HANS was a bit of a riddle with his background.

He was a Hitler Jugend Führer (Hitler Youth Leader) but he was not Germany's youngest HJ leader as he claimed;

He did join U-505 and rode that boat all her Feindfahrten (war patrols) but he was not the I.W.O. (First Watch Officer) as he hinted when we met in 1982 and he was not the Zentrallemaat (central control room Chief Petty Officer) as he told us - his rank was actually Matrosen 2nd Class - Seaman 2nd Class.

His one and only claim to fame was his claim that he 'pulled the plug' to scuttle U-505 as the U.S. Navy Task Force was attacking the boat but that was not true.  It was L.I. (Engineering Officer) Hauser who opened the sea strainer, assisted by engineering mate Hohlenreid - letters from the Chief Petty Office of the boat confirm that.

Click here to see HANS  SCENE 1   SCENE 2  SCENE 3   SCENE 4

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HANS was one of the men seen here on the deck of U-505 to repair the damage they suffered in an aerial attack in the Caribbean.

U-505 was the most severely damaged submarine to make it back to her homeport.