Op-16-Z

NAVY DEPARTMENT

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS

WASHINGTON

FINAL REPORT ON THE INTERROGATION OF SURVIVORS

FROM U-210, SUNK BY H.M.C.S. ASSINIBOINE ON

AUGUST 6, 1942.

October 2, 1942

T A B L E   O F   C O N T E N T S
Chapter I		INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
Chapter II		CREW OF U-210
Chapter III		EARLY HISTORY OF U-210
Chapter IV		FIRST AND LAST WAR CRUISE OF U-210
Chapter V		SINKING OF U-210
Chapter VI		DETAILS OF U-210
Chapter VII		OTHER U-BOATS
Chapter VIII		U-BOAT FLOTILLAS
Chapter IX		U-BOAT BASES
Chapter X		U-BOAT TRIALS AND CREW'S TRAINING
Chapter XI		GENERAL REMARKS ON U-BOATS
Chapter XII		OTHER SHIPS
Chapter XIII		DIVING OPERATIONS
Chapter XIV		MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS
A N N E X E S
A (1)		TRANSLATED EXTRACT FROM A DIARY RECOVERED FROM A CREW MEMBER OF U-210
A (2)		TRANSLATED EXTRACT FROM THE DIARY OF MASCHINENGERFREITER (FIREMAN, 3cl) MONIEN OF U-210
B		LIST OF CREW OF U-210
		(a)  SURVIVORS
		(b)  CASUALTIES
		(c)  TOTAL CREW

Chapter I

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

       U-210 was sunk in approximate position 57 N - 37 W by H.M.C.S. ASSINIBOINE on August 6, 1942, 19 days after leaving Kiel on her first war cruise.  37 survivors of a total complement of 43 were rescued by H.M.S. DIANTHUS, which took 21 of these prisoners to England.  The remaining 16, including the 2 surviving officers, were transferred from DIANTHUS to ASSINIBOINE, and brought to the United States.  Here they were examined jointly by officers of the Royal Canadian and the United States Navy.

        Interrogation of the 16 prisoners sent to the United States was greatly facilitated by the speed with which they were brought to an interrogation center, accompanied by a qualified Canadian Naval Intelligence Officer.

        This report incorporates the results of interrogations conducted in the United States with the findings of a preliminary report on the interrogation of the prisoners taken to England, submitted by the Admiralty.

        Several prisoners stated emphatically that U-210 was the fifth boat sunk in the same convoy attack.  None of the other four has been identified.  U-379 was sunk two days later (August 8), and five survivors were taken to England aboard DIANTHUS, along with the survivors from U-210.

        The recovery, from prisoners now in England, of two diaries (extracts from which are appended to this report) has aided materially in substantiating information gained from prisoners' statements.

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Chapter II

CREW OF U-210

        The crew of U-210 consisted of 4 officers and 39 enlisted men.

        The captain, Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant) Rudolf LEMCKE, did not survive.  He was of the 1933 Naval Term and was an experienced destroyer officer recently transferred to the U-boat arm.   U-210 is believed to have been his first command.

        Prisoners stated that he had been removed from the destroyer in which he was serving at Narvik in 1940 and put in charge of a Flak (A/A) battery.  During this time he was broken to the rank of a seaman and made to spend three months in a penal battalion for exercising disciplinary brutality.  He had caused a member of a gun crew to be beaten in front of the entire division for falling asleep on duty, saying:  "I won't have you punished.  I could have you court-martialed and shot, but I won't."  Subsequently he is said to have made one cruise with an experienced U-boat commander as a commander pupil (Kommandantenschüler) and to have assumed command of U-210 with the rank of Oberleutnant (Lieutenant (j.g.)).  Presumably he was reinstated in his former rank of Kapitänleutnant on leaving Kiel for his first war cruise.

        LEMCKE told the story of his degradation openly to suppress exaggerated rumors.  It is not believed that he was highly regarded by his crew; the story was told that he drank champagne and brandy on board, and that he ordered the boat submerged on rough nights as the motion on the surface prevented him from sleeping.  Several prisoners intimated moreover that they considered LEMCKE an inexperienced officer, and that he was directly responsible for the loss of

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his boat.  His decorations included the Iron Cross, 2nd class, the Narvik "Shield" and the Destroyer Badge.  A radio message announcing the birth of twins to his wife was received by U-210 about 8 days before his death.

        The executive officer, Leutnant zur See (Ensign) Günther GÖHLICH, age 22, who survived, proved to be a fanatical Nazi, arrogant and conceited.  He had all the makings of a youthful martinet and was most unpopular on board.  It was stated that he lost his head during the sinking and that an engine room petty officer stood behind him with a heavy wrench, intent on murdering him as soon as the lights failed.  The fact that the lights remained on appears to have saved his life.  GÖHLICH was of the 1938 Naval Term.  His interrogators regarded him as one of the worst types of prisoners.

        The engineer officer, Leutnant (Ing.) (Ensign - engineering duties only) Heinz SORBER, of the same Naval Term and age as GÖHLICH, was a more decent type and, apparently, a capable officer.  SORBER served aboard SCHARNHORST for more than a year, and had first-hand knowledge of raider tactics.  He is believed to have served in U-580 under the command of Oberleutnant (Lieutenant (j.g.)) Hans Günther KUHLMANN, and to have been aboard when this boat was rammed and sunk in the Baltic.

        SORBER was pleasant and good-natured, but thoroughly security-minded.  He was prematurely bald, having lost all his hair suddenly, he said, during his period of basic training.

        The junior officer, Leutnant zur See (Ensign) Ernst Martin TAMM, was too young to appear in the German Navy List of 1940.  He was killed in the final action.

        The chief characteristics of the crew were their youth and relative

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inexperience.  Of the 14 enlisted men brought to the United States for interrogation, 7 were under 21 years of age.  Only a few had had previous U-boat experience, and a number had not even taken part in the trials of U-210.  One youth, age 19, the son of an alpine guide, had left his father's home in Tyrol only last winter to join the Navy.  He used the Austrian "Gruss Gotti!" address to his interrogators and still assessed the wealth of his neighbors in terms of the number of cows they possessed.

        The oldest member of the crew, age 38, was a civilian diver and merchant marine sailor of many years experience, who claimed that he had been drafted to the U-boat as an able seaman by mistake.  He was extremely bitter about this error and stated that he had no intention of going to sea at all, much less in a U-boat.  He said that while in dock he had instructed in seamanship 10 of the more youthful enlisted men, whose previous occupations included those of confectioner, farm hand, baker and saddler.

        Another seaman, age 18, stated that he had practically been "pressed" into service at the last moment to make up the full complement, which even then was one man short.  This youth had been given only 6 month's basic training and had never before been on any sort of ship.

        The physical condition of the crew varied.  Marked debility was encountered in some of the men, while others were robust.

        In addition to LEMCKE and TAMM, 4 men were killed in the final action.

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Chapter III

EARLY HISTORY OF U-210

        U-210 was a 500-ton U-boat, Type VII C, built by the Germaniawerft, Kiel.  She was the 10th boat in the series which started with U-201.

        It is not known when U-210 was laid down.  She was launched December 23, 1941.  During that month engine room personnel began to arrive at the yard to stand by the boat in the final phase of construction.  At the time, they were housed in a depot ship named HOLSTENAU; later they were transferred to the depot ship UBENA, a former Woermann passenger liner.

        U-210 was commissioned on February 21, 1942.  The commissioning ceremonies were attended by Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant) Oskar MOEHLE in his capacity as Chief of the 5th U-boat Flotilla, to which U-210 had been assigned.

        Trials did not begin until April.  Severe ice conditions in the Baltic, which froze ports, delayed U-210's building program, and kept her locked in the harbor in Kiel.  During the interim, she lay for a week alongside the Tirpitz-Mole, together with other unidentified U-boats.

        Prior to her departure from Kiel on April 24, U-210 had put in three weeks of trials in and about Kiel.  Engines, pumps and other machinery, as well as S-gerät (search gear), were tested.  The boat entered the pressure dock, where the pressure hull was found satisfactory; initial diving trials and torpedo firing practice were also carried out.

        On April 24, 1942, at 0800, with officers of the U.A.K. (U-boat Acceptance Commission) on board, U-210 left Kiel for the Eastern Baltic, arriving at Danzig the following evening at 2000.  Daily trials were conducted in the vicinity

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of Danzig until May 4, when she proceeded to Gotenhafen where tests were made by officials of the Torpedo Testing Commission.  For the next three weeks U-210 was based at Hela.

        On May 6, at 1600, U-210 crossed the Bay of Danzig to Pillau for further torpedo firing practice.  A captured document, dated May 28, reports the loss of an enlisted man's cap during gunnery exercises.  Prisoners stated that they practiced gunnery with moving targets.  The nights of May 27, 28 and 29 were spent in Pillau.  On May 30 and 31 the boat was in Danzig, apparently for repair of slight damage incurred in a collision with another U-boat.

        U-210 continued her torpedo trials at Pillau, put in at Danzig again early on June 8, remaining in dock for three days, and left on the evening of June 10 for a week of tactical exercises off Gotenhafen.  From June 11 until June 19 she carried out these trials in company with other U-boats and always out of sight of land.  While working up, U-210 practiced oiling at sea from a supply U-boat (Zubringerboot), using her own pipe lines.  At 1400 on June 19, the exercises completed, she sailed from Rönne (on Bornholm) arriving there early the next morning.  The night of June 20 and the morning of June 21 were spent in hydrophone trials and in checking U-210 for electric motor noises at the shore listening post a Rönne.

        The boat arrived in Kiel at 1130 on June 22.  After a few short excursions, U-210 entered the Germaniawerft on June 27 for final adjustments prior to her first war cruise.  She had been passed for war service by the U-boat Acceptance Commission; accordingly, a small device was painted on the after side of her conning tower.  This consisted of a white German eagle, encircled by a wreath and surmounting a submerging U-boat which bore the word "Frontreif" (Ready for War).

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Chapter IV

FIRST AND LAST WAR CRUISE OF U-210

        U-210 sailed from Kiel on her first and last war cruise on Saturday, July 18, 1942, at 0700.  She had been fitted out beginning July 14, taking on torpedoes and ammunition on July 15, preserved supplies on July 16 and fresh supplies on the day before sailing.

        At 1020 she turned north with her escort, stated by a majority of prisoners to have comprised a "brand new" 740-ton U-boat and one of 500 tons, as well as an "R" boat (Räumboot) which served as a minesweeper.  Neither of the U-boats in question have been identified but the 500 tonner was stated to be traveling toward the Arctic.  Some prisoners asserted that one or two merchant ships also joined company.  The sea was calm and there were intermittent showers.  U-210 entered the Kattegat through the Great Belt.

        The Skagerrak was crossed on July 19, U-210 and the two other U-boats putting into Christiansand at 2300.  The sea had been moderate, and a Swedish minesweeper had been sighted.  In Christiansand she tied up to a pier to take on fresh drinking water.  She received a small amount of oil, stated by a machinist to have been only two or three tons, from a tanker which drew alongside.

        The next morning (July 20) at 0600, U-210 set out to the northward, accompanied by the 740-ton U-boat and another escort vessel.  She proceeded up the Norwegian coast, just in sight of land and constantly covered by aircraft patrols.  Shortly after leaving Christiansand, she dived for practice.  When at 40 meters the boat grounded and struck a submerged rock, in spite of the fact that the echo sounder recorded 60 meters, seemingly allowing adequate clearance below.  Both motors were put full astern and she came off safely.  No serious

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damage, except to the upper port torpedo tube (No. 2), was inflicted and U-210 was able to proceed normally.  (ONI Note:  It was believed that the accident was occasioned by an inaccurate recording on the echo-sounding device.  This instrument is known to have proved faulty in the case of other U-boats.)

        Later that day Bergen was abeam.  Here the two U-boats appear to have parted company with their escort and to have turned westward, heading for the Atlantic by way of the passage between the Faeroes and Iceland.  The Faeroes were abeam on July 21 and, with the course now laid to the southward, Iceland was abeam the following day.

        U-210 cruised constantly on the surface at slow speed (langsame Fahrt) in order to conserve fuel, but was obliged to dive frequently by British aircraft patrols.  Prisoner recalled a particular attack on July 22 or 23 when two bombs were dropped by a bi-motored plane.  The diaries record further air alarms on July 24, 25 and 26, which retarded U-210's passage but, apart from routine daily practice dives, she appears not to have submerged unless sighted by aircraft.

        It has not been possible to determine the exact course which U-210 steered through the British mine fields, but prisoners stated that between Iceland and the Faeroes they passed directly across the shallow patch of water marked on U-boat charts as "Rosengarten" (rose garden).  They thought that this area was mined, and added that drifting mines were reported there.  This part of the passage was made on the surface in daylight.

        MONIEN's diary (ANNEX A (2)) records the sighting by U-210 of a patrol boat on July 25.  Prisoners stated that this was a destroyer or corvette on patrol immediately south of Iceland.  It was the general consensus of opinion that this vessel did not detect their presence.  LEMCKE ran away on the surface at high speed, taking advantage of poor visibility, and later submerged to insure his escape.

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A number of explosions were heard in the distance.  These were interpreted by prisoners as constituting a depth charge attack by the same patrol vessel or by aircraft upon a 740-ton U-boat which was known to be in the vicinity -- presumably the same boat which had accompanied them from Kiel and Norway.

        On one of the last days of July a radio message was received from the Kiel U-boat station informing LEMCKE of the birth of twins, a boy and a girl, to his wife.  In celebration each man received two bottles of beer, one for each child.

        A convoy, apparently westbound, was sighted and reported on July 29 or 30 by U-210, which remained nearby as "Fühlungshalter" (contact boat).  A return signal was received from the B.d.U. (Admiral Commanding U-boats) ordering the boats present not to attack the convoy until the whole wolfpack had assembled.  Some time later, at an undetermined date and hour, the convoy was attacked, but U-210, which had experienced great difficulty in maintaining contact because of low visibility and the presence of anti-submarine craft, did not take part in the action.  On July 31 she was driven off of the convoy by a destroyer, which later dropped depth charges so wide of her that prisoners believed they were intended for another boat.  It was stated that 10 U-boats were eventually present and involved, and that Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant) TOPP, known to command U-552, sank 2 ships (See Chapter VII).

        The diary entries for these days are confused, but establish that U-210 remained in faltering, intermittent contact with the convoy for at least 6 days.  Ultimately, contact was lost altogether.

        On August 6 LEMCKE received a radio message ordering him to abandon the chase and make for another convoy which had been sighted.  According to the engineer

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officer, U-210 put about on a course of 70⁰ and at 1930 (German Summer Time, which was invariably kept on board) another U-boat was sighted off the starboard beam.  The lookout watch on the bridge at this time consisted of LEMCKE (relieving TAMM) starboard bow, ENSMANN starboard quarter, TROST port quarter, and CHRISTENSEN port bow.

        Visibility had been poor throughout the day, with patches of fog, but it had now cleared sufficiently for the two U-boats to see each other distinctly.  According to both TROST and ENSMANN, the other U-boat started morsing a message by signal lamp and LEMCKE called down to the conning tower for his own lamp.  This was handed up and plugged in by MYCKE who was helmsman at the time.  TROST, as signalman, was given the lamp and told to stand by to send a message, but when he tried to switch on the lamp it failed to work.  This infuriated LEMCKE, who roundly scolded the bridge watch, finally ordering them back to their lookout positions.  LEMCKE then seized a pair of signaling flags and himself semaphored to the other U-boat.

        TROST stated that for a few seconds he took his eyes off his own quarter to try to decipher the message being sent to them.  All he caught was the one word "destroyers".  In his own words, he commented:  "That was quite enough for me!"  He then kept rigid watch on his own sector.  ENSMANN could only say that he thought the message contained something about the position of a convoy, as well as a destroyer warning.  He added that the other U-boat slowly drew ahead of their beam and passed obliquely across their bows.  MYCKE stated that when he was relieved half an hour later he had been steering a course of 70⁰ throughout his watch.

        An engine room man who was told to repair the signaling lamp stated that when he took to pieces he found it rusty and full of water, and that this

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had undoubtedly caused a short circuit.

        A number of prisoners were of the impression that destroyers had seen the flash of the other U-boat's signaling lamp and that this had led to their detection and destruction some 50 minutes later, although the commanding officer of ASSINIBOINE appears not to have seen any signaling.

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Chapter V

SINKING OF U-210

        At 2000 on August 6 the bridge watch was relieved aboard U-210, the following men coming on duty:  quartermaster HOLST, coxswain KRUMM, MONBACH and MEETZ.  MUELLER relieved MYCKE at the helm.  MUELLER is believed to have been alone in the control room at this time.  As none of the bridge watch survived the following action, accounts of the sinking of U-210 are limited to his statements and those of the men below decks.

  According to MUELLER, fog closed round the U-boat as the watch was relieved and LEMCKE, thinking that U-210 was safely hidden came below to eat his supper.  At 2020 MUELLER heard confused sounds of shouting and firing above, and LEMCKE and TAMM passed him on the way to the bridge.  General alarm was sounded throughout the boat, by buzzers in the forward compartments and by flickering green and red lights in the engine rooms, as the crew were eating their evening meal.

        During the morning of the same day ASSINIBOINE, on convoy escort duty together with DIANTHUS, had dropped two depth charge patterns at the spot where they had seen a U-boat submerge.  At 1700 a signalman on ASSINIBOINE, then off duty, sighted the conning tower of U-210 at 1000 yards range.  According to the commanding officer, ASSINIBOINE gave chase, but the fog shut down.  He turned to port, came out of the fog, and sighted the U-boat again, now at a distance of one-half mile.  ASSINIBOINE put on full steam, intending to close and possibly ram, but the fog intervened once more.  Then the U-boat emerged from the mists a third time, only "a stone's throw away".  The destroyer closed to 200, yards, started

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firing and attempted vainly to ram her stern, the range now being so short that ASSINIBOINE could not depress her guns.

        Aboard U-210 no effort was made to dive immediately nor could anyone reach the 8.8 cm. gun, but fire from ASSINIBOINE was returned by HOLST, manning the 2 cm. gun at a range of approximately 200 yards.  Explosive bullets were used and started a second degree fire in ASSINIBOINE's forecastle, spreading aft almost to the bridge.

        LEMCKE was blamed posthumously by his men for not submerging at once, but the volume of smoke pouring from the destroyer apparently led him to believe that he had damaged her considerably, and encouraged him to prolong the action.  Prisoners also stated that he felt he could escape on the surface through the protecting fog, if need be.

        U-210's bridge was first struck by machine gun bullets.  HOLST was shot through the neck and killed outright, and KRUMM was badly wounded.  An instant later ASSINIBOINE scored a direct hit with her 4.7 gun on the conning tower, the shell making a shambles of the bridge.  A prisoner stated that LEMCKE was literally blown to pieces, and that KRUMM, lying wounded, was virtually decapitated.  It is assumed that TAMM also suffered a violent death.

        MUELLER believed that a body flung against the torpedo firing mechanism, releasing an unset torpedo.  Between them prisoners counted three more direct hits:  one through the forward torpedo tubes, another which carried away the deck covering between the 8.8 cm. gun and the forward torpedo hatch -- neither causing leaks in the pressure hull -- and one aft which smashed the screws, water entering the boat.  The boat was down by the stern, and the electric motors had caught fire.

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        SORBER, the engineer officer, now attempted to dive U-210.  As the boat submerged, she was rammed by ASSINIBOINE abaft the conning tower and over the galley hatch (Kombüsenluke).  U-210 descended to a depth of 18 meters.  Water was flooding into the boat through the Diesel air-intake, damaged in the shelling of the conning tower, and through the battered stern.  The electric motors had failed and everything breakable within the boat had been shattered.

        SORBER gave the order to blow tanks and abandon ship, under the misapprehension that GÖRLICH, who had received superficial cuts, was too badly injured to make the ultimate decision.  SORBER later reproached himself for surfacing as he believed, upon subsequent reflection that he might have been able to escape submerged.  ASSINIBOINE rammed again aft as U-210 surfaced, firing a shallow pattern of depth charges as she passed.  The C.O. of the destroyer stated that the U-boat then sank by the head in 2 minutes.

        MUELLER stated that he stayed at his post until he heard the order, "Blow tanks; stand by life jackets!"  He then left the helm as his life jacket was in the forward compartment and they had been told never to take any but their own.  He clambered through to the bow compartment where he found a number of men abandoning ship through the forward torpedo hatch.  Water was flooding through the hatch as he followed them.  The majority of the engine room personnel thought they were trapped when they found out, first, that the galley hatch was jammed, and then, that they could not move the conning tower hatch which had become jammed by the direct hit on the bridge.  Through their combined exertions they finally got the conning tower hatch open.  The last man out of the control room stated that water was well over his boots there as he left.

        It has not been possible to establish whether a scuttling charge was set

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or secret material destroyed.  Prisoners stated that SORBER placed an explosive charge in the periscope shaft, burned secret papers and books, and smashed wireless code apparatus with a hammer.  SORBER himself claimed not to have done so, stating the he only opened the seacocks before leaving the boat, as the last man out.

        It is not thought possible that U-210 could have sent off a radio message notifying B.d.U. of her attack and sinking.  Prisoners stated that the wireless antennae were shot away early in the action.  In view of the tremendous punishment taken by U-210 it is remarkable that the entire crew below decks escaped with their lives.  Some of the survivors believed that, as the boat did not sink immediately, she could have been captured and towed to port.  Little reliance can be placed in such opinions, however, in view of the fact that the second ramming undoubtedly left U-210 in an immediate sinking condition.

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Chapter VI

DETAILS OF U-210

        U-210 was a 500-ton boat, Type VII C, similar to U-570 captured by the British and renamed H.M.S. GRAPH.  She was built at the Germaniawerft, Kiel.

        The diesels were built by MWM (Motorenwerke Mannheim) under Krupp patents.

ELECTRIC MOTORS

        The electric motors were AEG (Allgemeine Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft).

        Prisoners from U-210 said they carried 3 acoustic torpedoes, as well as 2 air (in upper deck containers) and 9 electric torpedoes.  The acoustic torpedoes were said to have an acoustic membrane behind the contact pistol, but otherwise to be identical, with other ordinary torpedoes.

        A prisoner stated that U-210 departed with 129 tons of oil, and that she had about 70 tons when sunk, of which 30 tons would have been used for the return journey.

SEARCH GEAR NEUTRALIZER

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Vertilger", also known more popularly to Germans as "Pillenwerfer", "Pillenschmeisser", or just plain "Pillen".  Two prisoners questioned in the United States said that the apparatus was on the starboard side of the electric motor room, somewhat abaft of the refrigerator.  They stated that the tube was round, that it stood about 5 feet above the floor plates, that it projected into the boat about 9 to 12 inches from the side of the hull, and that it had an outside diameter of 12 to 18 inches.  Prisoners stated that the Pillenwerfer was operated only by officers (presumably the engineer officer).

        Information from prisoners interrogated in England conflicts in some small details with the foregoing.  There it was stated that the Pillenwerfer was located on the port side of the electric motor room, next to the gyro fuse box. 

        A prisoner from another U-boat described the action of the Pillenwerfer as follows:

        The piston is in a withdrawn position when the tube is filled.  As the piston is pushed forward the pills are expelled one at a time, until the piston is pushed completely in.  The pressure cap (at the outboard end of the tube)  then is closed and the piston is withdrawn.  The prisoner seemed positive that there would be no water in the tube after the pills had all been expelled.

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Chapter VII

OTHER U-BOATS

U-9	One prisoner stated that he had served on U-9 from the autumn of 1940 until October, 1941.  She was then a school boat in the Baltic under the command of Kapitänleutnant Joachim DEECKE, based first at Memel and then at Pillau.
U-123	A petty officer prisoner stated that he had joined U-123 at Lorient in the early summer of 1941 when she was under the command of Kapitänleutnant MOEHLE.  He made one cruise under MOEHLE, returning to Lorient where the U-boat was taken over by Kapitänleutnant HARDEGEN, he made on trip to the South Atlantic and somewhere off Africa they sank 2 or 3 ships from a convoy.  They also sank one ship traveling alone.  On the latter occasion HARDEGEN, speaking English, attempted to interrogate survivors when they had got into their boats, but they refused to give him any information.  Nevertheless, HARDEGEN provisioned them and told them the best course to steer.
	This prisoner also stated that U-123 carried a "Reichsverwundetenabzeichen" (State Wound Badge) as conning tower device.  This signified that the U-boat had been damaged in action but had reached her base.  This prisoner made only one cruise with HARDEGEN.
U-211	One prisoner implied that U-211 had been completed shortly after U-210 and had participated with U-210 in certain trials in the Baltic.  This boat was believed ready for active war duty.
U-217	U-217 was stated to be a mine-laying boat.  Prisoners said that she was a modified Type VII C, slightly larger than the normal 500-ton U-boat.  She

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	was said to have six vertical mineshafts abaft the conning tower, running from the upper deck through the pressure hull.  Mines are dropped through the bottom.  The extra length of the boat was added to make a special compartment for these shafts.  One prisoner said he saw U-217 at Kiel and that the U-boat's deck line was broken by 2 humps forward, (not aft, as stated by other prisoners) which, he was told, were mine shafts.
U-218	U-218 was stated to have been the last boat of the U-210 series to be commissioned at the time U-210 left Kiel.  Prisoners stated emphatically that U-217 and U-218 were built at Kiel, not at Flensburg, as previously believed.
U-373	A prisoner stated that LOESER, listed as an Oberleutnant (Lieutenant (j.g.)) of the 1935 term in the 1940 German Navy List, and believed to command U-373, probably with the rank of Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant), had been "stupid" enough to radio a message to B.d.U. that he had fired torpedoes at a boat and missed.  LOESER was stated to have earned the Iron Cross, 1st class, as 2nd watch officer under Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant Commander) HARTMANN, with whom he was presumed to have made 5 or 6 cruises.
U-552	Prisoners stated that Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant) Erich TOPP (believed to command U-552) participated with several other U-boats in the attack on the westbound convoy against which U-210 served as contact boat late in July, 1942.  According to prisoners, TOPP sank two boats from the convoy before he was rammed and forced to turn back immediately to Brest.
	An officer prisoner said that TOPP and ENDRASS were good friends and at one time shared a villa in La Baule, where they held wild parties with wine and women.  He said that TOPP and ENDRASS were intimate with the same girl friend in Paris, a singer.  The prisoner stated that on the occasion of one

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	party at the La Baule villa, ENDRASS had himself photographed lying on a table banked with flowers, as if he were dead and lying in state.  (ONI Note:  Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant) ENDRASS, now dead, commanded U-567, sunk December 21, 1941.)
U-564	Some prisoners admitted the possibility that Kapitänleutnant Reinhard SUHREN, believed to command U-564, was part of the "wolf-pack" which attacked the convoy with which U-210 made contact in late July 1942.
U-624	Prisoners stated that U-624 was one of a series of 3 U-boats of about 1600 tons each, built at the Germaniawerft, Kiel, as a mine-layer.  She was stated to have 18 vertical mine shafts, similar to those in U-217, holding 3 mines each.  U-624 was stated to have no bow tubes, but to have 2 stern tubes.

1000 - 1600
TON U-BOATS	A number of prisoners admitted seeing new 1000-ton and 1600-ton U-boats in Kiel, presumably during the construction of U-210.  One prisoner said he had seen one cruising off Kiel.  Supply boats of this type are known as Z-boats (Zubringerboots) or, more popularly, as "Milch Kühe" (milk cows).  They were said to carry two 3.7 cm. guns, one forward and one abaft the conning tower, and to have no torpedo tubes.
HENKE	A prisoner stated that Kapitänleutnant HENKE, of the 1933 Naval Term, was given command of a 740-ton U-boat.  It was stated further that HENKE once was A.W.O.L. in Berlin for more than a week, while transferring from artillery school (Schiffsartillerieschule) in Kiel to Pillau.  He was said to have been transferred out of the U-boat service at that time as a punishment.
MENGERSEN	Some prisoners admitted the possibility that Kapitänleutnant MENGERSEN

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	was one of the "wolf-pack" participating in the attack on the convoy for which U-210 has served as contact boat late in July, 1942 but none would confirm that fact definitely.  At that time MENGERSEN was believed to command U-101, although an officer prisoner stated that MENGERSEN recently was given a "brand new U-boat".  Another prisoner stated that MENGERSEN has a cousin who is a member of the general staff of the Führer's headquarters (Führerhauptquartier).  (ONI Note:  This cousin may have been Ritter von SCHOBERT, who was killed in Rumania in October, 1941 when an airplane in which he was riding exploded.  At the time, sabotage was mentioned.)
Herbert SCHULTZE	A prisoner claimed that Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant Commander) Herbert SCHULTZE had been reduced to the rank of ordinary seaman for refusing to go to sea again as commander of a U-boat, but there was no confirmation of this allegation.  SCHULTZE was serving at Kiel in some capacity late in 1941.
SOBE	An officer prisoner stated that shortly after U-210 left Kiel in mid-July, Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant Commander) SOBE was due to leave Kiel for an operational cruise in the North Atlantic as commander of a 750-ton U-boat.
"LEAPING WOLF"	Several prisoners admitted seeing in Kiel a U-boat bearing the conning tower device of a leaping wolf.  This boat appears to have been in Kiel as late as July, 1942.

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Chapter VIII

U-BOAT FLOTILLAS

        Prisoners stated that U-210 had belonged to the 5th U-boat Flotilla a "school flotilla" based on Kiel, and including boats of different tonnage.  During this tome Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant) Oskar MOEHLE (described as "a little man wearing a Knight's Cross") served as Chief of the flotilla.  It was hinted that this was a temporary appointment as MOEHLE would shortly assume command of a "Frontboot" (Combat U-boat).  One prisoner alleged that MOEHLE had, in fact, already been succeeded by another holder of the Knight's Insignia of the Iron Cross.

        It has been established that the assignment of U-210 to the 5th U-boat Flotilla was also temporary, and that LEMCKE had been ordered to terminate his first war cruise at Brest, where his boat would have joined another flotilla.

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Chapter IX

U-BOAT BASES

HELA	According to a prisoner's statement, there appear to be 2 po