U-Boat War Patrol - The Hidden Photographic Diary of U-564.pdf - Uboot - bogg

This paperback edition first published in 2006 by

Chatham Publishing, Lionel Leventhal Limited,

Park House, 1 Russell Gardens, London

To Audrey 'Mumbles' Paterson

11 91

First published by Greenhill Books in 200t

The right of Lawrence Paterson to be identified as the author of

this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright,

Patents and Designs Act 1988.

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any

form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise) without the written permission of the

Publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in

relation to this publication may be liable to criminal

prosecution and civil claims for damages.

British Library Cataloguing ill Publicatioll Data:

U-boat war patrol:the hidden photographic diary of U-564

1. Suhren, Teddy

2. Germany, Kriegsmarine - History

3. World War, 1939-1945 - aval operations - Submarine

4. World War, 1939-1945 - I aval operations - German

2. I. Title

3. 940.5'451

ISB -10. 1-86176-287-9

ISBN-13. 97 -1-86176-287-0

Edited, designed and typeset by Roger Chesneau

Printed and bound in China

:: Contents

Preface 9

Acknowledgement 13

Glossary, Abbreviation 15

Table of Ranks 17

The Atlantic Grid 18

Introduction 21

Outbound 11 to 16 July 41

Convoy Attack 17 to 20 July 62

Survival, Rendezvous 21 July to 1 August 87

The U-Tanker 1 to 11 August 108

War off the Antilles 12 to 19 August

132

Artillery Attack, Promotion, Home 20 August to 18

September 149

Epilogue 183

Appendices

One: The Crew ofU 564 193

Two: Torpedoes Fired by U 564 195

Sources, Bibliography, Suggested Reading 197

otes 199

Index 203

:: Preface

All times quoted in this book are in German Summer

Time (tIle standard time kept aboard U-boats) unless

otherwise noted.

Europe, history's long arm reached out from the distant shadows

of long silent battlefields to the most unlikely of places. During

April 2000, in a tiny Post Office at Staintondale, on the edge of the

Yorkshire Moors, a unique time capsule arrived unexpectedly into

the hands of the Post Office's owner Frank James. Twenty black-

and-white photographs, some dappled with age, were handed over

by a man unsure of their provenance, or indeed of what to do with

them. The photographs showed young men aboard a submarine, the

national cockade on their caps surmounted by an eagle clutching in

its talons the unmistakable swastika symbol of the Third Reich. Ob-

viously it was a V-boat crew, but who they were, and where,

remained a mystery to Frank.

With an interest in all aspects of history, but no knowledge of the

V-Boat Service, Frank proceeded to research what he could about

the random photographs. Aiding him enormously was the fact that

most boats carried an unofficial symbol, a distinctive Wappen

(emblem, or coat of arms) painted somewhere on the conning tower.

In this case it was instantly recognisable - a large black cat, tail held

proudly upright and back arched over the digits '3X'. Although some

fourteen V-boats carried cats as part of their Wappen, this must be

one of the five V-boats that carried the dreimal schwarze Kater symbol-

'Three Black Cats'. In turn it soon became apparent that the

photographs were all taken aboard U 564, commanded by the

legendary Reinhard 'Teddy' Suhren.

Foster Appleyard, a wartime Royal Navy diver and postwar

landlord of a small public house in Bradford, had given Frank's

visitor the photographs. Although Appleyard had since died, there

was more of the collection to be found in the safekeeping of a friend

of the deceased diver. On the proviso that they be properly archived

and researched, a shoebox full of photographs arrived in Staintondale

soon afterwards, bringing the grand total to 361.

It transpired that Appleyard had been part of the extensive team

of naval personnel involved during 1944 and 1945 in clearing the

PREFACE 9

F IFTY -FIVE years after the end of the Second World War in

U-Boat War Patrol - The Hidden Photographic Diary of U-564.pdf

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