Efforts To Raise Super Secret Nazi U-Boat Off Cape Cod

"OPERATION CA-35" is a joint project of discovery conducted by Trident Research & Recovery, Inc. of Framingham, Massachusetts and Sub-Sea Research, Inc. of Portland, Maine. It is much more than just a marine salvage operation. Indeed, it is an attempt to discover the facts surrounding the sinking of a legendary German U-Boat off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in August of 1944, and to uncover the reasons for its secrecy for over fifty-four years.    
 
The name assigned to this project is derived from the wartime German Naval marine quadrant location of the U-Boat wreckage initially located in 1993. The term 'CA' refers directly to the German navigational box coordinate designated for the area immediately off the eastern shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with the numbers '35' referring to the location within that designated box.
 
The process of discovery is a very time consuming matter. This brief is preliminary and therefore, incomplete.

H I S T O R I C A L  O V E R V I E W    
The availability of recently declassified military, political and intelligence documents are slowly assisting the professional researcher in filling in the gaps of World War Two history. Instead of seeing what appears to be a convoluted series of events we are now starting to understand just how the geopolitical strategies of the various governments involved in the conflict actually dictated the outcome of the battlefield scenario.    

With this in mind, here a general status of World War Two as it stood during the summer and fall of 1944, with the minute details that actually affected the important events unfolding during this time frame.    
 
During the summer of 1944 the United States and her Allies, namely Great Britain and the Soviet Union, had commenced the final push to victory over Germany's Third Reich in Europe. The now famous "D-Day" landings on the French Normandy coast were successfully accomplished on 6 June and the German battle lines gradually gave way under the Allied onslaught. The German High Command knew well that it was the beginning of a long retreat and would ultimately end in a total defeat..    
 
In fact, a little over a year earlier in the month of February, 1943 the German military and civilian populace witnessed the disastrous events unfolding on the Russian Front. With the loss of the city of Stalingrad to the Soviet forces those individuals inside Germany with any insight at all could see very well what the inevitable outcome would be. As a result of these German military losses the several Nazi-Opposition groups, already in place within Germany since 1939, now began to increase their activity. These particular individuals and organizations firmly believed that Hitler's plans of domination were a direct threat to their country's best interests. The groups incorporated many of the German social and political elite who had actually assisted Hitler's Fascist machine in the first place, most notably Germany's "Technocrats" of political leaders, industrialists, bankers and highly placed military officers. By February of 1943 these opportunists became increasingly disillusioned with the Hitlerite agendas and commenced making their own arrangements for their post-war futures, both as individuals and as corporate entities.
 
Highly placed military leaders such as Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, Chief of Germany's leading intelligence agency the 'Abwehr', and Field Marshals' Walter von Kluge and Erwin Rommel, as well as several high-ranking staff officers within the Kriegsmarine and Wehrmacht, actively conspired in the failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944.
 
While the German military was attempting to eliminate the problem at its source (Adolf Hitler), the conservative civilian opposition groups were attempting to alter the inevitable outcome of the war by initiating contacts with the "Western Allies", Great Britain and the United States. These various contacts were an effort to end the war for Germany under favorable terms for an armistice. The Nazi Opposition groups were literally fighting the clock, as every day that passed without an end to the war meant the further loss of German life and the wholesale destruction of property and post-war industrial capability. In fact, these specific concerns of a post-war German industrial survival were the prime motives of the Nazi-Opposition.
 
The Western Intelligence agencies and military commands were well aware of just what was going on inside Germany at this time and actually conducted numerous secret meetings with the German military and civilian leaders in an effort to end the war. However, the Western Allies possessed a vastly different agenda. Upon review of the available declassified political documents it appears that the American parties negotiating certain details with the German representatives had several separate agendas - all of which seem geared more at personal gain rather than the American public's best interest.
 
The President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, had publicly stated as early as 1943 that no terms except "Unconditional Surrender" would be accepted from Germany by the three Allied powers; the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Roosevelt was to maintain this stand throughout the war. However, many of the hard-line political capitalists within the United States Department of State, the Office of Strategic Services and the military intelligence services had a vastly different idea of just how to end the war - all of which were to run contrary to the Presidential administration's policy decisions.
 
Operationally, the German U-Boat force still managed to keep its U-Boat fleet somewhat active during the summer and fall of 1944. The official records indicate that most of the available U-Boats were operationally concentrated within the North Sea and around the British Isles in its continuing attempt to strangle the Allied supply lines. Occasionally an independent U-Boat patrol would be deployed into the North Atlantic to sink ships, report on weather or both. There were two "Special Missions" deployed against the American coast in 1944, only one of which was to succeed off the Maine coast near the end of the year. In that particular case, the U-1230 successfully landed two agents at Winter Harbor. The success was minimal however, since both men were eventually picked up by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
 
During the first week of July 1944 an incident involving an U-Boat and the U.S. Naval Airship "K-14" occurred off Bar Harbor, Maine. As is made so painfully clear in the official Inquiry records, the U-Boat in question brought down the "K-14" with 20mm Anti-Aircraft fire resulting in the loss of six Airship crewmen out of a total compliment of ten men. The Inquiry and related intelligence reports also show that the 'K-14'    was somewhat successful in at least severely damaging the enemy vessel. Unfortunately, this incident was also kept secret for over 54 years.
 
Another situation occurred on 20 August 1944. 
 
U-1229, a Type IXC/40 submarine, slightly larger than the original Type IXCs, under the command of Arnim Zinke had left Trondheim on 26 July 1944. Zinke's orders were to put Abwehr agent Leutnant Oskar Mantel ashore along the Maine coast. He was to carry out sabatoge operations. After three and a half weeks it was approaching the Maine coast. On 20 August 1944, U-1229 was found and attacked on the surface by aircraft from the 'USS Bogue' (CVE-9), one of the jeep cariers the U.S. Navy deployed for ASW operations.  Having been heavily damaged in the initial air attack, U-1229 attempted to escape under water but was forced to surface again as poisonous fumes started to develop from the damaged battery sections. While the crew was abandoning ship, the U-boat was strafed by several aircraft resulting in the death of numerous crew members, including Zinke. In total 18 crew members died while 41 survivors were picked up by a US destroyer after seven hours in the water. Among the survivors was Mantel.   

On the night of 2 July 1944, the crew of the 251-foot airship K-14 failed to report in as scheduled while looking for a German sub off Mount Desert Rock, 20 miles offshore from Mount Desert Island. Just a handful of survivors from the crew were found clinging to wreckage the next day.

Although the Navy continues to insist there was no proof a sub was off MDI that July, investigators have found at least four other sightings in the Gulf of Maine over the three days following the incident. One of those was made by the crew of blimp K-15 sent to the K-14 crash scene.

While the U.S. Navy’s still-classified reports claim the crash was caused by pilot error, there are many airship experts who believe that there is ample evidence to prove the blimp was shot down and the truth hidden to prevent panicking the citizenry.

There is a lot of background on this incident published in  numerous issues of the Naval Airship Association magazine, "The Noon Balloon". The "Mt. Desert Islander" in 2012 did a 3 part story that covered all the discrepancies in the official findings and there were many. Bear in mind that a month after the allies landed in France on D-Day and Roosevelt and Churchill were issuing daily press releases boosting morale that a German U-Boat shooting a US Navy Blimp out of the sky along the coast of Maine would not look good. Also consider that over the course of 6 or 7 months in 1944 the Germans investigated the area around Bar Harbor and Hancock Pt. for possible landing of spies. Oskar Mantel was captured in August on his way there and 2 spies were actually landed in November of that year.

Had there been a U-boat on a secret mission that shot down the K-14 and was itself damaged by the K-14, only to sink further out to sea, all evidence of its mission would have been lost. 

 
What was not known by most military men at this time, however, was the fact that a Type XI U-Boat was also proceeding to the American coast - at that time located only 20 nautical miles distant from the U-1229 at the time of the latter's demise.    
 
T H E "B L A C K  K N I G H T"    
 
According to the official design drafts laid out for the German Type XI-B U-Cruiser in 1939, the specifications for this vessel were as follows:
 
Length Overall:
 
115 meters (377 ft.)
Breadth:
9.5 meters (31.3 ft.)
Depth:
6.2 meters (20.3 ft.)
Extreme Displacement:
3,630 tons
Deadweight:
6,800 tons +
Propulsion Machinery:
2-shaft diesel/electric motors, (eight 12cyl. Diesel engines in two separate engine rooms), plus two high-grade electric motors in third compartment
Armament:
4 torpedo tubes in the bow
2 torpedo tubes in the stern
6 torpedoes in ready-fire with
6 spare torpedoes carried below internal storage plates.
Above-Deck Armament:
4 127mm Guns in two twin armored turrets.
2 37mm AA mounted on deck amidships.
2 20mm AA mounted in after Wintergarten.
Ammunition Carried:
940 rounds total of 127mm.
4,000 rounds total of 37mm.
2,000 rounds total of 20mm.
(all carried in 3 separate magazines)
Crew:
110 men, with capability to carry an additional compliment of two company's' of "Special Coastal Troops", ('Brandenburgers')
Cargo Capacity:
600 cubic tons above provisions.
Accessories:
1 One-Man "Arado/Argus 231" reconnaissance seaplane stowed in forward vertical storage tube.
 
As detailed within the Kriegsmarine "K" Design Office, there were to be a total of four of these monstrous vessels laid down, with the possibility of constructing an additional four vessels should time and resources permit. However, it is known that only four keels were laid and that only one was actually launched, the others eventually being scrapped prior to the end of the war before completion. The U-Boat Command intentions were to assign the numbers U-112 through U-115 to the first four vessels of the class. However, Kriegsmarine commissioning records reflect no such assignment of numbers and for all practical purposes the Type XI was never officially commissioned.
 
Very little is known about the Type XI-B U-Boat. All official histories state that the vessel type was never built and numerous publications indicate that the Type XI-B submarine design went only as far as a preliminary 'keel laying' at the building yards of Deschimag-A.G. Weser in Bremen, Germany. However, there is a subtle hint that at least one vessel of this type was indeed launched from the Deschimag yards. Contained within the records of the Military archive at Freiburgim-Breisgau, Germany is a brief mention of the "actual" yard trials in the Weser River of the Type XI U-Cruiser having attained a surface speed of 26 knots. This is supported to some degree by Eberhard Rössler's impressive publication "The U-Boat", in which this trial record is partly quoted. The details contained in the records of the Military archive in Germany make it very clear that the above speed trials were not obtained from 'tank' tests of models. Therefore, there certainly is some proof of the actual existence of a working and operational model of the legendary Type XI.  

 

Type XI B U-boat U-112 "Black Knight"

Amplified reports obtained from interviewed veterans of both the Allied and Axis intelligence services indicate very strongly that at some point during its existence, most probably in early 1944, the Type XI was berthed at the supposedly neutral ports of Vigo, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal on the Iberian Peninsula. These same sources have stated that the unofficial reference to the Type XI was "Der Schwarz Ritter", ("The Black Knight"). There is no official documentation of this but, considering the sources we must at least consider the high probability of these facts. It is certainly already well established that most of the clandestine activity directed by the Germans toward the Americas originated from the Iberian Peninsula, primarily through a German Industrial-Intelligence organization referred to as "Sofindus".    
 
Of primary importance in connection with this area of course are the German series of Special Operations known as "JOLLE", (translated as "Happy Boat") and "AKTION FEUERLAND", (meaning "Action Land-of-Fire", referring to the southern geographical area of Argentina). These two operations were intended to pave the way for German post-war survival. Noted Nazi leaders and war criminals were in the process of laying the financial foundation for a "Fourth Reich" within the borders of such countries as Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and, most importantly for reasons of easy access, Argentina.
 
 C O N T R O L L E D  P A N I C    
 
The German Opposition groups were becoming increasingly bolder in their attempts at contacting the Western Allies through the various intelligence agencies. Those Opposition Group members associated with German Industrial concerns were the boldest, and possessed all the right connections to pursue negotiations for an acceptable armistice. The sole motive for the German Industrialists was obvious. They wished to maintain their corporate identity AND their financial assets for the post-war period. There were also many American Industrial concerns who wished to see this as well since a large percentage of ownership in these German companies were held by large American corporations - a blatant violation of the 'Trading With The Enemy Act'.

The accessed research documents show that by June of 1944 there were no less than eight separate meetings between German Industrialists and agents of the Office of Strategic Services. The most active American in these efforts was Allen W. Dulles, the OSS Chief of Station head quartered in the neutral city of Berne, Switzerland.
 
The professional background of Allen Dulles and his brother, John Foster Dulles, are most interesting. It seems that both men were heavily involved in pre-war dealings between American and German Corporations through their law firm of 'Sullivan & Cromwell' in New York City. It was these same pre-war German connections with which Allen Dulles was negotiating throughout the winter of 1943 and the summer/fall of 1944. All official documentation points to the fact that the Dulles brothers were not operating in the best interests of United States foreign policy, but were actually motivated through personal reasons to help in creating an acceptable form of armistice which would benefit most the German Industrialists directly. This also involved the safe guarding of certain German securities, which both John Foster and Allen Dulles actively assisted with - regardless of its direct violation of accepted U.S. Treasury and Presidential administration policy. In short the Dulles brothers, along with a handful of U.S. diplomats and intelligence operatives, helped Nazis and Anti-Nazis alike to hide negotiable securities from Allied confiscators and at the same time assisted in negotiating an end to the war along lines which were contrary to the "Unconditional Surrender" guidelines as set forth jointly by the three major Allies.
 
While all of these manipulations were going on within the Allied camp, Germany was desperately trying to protect what she had left of her industrial and monetary systems. Every day that passed without a negotiated armistice meant the further loss of property and post-war capability. It is well documented that major German corporations began making plans for the safeguarding of its resources in supposedly "neutral" countries while continuing to pursue diplomatic agendas.
 
Of particular note are the individual operations of German corporations. Firms such as I.G.Farben and Krupp Industries were known to have liquidated their stock holdings into either gold coin or bars by June of 1944 in anticipation of secreting these hard assets into the neutral countries of Switzerland, Lichenstein, Portugal and, most importantly Argentina. Indeed, the Krupp concerns alone possessed vast estate holdings in Argentina and post-war records confirm that many millions worth of negotiable securities did make it to these estates via U-Boat transport for eventual deposit in the German controlled banks of Banco Aleman Transatlantico and Banco Tornquist.
 
What helped to speed up both the safe guarding of German corporate assets and attempts at armistice negotiations were the decisions of the Breton Woods International Monetary Conference held at Breton Woods, New Hampshire between 1 - 20 July 1944. Most of the Allied Nations represented at this conference voted for the dissolution of the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland, a major money-launderer for the Nazis. With the loss of this particular bank the German corporations would find it much more difficult to move their ill-gotten profits out of Germany. On 9 July the Breton Woods Conference passed what is referred to as 'Resolution No. 6', which called for the dissolution of the Bank for International Settlements and the monitoring of the German movement of corporate wealth into neutral countries. Combined with a desperate need to negotiate an armistice this created a "Controlled Panic" situation within the German Industrial community.
 
When one studies the known movements of wealth and the options then open to both the German Anti-Nazi diplomats and Industrialists, it becomes obvious that drastic measures are indeed being planned. In September of 1944 a much delayed Finnish Intelligence report surfaced referring to a "Hitler Escape Boat" being made available at the port of Danzig, Poland as of early July. When one studies the details mentioned in this report there is only one conclusion: the alleged "Hitler Escape Boat" is none other than the Type XI-B U-Cruiser... the same vessel which was never officially commissioned into the Kriegsmarine. The very same vessel which is not supposed to even exist!
 
The long trail of records show that this vessel departed the port of Danzig, (Gdynia), on the afternoon of 20 July 1944 - the same day as the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler by the Nazi-Opposition. Records also indicate very strongly that the German Industrialists were behind the deployment of the Type XI-B U-Boat. One can only assume that the excuse for this vessel's existence in acting as a "Hitler Escape Boat" was only an accepted cover story for the benefit of the Nazi-Opposition, as quite obviously Hitler himself was not embarked on board the vessel at the time of its departure.
 
A "Controlled Panic" caused the Industrial Opposition to deploy this vessel as quickly as possible for a two-fold mission: to negotiate an acceptable armistice directly with U.S. representatives and to export to Argentina at least a portion of the German corporate securities. Thirty-Seven days later the Type XI-B U-Cruiser arrived off the  Massachusetts coast - committed to her clandestine mission.    
 
C O D E N A M E: "O B S C U R E  C I N C H"    
 
The date of 25 August 1944 appeared to begin as any normal day along the Eastern Sea Frontier. But, the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence had been continuously briefed over the past few days by the British Admiralty "ULTRA" of an "Unknown" U-Boat heading their way. On 15 August Admiralty informed U.S. Navy "COMINCH", (meaning Commander-In-Chief), that a U-Boat they had designated as "LT" was heading across the Atlantic and that they suspected it was on a "SPECIAL MISSION" since it was observing radio silence and not reporting its daily position, as was the normal routine among U-Boat Commanders of the time.
 
On 17 August British Admiralty appears to be reasonably sure that the mystery vessel was bound to the American coast, but inquire further from U.S. "COMINCH" for any additional information that may help in their assessments. Simultaneously to this tracking the U.S. Navy was following the movements of the U-1229, designated as the "RJ", (Red Jig), which appeared to be running a parallel course to the mystery U-Boat.
 
By 18 August. British Admiralty admitted to U.S. "COMINCH" that the heading of "LT", (Love Tare), "REMAINS OPEN", suggesting that all are totally confused as to the subject vessel's actual destination and purpose.
 
Then on 20 August the U-1229 was successfully sunk by U.S. Naval forces just east of the Grand Banks, as stated within the "ULTRA" radio-intercept transmission, as follows:
 
"TWO OFFICERS AND ONE PROPAGANDIST AMONG 41 P/S FROM LOVE EASY x C.O. LOST x YOUR 1279 PARA 4 x LOVE TARE HEADING BAFFLING BUT BEST GUESS IS HE IS APPROACHING ST JOHNS AREA x THIS CONSISTENT WITH AMERICA II..."
 
Again, on 21 August, U.S. "COMINCH" requested further information from the British Admiralty concerning the unknown U-Boat in question by stating:
 
"WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR FURTHER VIEWS AND WHEN CONVENIENT COMMENT ON QUERIES MY 386 AND 387 x".
 
After comparing all of the pertinent documents to the numerous other operational intelligence material is becomes obvious that the "ULTRA" staff are completely unaware of the actual mission of the Type XI-B U-Cruiser, whereas certain other intelligence operatives are totally aware of the facts. This is a typical example of "need to know"  restrictions between intelligence departments.    
 
By the early evening of the 25 August, it becomes obvious that the Type XI was successful in evading the U.S. Naval Task Forces east of the Grand Banks, as she surfaces at approximately 1600 hours just south of the Great Round Shoal Channel seven miles east of Great Point, Nantucket. Due to a submarine sighting by a commercial Pan-Am Plane at this time, the Naval Airship Squadron 'ZP-11' based at South Weymouth, Massachusetts  orders the Naval Airship "K-25" to divert from its escort patrol 60 miles to the northeast and to investigate the reported sighting. Local vessels of the Northern Ship Lane Patrol are also ordered to the scene, which included two Coast Guard 83-footers and two 110 foot Sub-Chasers.    
 
At this same time O.N.I. Telegrapher Preston Howley was monitoring the U-Boat's wireless transmission from the Office of Naval Intelligence Radio Intercept Station located at Chatham, Cape Cod, only fourteen miles to the northwest of the U-Boat's position. According to Howley, the transmission was originating from an "S-5" position, (Naval parlance meaning from a very close location), and was being sent out on a 'diplomatic B-Bar' signal. This meant that this particular German U-Boat was sending diplomatic messages in a "High Priority" status. Given what we now know about this vessel's mission parameters, this diplomatic message tends to run parallel with the established facts. Howley described the message as being sent in three parts lasting just a few minutes each and separated by approximately two or three minutes. The total message lasted perhaps twenty minutes, enough to fill three legal-size teletype pages of coding data.
 
O.N.I. Telegrapher Howley duly re-transmitted this message over his teletype to the U.S. Naval Cryptographic Center in Washington, D.C. Within half an hour the message bounced back to his station from Washington with the statement that they wished him to verify the coding and destination address, which he did. Howley verified the coding and address which, looking back on it fifty-four years later, he firmly believes was destined for the White House Map Room. The White House Map Room was not just the President's War Room during World War Two. It was also an intelligence center for combined services - managed by the Department of State itself. The implications of Howley's experiences and later assessments are obvious.
 
The following operations, which lasted over two days, are code named "OBSCURE CINCH" and "LADY BULL". According to the 'Official' record these "Special Searches" resulted in no activity and no confirmation of any subsequent action at the scene. The fact that these operations occurred at exactly the same location as the present location of the wreckage of the Type XI-B discovered in 1993, however, is extremely indicative. Veteran interviews have revealed that the subject U-Boat was actually sunk by the Naval Airship "K-25", with the small surface vessels conducting a 48 hour surface search for survivors and debris. The official records certainly tend to support the follow-up search for debris, often termed as a "Yankee Search".
 
Unfortunately, only a further declassification of existing"Operational" documents would provide additional insight into exactly what happened and how it happened.
 
I N S E A R C H O F A G H O S T    
 
The first hint of the existence of a U-Boat wreck off Cape Cod occurred in 1988, when now Trident President Edward Michaud heard for the first time the accepted stories of its demise off the Cape from a local tug-boat skipper named Warren LeGyte. Michaud had been running a sixty-one foot crew-boat out of Boston for the then ongoing MWRA Outfall Project. Every night Michaud and his fellow crewmen would bunk in Warrens 100 foot tug "Georgina A", then tied up at one of the East Boston docks. Since hearing of the legendary U-Boat, Ed would query Warren of what he knew of the vessel and its location. In due time the MWRA contracts would end and Michaud would eventually locate the various veterans who were involved in the original 1944 incident.
 
By June of 1993 Michaud had joined up with several dedicated professionals in an attempt to re-locate the legendary Cape Cod U-Boat and on the 5th. of that month the first hazy side scan sonar images of the wreckage were obtained. Equipment and financing, however, were slow in coming and it was 9 December of 1993 before any detailed sonar images of the wreck could be obtained.  

Upon the initial discovery in June it was assumed by all involved in the project that the U-Boat located off Cape Cod was a standard German Type IX-C/40 submarine on a routine war patrol at the time of its loss. However, when the detailed sonar images were obtained in December it was immediately apparent that what had been found was indeed much larger in both length and bulk. After weeks of study and comparisons with known German building plans it became obvious that what had been found was actually a submarine that, according to all known histories, was not supposed to exist! Michaud and his team had found a German Type XI-B U-Cruiser - in and of itself a major discovery.    
 
By November of 1994 the first detailed sonar imagery of the Type XI armored gun-mounts were obtained utilizing E.G.&G sonar equipment. This left little doubt as to the vessel's structural confirmation. The following month of December brought with it a dive to the confirmed wreck site by Michaud and fellow diver Mike Turner. Although underwater visibility was at an all time low of one foot, a total of fifteen small artifacts were recovered from around the wreck's pressure-hull. It was noticed that the wreck overall was heavily encased in huge drifts of sand ledges, as is to be expected in the area. As an example, just several miles to the west the 325 foot long wreckage of the steam-freighter "Dixie Sword" is almost completely covered in the same pattern of sand disposition.
 
In March of 1995 Michaud and his group incorporated as Trident Research & Recovery, Inc. and by June the new company had filed for, and received, exclusive rights of salvage for the German Type XI-B U-Boat in the First Federal District Court in Boston. Under this Admiralty claim, Civil Action No. 95-11374RCL, Trident continued its survey of the site.  Of special interest to the company was the exact disposition of the wreckage and how this information correlated with the known research facts.    
 
An Archaeologist was added to the survey team to insure proper methodology in the project. Additional Archivists and Researchers were consulted and the process of discovery continued both in the Archival repositories and on the site of the wreck itself.
 
T O D A Y    

As of Augus, 1997 Trident Research & Recovery, Inc. and Sub-Sea Research, Inc. of Portland, Maine combined their resources in order to bring the latter's experience, expertise and high technology ability to bear on the Project. Trident and Sub-Sea had been working jointly on other interesting research projects in the recent past, so it seemed only natural to combine the resources of both companies on the "Operation CA-35" Project.    
 
The new Joint Venture will concentrate on obtaining video-tape footage of the Type XI-B wreck site and is presently planning on follow-up recovery operations. All vessel artifacts so recovered are slated for preservation and ultimate public display at the U.S.S. Salem Museum located in Quincy, Massachusetts. Needless to say, this should make for a rather impressive and informative stage for further public dissemination.
 
It should be noted that Trident has attempted on many occasions to open a dialogue with the respective offices of the U.S. Department of State, the Federal Republic of Germany and the U.S. Department of the Navy. All such requests for open discussion have gone ignored. It is hoped that in the near future this situation can be resolved. However, given the political revelations as described above, its really not very surprising that Government offices refuse to discuss this Project and its related investigations.
 
Several Senators and Congressmen have been notified by Trident in an attempt to both open such dialogues and assist in further investigations into the original 1944 incident.    
 
R E C E N T  R E S E A R C H    
 
There has been some very interesting revelations in the Project's follow-up of research data. Due to the efforts of contributing researcher Mr. Eric Brothers U.S. State Department Protocol documents are now available to confirm one of this investigation's long-standing curiosities - the visit of members of the Dutch Royal Family to Chatham, Cape Cod during the very same time-frame in which the German Type XI-B U-Boat was known to have been operational off Cape Cod.

These documents consist of a series of notifications between the representatives of the Dutch Royal Family in exile and the Protocol Section of the Department of State. On the surface they do indeed appear to be routine in nature. It is only when viewed with the other known occurrences off Cape Cod at this time that these Protocol records seem to indicate more than just routine procedure.
 
For example: One of the most obvious details that stand out is the sudden departure from Chatham of Princess Juliana and her royal attendants on the morning of  26 August 1944, only hours after the known destruction of the Type XI fourteen miles to the southeast. This, combined with a published news report in the local 'Cape Cod Times' for that date, quote the Princess as opening a short public statement upon her departure, stating: "I will not talk about anything political and cannot take questions". She goes on to say how the Royal Family enjoyed their stay at the Chatham Bars Inn, etc.
 
Within five minutes the impromptu interview is over and the Royal Family departs by car for Boston enroute to Canada. The fact that these State Department Protocol documents were only declassified at the time Mr. Brothers requested to view them in July of 1997 is possibly indicative - fifty four years after the fact.
 
To add to this new information Trident had conducted background research into the Dutch Royal Family due to its suspicions and has confirmed the following:

1) The Royal Consort, Prince Bernhard, Husband of Juliana since 1937, was previous to their marriage an active card-carrying member of Hitler's black-shirted SS.
2) Prince Consort Bernhard was employed prior to, during, and after the war by I.G.Farben's Industrial Espionage Unit "NW-7" which, needless to say, placed him under great suspicions by both the British and American intelligence communities. The mere fact of his employment as an "industrial spy" for Farben places him squarely within the sphere of the German Industrial community, links for which have already been established with the Type XI-B U-Boat.

Later the Prince was a co-founder of The Bilderberg group and as a well known hunter he co-founded the WWF.   

There are many more details regarding the Dutch Royal Family, Prince Bernhard, Princess Juliana and the German Industrialists which have not been included in this specific brief due to space considerations. However, the basic facts as listed above give very strong indications regarding the Dutch Royal visit to Cape Cod at this specific time in July and August of 1944. 
Suffice it to say that there is the very strong possibility that Prince Consort Bernhard, through his wife Princess Juliana, may very well have been acting as a sort of liaison or facilitator in connections for Armistice Negotiations between German Industrialists and certain members of the American Department of State and Intelligence Community. The final proof for this is as yet not confirmed, but the stage is certainly set for such endeavors. Perhaps the amplified documentation for such a situation is contained within the hull of the Type XI off Cape Cod. 
Efforts To Raise Super Secret Nazi U-Boat Off Cape Cod - ForumGarden 
 
 
1) The Royal Consort, Prince Bernhardt, Husband of Juliana since 1937, was previous to their marriage an active card-carrying member of Hitler's black-shirted SS.
 
2) Prince Consort Bernhardt was employed prior to, during, and after the war by I.G.Farben's Industrial Espionage Unit "NW-7" which, needless to say, placed him under great suspicions by both the British and American intelligence communities. The mere fact of his employment as an "industrial spy" for Farben places him squarely within the sphere of the German Industrial community, links for which have already been established with the Type XI-B U-Boat.
 
There are many more details regarding the Dutch Royal Family, Prince Bernhardt, Princess Juliana and the German Industrialists which have not been included in this specific brief due to space considerations. However, the basic facts as listed above give very strong indications regarding the Dutch Royal visit to Cape Cod at this specific time in July and August of 1944. Suffice it to say that there is the very strong possibility that Prince Consort Bernhardt, through his wife Princess Juliana, may very well have been acting as a sort of liaison or facilitator in connections for Armistice Negotiations between German Industrialists and certain members of the American Department of State and Intelligence Community. The final proof for this is as yet not confirmed, but the stage is certainly set for such endeavors. Perhaps the amplified documentation for such a situation is contained within the hull of the Type XI off Cape Cod.

 




As detailed within the Kriegsmarine "K" Design Office, there were to be a total of four of these monstrous vessels laid down, with the possibility of constructing an additional four vessels should time and resources permit. However, it is known that only four keels were laid and that one was actually launched, the others eventually being scrapped prior to the end of the war before completion. The U-Boat Command intentions were to assign the numbers U-112 through U-115 to the first four vessels of the class. However, Kriegsmarine commissioning records reflect no such assignment of numbers and for all practical purposes the Type XI was never officially commissioned.

Very little is known about the Type XI-B U-Boat. All official histories state that the vessel type was never built and numerous publications indicate that the Type XI-B submarine design went only as far as a preliminary 'keel laying' at the building yards of Deschimag-A.G. Weser in Bremen, Germany. However, there is a subtle hint that at least one vessel of this type was indeed launched from the Deschimag yards. Contained within the records of the Military archive at Freiburgim-Breisgau, Germany is a brief mention of the "actual" yard trials in the Weser River of the Type XI U-Cruiser having attained a surface speed of 26 knots. This is supported to some degree by Eberhard Roessler's impressive publication "The U-Boat", in which this trial record is partly quoted. The details contained in the records of the Military archive in Germany
make it very clear that the above speed trials were not obtained from 'tank' tests of models. Therefore, there certainly is some proof of the actual existence of a working and operational model of the legendary Type XI.

 

Amplified reports obtained from interviewed veterans of both the Allied and Axis intelligence services indicate very strongly that at some point during its existence, most probably in early 1944, the Type XI was berthed at the supposedly neutral ports of Vigo, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal on the Iberian Peninsula. These same sources have stated that the unofficial reference to the Type XI was "Der Schwarz Ritter" ("The Black Knight"). There is no official documentation of this but, considering the sources we must at least consider the high probability of these facts. It is certainly already well established that most of the clandestine activity directed by the Germans toward the Americas originated from the Iberian Peninsula, primarily through a German Industrial-Intelligence organization referred to as “Sofindus".

Of primary importance in connection with this area of course are the German series of Special Operations known as "JOLLE", (translated as "Happy Boat") and "AKTION FEUERLAND", (meaning "Action Land-of-Fire", referring to the southern geographical area of
Argentina). These two operations were intended to pave the way for German post-war survival. Noted Nazi leaders and war criminals were in the process of laying the financial foundation for a "Fourth Reich" within the borders of such countries as Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and, most importantly for reasons of easy access, Argentina
.



IV.
C O N T R O L L E D  P A N I C

As previously outlined within the 'Overview', the German Opposition groups were becoming increasingly bolder in their attempts at contacting the Western Allies through the various intelligence agencies. Those Opposition Group members associated with German Industrial concerns were the boldest, and possessed all the right connections to persue negotiations for an acceptable armistice. The sole motive for the German Industrialists was obvious. They wished to maintain their corporate identity AND their financial assets for the post-war period. There were also many American Industrial concerns who wished to see this as well since a large percentage of ownership in these German companies were held by large American corporations - a blatant violation of the 'Trading With The Enemy Act'.

The accessed research documents show that by June of 1944 there were no less than eight separate meetings between German Industrialists and agents of the Office of Strategic Services. The most active American in these efforts was Allen W. Dulles, the OSS Chief of Station head quartered in the neutral city of
Berne, Switzerland.

The professional background of Allen Dulles and his brother, John Foster Dulles, are most interesting. It seems that both men were heavily involved in pre-war dealings between American and German Corporations through their law firm of 'Sullivan & Cromwell' in
New York City. It was these same pre-war German connections with which Allen Dulles was negotiating throughout the winter of 1943 and the summer/fall of 1944. All official documentation points to the fact that the Dulles brothers were not operating in the best interests of United States foreign policy, but were actually motivated through personal reasons to help in creating an acceptable form of armistice which would benefit most the German Industrialists directly. This also involved the safe guarding of certain German securities, which both John Foster and Allen Dulles actively assisted with - regardless of its direct violation of accepted U.S. Treasury and Presidential administration policy. In short the Dulles brothers, along with a handful of U.S.
diplomats and intelligence operatives, helped Nazis and Anti-Nazis alike to hide negotiable securities from Allied confiscators and at the same time assisted in negotiating an end to the war along lines which were contrary to the "Unconditional Surrender" guidelines as set forth jointly by the three major Allies.

While all of these manipulations were going on within the Allied camp,
Germany
was desperately trying to protect what she had left of her industrial and monetary systems. Every day that passed without a negotiated armistice meant the further loss of property and post-war capability. It is well documented that major German corporations began making plans for the safeguarding of its resources in supposedly "neutral" countries while continuing to pursue diplomatic agendas.

Of particular note are the individual operations of German corporations. Firms such as I.G.Farben and Krupp Industries were known to have liquidated their stock holdings into either gold coin or bars by June of 1944 in anticipation of secreting these hard assets into the
neutral countries of Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Portugal and, most importantly - Argentina. Indeed, the Krupp concerns alone possessed vast estate holdings in Argentina and post-war records confirm that many millions worth of negotiable securities did make it to these estates via U-Boat transport for eventual deposit in the German controlled banks of Banco Aleman Transatlantico and Banco Tornquist.

What helped to speed up both the safe guarding of German corporate assets and attempts at armistice negotiations were the decisions of the Breton Woods International Monetary Conference held at Breton Woods,
New Hampshire between 1 - 20 July, 1944. Most of the Allied Nations represented at this conference voted for the dissolution of the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland, a major money-launderer for the Nazis. With the loss of this particular bank the German corporations would find it much more difficult to move their ill-gotten profits out of Germany. On 9 July the Breton Woods Conference passed what is referred to as 'Resolution No. 6', which called for the dissolution of the Bank for International Settlements and the monitoring of the German movement of corporate wealth into neutral countries. Combined with a desperate need to negotiate an armistice this created a "Controlled Panic" situation within the German Industrial community.

When one studies the known movements of wealth and the options then open to both the German Anti-Nazi diplomats and Industrialists, it becomes obvious that drastic measures are indeed being planned. In September of 1944 a much delayed Finnish Intelligence report surfaced referring to a "Hitler Escape Boat" being made available at the
port of Danzig, Poland
as of early July. When one studies the details mentioned in this report there is only one conclusion: the alleged "Hitler Escape Boat" is none other than the Type XI-B U-Cruiser... the same vessel which was never officially commissioned into the Kriegsmarine. The very same vessel which is not supposed to even exist!

The long trail of records show that this vessel departed the
port of Danzig, (Gdynia), on the afternoon of July 20, 1945 - the same day as the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler by the Nazi-Opposition.
Records also indicate very strongly that the German Industrialists were behind the deployment of the Type XI-B U-Boat. One can only assume that the excuse for this vessel's existence in acting as a "Hitler Escape Boat" was only an accepted cover story for the benefit of the Nazi-Opposition, as quite obviously Hitler himself was not embarked on board the vessel at the time of its departure.

A "Controlled Panic" caused the Industrial Opposition to deploy this vessel as quickly as possible for a two-fold mission: to negotiate an acceptable armistice directly with
U.S. representatives and to export to Argentina at least a portion of the German corporate securities. Thirty-Seven days later the Type XI-B U-Cruiser arrived off the Massachusetts
coast - committed to her clandestine mission.


V. C O D E N A M E: "O B S C U R E  C I N C H"

The date of August 25, 1944
appeared to begin as any normal day along the Eastern Sea Frontier. But, the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence had been continuously briefed over the past few days by the British Admiralty "ULTRA" of an "Unknown" U-Boat heading their way. On 15 August Admiralty informed U.S. Navy "COMINCH", (meaning Commander-In-Chief), that a U-Boat they had designated as "LT" was heading across the Atlantic and that they suspected it was on a "SPECIAL MISSION" since it was observing radio silence and not reporting its daily position, as was the normal routine among U-Boat Commanders of the time.

On the 17th of August British Admiralty appears to be reasonably sure that the mystery vessel was bound to the American coast, but inquire further from
U.S.
"COMINCH" for any additional information that may help in their assessments. Simultaneously to this tracking the U.S. Navy was following the movements of the U-1229, designated as the "RJ", (Red Jig), which appeared to be running a parallel course to the mystery U-Boat.

By the 18th. British Admiralty admitted to
U.S.
"COMINCH" that the heading of "LT", (Love Tare), "REMAINS OPEN", suggesting that all are totally confused as to the subject vessel's actual destination and purpose.

Then on 20 August the U-1229 was successfully sunk by U.S. Naval forces just east of the Grand Banks, as stated within the "ULTRA" radio-intercept transmission, as follows:

"TWO OFFICERS AND ONE PROPAGANDIST AMONG 41 P/S FROM LOVE EASY x C.O. LOST x YOUR 1279 PARA 4 x LOVE TARE HEADING BAFFLING BUT BEST GUESS IS HE IS APPROACHING ST JOHNS AREA x THIS CONSISTENT WITH AMERICA II..."

Again, on the 21st. U.S. "COMINCH" requested further information from the British Admiralty concerning the unknown U-Boat in question by stating:

"WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR FURTHER VIEWS AND WHEN CONVENIENT COMMENT ON QUERIES MY 386 AND 387 x".

After comparing all of the pertinent documents to the numerous other operational intelligence material is becomes obvious that the "ULTRA" staff are completely unaware of the actual mission of the Type XI-B U-Cruiser, whereas certain other intelligence operatives are totally aware of the facts. This is a typical example of "need to know" restrictions between intelligence departments.

By the early evening of the 25th. it becomes obvious that the Type XI was successful in evading the U.S. Naval Task Forces east of the
Grand Banks, as she surfaces at approximately 1600 hours just south of the Great Round Shoal Channel seven miles east of Great Point, Nantucket
. Due to a submarine sighting by a commercial Pan-Am Plane at this time, the Naval Airship Squadron 'ZP-11' based at South Weymouth, Massachusetts orders the Naval Airship "K-25" to divert from its escort patrol 60 miles to the northeast and to investigate the reported sighting. Local vessels of the Northern Ship Lane Patrol are also ordered to the scene, which included two Coast Guard 83-footers and two 110 foot Sub-Chasers.

At this same time O.N.I. Telegrapher
Preston Howley was monitoring the U-Boat's wireless transmission from the Office of Naval Intelligence Radio Intercept Station located at Chatham, Cape Cod
, only fourteen miles to the northwest of the U-Boat's position. According to Howley, the transmission was originating from an "S-5" position, (Naval parlance meaning from a very close location), and was being sent out on a 'diplomatic B-Bar' signal. This meant that this particular German U-Boat was sending diplomatic messages in a "High Priority" status. Given what we now know about this vessel's mission parameters, this diplomatic message tends to run parallel with the established facts. Howley described the message as being sent in three parts lasting just a few minutes each and separated by approximately two or three minutes. The total message lasted perhaps twenty minutes, enough to fill three legal-size teletype pages of coding data.

O.N.I. Telegrapher Howley duly re-transmitted this message over his teletype to the U.S. Naval Cryptographic Center in
Washington, D.C. Within half an hour the message bounced back to his station from Washington
with the statement that they wished him to verify the coding and destination address, which he did. Howley verified the coding and address which, looking back on it fifty-four years later, he firmly believes was destined for the White House Map Room. The White House Map Room was not just the President's War Room during World War Two. It was also an intelligence center for combined services - managed by the Department of State itself. The implications of Howley's experiences and later assessments are obvious.

The following operations, which lasted over two days, are code named "OBSCURE CINCH" and "LADY BULL". According to the 'Official' record these "Special Searches" resulted in no activity and no confirmation of any subsequent action at the scene. The fact that these operations occurred at exactly the same location as the present location of the wreckage of the Type XI-B discovered in 1993, however, is extremely indicative. Veteran interviews have revealed that the subject U-Boat was actually sunk by the Naval Airship "K-25", with the small surface vessels conducting a 48 hour surface search for survivors and debris. The official records certainly tend to support the follow-up search for debris, often termed as a "Yankee Search".

Unfortunately, only a further declassification of existing"Operational" documents would provide additional insight into exactlywhat happened and how it happened.


VI. I N  S E A R C H  O F  A  G H O S T

The first hint of the existence of a U-Boat wreck off Cape Cod occurred in 1988, when now Trident President Edward Michaud heard for the first time the accepted stories of its demise off the Cape from a local tug-boat skipper named Warren LeGyte. Michaud had been running a sixty-one foot crew-boat out of
Boston for the then ongoing MWRA OutfallProject. Every night Michaud and his fellow crewmen would bunk in Warrens 100 foot tug "Georgina A", then tied up at one of the East Boston docks. Since hearing of the legendary U-Boat, Ed would query Warren of what he knew of the vessel and its location. In due time the MWRA contracts would end and Michaud would eventually locate the various veterans who were involved in the original 1944 incident.

By June of 1993 Michaud had joined up with several dedicated professionals in an attempt to re-locate the legendary Cape Cod U-Boat and on the 5th. of that month the first hazy side scan sonar images of the wreckage were obtained. Equipment and financing, however, were slow in coming and it was 9 December of 1993 before any detailed sonar images of the wreck could be obtained.

 

Upon the initial discovery in June it was assumed by all involved in the project that the U-Boat located off Cape Cod was a standard German Type IX-C/40 submarine on a routine war patrol at the time of its loss. However, when the detailed sonar images were obtained in December it was immediately apparent that what had been found was indeed much larger in both length and bulk. After weeks of study and comparisons with known German building plans it became obvious that what had been found was actually a submarine that, according to all known histories, was not supposed to exist! Michaud and his team had found a German Type XI-B U-Cruiser - in and of itself a major discovery.

By November of 1994 the first detailed sonar imagery of the Type XI armored gun-mounts were obtained utilizing E.G.&G sonar equipment. This left little doubt as to the vessel's structural confirmation. The following month of December brought with it a dive to the confirmed wreck site by Michaud and fellow diver Mike Turner. Although underwatervisibility was at an all time low of one foot, a total of fifteen small artifacts were recovered from around the wreck's pressure-hull. It was noticed that the wreck overall was heavily encased in huge drifts of sand ledges, as is to be expected in the area. As an example, just several miles to the west the 325 foot long wreckage of the steam-freighter "Dixie Sword" is almost completely covered in the same pattern of sand disposition.

In March of 1995 Michaud and his group incorporated as Trident Research & Recovery, Inc. and by June the new company had filed for, and received, exclusive rights of salvage for the German Type XI-B U-Boat in the First Federal District Court in
Boston
. Under this Admiralty claim, Civil Action No. 95-11374RCL, Trident continued its survey of the site.

Of special interest to the company was the exact disposition of the wreckage and how this information correlated with the known research facts.

An Archaeologist was added to the survey team to insure proper methodology in the project. Additional Archivists and Researchers were consulted and the process of discovery continued both in the Archival repositories and on the site of the wreck itself.

VII.T O D A Y

As
of August, 1997 Trident Research & Recovery, Inc. and Sub-Sea Research, Inc. of
Portland, Maine combined their resources in order to bring the latter's experience, expertise and high technology ability to bear on the Project. Trident and Sub-Sea had been working jointly on other interesting research projects in the recent past, so it seemed only natural to combine the resources of both companies on the "Operation CA-35" Project.

The new Joint Venture will concentrate on obtaining video-tape footage of the Type XI-B wreck site and is presently planning on follow-up recovery operations. All vessel artifacts so recovered are slated for preservation and ultimate public display at the
U.S.S. Salem Museum located in Quincy, Massachusetts
. Needless to say, this should make for a rather impressive and informative stage for further public dissemination.

It should be noted that Trident has attempted on many occasions to open a dialogue with the respective offices of the U.S. Department of State, the Federal Republic of Germany and the U.S. Department of the Navy. All such requests for open discussion have gone ignored. It is hoped that in the near future this situation can be resolved. However, given the political revelations as described above, its really not very surprising that Government offices refuse to discuss this Project and its related investigations.

Several Senators and Congressmen have been notified by Trident in an attempt to both open such dialogues and assist in further investigations into the original 1944 incident. We at Trident and Sub-Sea believe that there will probably be more developments in this area as the Project moves forward.  Apparently, the missing link was the Type XI.

VIII. R E C E N T   R E S E
A R C H

There
has been some very interesting revelations in the Project's follow-up of research data. Due to the efforts of contributing researcher Mr. Eric Brothers U.S. State Department Protocol documents are now available to confirm one of this investigation's long-standing curiosities - the visit of members of the Dutch Royal Family to Chatham, Cape Cod during the very same time-frame in which the German Type XI-B U-Boat was known to have been operational off Cape Cod.

These documents consist of a series of notifications between the representatives of the Dutch Royal Family in exile and the Protocol Section of the Department of State. On the surface they do indeed appear to be routine in nature. It is only when viewed with the other known occurrences off
Cape Cod at this time that these Protocol records seem to indicate more than just routine procedure.

For example: One of the most obvious details that stand out is the sudden departure from Chatham of Princess Juliana and her royal attendants on the morning of the 26th of August, 1944, only hours after the known destruction of the Type XI fourteen miles to the southeast. This, combined with a published news report in the local Cape Cod Times for that date, quote the Princess as opening a short public statement upon her departure, stating: "I will not talk about anything political and cannot take questions". She goes on to say how the Royal Family enjoyed their stay at the Chatham Bars Inn, etc.

Within five minutes the impromptu interview is over and the Royal Family departs by car for Boston enroute to Canada. The fact that these State Department Protocol documents were only declassified at the time Mr. Brothers requested to view them in July of 1997 is possibly indicative - fifty four years after the fact.

To add to this new information Trident had conducted background research into the Dutch Royal Family due to its suspicions and has confirmed the following:

1) The Royal Consort, Prince Bernhardt, Husband of Juliana since 1937, was previous to their marriage an active card-carrying member of Hitler's black-shirted SS.

2) Prince Consort Bernhardt was employed prior to, during, and after the war by I.G.Farben's Industrial Espionage Unit "NW-7" which, needless to say, placed him under great suspicions by both the British and American intelligence communities. The mere fact of his employment as an "industrial spy" for Farben places him squarely within the sphere of the German Industrial community, links for which have already been established with the Type XI-B U-Boat.

There are many more details regarding the Dutch Royal Family, Prince Bernhardt, Princess Juliana and the German Industrialists which have not been included in this specific brief due to space considerations. However, the basic facts as listed above give very strong indications regarding the Dutch Royal visit to
Cape Cod at this specific time in July and August of 1944. Suffice it to say that there is the very strong possibility that Prince Consort Bernhardt, through his wife Princess Juliana, may very well have been acting as a sort of liaison or facilitator in connections for Armistice Negotiations between German Industrialists and certain members of the American Department of State and Intelligence Community. The final proof for this is as yet not confirmed, but the stage is certainly set for such endeavors. Perhaps the amplified documentation for such a situation is contained within the hull of the Type XI off Cape Cod
.

 

 

The Type XI German U-Boot was designed in 1938 along the lines of a World War I U-Cruiser with long range and heavy armament, designed to win surface gun battles.  The Type XI was designed to carry a float plane to scout ahead of the submarine much as the raiders did in the early parts of World War II.  Kriegsmarine planners looked hard at the Type XI and determined that it was too big to be an effective submarine, and too small to be a surface warship,  This type of submarine was quite successful in World War I with the conditions then prevailing, but in World War II with the highly advanced ASW capabilities of the Allies, the designers realized that this type of submarine and this kind of submarine warfare would not work in WW II.  Specifications were:

    Displacement................  3,140 tons surfaced/3,630 tons submerged
    Dimensions..................... 377' 3" x 31' 3" x 20' 3"
    Engines............................ twin shaft diesel and electric
    Power   (diesel)........... 17,600 hp
                (electric).......   2,200 hp
   Speed   (diesel)..........  23 knots
               (electric)......    7 knots
   Bunkers........................  unknown
   Radius    (diesel).....  unknown
                (electric)..   unknown
  Tubes   (fwd)...........   six 21 inch
              (aft)............    Two 21 inch
       (carried twelve torpedoes and one float plane)
   Guns..........................    Two twin 5.0 inch deck guns
   AA Guns..................    Two single 20mm
   Crew........................   110 men (included the crew of the float plane)

Type XI U-Boote planned were U-112 thru U-115, projected to be built by AG Weser in Bremen, but no contracts were let and no Type XI U-Boats were built.  A pair of wheeler-dealers in New England concocted the story that one of these U-Boats was indeed built, shot down a blimp off the US east coast and was herself mortally wounded, limped off to Casco Bay, Maine and just settled on the bottom where the men were content to die quietly in their U-Boat at the bottom of the bay.......and if you give them a bunch of money, they'll begin to dive on this so-called Type XI U-Boot and recover......whatever.  It's all a hoax & a scam - no Type XI U-Boote were built and no US Navy blimps were shot down off the
New England
coast.




 



Planned at a time when the larger cruiser submarine idea was still in vogue, only three Type XI were built, due to changing priorities. With a length of 115m (337ft), the four boats (U-112-115) would have had a range of 25430 km(15800mi) at 12 kts. Their armament included four 127-mm guns and an autogyro was carried.

~The Complete Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II

By Chris Bishop

 












The very first German submarine from “Krupp”, 1903.
In 1904 the submarine was bought by
Russia, and used in war 1904 against Japan.
The approximate length is 12.5 m.