A Brief History
On May 9, 1941, German submarine U-110 was forced to the surface by a British corvette and a destroyer that were escorting a convoy attacked by the sub. U-110 had been a successful attack submarine, but on this day, depth charges forced the boat to the surface.
Digging Deeper
Damaged and in danger of sinking, the captain ordered the sub abandoned and scuttled, but in their haste to get off the sub that was also under fire from the British, the crew failed to scuttle the sub.
U-110 was not sinking, so the British kept German sailors from reboarding the sub, and boarded U-110 themselves, seizing the U-boat and all its vital code machines and code books. Although U-110 eventually sank while being towed to England, her capture led to critical intelligence information that helped turn the tide of World War II in favor of the Allies.
A 2000 movie, U-571, told the tale of the capture of U-110, but falsely by the US Navy!
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Sebag-Montefiore, Hugh. Enigma: The Battle For The Code. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2011.
Roskill, Stephen. The Secret Capture: U-110 and the Enigma Story. Seaforth Publishing, 2011.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of U-110 and HMS Bulldog, is in the public domain, because it is one of the following:
- It is a photograph taken prior to 1 June 1957; or
- It was published prior to 1974; or
- It is an artistic work other than a photograph or engraving (e.g. a painting) which was created prior to 1974.
HMSO has declared that the expiry of Crown Copyrights applies worldwide (ref: HMSO Email Reply)
More information.
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