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Defeat At Sea The struggle & eventual destruction of the German Navy.1939 - 1945
Defeat At Sea The struggle and eventual destruction of the German Navy.1939 - 1945
By C.D. Bekker
Hardbound
222 pages
Copyright 1955
CONTENTS
Foreword
Publishers'Note
Chapter
1.THE BEGINNING AND THE END
2.THE SINKING OF THE Laconia
3.THE Bismarck
4.RUNNING THE GANTLET
5.THE Graf Spee ...
6.No UNNECESSARY RisRsl
7.THE "GHOST SHIP" Coronel
8.THE YELLOW-GREEN EYE
9.THE Scharnhorst
112
10.THE 3RD MINE SWEEPER FLOTILLA
11.TORPEDO BOATS....
12."NEGROES" AND "BEAVERS"
13.THE Tirpitz
14.SUPPORTING THE EASTERN FRONT
15.THE LAST BATTLE
16.THE NEW U BOATS
foreword
AROUND THE NORTHERNMOST TIP OF JUTLAND A
cruiser squadron is steaming at high speed into the North Sea. They make a magnificent sight-these four powerful warships with the white mustaches of the bow waves beneath their noses. A beautiful but at the same time a sad sight, for here is all that is left of the major war vessels of the German Kriegsmarine-all that is left after five and a half years of war against a superior enemy-the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and the light cruiser Nurnberg. It is May, 1945, a few days after the German surrender. This last passage by German warships is being made under "escort" of two British cruisers from Copenhagen to Wilhelmshaven. And scarcely has the squadron turned into the North Sea when the British senior officer's ship, the Dido, makes the signal to part company: Prinz Eugen and Nurnberg are to proceed to Wilhelmshaven-and into captivity.
Suddenly, as the ships are closest to one another, a signalman climbs out onto the wing of the Englishmen's bridge-"Com-manding Officer to Commanding Officer," he makes. Not dozens but hundreds of pairs of German eyes are fixed tensely on the semaphore flags, and hundreds of rough seamen's voices laboriously repeat letter after letter in low tones as they read the last message from the enemy, the good wishes of a victor for the vanquished: Auf Wiedersehen-until-better--days.
All of them realize that this message is more than a polite gesture. It reveals something of that chivalrous spirit which, with very few exceptions, has animated their tough but fair sea adversary all through the period of merciless "total" war.
When the German officer to whom this signal from the Englishman was addressed related this occurrence to me, I was only at the start of my researches into the fate of the Kriegsmarine. That was a long while back. It was certainly no light task that I
had taken on. For in 1945 only a few documents remained in German hands about the five and a half years which had gone by. In the interval the English had, it is true, published a whole series of important documents taken from the files of the German Naval Staff. And these, together with other papers which I had at my disposal, could have sufficed for an unambitious historian; but for me, who wished to paint a colorful picture of the war at sea which would grip the reader, they were but the necessary rib framework which as yet lacked flesh and blood.
In the meantime I have visited hundreds of former members of the Kriegsmarine, of all grades from admirals to ordinary seamen, who had personal experience of the decisive hours of their service. I found the greatest willingness to help me to the best of their knowledge. But I also heard a number of skeptical opinions: the dramatic events of the war at sea had been described too often in sensational but untruthful fashion. C. D. BEKKER
Publishers' Note
THAT THIS BOOK, WHOSE AUTHOR SERVED IN THE LAST war in the German Navy until the was taken prisoner by the British in 1944, may be read as presenting the war at sea from 1939-45 as seen through German eyes is substantiated by the following statements by two outstanding German admirals:
This work reproduces the actual course of events of the war at sea in the form of episodes, but nevertheless in objective and truthful fashion. Among other appointments during the war, I was captain of the armored ship Admiral Scheer, Admiral-Quartermaster, for one year representative of the Commander in Chief of the Navy at the Fiihrer's headquarters, and Commander in Chief of Gruppe West. The manuscript was submitted to me for correction, in order that I could pick out any inaccuracies. Insofar as I am able to judge, and making allowance for minor journalistic license, the volume can be looked upon as authentic throughout.
Theodor Krancke, Admiral a.D., Diisseldorf
In order to prevent the intrusion of inaccuracies into this work I undertook, at the request of the German publisher, to correct the manuscript from the point of view of historical accuracy before it went to press. By his most careful regard for the truth of his facts the author has succeeded in putting together a gripping and lifelike account which will appeal to expert and layman alike, and constitute a proper memorial to the struggle of the German Navy.
Gerhard Wagner, Konteradmiral a.D., Bremen
During the whole war Konteradmiral Wagner was one of the leading officers of the German Naval Staff. From ig4i to 1944 he was Chief of the Operations Division of the Naval Staff. After the war he was for nearly four years a member of the Naval Historical Team formed by the U.S. Navy.
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