German U-Boats in Argentina 1945 - U-530
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- Опубліковано 9 гру 2018
- On 10 July 1945 a German U-boat suddenly appeared in Argentina. U-530 had been missing since last seen in Norway in March 1945. Where had she been? What was her secret mission? Why had she remained at sea two months after the German surrender? Find out some of the conspiracies that circle this strange story, even 73 years later.
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Credits: Bundesarchiv Commons, aaronx
I was in the Navy in the 80’s. It just seems unfathomable to me that not one of these guys ever spilled the beans about what they were up to. It must’ve been something really serious!
The nerve gas theory sounds compelling. It would certainly fit with Hitler's modus operandi.
Or just simply run away from problem, Occam's razor
the germans had some moral thing about chemical warfare, it might have been saboteurs cleaning up evidence in the americas, or dropping off treasures / senõr hitler / other officials or some weird plan to shell the statue of liberty and empire state building. A last ditch chemical attack would have surely been carried out on the eastern front
It's like the moon landing conspiracy theories. My guess is something was going on so bad the crew was to terrified of the consequences of saying anything. The Nerve Gas theory starts to sound plausible.
Hollywooooood !
My grandma was around 19 years old in 44/45 and was on a 2 week fishing trip with her dad around Tierra de fuego in Chile sailing out of Punta Arenas. They were in the beagle channel and saw a large German boat that could have haul freight or people anchored in the channel for couple days then left as quick as they came. She told me this in 95 when went to see family in Chile. South America during ww2 was a hot bed of German activity. Keep up the good work I enjoy your content very much.
First, the U-571 probably had no deck gun, or at least a large caliber deck gun. They had been removed from almost all ocean going boats by the start of 1945 or earlier as it was far too dangerous to try to sink enemy ships by gunfire. She carried a quad 20mm flak gun and a twin 37mm AA gun. Throwing the ammo and torpedo detonators overboard was part of the surrender order sent by Doenitz, so that's not out of the ordinary. Some boats even jettisoned their antiaircaft guns as well so there was no armament above decks. Firing off the torpedoes to lessen weight and give the men more room for the voyage also makes sense. Throwing the logbook, ship's documents, code books, and the men's identification overboard was part of normal Kriegsmarine policy if a ship knew it was going to surrender and had time to jettison these items. Sabotage of the engines ensured the boat wouldn't be of immediate use ot the enemy.
It's unlikely that Wermuth was the boat's commander before the surrender. He was the equivalent rank of a Lieutenant (j.g.) in the USN. No submarine would normally have such a low ranking officer as captain. Even that late in the war, a full Lieutenant was the lowest rank to command a sub. My guess is they learned of the surrender during the unexplained two days in port at Skagerrak, Norway. I suspect they were actually in port on May 8, the date of surrender, not the March 5 he told interrogators. Disagreements between Wermuth and the actual captain broke out about what to do after the surrender. Wermuth wanted to make for a neutral port while the captain wanted to surrender and then return to Germany. As was the case with several other subs in Norway at the time, those who wanted to stay left the boat to make it back to Germany on some other German vessel while Wermuth and the remaining crew started out on their long voyage. He may have taken on some German sailors also wanting to make a breakout to flesh out the crew.
Wermuth stated they travelled 66 days underwater using their snorkel. I assuming they were alternating engines, something they would have done to extend the life of at least one of them. Wermuth stated he was originally going to try for Spain or Portugal but allied air patrols were constant and he didn't think he could make it to either port unharmed. The other alternative was Argentina. Wermuth may not have known that Argentina had declared war on Germany since it would have happened while he was enroute to Norway, and he was presumably a busy man after that. He knew that Argentina had a large German population and the government had Nazi sympathizers.
If my guesses about what happened are right, an underwater voyage of 66 days would have been about right running underwater at no more that seven knots for most of the voyage. Wermuth hated the Americans and the British. He was an ardent Nazi and expected to be tortured and imprisoned if he fell into allied hands. Some or all of his crew may have expected the same given Nazi propaganda about the brutal way German POWs were treated. I've never been able to find out where Wermuth was born, He was said to have no friends and never discussed his family with his men. It's possible his home was now in the Soviet area of Germany, and he didn't relish being welcomed home by the Soviets, who had a special distaste for U-boat captains and officers. Whatever the reason, it appears Wermuth and his men decided to take their chances in Argentina. His epic voyage still remains clouded in mystery, but no evidence has ever been brought force to support any of the many conspiracy theories about the U-530.
Complete BULLSHIT! YOU GO A LONG WAY TO AVOID THE OBVIOUS. ARGENTINA!!! ANOTHER BLOCKHEAD.
you was quite sober. Supporters of conspiracies are not going to cum anymore
awww, you mean the torpedo rooms hadnt been flooded to carry little atomic jelly fish that were going to swim up American rivers to poison half the US population and turn us into zombies??
Seriously, thank you for your common sense answer, you've obviously studied this and it's appreciated.
Excellent brief !! Congratulations !!
Plus it's even said that the U-Boat had a schnorkel, Deck guns were removed to make room for the schnorkel.
The U-530 was later taken by the American and sunk at cape Cod. The truth will never be knowned. And why did she surrended in AR? Cause Argentina was friendly with Germans, no sailor was imprison and all felt like home.
That might explain how my great uncle Walter got from Germany to Argintina. He always said he arrived in Argintina in 1938 but after his death papers found suggest it was 1945. As well as that in the latter stages of his life he suffered from Dementia. Because of this he was more inclined to talk about things that happened a long time ago with what we thought were confusing results!
The deckguns had to be removed when the snorkel was added. This was made with all homecoming class VII an IX boats since february 1944.
It's strange that no seaman was ever traced since this conspiracy theory started to just ask what happened, there were over seventy of them.
My theory was they sailed away from the sea lanes and waited until they were absolutely sure the war had ended.They then chuffed down south as efficiently as they could to guarantee they would reach the destination they were aiming for.
Yes the desire to go home is there, but so is the fear of Soviet Occupation, the worry that U-boat men could be tried post war as pirates if captured by the Allies.
Anyway, the war was not over in July 1945.
@@secretm.5896 It was for the Germans.
The simplest answer is always the best. Young captain, teenagers as crew. Their world was coming to an end, their nation defeated. Indecision was the mother of invention, dump the deck gun and torpedoes to lighten the ship and give a longer range. Indecision and infighting follows.
There was no infighting on the 530... On the 977 the commander decided to put under arrest the first officer and the second officer took this guy's place. That was all the "infighting"...
I totally agree with you, your dynamics of the situation are right on, usually the logical answer is the correct one.
A relative of mine watched the nighttime unloading of the Graff Spee before they scuttled her.
He said there were a lot of huge crates & it took hundreds of men nearly all night.
I still have the binocolars He used to watch the sailors with.
Her mission had been in Antarctica as others reported. Moved personnel and unknown material between Europe, Antarctica and Argentina. There are no such things a coincidence, especially with Germans.
I did a search for Otto Wermuth. I found absolutely nothing on what he did after 1945, except that he died in 2011, in his early nineties. His local newspaper praised him for doing a good job keeping the men under his command alive in difficult times.
I love those unsolved misteries about the WWII.
your videos are 10/10
There is a Type XIC U-boat at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, U-505, captured by the USS Guadalcanal. I toured that boat when I was 10... back in 1966. Smelled terrible down there... the diesel, and the oil. Docent said one thing that has stuck with me ever since (he was ex-US Navy submariner): "...you got used to it. In fact, some guys would often get sick when they got out into fresh air."
It had to be replenished with fuel and food at some point..
Your very right about this point Oscar. this story needs further investigation;I wonder if any of the crew is willing to give a deathbed confession.
I doubt that any are still alive or mentally fit at mid 90 plus years
No. The crew was smaller than they left Oslo with. 🤔
Yes, an important fact.
Oscar Mayer - No need, man....ALL boats sailing on war patrols would depart with the necessary fuel and food for the estimated duration of their cruise, some 3 months...In case the had to stay longer they would be replenished by supply boats. There was one boat that operated in the South Atlantic and Indic ocean, that spent A WHOLE YEAR in war patrol without ever entering any harbor during that time !
Mark, can i say that I have learnt more in the past few weeks in watching your videos then I ever did in history class
I look forward to seeing more
You are too kind
@@MarkFeltonProductions You are welcome - I especially like the Berlin Guards video as well as the first post war German Army and the tank duelling vids - somehow, in those ones you find yourself cheering for the enemy!
May i ask if you take suggestions for topics?
Interesting story!
Great video Mr Felton, you are truly an expert at this subject!
A superb presentation of a simply astounding story; thank you, Mark Felton.
Excellent Mark, always been fascinated by the U-Boat / Argentine stories. I have an old copy of Heinz Schaeffer's account of his voyage on U 977.
Thanks
Can you imagine being these guys out there back then.
I just recently subscribed and I have to say I love your videos! Excellent quality! Very factual, interesting, and well spoken on your part. I can’t wait for the next video!
Thanks for watching
Great video as always
Yeah he produces some good ones doesn't he? I'm a subscriber to his UA-cam channel for a reason :)
I like your documentaries, short and to the point and most importantly interesting . Keep it up! Subscribed.
This channel will be at a million subscribers in no time!
Here's hoping, what a fantastic channel.
Fran 👍
Interesting situation (and good video). What caught my immediate attention was the situation with the large (105mm) deck gun. All German U-Boots had the deck gun removed quite quickly after about 1942. It was heavy, increased drag, took up space for ammunition and needed crew to man it, also not very effective. This was a later model submarine (it had a schnorkel fitted for example) so why did it still have a deck gun? Going to sea without any torpedoes is ..er..highly unusual unless you need, as you say, the space for something else. I do indeed think it was intended to shell New York with chemical shells, but the mission was aborted and all evidence erased.
It was carrying gold bullion , and he buried it on a tropical Islands beach, and marked the spot on a map with an X
to be recovered later. It was given the top secret name " Pirates treasure"
Nice video, Mark, thanks for the upload, keep up the good work !
The nerve gas theory is good, but still doesn't explain why it took 2 months. Dumping nerve gas shells in the atlantic wouldn't take any longer than dumping conventional shells and torpedoes.
Fascinating story Mark. Thank you.
Most of the issue regarding the missing deck gun is easily explained.. They didn't have them. Type IX C 40,IXD2,,type VIIC/42 VIIF and all later models XXI,XXIII never had them from the start. It was quickly realized that Allied air cover made surface naval gun attacks suicidal. Even most merchant ships were equipped with guns that could defeat a surfaced submarine.When earlier boats came in to refit with snorkels they were also removed. Since they were removed they would get less hydrodynamic drag while submerged and more storage space for long voyages. According to German naval records the boat had been used for transport also. In a previous mission it has a rendezvous with a Japanese sub off of the Cape Verde Islands. It carried German radar equipment and technical operating staff. As to how long the mission lasted considering that they had to run submerged and snorkel that would take a long time. The early snorkels were prone to failure at higher speeds and in rough seas.The maximum while under snorkel was 6kts.
Have you ever heard of the story in which, during the battle of the bulge, an area changed hands so many times that the German and American medics stayed behind when their main force had been pushed back to help the wounded?
very well done. thanks for posting
So compelling. Love the content, please keep it up!
And now you have me wondering. Whatever the outcome, it will not affect me now........but I can't help wondering. Excellent video
Barry.Devon.
Thanks Mark another great story, keep them coming, as your the man
Oh and a Superb presentation old boy. I shall look for the sequel you mentioned. Thank for your research.
Both your U-boat videos I found most interesting. Were any surviving crewmen not interviewed for clues? Thank you for sharing these videos. If you make more of these we will certainly watch them.
Plain and simple, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun was on one of those submarines!! Even Rochus Misch's story changed several times over the years!!
Quality content.
The reason it didn't have a deck gun in the first place is because the U-530 was a Type IXC/40, those did not feature a deck gun.
.....in 1945, because they all had their deck guns removed in 1943...!
@@stargazer1744 True for most, but not for all. Most Atlantic sailing UBoats had theirs removed by 1943, while the ones operating in the Indian ocean and Mediterranean had theirs removed in '44. Some boats, albeit very few, were allowed to keep their deck gun because of their successful use of it in the previous missions.
This channel is amazing, it's like Christmas every week!
So I expect you will enjoy my forthcoming Christmas Special!
Thanks.
Nice one.
I lIved in Argentina @ that time and remember 2 German subs were found and shortly after diamonds were very INEXPENSIVE, it was believed that the HIGH COMAND OF GERMANY WERE BROUGHT TO ARGENTINA, and set up shop in BARRILOCHE with germans, I return to barriloche in 1997 and found , German language spoke in the main towns
Mark, one of your best, can't wait for the next video.
Thanks - it will be finished soon
25 year old captain!! 25 year old of today: beer, tattoos, drugs......
Great episode! I knew about U977 but hadn’t heard about this one!
thanks
That must have really been something to see. To suddenly out of the blue have a U Boat appear. I wouldn’t be surprised if the crew were treated as celebrities by the locals.
Kind of...! While both German crews remained "prisoners" of the Argentine Navy they were treated as comrades and equals, providing them the best possible accomodation, food, clothing, and entertainment. Things changed for the worst later when they were handed over to the Americans who came to Argentina and took them back to the States and confined them in POW Camps for a year.
Fabulous! Looking forward to the next chapter!
Currently in production!
Very interesting. Thanks for always presenting such little known facts.
Great - thanks for watching
You provide very interesting content. Subbed.
Wonderful video, thank you. I am hooked waiting for U-977!
Fascinating little story
It strikes me that unfortunately we will never know half of what the fleeing Nazis were up to, I am sure that knowing the lengths that they went to in an effort to hide the stolen riches from the allies they would almost certainly have sent consignments of stolen gold etc to friendly nations like Argentina, possibly human cargo as well. Thanks for an interesting and informative video.
The missing gun and lack of armaments is interesting. Possibly it was modified to fire specialised shell for such an attack. There'd be no reason for a U-boat to sail with torpedo rooms stripped out rendering it defenceless unless not submerged.
My guess it was stripped out to make room to smuggle extra passenges. Nazi passengers. Which ones could be anyones guess.
You might (!) Be correct about the gun. If special ammo was to be used, then maybe a special gun? Special storage of highly dangerous chemical weapons, requiring the empty torpedo room...boy I love a historical conspiracy!
This part I added several days later:- If the weapons were in fact illegal (gas,biological) tossing the ammo & gun overboard would be logical to prevent war crime charges. The mystery continues.
Matt Perrin possibly room for more shells?
The standard deck gun (88 mm??) was probably too small in capacity for a gas delivery shell.
I think that the next size up in German Anti Aircraft Flak guns was 120 mm which would give greater gas capacity.
This submarine had one 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK C/32 deck gun.
My grand father was a Chilean-German Nazi, active as Marine in the imperial German navy during WW1. My father, as a young man (late 1950's) said he saw a landing strip in a remote place in Argentina with German-looking people next a house with Nazi emblems. I take the story as a fact.
Excellent, as always from you.
So kind
The U Boot at 2.35 is U218. A mine layer, credited with the last sinking of an allied vessel. The Ethel Crawford sunk after hitting a mine off the West coast of Scotland hours after peace was declared.
I really enjoy your videos featuring Submarines, please continue to make more! They are super interesting!
Your videos are amaizing!
Continue your job!
Mark your videos are fantastic!! My son loves them, my parents love them. Great work!!!
Thanks for another great video
Thanks I personally give a lot of credit to the theory of Hilter reaching Argentina by Uboat
Clot by name Clot by nature! Another Clotspiracy theory. Duh!
Judging the situation by the information we’re given, I would think a sub with no weapons or even a deck gun was shedding weight in order to move men or material. We know there were many Nazis who ended up in South America. It seems extremely logical
the skipper, Otto Wermuth authored a real nice book about this voyage. longest single voyage of any naval ship of the Deutchland Kreigsmarine.
An amazing story that you for sharing 👌
Brilliant! Only I'm left breathless with Mark's videos motoring in thick and fast like a deranged yet dogged U-boat Captain's final torpedo salvo!
This is fascinating, I heard of stories that they were at a secret base in Antarctic
If you spell “U-530” backwards, upside down, and underwater it translates to “Hitler is alive and living as a woman in Argentina.”
A two week voyage would take two months if they were travelling at less than 1/3 speed in a type IX, which is 3 - 4 times slower than the standard cruising speed. They would do this to conserve fuel, if they only had enough fuel for North Sea operations or if they had already used up a lot of the fuel on patrol, an extremely slow speed with any unnecessary weight jettisoned would be the way to do it if they were trying to get to Argentina from Norway. I don't think it's worth floating the conspiracy theories, when you're in a Submarine the only contact you have with the outside world is the radio, if they were submerged most of the time they would likely have missed quite a few messages and were probably inclined to distrust those coming from high command when the Soviets and Western Allies had already steamrolled over Germany, far safer to surrender at a neutral port as far away from the conflict as you can get.
Brilliant, nice work Mark
Thanks
Very interesting history lessons. Great job
Would just like to add my anecdote, my step father was born in German occupied Poland 1944. He told me his mother was a "messenger" for the German army and never knew his father. He didn't remember any of Germany, but he did remember growing up in Argentina and spoke fluent Spanish and German. They stayed in Argentina until they both immigrated to the US sometime in the 60's. Never could find out more about his mother but thought id share i knew someone who 100% was in the German army and fled to Argentina until coming to the US, It did happen.
I'm from Argentina, your channel is gold keep up the good work
Great video mate, very objective, cheers!
Thanks
The idea of gas shells fired from a submarine deck gun is pretty ludicrous. First they did not have the range to reach anything and they were too small to carry the amount of gas necessary to do any damage.
Hitler was hunted, but never catched AFTER 1945 . Stalin was in rage ....
Wow. Great stuff!
Next video about U-977!
Nice video, really interesting stuff. Glad you got rid of that horrid sound you used to play in the background.
Fantastic narration, this is perfect.
Another genius production!
from the sources I have read this is is was supposably happended (copy from uboat.net):
The 24 year-old Oblt. Otto Wermuth became commander of the U-530 in January 1945 and took the boat on what was to become one of the more special patrols of the war. On 3 March 1945 he left Horten, Norway for a patrol intended to hunt of Halifax, Canada. Finding little there he headed south to New York waters. From May 4 to 7 U-530 fired 9 torpedoes at Allied shipping off New York but they all missed or malfunctioned. When Wermuth then learned of the German surrender he decided to flee to Argentina and all but a few enlisted man approved the idea. He jettisoned the remaining 5 torpedoes and headed south the Atlantic and surrendered his boat to the Argentinian navy on 10 July 1945 after 130 days at sea (Blair, 1998).
Even though the boat was a normal combat boat, empty of armaments and secret materials the press soon began to wonder amazing things about this patrols. Martin Bormann, Eva Braun, Hitler himself and others were at one time or another believed to have been on board. Some still believe this. No evidence has ever come forth for any of this (Blair, 1998).
Everthing else is unfounded nonsense
First Class!! Have a wonderful holiday season!
Hadn't hear this story, very interesting
also...wow. i knew u boats ended up in Argentina but this particular one , i believe, may be new to me
In 2017 a German zeehund submarine (iirc a coastal type of about 12 tons) wreck was exposed just down the coast from Mar del Plata, which didn't have the range to cross the Atlantic on it's own, but would be useful for navigating jungle rivers (I imagine in a similar way to the cocaine subs of the cartels) but if it was tethered to a larger submarine (such as U-530, this might explain the lack of armaments, the structural damage to the conning tower and the generally "tired" condition of the sub (the rustiness says to me this machine operated for some time in tropical coastal waters)) could have been taken as useful tool for clandestine landing operations. That's just my thoughts but the zeehund wreck would "tie" together the stories of U-530 & U-997, maybe if someone could find out the identity of this wreck it's history could be found.
Excellent video!
Ohh i remember that uboat that was the boat i use to escaped
great video
Excellent documentary
Thanks
Here are some points from the German Wikipedia:
On most Boats of the Typ IXC/40 the deck guns where removed after 1943.
The captain told the Argentinians his deck guns where removed in Germany, but all of his crew members told they have dismounted it during their travel on the Atlantic.
More interesting might be the fact that the Argentinians might have not talked to the right captain:
The man they interviewed in Argentinia as Captain Otto Wehrmut was tall and blonde but the real Otto Wehrmut was small and dark haired. Not only the topedoes and the granades where missing also the 6 dinghy that where part of the equipment where not on board.
Great channel 👍⭐
uboat.net has U530 as having a schnorchel, so no deck gun.
They're usually correct - which means no bio/chemical shelling of New York, or other such mission.
Absolutely love this channel. Great job
Many thanks
Mark's channel is one where you can thumbs up the video as soon as you click on it. You always know itll be good before you even get 5 seconds into the video👍🏻
Hopefully you will continue to enjoy my output!
It could very well have been a 'Hunt For Red October' scenario, where there were certain political officers onboard to ensure that the chemical attack was carried out. A struggle of sorts ensued, people were killed and then the artillery shells with the nerve agent were jettisoned, along with the naval cannon.
It would be interesting to interview family members of the former crew to see if something was said after the crew returned home.
Do you have more information about the fire in the conning tower? I’ve been on a Uboat and for the life of me cannot think of anything that could cause a fire that would be kept in storage there. Shells for the deck gun would be stored below and passed out a hatch in the tower. Could some of the propellant have caught fire? It seems like a real stretch to believe so.
Was the gun pushed off the boat to streamline the hull? Or was this a gun designed to shoot gas shells and they wish to hide that fact? The few gas shell firing guns I’ve heard about were standard guns with shells that were filled with chemicals that would air burst over their targets. I thus suspect the deck gun was just a stock deck gun?
I can only think of one other German gun that is small enough to mount in place of a standard deck gun and have the ability to be used to deliver poison gas. At best the idea of using this weapon would be ridiculous. As the range is far too short and the shells are far too difficult to handle. The range of this weapon was only a couple miles at best in addition the shell was huge and had great volume. In addition it was in effect a rocket shell fired from a very short barrel. Not a practical weapon on a U boat. But it could explain the fire in the conning tower if the rocket propellant were to have caught fire? Besides for this to work the shells would need a crane to bring them up on deck as they would weight a great deal. This is only food for thought.
I know of one other u boat that surrender of the east coast had jet fighter parts, uranium, and even had Japanese among the people on the vessel. This boat was sent on a mission in the last days of the war to aid japans war efforts with scientific information that was to help them keep fighting the war after German defeat. If I remember correctly the two or three Japanese on board committed suicide rather than surrender.
The cargo on this sub was carried in the torpedo tubes and torpedo storage area. I think the boat surrendered off of New Jersey ?
The boats captain crossed the Atlantic and surrender as soon as he heard the war was over.
Mark, we find a U-boat in the Karoo just a few weeks ago .
It would be logical to heave the big gun overboard if one could if some of the crew disagreed with a deadly gas shelling order. But I imagine it would have been a sod of a job to of unfastened the gun at sea. Seems a bit far fetched. I have spent 45 years in the marine repaire business, bolts saturated with salt water, would not of been easy to undo at sea and surely just heaving the breech block overboard would have been easier. There's more to this story I reckon. I wonder if it had been to the An artic. What would cause the loss of paint on the hull?