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STUTTGART,
den 14.4.80/Ro-ka
Dear
Mr. Campbell,
Many thanks for your
letter of April 1st. For the two incidents you asked me about,
I can tell you the following details:
1)
Sinking of RO-501. I think, there is no question, that your victim
at this tine was the Japanese U-boat RO-501. This boat was first built for
the German navy, being ordered on 25.08.1941/ yard Nr. 387 with the
Deutsche Werft, Hamburg-Finkenwerder as U-1224. It was laid down on 30
November 1942, launched on 7th July 1943; in commission on 20 Oktober 1943
U-1224 by lieutenant commander Preuß.
It began its training in the Baltic as part of the 31. U-boat Flottille.
On 15. February 1942 this boat was given to the Japanese navy. It was
taken over by a Japanese U-boat-crew, which came over in the big U-cruiser
I-8 in late autumn 1943, then participated in some German
U-boat-training-courses and than the Japanese Commanding Officer was
lieutenant-commander Norita Sadatoshi. I saw this U-boat several times
during February or March 1944 when it was assigned to the German U-boat
Anti-aircraft school in Swinemünde, when I was a young officer on a
mine-countermeasures-vessel and we had our pier in the harbor of Swinemünde
in the direct neighborhood of this Japanese U-boat, which was a curious
experience to us at this time. RO-501 departed Kiel on March 30th 1944. It
was planned to arrive in Penang in mid-July 1944. The last report by
wireless came on the 6th of May, passing the position 30 N/37 W. Maybe it
was this signal, which was decrypted and laid to the search by your hunter
killer-group and the sinking of this boat on May 13th in 18.08 N/33.13 W.
There were no survivors. If you have some information about this
sinking, I would like to get them.
2)
The Japanese big U-boat I-52 was commissioned on the December 18th
1943 for the 11.submarine Squadron, Commander war Uno Kameo. After
completing its training time, I-52 was selected for a transport mission to
western France and departed on April 23rd from Singapore for its special
mission. Its cargo was 11 ts Wolfram [English=tungsten], 120 ts tin [tin],
9.8 ts Molybden [molybdenum], 55 ts caoutchouc [caoutchouc], 3 ts chinin
[quinine], 3 ts opium [opium], 0,0537 ts coffein [caffeine], In addition,
there were 14 passengers on board. On June 18th I-52 met the
German U-boat U-530 and took aboard a German liaison officer and wireless
operators. On June 24th it was sunk in 15.16N/39.55W by two carrier planes
of the USS Bogue. There is something of mysterious problem with this
U-boat, because the German wireless stations in western France received
three different messages which were thought to be coming from this U-boat
in the area west of the Bay of Biscay in the last days of July and the
first days of August. But I couldn1t clear up this problem with British
documents and Patrick Beesly thinks, there is no possibility that these
signals were made to confuse the German receiving Units. In addition there
is proof that by this attack a Japanese U-boat was sunk because there some
debris picked up.
3)
For your question about U-300: this U-boat was ordered from the
Vegesaker Werft at October 14th 1941 and built from April 9th,
1943 to December 29th, 1943. Commissioned for the 8. U-boat
flotilla under Oberleutnant Hein, U-300 completed the training operations
in the Baltic and was than transferred to the 7. U-boat-flotilla. It was
sent to Norway in July 1944 and departed for the first operational cruise
on 9./lOth July, but it was damaged by air attack on August 4th near the
northern Minches and returned on 17th August to Norway.
The next patrol was starting on October 4th 1944 near the southern
and southwestern coast of Iceland. On November 10th the U-boat attacked
the convoy UR-142 near the entrance of Reykjavik and sank the Icelandic
steamer GODAFOSS,1542 BRT., the British tanker SHIRVAN, 6017
BRT and the tug EMPIRE, 1260 BRT. U-300 returned to Norway, on December 2nd,
1944. The next operation was
started on January 20th, 1945 when U-300 got the order to operate off
Gibraltar. The only information we have, is that on 17th of February about
11 hours in the area of Gibraltar there where two allied ships torpedoed.
This was realized by intercepted and decrypted Allied radio signal for the
German side, but there was no report from the U-boat itself. From British
sources we knew that on this day in a UGS convoy there was the British
motor tanker REGENT LION, 9551 BRT, torpedoed. On the same
position on the same day and time there was (also) a torpedo (attack) on
the American liberty ship MICHAEL J. STONE, 7176 BRT. There is no
additional evidence about the successes of this U-boat in the next days in
German sources. We have only a notice, that U-300 was sunk on February
22nd by 3 British minesweepers which brought U-300 by depth charges to
(the) surface and the boat had to be sunk. There were 40 survivors. I will
try to find out, if some of this people are still alive, to give you the
addresses of them, so as I will try to find out some additional
information from the British side about the last days of U-300 to clear up
the possible attack on the 19th of February.
In
the meantime I remain with my best wishes.
Yours,
///SIGNED
“JRohwer”///
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