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"Patrol in North Germany"
from 13 October 2001 through 21
October 2001
We met the men
who actually MADE this history!
This was a very special tour, arranged for us
by
the veterans themselves. No other tour
could
possibly allow visitors in the places we go
or
to meet with all these honored veterans. There have
never been less than a dozen U-boat Skippers with us & dozens of other officers
& crewmen attending our Patrols. The Luftwaffe and other branches of the Wehrmacht are also represented.
We split this into
several pages to avoid long load times. Thanks for your patience. It
will be worth the wait.
13 October (Saturday)
We begin our ‘Patrol in North Germany’ as we always do,
with the two hour harbor tour. Several
veterans were already with us for this tour.
It is always a great icebreaker, and a nice time on the water looking at
a historic old city. We are checked
into our four-star
hotel in Hamburg.
In the evening, we enjoyed our Welcome Dinner at a new
place, a four star restaurant overlooking the Hamburg harbor with all the lights
and view of the area. Joining us
were Kriegsmarine veterans KARL WALDECK and his wife Anne, Captain GÜNTHER
HEINRICH (photo below),
Captain MATTHIAS BRÜNIG and VOLKMAR KÖNIG (photo
below). HEINRICH was Skipper of U-960; BRÜNIG
of U-108; and KÖNIG was midshipman on U-99
under OTTO KRETSCHMER.
All were happy to tell their memories, sign autographs and have their
photos taken.
HEINRICH
KÖNIG
GÖTHLING
HESS
14 October (Sunday)
After a great breakfast (this hotel includes champagne on the breakfast) several head off for the fischmarkt which is
actually a huge flea market and fresh fish market rolled into one.
It stretches more than one kilometer, maybe two kilometers, along the
waterfront and there you can find anything – well, almost.
Professor
(Captain) BRÜNIG led us around the important sightseeing places in
Hamburg – city hall, Hamburg Museum and much more.
Captain Hess
again at his Periscope
Hess, Cooper and Günther at U-995
15 October (Monday)
We head for the Marine Ehrenmal (Navy Memorial) and the only Type
VII-C boat left in the world, U-995.
There we are met by her former Skipper and our dear friend HANS-GEORG
HESS (photo above) and his wife Heilwig (a very accomplished tennis
player) as well as WOLDEMAR TRIEBEL, former I.W.O. on U-978;
and ERNST GÖTHLING (photo above) from U-25.
We toured this boat, beautifully maintained by the German Navy League,
and then we had a special treat – a talk on the brand new 214 Class
submarine (photo below) from one of the top engineers of HDW where these air-independent
submarines are designed and built. This
submarine runs her diesel engines underwater – deep
underwater – without the need for outside air.
Naturally we cannot give his name as this was a very special lecture but
we thank this engineer greatly for his time.
The 214 Class submarine, the world's
most modern non-nuclear submarine. For full details, click
here.
After lunch, we were at the U-Boot-Ehrenmal (submarine
Memorial) where SHARKHUNTERS sends about $1,000 each year and so far,
have sent more than 14,000 German Marks. It
must have come in handy, as the huge bronze eagle atop the Memorial needed to be
replaced some months ago at a cost of some 1.2 million German Marks, so our
14,000 went to a worthy cause.
As we were about to begin our Memorial Service, American
submarine veteran ERIC MATHEWS attached two medals to our wreath (photo
below).
He said that it was his way of thanking the men who left his grandfather
on Tahiti at the beginning of the First World War.
“In the end, we
are all brothers of the sea.” is the way ERIC put it.
Memorial
Wreath In the
Honors
Chamber
TAMM & COOPER
We had our Memorial Service with
President HARRY COOPER giving some words of remembrance for those who did not return,
followed by WOLDEMAR TRIEBEL & KARL WALDECK with more
words of friendship across the sea. The
wreath was placed on the Honors Pillar and we entered the Honors Chamber (photo
above).
In this curving slash in the ground are bronze tablets with the number of
each U-boat lost in the war with the Skipper’s name, whether he was lost or
not, followed by the names of everyone who was lost when that U-boat went down. It is a beautiful but very sad place.
16 October (Tuesday)
We were at the museum PETER TAMM and it is said that this is
the world’s most impressive privately owned naval museum.
We must disagree with that statement – we believe that this is the
most impressive naval museum in the world of any kind, privately owned or
otherwise; it is just awesome! There
is room after room full of rare and one-of-a-kind naval artifacts, including the
baton of Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz, also that of Grossadmiral Erich Raeder and
the batons of two of the crown princes – and that is just one display.
If one would spend a week, a month or a year in this museum, there would
still be more to see and experience.
PETER TAMM himself received us, and we presented
him with a US Navy Captain’s uniform of the war years (photo
above).
He is a fine and gracious gentleman, and we are always pleased to visit
his museum.
We then went to the grave of Grossadmiral Dönitz where,
as always, we placed flowers. This
is a beautiful spot with his great stone crucifix and the grave surrounded by
tall pine trees. At his feet are
two stones, one for each of his sons who were killed in the war. One was only twenty years of age when he was killed on his
U-boat – the other killed on his S-boat in the English Channel…….on his 24th
birthday. Our friend H-J von
KNEBEL DOBERITZ showed us the way, and he planned our lunch at a nearby
restaurant. von KNEBEL
has been the Aide-de-Camp of Grossadmiral Dönitz and he was I.W.O. on U-99
under OTTO KRETSCHMER. The food and service were great; the fellowship among our
SHARKHUNTERS Members was even better.
Late in the afternoon, we checked into our Four-Star
hotel in Bremen.
HEINZ HOCH is a U-boat veteran and Member of SHARKHUNTERS for 15
years. He wrote:
"The trip was well prepared. My favorite memory is the comfortable
bus ride and the camaraderie."
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