Deutsches U-Boot-Museum

• U-977 - Really a mysterious last voyage?

On 06th of May 1943 the Type VII C U-Boat "U-977" (Displacement 871 to submerged, length 67,1 mtr, width 6,2 mtr, speed at surface 17,7 kts, submerged 7,6 kts, range 8.500 nm at 10 kts, complement 44-52 men, armament 4 bow and 2 rear torpedo tubes, guns) was commissioned at its shipyard of Blohm & Voss, Hamburg. After initial training the UBoat remained in the Baltic Sea as training boat until February 1945, before it received its Snorkel at Blohm & Voss at the end of February 1945, to then go through combat training, dislocating from Kiel, Germany to Horten and Kristiansand, Norway. On 02nd of May 1945 at 22.00 hrs local time "U-977" departed Kristiansand for a combat mission bound for the Western Approaches of the English Channel. At sea it received on 04th of May 1945 the UBoat High Command message to all German UBoats to seize all combat activities, and on 09th of May 1945 at the formal German surrender still at sea the order to hand over the UBoat to the victorious Allies.

Beginning on 05th of May 1945, some 153 Kriegsmarine UBoats, although in different stages of combat readiness, did surrender to the Allies, either being still at sea or in German or German occupied foreign ports. The actual hand over occurred until mid-May 1945, since some of those UBoats still at sea had to transit longer legs to their port of delivery.

However, the Commanding Officers of 3 more UBoats at sea decided differently after they discussed the further fate of their Uboat with their crews. With the consent of their crew they decided to escape surrender in European or North American ports and to rather seek internment in other countries.

"U-1277" sank itself off the northern Portu-guese coast on 03rd of June 1945 and the crew was interned at Portugal, "U-530" made it as far as Mar del Plata in Argentina, to give up there as late as 10th of July 1945, but most prominent of all the case of "U-977".

When he received the order to seize combat activities and soon after the order to surrender, the Commanding Officer of "U-977", Lieutenant Heinz Schaeffer, discussed with his crew the order to surrender and thereby outlined various options how to act, inter alia to escape to Argentina. The majority of the 48 strong crew approved of the Argentina proposal. 16 sailors, which had expressed their desire to rather join their families or leave before, were clandestinely disembarked off the Norwegian island of Holsenöy during the night of 10th of May 1945 by means of life rafts.

During the next 66 days "U-977", with her reduced 32 strong crew on board, sailed continuously submerged through the Atlantic Ocean in southerly heading, using only her Snorkel for air supply. The first 50 days the UBoat did not come further than the Atlantic Coast of Northern Africa. Life and working conditions on board deteriorated fast, but remarkably the crew hang on.

Not before reaching the Cape Verde Islands on 14th of July 1945 the "U-977" surfaced and stopped for a short relaxation break. Under the much better conditions of transiting surfaced the voyage continued now towards Argentina, the equator was passed on 23rd of July 1945 at 30° W. Eventually, on 17th of August 1945 at 11.00 hrs local time "U-977" entered the port of Mar del Plata, Argentina, some 108 days and more than 7.600 nm after it had departed Kristiansand and after the crew again could discuss a possible scuttling of the UBoats somewhere before the Argentine coast and making it ashore clandestinely, a surely remarkable achievement in terms of seamanship and leadership came to an end.

Initially, the crew was interned in Argentina, then, however, turned over to the US, same as their comrades from "U-530", to become a kind of PoW (The war with Germany was over already) there. After they were brought to Europe and following a short British captivity the crew was released in 1946. The Commanding Officer was the last of them, since he was interrogated again and again as to the circumstances of the voyage of "U-977" and the pretended mystery behind it.

Commander Heinz Schaeffler U 977

"U-977" was the second German UBoat after "U-530" which escaped to Argentina after the end of war - and, soon rumors started to spread around this UBoat and the allegedly true reason for its adventurous voyage. In July 1945, the ex-Hungarian journalist Ladizslav Szabó, who had immigrated to Argentina before, published a theory in the Argentine newspaper "Critica" about Hitler having escaped by means of an UBoat to Argentina and further through Patagonia to a secret "fortress", allegedly established in Antarctica and called "Neuschwabenland" or "Neu-Berchtesgaden". This theory has been fostered probably much by the arrival of "U-530".

The further arrival of another German UBoat, "U-977", gave that theory even more attention as not experienced before and the Commanding Officer had to go through many lengthy interrogations by US and later British authorities on the accusation that he, the "Officer hiding Hitler", had brought Hitler secretly to Argentina. For these interrogations Heinz Schaeffer was detained in special US and British PoW camps. Szabó and other theorists of conspiracies forged further on escape stories around Hitler, in 1947 his book "Hitler esta vivo" (= "Hitler is alive") was published and in 2006 another concoction appeared "Hitler no murion en el Bunker" (= "Hitler did not die in the Bunker").

An excursion into the internet is strongly recommended, where at "google" alone hundreds of hits can be achie-ved when punching in the relevant keywords. A highlight certainly is the alleged Kriegsmarine UBoat convoy which took Hitler and his entourage to the "fortress" in Antarctica, "U-977" being part of it, of course.

Although the rumors on the allegedly secret voyage of "U-977" could be "defused" in the end, inter alia through the notes in the war diary of "U-977" and simple time-distance calculations, they maintained some life in Argentina, in particular when former high ranking National Socialists, that had managed to escape, were tracked down at their hiding places in South America. Heinz Schaeffer left Germany and went back to Argentina where he married in Buenos Aires in 1950. The Com-manding Officer of "U-977" published his memories a few years after the end of war

Heinz Schaeffer: "U-977 - Geheimfahrt nach Südamerika, Linen Verlag, Wiesbaden 1950, English Edition ""U-Boat 977" by William Kimber 1952, London . The book has been published as short version paperback "66 Tage unter Wasser - die geheimnisumwobene U-Boot-Fernfahrt nach Argentinien" by Erich Pabel Verlag 1986 , Rastatt.

On 24th of August 2911, in its series "Once upon the time", newsmagazine "DER SPIEGEL" published the story of that allegedly mysterious last voyage of "U-977", we have made use of in this compilation as well.

Conclusion: Over and over again, there are the oddest stories and theories of conspiracy, above all in Anglo-American media, about the Third Reich and the end of its leadership. Quite logically, the more than 100 days voyage of "U-977" to Argentina after the official end of the war is of much use to that and it is linked willingly to the escape of former leading National Socialists to South America, even when those were executed differently. Composing those stories, one consequently starts at the top, i.e. Adolf Hitler himself, and adds a few more ingredients, such as valuable captured pieces of art, precious metals and money. That makes headlines and supports the circulation of articles and books.

The myth around "U-977" may never been cleared away entirely, but, has the Commanding Officer not given enough and clear answers to it in his book? Also, common sense should qualify the myth as sheer nonsense when one imagines the "Fuehrer" spending more than 100 days on board of an UBoat under appalling conditions.

And, what about Hitler´s suicide on 30th of April 1945 in Berlin, to be followed by several forensic examinations to identify his remains beyond any doubt? Therefore, we should firmly close the cover of the file "U-977" for good, being able to resist any further cultivation of the myth around this UBoat.

Sources: Apart from the above books and articles, see also www.uboat.net - www.wikipedia.de and www.histamar.com.ar