The remarkable story behind the capture of the German submarine U-505

After making contact with the fleeing U-boat, Chatelain dropped a series of depth charges, which holed the outer hull of U-505. With its rudder jammed and aft compartments flooded, the stricken vessel had no choice but to surface. Its commanding officer, Harald Lange, ordered his crew to abandon ship.

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Surrender -

The surrendering German crew were picked up. Now prisoners of war, the enemy submariners were transferred to the Guadalcanal.

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Prisoners of war -

All but one of the German crew survived the ordeal. They were lined up in groups on the deck of the carrier and photographed for identification purposes.

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A race against time -

Under a blazing sun, the survivors were cooled off under a salt water hose as the Americans rushed to save U-505 from sinking.

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Salvage attempt -

With the German crewmen safely accounted for, USS Pillsbury slowly maneuvered alongside the captured submarine.

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U-505 captured -

Next, Navy personnel from Pillsbury successfully boarded the badly listing vessel.

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Down the hatch -

Led by Lieutenant Junior Grade Albert L. David, the boarding party went below to close scuttling valves and disarm scuttling charges. Their quick actions foiled attempts by the Germans to sink U-505 before it could fall into Allied hands.

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Taking control -

The next task was to contain the flooding, after which the submarine's diesel engines were shut down. Pictured is the control panel for the electric motors.

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Secrets revealed -

The Americans recovered secret equipment and invaluable code books and papers that were subsequently used by Allied forces to help crack German codes.

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A major coup -

Access to the inner workings of an intact German Type IXC submarine was a major coup for the Americans. The interior of the vessel was carefully photographed to document equipment such as the vessel's forward torpedo tubes.

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Of huge significance -

Photography extended to the captain's quarters. In fact, nothing was missed, such was the significance of the capture.

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Recovery -

The next job was to secure a line from the submarine to a recovery vessel.

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No easy task -

This was no easy undertaking. A rolling Atlantic Ocean made the job tedious and dangerous.

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On high alert -

Overseeing the operation was Guadalcanal, on high alert for more U-boats or an attack from the air.

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Towing the line -

Eventually a line was secured to the USS Abnaki. The vessel had rendezvoused with Captain Gallery's task group to tow U-505 2,500 nautical miles (4,630 km) to Bermuda. The captured German submariners, meanwhile, spent the rest of the war in a POW camp in Louisiana.

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Photo opportunity -

Before being taken in to tow, Gallery couldn't resist posing in the conning tower of the captured U-boat, the Stars and Stripes flying above the swastika.

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Bermuda bound -

USS Abnaki and its precious prize arrived in the Caribbean on June 19. After extensive repairs and a thorough sweep by intelligence officers, U-505, now under US Navy command, was sailed to the United States to commence a war bonds tour of various American ports.

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Sailing to America -

One of the defining images of this period was that of the submarine entering New York harbor and sailing under Brooklyn Bridge with the New York skyline in the background.

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War bond tour -

This portrait of US Navy servicemen standing to attention on the deck of U-505 was taken in Miami, Florida.

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Abandoned and forgotten -

The US Navy had no further use for U-505 after the war and it was moored derelict at the Portsmouth Navy Yard ostensibly to be used later as target practice by the US military.

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A new lease of life -

In 1946 upon learning of the Navy's plans, Gallery—now Rear Admiral Gallery—stepped in and proposed the submarine be saved and exhibited as a floating museum.

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Refurbishment -

Gallery's idea found favor with military historians who lobbied Lenox Lohr of Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry to see if they would be interested in acquiring the vessel. The project received the green light and, in 1954, U-505 underwent extensive refurbishment in readiness for her new home.

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Next port of call: Chicago -

U-505 was towed through the Great Lakes, making a stop in Detroit, Michigan, in July 1954, secured for the voyage in a dry dock.

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Dedication -

On September 25, 1954, the museum dedicated U-505 as a permanent exhibit and a war memorial to all the sailors and submariners who died in the first and second Atlantic campaigns. But that wasn't the end of the story.

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Major restoration -

In 2019, the museum, by now renamed as the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, refurbished the historic watercraft, restoring the boat to her almost original condition.

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As good as new -

Restoration included a complete overhaul of the interior. Pictured: the engine room where all those years earlier Albert L. David and his men risked their lives while disabling demolition charges.

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Saved for posterity -

And as part of the refurbishment program, a new exhibit was opened set within an interactive hall and displaying numerous artifacts associated with the history of U-505.

Sources: (History) (Naval History and Heritage Command) (Griffin Museum of Science and Industry)

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Hamburg, 1941 -

U-505, a Type IXC submarine, was launched on May 24, 1941, in Hamburg, Germany. She was officially commissioned on August 26 of that year.

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A boat-building city -

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On patrol -

On June 4, 1944, U-505 was making its way home after patrolling waters off the Western Sahara, on Africa's Gold Coast.

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Pinpointed by sonar -

Unbeknown to its crew, the German U-boat was being tracked by Allied intelligence via radio waves. Its location was eventually pinpointed by a sonar sweep conducted by a US Navy hunter-killer group.

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Hunter-killer task group -

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Dramatic WWII incident -

USS Chatelain had the distinction of initiating one of the most dramatic incidents of the Second World War.

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Attack! -

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Surrender -

The surrendering German crew were picked up. Now prisoners of war, the enemy submariners were transferred to the Guadalcanal.

Getty Images

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Prisoners of war -

All but one of the German crew survived the ordeal. They were lined up in groups on the deck of the carrier and photographed for identification purposes.

Getty Images

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A race against time -

Under a blazing sun, the survivors were cooled off under a salt water hose as the Americans rushed to save U-505 from sinking.

Getty Images

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Salvage attempt -

With the German crewmen safely accounted for, USS Pillsbury slowly maneuvered alongside the captured submarine.

Getty Images

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U-505 captured -

Next, Navy personnel from Pillsbury successfully boarded the badly listing vessel.

Getty Images

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Down the hatch -

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Taking control -

The next task was to contain the flooding, after which the submarine's diesel engines were shut down. Pictured is the control panel for the electric motors.

Getty Images

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Secrets revealed -

The Americans recovered secret equipment and invaluable code books and papers that were subsequently used by Allied forces to help crack German codes.

Getty Images

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A major coup -

Getty Images

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Of huge significance -

Photography extended to the captain's quarters. In fact, nothing was missed, such was the significance of the capture.

Getty Images

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Recovery -

The next job was to secure a line from the submarine to a recovery vessel.

Getty Images

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No easy task -

This was no easy undertaking. A rolling Atlantic Ocean made the job tedious and dangerous.

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On high alert -

Overseeing the operation was Guadalcanal, on high alert for more U-boats or an attack from the air.

Public Domain

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Towing the line -

Getty Images

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Photo opportunity -

Before being taken in to tow, Gallery couldn't resist posing in the conning tower of the captured U-boat, the Stars and Stripes flying above the swastika.

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Bermuda bound -

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Sailing to America -

One of the defining images of this period was that of the submarine entering New York harbor and sailing under Brooklyn Bridge with the New York skyline in the background.

Getty Images

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War bond tour -

This portrait of US Navy servicemen standing to attention on the deck of U-505 was taken in Miami, Florida.

Getty Images

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Abandoned and forgotten -

The US Navy had no further use for U-505 after the war and it was moored derelict at the Portsmouth Navy Yard ostensibly to be used later as target practice by the US military.

Getty Images

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A new lease of life -

In 1946 upon learning of the Navy's plans, Gallery—now Rear Admiral Gallery—stepped in and proposed the submarine be saved and exhibited as a floating museum.

Getty Images

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Refurbishment -

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Next port of call: Chicago -

U-505 was towed through the Great Lakes, making a stop in Detroit, Michigan, in July 1954, secured for the voyage in a dry dock.

Getty Images

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Dedication -

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Major restoration -

In 2019, the museum, by now renamed as the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, refurbished the historic watercraft, restoring the boat to her almost original condition.

Getty Images

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As good as new -

Restoration included a complete overhaul of the interior. Pictured: the engine room where all those years earlier Albert L. David and his men risked their lives while disabling demolition charges.

Getty Images

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Saved for posterity -

And as part of the refurbishment program, a new exhibit was opened set within an interactive hall and displaying numerous artifacts associated with the history of U-505.

Sources: (History) (Naval History and Heritage Command) (Griffin Museum of Science and Industry)

Getty Images

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The remarkable story behind the capture of the German submarine U-505

How did the Americans seize one of Hitler's most powerful U-boats?

01/05/25 | StarsInsider

LIFESTYLE History

On June 4, 1944, US naval forces captured intact a German submarine: U-505. It was the first enemy warship seized on the high seas by the US Navy since the War of 1812. It was a remarkable coup, not least because the vessel in question, a Type IXC, was one of the Nazi regime's most powerful and sophisticated U-boats. Its top-secret capture was kept from the public until after the war ended, when another chapter in this remarkable story began.

So, how exactly did the Americans put one over Hitler, and what happened next? Click through and relive one of the most incredible episodes of the Second World War.