Hi All, Sorry for another New Zealand question Right and the end of the war a German Submarine came down to New Zealand. Acording to the crew it came so close to the dock in Gisbourne that they could see people walking down the shore. Does anyone have any information on the submarine, like name (number) etc?
Kiwi : do you have a date of surrender ? Also where is Gisbourne actually .....they surrendered here ? E
Sorry Erich, didn't really make my self clear. It didn't surrender here - In fact i have no idea what happened to it, it just 'stopped off' here on its way elsewhere. Gisborne is on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, at the top of Poverty Bay. See map: (Ignore other place names) Also, it was it night that they came into the harbour - thats why they weren't seen.
Here´s something.... But one more enemy submarine patrolled New Zealand waters in January 1945. In one of the most extraordinary stories of the six-year long U-boat campaign, the German submarine U-862 left Java for a patrol off Australia. On Christmas Day 1944 it sank a freighter near Sydney, then came east to New Zealand. The submarine investigated Gisborne harbour and then Napier, where it fired at, but missed, a coaster leaving port. They intended to seek targets at Wellington, but German Naval Command ordered the U-boat back to base. Fighting the roaring forties south of New Zealand and Australia, the submarine reached the Indian Ocean undetected, where it sank another ship before returning to Java. http://www.navy.mil.nz/rnzn/article.cfm?Article_ID=351
All right!! U-862 Type IXD2 Laid down 15 Aug, 1942 Commissioned 7 Oct, 1943 Kptlt. Heinrich Timm (Knights Cross) Commanders 7 Oct, 1943 - 8 May, 1945 KrvKpt. Heinrich Timm (Knights Cross) Successes 7 ships sunk for a total of 42.374 tons Taken over by Japan at Singapore on 6 May 1945, and became the Japanese submarine I 502, 15 July, 1945. The japanese I 502 surrendered at Singapore in August 1945. She was scuttled there on 13 Feb, 1946. U-862 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss. Successes against aircraft: 20 Aug, 1944 (British Catalina aircraft, Squadron 265/H) The boat shot down the aircraft and escaped despite a massive search for it http://uboat.net/boats/u862.htm http://www.ozatwar.com/subsoz.htm http://www.allenandunwin.com/extracts/pdfs/1864482672.pdf Kriegtagebuch von U-862" U-862 had sunk four ships within a week in the Mozambique Channel area and so chose to get away. However within this departure direction, another ship becomes an obvious target. Three torpedoes fired on the first run--all miss. During second run, two torpedoes fired-- striking 6000 tonne ship and sunk it (position--14°S. 43°E.) 13th day in Mozambique Channel, proceeding on departure course. Suddenly! a Catalina flying boat is sighted too late to submerge. Only one of the two deck guns is working. The little Matrose Mumms is firing very good and has hit the airplane. Suddenly a command from the tower is heard to say, repeatedly, "Hard Starboard! Hard Starboard"! There is a heavy detonation, the boat vibrates then rolls severely to one side causing water to come into the control room! On deck are shouts, "A hit! A hit"! It is recognized that the plane's pilot wouldn't get out of it in one piece and that he might hit the U-boat. The 'Cat' is flying only 10 meters above us then crashes into the sea 10 meters in front of us. Because of the planes explosion there is a fountain of water through which we travel seconds after. Debris of the flying boat is burning for a long time. Then following the jubilation that "Mumms" saved our lives by hitting the flying boat before it released its depth charges, a dinghy was sent among the debris. The flying-boat's log-book, a lot of navigation cards, some uniforms and silk scarves were salvaged; were interesting and provided useful information. Where the Cat started and was based! All the crew are killed with no bodies seen. Also from the plane's log-book, it was learned that they were looking for another ship which had previously been sunk. It was getting dark so we departed the scene at high speed. The Grand Commores could be seen in distance. This was the first land sighting in three months. During the night another flying boat came towards us...we have been seen and it stayed with us through the night. To be on guard was a matter of life or death. To get from the scene we made high speed on the surface. In Mozambique Channel, 40 sea-miles west of Commore Islands, this 'Cat' made a low level attack on us! We reply by firing our two 3.7 guns and shooting it down with no survivors. (x Flying boat, Catalina FP104 with 2 pilots, 2 navigators and 9 crew = 13) Eluded more planes, set course 60° in direction for Penang, Malaya... http://www.pbycia.org/Newsletters/1994-01e.html http://www.sonic.net/~bstone/archives/990502.shtml Of all the U-boat patrols of the Second World War, the voyages of U-862 rank among the most remarkable. U-862 did not rate near the top in ships or tonnage sent to the bottom, but her long cruise to the Antipodes provides exploits aplenty for author David Stevens. This adventure along the New Zealand coast, by the way, gave rise to one of the enduring U-boat myths of World War II. In the 1950s, as a naval officer in the post-war German navy, Timm spun a seaman's story and convinced his NATO colleague, Air Marshal Sir Rochford Hughes, that U-862's crew had gone ashore at Hawkes Bay and milked cows to supplement their rations.
