alive, I’d never let thesmall problems of life bother me.”

On Oct. 10, 1943, the U-505 pulled out ofLorient on its way to the Caribbean on the lastcruise under Zschech’s command. The war by thenhad taken its toll on the young skipper, who hadseen all of his close naval academy friendsdisappear with their boats to the sea bottom. As hislast mission got underway, he rarely spoke andspent most of his time isolated behind the curtaineddoorway of his personal quarters, ordering the

U-505 to travel submerged as much as possible as ittraversed the Atlantic.

Midday on Oct. 24, 600 miles west of Lisbon,the crew began to hear distant explosions as Alliedships attacked another German sub. “Over the nextseveral hours, the noise gradually got louder,” wroteGoebeler. “It began to sound like the slow, steadydrumbeat of a military funeral procession, inchingever closer to our position.”

Zschech stayed in his quarters, showing nointerest in coming to the control room to orderevasive action. At 7:48 p.m., a frightened radiomanhurried to rouse Zschech from his quarters. TheAllied sub-killers had located the U-505. The captaindrew back the curtain and emerged with a blankface while the sonar “pings” from surface shipsbegan to echo off the sub’s hull at an acceleratingrate. The U-505 had been targeted.

The first explosion sent the men sprawling.The next knocked the lights out. In the eerie glowof fluorescent paint on overhead air ducts the crewsaw Zschech walking, still expressionless, to theradio room. The next blast was so close that theboat tilted as if it would roll over. Goebeler, who wasin the control room, saw Zschech on his knees,leaning over. Another tremendous explosion senteveryone flying. The emergency lights snapped on,revealing Zschech lying in his own blood, a bullethole in his skull and his pistol nearby.

He was still alive, so the men put him on hisbed. He groaned so loudly that the crew worriedthat the enemy destroyers above them, which hadstopped the attack, would hear him and resumetheir bombing. One of the men put a pillow overZschech’s face until he stopped breathing.

“Everything was silent,” said Schiller, whowas stationed far back in the sub’s torpedo room,“so the news passed through the boat in a whisper,one man to the next, that the skipper had shothimself in the head.”

The U-boat’s second-in-command orderedbits of debris ejected in hopes that, as it surfaced,the attackers would think their target had sunk. Itworked, and the surface ships sailed on. Schillerwas ordered to bring lead weights to Zschech’squarters, where his body had been placed in acanvas hammock. They put the weights betweenZschech’s legs and that night, as the vesselsurfaced, Zschech’s lifeless form was dropped intothe sea without ceremony.

Skipperless, the sub had to return to Lorient.There the high command assigned Harald Lange, at40 the oldest captain in the fleet, to lead the U-505. Lange, experienced and level-headed, bondedimmediately with the crew. But hard luck continued

“U-505” continued from Page 3


VOLUME 7, ISSUE 5

to plague the sub, which never came close tosinking another ship. Instead, early in June 1944, itfell prey to a brilliant plan for its capture by Capt.Daniel Gallery, a Chicagoan who led the Americananti-sub task force off Africa.

The U-505 and the task force, made up ofan aircraft carrier and five destroyer escorts,played cat and mouse for several days until June 4,when Gallery’s ships surrounded the sub anddumped a ferocious barrage of depth charges, badlydisabling it. As the U-505 surfaced, Lange realized itwould soon sink and ordered his men to abandonthe vessel. As they did, planes from the task forceraked its conning tower with machine gun andcannon fire to hurry the evacuation along, killingone German and shattering one of Lange’s legs soseverely it was amputated later.

The Germans piled out of the badly listingsub and leaped into life rafts. That gave anAmerican crew an opportunity to jump aboard theU-505 and halt its sinking. By doing so, theycaptured a German enigma code machine, top-secret German documents and the latest in Germantorpedo technology.

The sub was such a prize to the U.S.intelligence community that its capture became topsecret. If Germany had learned that one of itssubmarines was in Allied hands, it would havechanged codes and shifted away from the war planscaptured on the sub. Thus the Pentagon chose, inthe case of the U-505 crew, to disregard theGeneva Conventions on prisoner treatment. TheU.S. did not inform the International Red Cross oftheir capture, and their families in Germany weretold the men were missing and presumed dead.

“Once in a while,” said Springer, “theInternational Red Cross would announce it wascoming to inspect the (POW) camp, and the nightbefore, we’d be shipped to a hiding place.”

When Germany surrendered in 1945, most ofthe men were not sent home. Instead they went toEngland, where they remained prisoners and wereassigned to work details that included putting uphousing for returning British veterans. They were all

USS Pillsbury (DE-133) alongside U-505 after itscapture

Boarding party preparing to tow the U-boat

released by late 1947.Neither Schiller nor Springer is happy that

they and their submarine were seized by theAmericans, but both credit the capture as thereason they survived to the end of the war. “Wewere lucky men to get fetched out of the water,”said Schiller, “and lucky to still be here, alive.”

Of 1,168 German subs serving in WW II, onlyfive survive, and the U-505 is the last Type IX-classboat still in existence.

It sat on a concrete pad outside theMuseum of Science and Industry for 50 years, andfor a time it looked like the boat would eventuallyrust away, unprotected from Chicago’s weather. But24 million visitors are too many to ignore. Themuseum went to work on a plan to take the subindoors, digging out a 35,000-square-footunderground pavilion beneath the museum’s northlawn.

The grand opening was June 4, the 61stanniversary of the sub’s capture, and was attendedby more than 100 U.S. naval vets who had takenpart in it. Probably none enjoyed seeing the U-505in its new home more than the two old men whohad served on it. Despite all the horrors theyexperienced, they seemed happy that both theyand the sub had survived to see that day.

“Seeing it here is fantastic,” said Schiller. “Ihad a good life on this boat. When you are a sailorwho has been on dangerous missions, you feel youare truly a part of the boat.”

Editor’s Note:If you are ever in Chicago, it is worth the time andeffort to go to the Museum of Science and Industryto visit U-505. You can find out more about theexhibit on the web at:http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/U505/



2005 Seattle Base Officers and Chairs Commander: Karl ‘Dutch’ 253-631-5736

Krompholz

Sr. Vice Commander: Steve Friedley 425-806-9116

Jr. Vice Commander: (OPEN)

Secretary: Steve Shelton 206-526-1130

Treasurer: Jim Harper 425-357-6485

Membership Chair: Steve Friedley 425-806-9116

Ceremonies Chair: Don Masoero 253-569-1916

Base Chaplain: Don Smith, 360-273-9416Mike Bennett 206-767-1934

Chief of the Boat: Ted Taylor 425-228-3764

Base Storekeeper: Bill Giese 425-355-5590

Webmaster: Don Smith 360-273-9416

Newsletter Editor: Dave Schueler 206-243-6784

Upcoming Meetings September 10 Tolling of the Boats at Kirkland Marina Pavilion October 19 at Redmond VFW Hall The meeting starts at 7:00 PM with social time in the lounge before the meeting.

Birthday WishesHere is a list of Seattle Base member birthdays forJuly and August. Be sure to wish them a ‘HappyBirthday and many returns’ the next time you seethem, offer to buy them a drink, and see if you canguess how old they really are.

Ronald W. Melton Sept 1Jack R Olson Sept 7William W. Hoeller Sept 11B.K. Uptagrafft Sept 12John R. Pinkiewicz Sept 21James I. Kingman Sept 22Steve Freeman Sept 25Bill Godfrey Sept 28Robert J. Hughes Sept 28Charles E Stewart Sept 28Donald Sass Oct 2James L Durham Oct 3Thomas G Rice Oct 9Don Gentry Oct 10Gary E Flynn Oct 18Toby G Warson Oct 18Clifford C Nutter Oct 23John F. Soth Oct 29

On the Internet:USSVI National Website: http://www.ussvi.org

Seattle Base Website: http://seattlebase.donmac.org

Don Gentry’s BBS: http://www.submarinesailor.com/forum

Ron Martini’s BBS: http://rontini.com/bbs

Welcome Aboard New Crewmembers Donald Francke Nevada 6/90 Ron B. Thody Spinax 9/52

Tolling of the BoatsThe Tolling of the Boats ceremony, along withHolland Club inductions, will be held at the MarinaPavilion on the waterfront in the city of Kirkland onSeptember 10th. The ceremony is set to start at1400 hours. The pavilion can seat around 150people under the roof (if needed).

There won’t be any food after the ceremonythis year, but there are plenty of restaurants withinwalking distance of the pavilion.

We can still use volunteers to help set upand break down the chairs and other equipmentneeded for the ceremony. If you would like to helpout or have any questions about the ceremony,contact Don Masoero (you can find his contactnumber in the list at the right).

Seattle Base LibraryBill Godfrey has volunteered to be the new baselibrarian. Bill has set up a system for checking outbooks and videos. He is also planning on getting alist of items in the library up on the Base website. Ifyou are interested in a checking something out,contact Bill and he can bring it to the next meeting.Bill is also looking for donations for the library.

Newsletter NotesI am always on the lookout for articles for thenewsletter, especially local news and items writtenby local members. If you spot an article, participatein a local event, or would just like to share some ofyour memories with the rest of the membership,please contact me and I will work with you to get itinto the newsletter.

I am thinking about working on a series ofarticles on the submarine forces of other countries.If this would interest you, or if you have otherarticle ideas, let me know.

The newsletter is available at the SeattleBase website. If you would prefer to get thenewsletter online and do not need a hardcopymailed to you, let me know.

Finally, if you have any comments, good orbad, about the newsletter, please feel free to get intouch with me.

Dave Schueler ( email: [email protected])

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 5

Bridge Named For Submarine VeteransBy Karin Crompton, The Day staff writer

Sunday, it became official: The southbound lane ofthe overpass commonly referred to as the Gold StarMemorial Bridge is now legally recognized as the U.S. Submarine Veterans World War II Memorial Bridge.The northbound lane will continue to be the GoldStar Memorial Bridge.

The dedication of the bridge was heldSunday afternoon at the Submarine Veterans ofWorld War II National Memorial East. About 120people attended, including a few rows’ worth ofWorld War II submarine veterans, in a ceremonythat mixed the dedication with a remembrance of V-J Day. Sunday marked the 60th anniversary of thevictory over Japan.

For years, the bridge has been named inhonor of the Gold Star Mothers, who lost a childduring wartime. But a review of records showedthat only the northbound span had been named forthe group.

John Carcioppolo, the commander of theGroton base of U.S. Submarine Veterans and aretired master chief petty officer, had led the effortto get the bridge named. This year is also the 50thanniversary of the founding of the SubmarineVeterans of World War II.

State Sen. Cathy Cook, R-Mystic, sponsoredthe Senate version of the bill, while state Rep.Edward “Ted” Moukawsher, D-Groton, raised thesame bill in the House. Cook and Moukawsherattended Sunday’s ceremony along with U.S. Rep.Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, and Lt. Gov. KevinSullivan, who served as the principal speaker.

“This nation is forever grateful for thesacrifice you and your shipmates and your familiesmade,” Cook said during the ceremony. “We, as thenext generation, have an awesome obligation. Weneed to carry your story to our children and

grandchildren ... you are the Greatest Generation,there is no doubt, and you have passed the batonto us.”

Moukawsher said he was “proud to knowthat future generations will see the sign thatcommemorates their service and stands for alltime.”

Sullivan said Sunday marked a weekend inwhich he had attended various ceremonies honoringveterans. They included a funeral Friday for thelatest Connecticut soldier to die in Iraq and servicesSaturday for a Vietnam veteran whose remains hadfinally been returned home.

“We remember, we honor, we say thank you,”Sullivan said. “We remember the remarkable serviceby these young men and those of you today andthe names of those around us today, who servednot just with distinction, but with incredible honor inthe face of incredible risk and danger.”

Sullivan and other speakers reflected on theefficiency of the submariners during World War II insinking a large percentage of Japanese ships. Thesubmariners also suffered high casualties.

“No other service can claim to have enduredso much and done so much,” Sullivan said.

The ceremony was also marked by a 21-gunsalute and with two proclamations by Gov. M. JodiRell, one to observe V-J Day and another toproclaim the bridge’s naming.

“How appropriate it is to honor you today. ...Thank you. Our freedom and democracy is becauseof you,” Simmons said.

This stylish 2006 U.S. submarine calendar honorsour submarine past by featuring the specialsubmarine conversions, early missile, radar picket,and ‘spook’ boats following WWII.

Featured are two and four color images of32 post-WWII submarines. The loss dates for allU.S. submarines are listed, along with otherhistorical dates in USSVI and U.S. submarinehistory. See Bill Giese for your copy.

Presenting the Colors at the ceremony

USSVI Seattle Base Newsletterc/o Dave Schueler10631 31st Ave SWSeattle, WA 98146

To:

“No matter where you travel, when you meet a guy who’s been...There’s an instant kind of friendship ‘cause we’re brothers of the ‘phin.”

- Robert Reed, G.W. Carver (SSBN-656) -

Mark Your Calendar!

Don’t forget the 2005 Tolling of Boats Ceremonyat the Kirkland Marina Pavilion. See Page 10 for

more information.

Dedication ceremony for the U. S. SubmarineVeterans World War II Memorial Bridge in

Connecticut. See the story on Page 11.

meeting recaps the dolphin brotherhood · the dolphin brotherhood us submarine veterans inc....

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