German submarine U-852 was a German

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 Type IXD2

German Type IX submarine

The Type IX U-boat was designed by Germany in 1935 and 1936 as a large ocean-going submarine for sustained operations far from the home support facilities. Type IX boats were briefly used for patrols off the eastern United States in an attempt to disrupt the stream of troops and supplies bound for...

 U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 built during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. She became notorious for having the only German Navy (Kriegsmarine

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

) U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 crew to be accused, prosecuted and convicted during the Nuremberg Trials

Nuremberg Trials

The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....

 of war crimes.

Built in Bremen

Bremen

The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...

 and completed in June 1943, the boat was of the Type IX

German Type IX submarine

The Type IX U-boat was designed by Germany in 1935 and 1936 as a large ocean-going submarine for sustained operations far from the home support facilities. Type IX boats were briefly used for patrols off the eastern United States in an attempt to disrupt the stream of troops and supplies bound for...

, which possessed long range cruising capabilities as well as six torpedo tubes (four bow, two stern). She was commanded throughout her brief lifespan by Captain Lieutenant

Captain Lieutenant

Captain lieutenant or captain-lieutenant is a military rank, used in a number of different navies worldwide.It is generally equivalent to the Commonwealth or US rank of lieutenant, and has the NATO rank code of OF-2, though this can vary....

 (Kapitänleutnant

Captain Lieutenant

Captain lieutenant or captain-lieutenant is a military rank, used in a number of different navies worldwide.It is generally equivalent to the Commonwealth or US rank of lieutenant, and has the NATO rank code of OF-2, though this can vary....

) Heinz-Wilhelm Eck

Heinz-Wilhelm Eck

Heinz-Wilhelm Eck was a German U-Boat commander of the Second World War, who was tried, convicted, condemned and executed postwar for ordering his crew to shoot the survivors of a Greek merchantman sunk by .-Service history:...

, who led her through her sea trials and out onto her first war patrol on 18 January 1944.

The SS Peleus

Her mission was to disrupt Allied communications in the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

 by attacking sea lanes there; this involved a high level of secrecy and so she had to avoid conflict on her passage. This plan was jeopardized when, on 13 March on the latitude

Latitude

In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...

 of Freetown

Freetown

Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...

, she spotted the lone Greek steamer . Despite his mission, Eck decided to attack her, and, after stalking her till night-fall, sank her with two torpedoes. What followed has been the subject of much dispute.

The sinking Peleus left a large debris field, amongst which were a number of survivors clinging to rafts and wreckage. This field would have betrayed the presence of the U-852 to aircraft and shipping patrolling the area, so Eck then controversially decided to destroy the wreckage with the use of hand grenades and automatic weapons.

Eck ordered his junior officers to fire into the wreckage. These junior officers were:

• The ship's engineering officer, Hans Lenz (sentenced to life imprisonment)
• The ship's doctor, Walter Weisspfennig (executed 1945)
• The second in command August Hoffmann (executed 1945)
• An enlisted engineer, Wolfgang Schwender (sentenced to 7 years imprisonment)

Eck was present during the incident, while the remaining crew were below decks. Eck was also executed in 1945. As a result of this action, all but three of Peleus's crew perished.

The SS Dahomian

The submarine was able to evade pursuit, and two weeks later encountered and sank the British cargo ship SS Dahomian, off Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

 on 1 April. This time U-852 hastily left the scene rather than pausing.

Fate

A few weeks later, on 30 April 1944, U-852 was in the Indian Ocean. There she was spotted by a Vickers Wellington

Vickers Wellington

The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...

 bomber, flying from Aden

Aden

Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...

, which managed to damage her with depth charges, thus preventing her from diving. Knowing all was lost, Eck made for the Somali

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 coast, where his ship was beached on a coral reef while under extensive air attack from six bombers of 621 Squadron

No. 621 Squadron RAF

No. 621 Squadron RAF was a reconnaissance squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II, flying from Somaliland and Aden. It was after the war stationed in Egypt and Palestine and tasked with air-sea rescue and was also active in Operation Sunburn, looking for illegal immigrants.-History:No...

 Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 (9°32′N 50°59′E). 58 of Eck's crew made it to shore and on 13 March they were captured by the Somaliland Camel Corps

Somaliland Camel Corps

The Somaliland Camel Corps was a unit of the British Army based in British Somaliland from the early 20th century until the 1960s.Camels are a necessity in East Africa, being as important as ponies are in Mongolia...

 and local militia. Seven of the crew had been killed by the constant air attacks. The survivors were sent to various prison camps to wait out the end of the war.

A British boarding party examined the wrecked U-boat and retrieved Eck's Kriegstagebuch ("War Diary"), which would be crucial in framing the case against him and his men. Also of great interest was the Fa 330 Bachstelze

Focke Achgelis Fa 330

The Focke-Achgelis FA 330 Bachstelze was a type of rotary-wing kite, known as a gyroglider or rotor kite. They were towed behind German U-boats during World War II to allow a lookout to see farther.- Development :...

 rotor kite

Rotor kite

A rotor kite or gyroglider is an unpowered, rotary-wing aircraft. Like an autogyro or helicopter, it relies on lift created by one or more sets of rotors in order to fly...

, a towed aerial observation platform.

Raiding career

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
13 March 1944		Greek	4,695	Sunk
1 April 1944	SS Dahomian	British	5,277	Sunk

External links

• Submarine atrocities(Archived 2009-10-25)

See also

• List of German U-boats and for other boats alleged to be involved in war crimes.