The Sunken Mystery Of The Lost U-Boat 455

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These submarines, nicknamed the Gray Wolves, were true predators. Accounts of their feats made for great propaganda and their crews were viewed as exceptional soldiers. U-boats were reputed invincible. However, the research on the Genovese wreck reveals quite a different reality. What is the story behind this forgotten submarine lying off the coast of Genoa and La Spezia? Roberto Rinaldi is a former Cousteau crew diver who has turned to filmmaking and knows the ocean depths well. For Roberto, the discovery of this wreck brings the promise of a wonderful new adventure. In the world of deep-sea diving, you hear lots of legends involving submarines. One day, my friend Lorenzo D'Avenzini called me to tell me that a submarine had been found in the waters of Portofino. He invited me to dive with him. I was truly surprised. The last thing I expected to find there was a submarine stuck underwater in the mud with its bow pointing upwards. I'd never seen anything like that before. Roberto has formed a team to investigate the identity of this boat. Aldo, Marco and Gabrielle are all highly experienced divers who have participated in many underwater expeditions. The wreck is not easily accessible. It is resting at 400 feet below the surface of the water. Man rarely swims in such depths because the short expeditions are extremely task for these three men. Marine concretion is everywhere on the wreckage, covering up any possible clues. There are no numbers painted on the hull or on the conning tower. No distinguishing marks. Inside access is impossible. The entrance to the ship is blocked by overlapping pieces of metal. The Genoa Bay wreck isn't giving up its identity easily. In order to move forward, Roberto and Aldo have decided to bring some skills to the team. Submarine buffs Luke and Mark Breuer are the curators of Le Grand Blockhaus, a museum dedicated to the Atlantic Wall and its history. They founded this museum inside the greatest German fortification along the Atlantic. I think at the end of the war, everyone had the same idea to move on, to turn the page. If it had been possible at the time to destroy the U-boats, the underwater headquarters and the bunkers, it would have been done. If only so people could forget this terrible and deadly page in our history. It's taking years for us to begin wondering about these things, why they're still around and what purpose they serve. In the rooms of this unusual museum, many objects tell the story of the German submarines. Mark and Luke Breuer didn't hesitate for a second when they were contacted by Roberto Rinaldi. They had been waiting for this sort of mystery wreck for years. What I find fascinating in this project is the reconstructing of the submarines movement from its launch to its demise and also the prospect of adding to our historical knowledge in this largely forgotten area. It's exciting to feel like you're participating in history and not just being a spectator. Mark and Luke wanted to see the pictures of the wreck as soon as they stepped foot in Italy. In the hills of Genoa, they're discovering these images for the first time. You can clearly make out the deck's pointed shape. It would be interesting to be able to see this discovery all the way through to the end, to identify the boat, to find its number and retrace its entire history. We would find out how it ended up here in front of La Spezia. What should we be looking for specifically, to be sure? Try to cut through the nets and look for identification on the rear and on the gun. Understood. The historians have asked Roberto and Aldo to focus on the gun located at the rear of the boat. Identifying this gun would enable the research to move forward considerably. But a diving expedition 400 feet below the sea involves enormous constraints. Roberto's just dived in, three minutes for the descent, 15 minutes at the wreck and at least three and a half hours to come back up very slowly. According to the earlier pictures, there's a huge mass of tangled netting. Who knows if they'll have enough time to cut through all of it? Roberto and Aldo immediately realized that they will not be able to clear the gun. Underwater currents have wrapped the netting tightly around it. They will not be able to uncover the precious number that would help Luke and Mark to identify the boat. We tried to cut the net, didn't we, Aldo? It was everywhere. There are old and newer nets, cables. There's not enough time. Not enough time. After two minutes, you can't see in front of you. You can't see what you're cutting. The weather's good, isn't it? Yes. How about a slice of pizza? Brothers, I love you. You're the best. Roberto and Aldo's unsuccessful dive marks a turning point in the investigation. Mark and Luke have decided to consult German military archives. This time, luck is on their side. In Freiburg, they have found a map with the location of U-boat sinkings, as well as an important clue. Of the 62 submarines that navigated the Mediterranean Sea, only three are unaccounted for. And the last known position for one of them, the U-455, was close to Genoa. This information is essential to Luke and Mark because there is a place in Germany where you can find lots of information on the U-boats. The archives at Cuxhaven contain logbooks, objects and photos. It is a real goldmine for researchers hunting down information. We are researching the U-boat U-455. Horst Bredau, a former submariner himself, is the guardian of the temple. His knowledge of U-boat history is unparalleled. Everything on the U-455 is here. There is a lot of information. Unbelievable. There's so many pictures of our submarine. That's the San Iser. It's incredible. We acquired exceptional material. And now we have a real foundation to work from, with lots of visual elements. We have pictures of the men and the different missions, of the training sessions, of the crew's arrival and departure from San Iser. We have lots of references. This is very important. In Cuxhaven, Luke and Mark have met someone essential to the investigation. Axel Niesel is a German historian who is a regular at the archive library. As a renowned technical expert, he has shed light on the events leading up to several U-boat sinkings and has been involved in the search for many old submarines. The U-455 was most definitely a 7C type submarine, but each shipbuilder worked slightly differently. This is helpful today when identifying the boats on the basis of photos. For instance, a distinguishing feature on the U-455 is this railing along the tower. This type of railing comes from the Kiel shipyards. And this particular magnetic compass, boats built in later years used a different model. In these pictures, you can see the tower in detail. The photos found in the Cuxhaven archives and those taken by Roberto are compared. The three specialists are now confident that the submarine in Genoa is the U-455. Finding the boat's identity is the key to moving forward. With the submarine's number, the logbook of its early missions can be located. This document contains lots of information on the submarine's travels, but it doesn't answer the primary question that continues to fascinate Luke, Mark and Axel. What happened to the U-455? The lists of the crew should help move the investigation forward. These lists contain the names of the various sailors who were assigned to this boat. Here's a lead, here's an L.I., an on-board engineer, named Servotka. Here's a Schwarz-Gerhardt, Schwarz is a pretty common name in Germany, so that one may be difficult. There's an officer Arobonne. After 70 years, if we could find three or four of these crew members, it would be a miracle. It would be a miracle if we find one. Luke and Mark have only been in Germany for a few days, but Axel Niesel has just given them some wonderful news. Two of the U-455 crew are still alive and willing to meet with them. These two men had been transferred elsewhere just before the boat's final mission and therefore escaped the shipwreck. I am Luke Brouwer. We spoke over the phone and we've come from France. Gerhard Schwarz worked on the U-455 in the diesel engine room. Here is his military record. The U indicates that he's a submariner. I had no idea I was being assigned to the submarines. Everyone born in 1922 was supposed to join the ranks of the army. Under Hitler, everyone had to serve. This is Spitzer. I'd recognize him anywhere. This is Spitzer and me again. Helmut Spitzer was a trained mechanic before being drafted into the army. On board U-455, he was assigned to the electric engine room. Although picture-taking was prohibited, Gerhard took many. Thanks to this exclusive testimony, Luke and Mark are learning about the real everyday life of these submarine soldiers, far from the images circulated at the time by the German propaganda machine. The case of Gunther Preen is a perfect illustration of the fabricated cult status enjoyed by submarine commanders to the fascination of their crews. Preen had the courage to sink a British battleship within the English port of Scapa Flow, which was a momentous achievement. This is the first instance of propaganda being intentionally used to showcase the U-boat. The Führer meets them at City Hall. This event marked the birth of the legend of the aces, which was consciously staged for the occasion in order to introduce the submarines to the public on a positive note. Recruiting new crews became essential. An ever-increasing number of young sailors was needed to defy Britain. Gerhard Schwarz and Helmut Spitzer, like many young submarine sailors, were trained at the Kiel Base in northern Germany. For those who weren't in the Navy, it seemed so overwhelming. The things that one boat could accomplish on its own. We were all novices and we were somewhat bewildered. We didn't get a chance to gather our thoughts together. What's going to happen? We were leaving for sea, it was wartime, and you just had to take things as they came. January 15, 1942. The commander of U-455 made his first entry in the logbook, 0605. We depart from Kiel on our first patrol. Helmut Spitzer and Gerhard Schwarz will discover the high seas for the first time in their lives. The submarine leaves the Bay of Kiel and sets forth for the north. The coast quickly disappears, the temperature drops. Inside the boat, the men get familiar with their surroundings. Gerhard and Helmut don't know the objective of their mission. Each sailor has his own theories. Are we sailing towards England? Are we going to lay mines or attack a supply ship? The captain alone is privy to orders from the high command. Hitler is convinced at this time that the Allies are planning to arrive via northern Norway in order to cut Germany off from its ore supply. U-455 is one of the submarines sent to the Norwegian coast to await the Allies. Gerhard and Helmut's first outing is hellish. The open waters of northern Europe welcomes them with surging waves and violent icy winds. The boat ricochets back and forth between the rising walls of water that slam against the hull. The lookouts do not have a moment's rest. The young sailors are unable to hold down food. Day in and day out, the crew members learn to coexist in the limited space the submarine has to offer. Each man keeps his growing apprehension to himself. Of course we were afraid. What was going to happen to us? How does one describe a complete state of fear? It's impossible to describe. I'm incapable of answering the question, what is fear? U-455 does not remain in Norway for long. A naval battle has shifted its theatre of operations and is now concentrated around Britain. On March 21, 1942, Commander Hans Heinrich Giesler receives a message from Admiral Donitz. He must leave the Norwegian coast and return to Saint-Nazaire. Just like Brest, La Rochelle and Lorient, Saint-Nazaire is under German control. These port cities are the ideal bases from which to hunt down the commercial ships that supply Britain. Gerhard Schwarz and Helmut Spitzer arrive in the French port after a mere ten days at sea. The commander is frustrated. He writes in the logbook, entry into Saint-Nazaire, moving towards shelter number two. There was no enemy contact during our second mission. We are feeling increasingly inferior because we have not sunk anything yet. Arriving in Saint-Nazaire, the sailors of U-455 discovered a massive complex. The German navy had settled here to build a giant bunker, including 14 cells that could accommodate 20 submariners. It was a small city with 3,500 men working on its construction. Everywhere, submarines were being resupplied, repaired and rearmed with torpedoes. This ant farm is what the soldiers discovered upon arrival. They had just come from the tiny port of Bergen. They could not begin to imagine this huge complex, whose sole purpose was to service the Battle of the Atlantic. The United States' entry into the war will change the outcome of this battle. But for now, the U-boats are in their prime. The Americans never imagined that German submarines might sail right up to their coasts. American ships left their harbors unescorted, and towns remained lit up all night long. These were ideal conditions for the U-boats, who succeeded in sinking many ships. In this context, U-455's first American mission is quite simple. To find supply ships and sink them. The crew is determined and convinced of its strength. Commander Hans Heinrich Gieseler records the submarine's first battle in his logbook. That day, the lookout saw a tanker on the horizon. It was the British workmen. Gerhard cuts the diesel engines. Helmut launches the electric engines in preparation for submersion. The first missiles are loaded into the torpedo tubes. The commander gives the order to fire. Nothing happens on the first shot. The second torpedo hits its target. 6,994 tons. It's a beginning. Gerhard and Helmut have finally entered the war. I still remember when we sunk our first ship, the British workmen. We were given permission to come on deck and look at the ship in flames. We saw people jumping into lifeboats, hoping to escape. They were jumping overboard, trying to save their lives by swimming out into the middle of the ocean. And you know, you are the person who has caused this, who participated in this. Not alone, of course. But you were still part of it. Would they survive or not? That's what worried us at the time, and worried me in any case. Less than a week after this victory, a cruiser ship catches sight of U-455 and launches an underwater grenade attack. 3, 4, 5, 6. From the first minutes of the attack, the commander orders an immediate submersion. The grenades won't stop coming. 36, 37, 38. Gerhard and Helmut will count a total of 39 explosions. You hear the grenade fall into the water. And you wait. What's going to happen? How far away is it? How long will this go on? Will it be quick or not? Where is the cruiser now? Where are we now? These are the things that race through your mind. On its way back, U-455 sinks a second ship, 13,900 tons. Commander Hans Heinrich Giesler isn't a U-boat ace yet. But two destroyed warships makes this first Atlantic mission a definite success. They greeted us with music. The head of the flotilla was there waiting on the pier to greet us. As soon as we were standing to attention on the deck, he came on board and shook everyone's hand. I was given photos from St. Nazaire where you could see Giesler being greeted with his crew. There were women around them. This really happened. He's a hero. He should receive a hero's welcome. It was a wonderful feeling. Imagine, you've spent the last 60 days in the same place, the same narrow space. In one room. Only one room. You managed to make it back, alive and in one piece. You say to yourself, I'm home. It's a very emotional moment. And you agree? You feel so free. You do whatever you want. U-455's crew stays in the hotels of La Bolle or in the rest camps in the countryside. Enjoying the beach, sports and cabarets, the submariners receive very special treatment. Early 1942 is a great period for the propaganda machine, which makes the most of these successes. However, this situation will not last for long. Roosevelt takes stock of the damages inflicted by the U-boats. In response, he announces a shipbuilding program of 8 million tons per year. The war has just gone industrial. In St. Nazaire, U-455 is checked, repaired, repainted and ready to take off after a two-month break. This time, its mission isn't so simple. America's new strategy has forced commercial ships to travel in convoys protected by warships. Donitz's invincible U-boats cannot approach these convoys. Attacking them seems impossible. Onboard U-455, time is spent observing Allied ships but not attacking them. The mood is glum. Until the radio operator receives a message, strong Sunday boy arrived. Gerhard Schwarz and Helmut Spitzer learn through the boat's PA system that Commander Giesler has just had a son. The commander was in great spirits. He was not at all interested in hunting warships or sinking enemy ships. He had an heir. He was very proud and we all shared his happiness. After 50 days back at sea, U-455 hadn't launched a single torpedo. The submarine returns to the base at Saint-Nazaire with an empty scorecard. Admiral Donitz customarily greets each commander returning home. He listens to the detailed account of the mission hour by hour. Those who don't seem to be up to the task are transferred out. Was this the case for Commander Giesler? There is nothing in the archives to indicate this. However, within days a new captain, Hans-Martin Scheibe, is named commander of the submarine. Hans-Martin Scheibe was much more aggressive. We joked that his neck was itching for the knight's cross. The commanders were obsessed with it. They all wanted the knight's cross. Despite his unbending nature and his thirst for battle, Commander Hans-Martin Scheibe will have new problems to face. It is late 1942 and the tables are turning. The Allies have begun to mobilize. Germany has lost the upper hand in all theaters of operation. In Stalingrad, her forces are surrounded. In Africa, she suffers setback after setback. The submarine bases on the French coast are bombarded. The Allied planes attack the U-boats as soon as they leave port. They wanted to paralyze the submarines, both in Lorient and St. Nazaire, to stop them from going out. We asked ourselves, why? What was going on? Had the British or the Americans suddenly become so smart and powerful that their only concern was with our submarines? Is it because he is now part of Hitler's inner circle that Dönitz doesn't want to disappoint the Führer? Admiral Dönitz persists, despite the difficulties faced by his crews. For its seventh mission, U-455 is sent off to the American coast. After several weeks, the submarine will need to connect with its supply ship. In the past, this has been a simple procedure. We had enough ammunition and supplies to stay out at sea for four to five weeks. But after three extra days, we were cutting it close. We got a message informing us that a supply ship had been located somewhere in the area. This time, things didn't go as planned. There was a mass of dark clouds overhead, and the plane was flying inside these clouds. The pilot was so clever that when the cloud mass started to break up, he flew straight towards us in bright sunlight, so that the sentinels and officers would be blinded. With this blinding trick, he was sure he would succeed. If his aim was good, we would be finished. How did U-455 escape the Allied planes? The memories of this mission are quite foggy for Gerhard Schwarz and Helmut Spitzer. The logbook doesn't contain any real detail of this attack either. So Luke and Mark have decided to contact Tim Mulligan, director of military archives in Washington. They want to know if the Allies recorded any interaction between their planes and U-455. Tim Mulligan has found a report written by Lieutenant R.L. Stearns, the pilot who attacked the submarines. He describes an extremely violent combat. The appearance of the aircraft immediately alerted the Germans to their situation. They threw up a wall of anti-aircraft fire. Three more American aircraft were then vectored to the area. The supply U-boat stayed on the surface almost to the last. Stearns made the final attack himself, and he observed a massive explosion underwater. He believed he had sunk the supply U-boat. From subsequent research done in the 1990s, we now believe that during the early stages of the combined Allied action, U-455 followed what was always a common sense dictum when you're under air attack, dive and live. U-455 has miraculously escaped from the fighting. What might sound like a happy ending, actually marks a turning point for these submarines. The U-boat, once considered to be a merciless hunter, has become an easily destroyed prey. The consequence of the Allied victory at sea in the spring and summer of 1943 meant that the flow of supplies and troops and equipment from North America to the British Isles would be uninterrupted essentially by the U-boat menace. This was the precondition that Roosevelt, Churchill and all the Allied leaders had realized was necessary before an invasion of Europe could be launched. The U-455 returns to the base in Lorient with a damaged tower. The sailors no longer feel victorious and the water suddenly looks like lead. Bad news circulates silently from one boat to the next. The last Mediterranean ports under Field Marshal Romo's control fall one by one, passing under Allied command. Donitz is forced to reposition his U-boats once again. U-455 has escaped British and American forces in the North Sea, in the middle of the Atlantic and along the African coast. It must now join the fight in the Mediterranean. On January 6, 1944, Gerhard Schwarz and Helmut Spitzer leave Lorient. In the early days of the war, the submarines were cheered on by the crowd as they left port. Today they depart in silence. The two men look out to sea as a new obstacle rises in front of the boat's stem. Gibraltar. For German submarines during World War II, passing Gibraltar was a real challenge. The strait's very narrow. It's a British fort whose team of escorts, planes and radar are on the watch 24 hours a day. This expedition is once again an ordeal. The British have sunk nine U-boats in the past few months. Ten others had to abandon the idea of passing through the strait following heavy combat. How can U-455 succeed where so many have failed? Given the amount of enemy traffic, Commander Scheibe decided to pass through the strait at night and take advantage of the currents entering the Mediterranean. We couldn't navigate with the diesel engines. We had to move in complete silence, propelled only very slightly by the electric engines. We had to wear cork sole shoes so as not to make any noise when walking on the battle. We weren't allowed to speak either. Succeeding in passing through Gibraltar was a truly heroic act in those days. After 40 hours underwater, U-455 finally surfaces. The oxygen level inside the submarine is very low and the men are close to fainting. But who cares? They made it through the strait. They are returning from their ninth mission. Is it because they escaped great danger or are they simply relieved? In any event, a curious bond has developed between the men and their boat. An order awaits Helmut Spitzer and Gerhard Schwarz upon their arrival in Toulon. High Command informs them that they will be returning to Germany to enroll in sub-officers training. They leave U-455 to its destiny. What happened during U-455's last mission? The answer to this question isn't found in German archives. It isn't in British or American archives either. The circumstances surrounding the sinking of U-455 are still unknown. There are several possible causes for the sinking of a submarine. The first and most plausible one, in my opinion, would be a mine. Then there is the possibility of an air attack or a sea attack by a destroyer. If we could find an anchor, it would support the mine theory. At this point, the investigation has become more complex for Luke, Mark and Axel. Additional means are required to move forward. The COMEX, a French maritime exploration company, has provided the team with precious help by making the Remora available to them. As the mission's technical expert, Axel has been chosen to lead the study of the boat. This is a first for him. He has never done a wreck dive. When I was a child, I always thought, wow, it must be impressive to dive. And now I'm going into the blue. It's fantastic. That's the boat. It's incredible. Hi, Axel. How's everything going down there? It's a marvellous sight. I didn't think it was possible to have such an incredible view of a boat at the bottom of the sea. This is one of the most beautiful moments of my life. I'm 400 feet under the sea and I can practically touch the boat just by reaching out. Axel, can you see anything? We're inspecting the tower and we've noticed that the periscope's extended slightly by about 12 to 15 inches. That is rather unusual. This is a first clue. The periscope was up when the boat sunk, which means that the submarine was navigating close to the surface at the time. Axel, can you see any signs of an explosion on the boat? We are now right above the sea floor. At least 30 feet of the stern appear to be missing. The absence of such a large section of the stem would indicate that a strong explosion had taken place and possibly destroyed the entire rear of the boat. Perfect. Danke. After inspecting the submarine for over an hour, Axel is able to offer a more detailed picture of the last moments of U-455. There is an essential point that needs to be taken into account, I believe. The boat is pointing upwards at a 45 degree angle. This means that there was still some air in the front, at least initially. The idea is a gruesome one because even if there was air remaining in this part of the boat, the crew had virtually no chance of survival due to the steepness of the slope. Imagine that inside the boat people could barely move around under normal circumstances. In this position, it would be like climbing to the top of a mountain. There must have been panic and confusion. Escape would have been impossible, assuming there were even any survivors left on board. In Genoa, the Remora diving expedition has not gone unnoticed. Paola Bottini, in charge of underwater archaeological surveys in Italy, remembers a recent discovery. During the exploration of a field of amphorae located not far from the wreck, divers stumbled upon a strange object, apparently a mine. The existence of this mine sheds considerable light on the circumstances surrounding the sinking. Thanks to this discovery, the investigation is about to take another unexpected turn. Axel Niesel has been able to find German, Italian and British mine maps of the zone. These maps have a big surprise in store for the three historians. The boat had received the order to rally to this spot for 2200 hours so it could be escorted by a surface ship. Unfortunately on the way, the submarine encountered a German minefield. Didn't the commander have a map of the German mine locations? Apparently not. This information was obviously top secret and it seems like someone forgot to provide the submarine with these maps. And this tragic oversight caused the death of 50 men who, spotting the coastline in the distance, surely thought they had made it home. After escaping underwater grenades and resisting Allied air attacks over nine missions, U-455 was in fact the victim of this invisible trap. The team has invited Gerhard Schwarz to come to Genoa for a last tribute to his fallen comrades. For the research team, this is a solemn occasion. Remember my own name. I understand. Go to the surface? Yes, ok.