U-977: Schäffer's Original Book

Heinz Schäffer (Berlin 1921-Argentina 1979) commanded U-977, the Type VII-C submarine which surrendered at Mar del Plata on 17 August 1945. His well-known memoir was first published in 1952 under the title U-977 - 66 Tage unter Wasser. Translations of this book appeared in English, French, Finnish, Spanish and Russian.

The chapters of interest relate to the final voyage of U-977 in which it is alleged that at the war's end the crew elected to run to Argentina from Norway in the hope "of better treatment". After a third of the crew had been landed in Norway by choice, the remainder endured much hardship, including a 66-day period submerged, and arrived at Mar del Plata after a slow but safe journey with nothing else to report.

This book is the expurgated version of the original. In 1950, Schäffer had written Geheimnis um U-977, which was published for the German community in Argentina. The book was the first memoir written postwar by a former U-boat officer. Schäffer was advised that if he wanted a wider readership in Europe he would have to delete the references to cargo, and all indications as to his position along the route at any particular time. He agreed, and the 1952 expurgated version, of which all and sundry have a copy, was the result.

The German copyright holder in Argentina has now published Schäffer's original book in Spanish under the title El Secreto del U-977 and Lo and Behold! - there was no 66-day voyage submerged, there was cargo, a fast voyage, a controversial episode still unclarified and over a month unaccounted for in South American waters before surrendering the boat. Thus, without wishing to open a hornet's nest, there seems to be vastly more mileage in the Argentine angle to the U-boat War, particularly postwar, than had been imagined hitherto. I have my copy (which cost me 66 pesos - was this coincidence?) should anybody have a question.

 

Was it Hitler, Mûller and Bormann as cargo or what was it??

And is there anything more to prove about the cargo?

 

There were no passengers aboard. At Frederikshavn a huge cargo was loaded and stowed in the interior of the boat. The Chief Engineer reported the cargo as so excessive that he could not guarantee the security and safety of the boat when diving. Schäffer reported that movement within the boat was next to impossible. Apart from the officers and WOs, everybody was living in the forward mess. Fuel was loaded fifty tonnes short to provide the boat with more buoyancy. U-977 sailed for Argentina on 2 May 1945 but turned back after four days. Although Schäffer does not say so, it seems probable that the real reason why a third of the crew was disembarked in Norway on 8 May was to gain more space to move. Even so he claimed that during the voyage life aboard the boat remained insufferable because of the cramped conditions.


Since U-977 was off Rio de Janeiro on 10 July 1945 and did not enter Mar del Plata until 17 August, it seems logical that Schäffer unloaded this enormous cargo somewhere along the Argentine coast. The numerous sightings of a submarine and a periscope from the shore during this period could all have been U-977.


The details in the book coincide with the statements made by Schäffer to Argentine naval intelligence officers between 20-22 August 1945. These papers were declassified by the Argentine naval archive June 2002. The Argentines were particularly anxious to emphasize the blast damage to U-977 which they claimed was the result of the depth charge attack by their torpedo-boat "Mendoza" in the Gulf of St Matías on 18 July 1945. The point here was to prove that even if U-977 had unloaded on their coast, they had not colluded with it.