Rudi was Mechaniker Gefreiter and later Torpedomechaniker on a very unusual U-Boat. This photo
was taken in June 1944 while Rudi was training aboard the Type XXI submarine, U-3506. The Skipper
of that boat was Captain Gerd Thäter, and his photo is also available from Sharkhunters.
What makes this so unusual is that their boat, U-3506, was in Hamburg, fitting out for a war patrol, when
the war ended. They scuttled U-3506 along with U-2505 and U-3006 inside the Bunker Elbe II in
Hamburg, where they lay unknown until a small group of Sharkhunters went into this ruined bunker in
1988 and actually walked on the deck of one of the boats. Sadly, the bunker was recently filled in with
sand, the boats are actually sunken in sand, then a layer of concrete was poured over the surface and
the bunker itself was demolished - so this area is now a container terminal - with three Type XXI
U-Boats buried in the sands below - and Rudi was a Torpedomechaniker on one of them.
Heitzhausen
Remember, the writing you see on the photo here will NOT be on the hand-signed photo you will receive, only his signature autograph.
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