Günther Prien

[vonbrunke]

Hello All,

Am just finishing reading "Joseph Goebbels" by Curt Riess. In his book he claims that Günther Prien died in a concentration camp. His book states:

"He (Prien) was ordered to go out to sea in a submarine which needed repairs. Prien refused, was arrested, and disappeared. It was impossible to court-martial this idol of the people, so Prien vanished into a concentration camp. On May 24, 1941, the public was advised that Prien had not returned from an enemy mission. Later he was taken to the medieval cells of the military prison of Torgau and (according to Berlin newspaper reports in February 1946) was liquidated at the beginning of 1945."
-"Jospeh Goebbels" page 212 by Curt Riess

From what I always thought, and have read, was that Prien died on March 7th, 1941 attacking convoy OB-293.

So does anyone know if Curt Riess' statement holds any credence?

[Mischa]

Hello vonbrunke,

in my opinion it is a gossip and Günther Prien did not die in a KZ-Lager. I will You recommend following source:



and here You can read about it (it is in German), chapter one, "Glückliche Zeiten - U 47 - Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien.

http://andreashaeger.com/docs/pdf/Verda ... tkrieg.pdf

Regards
Mischa

[Takao]

Is this the same Curt Riess that started the rumor that Prien was guided into Scapa Flow by a German spy? I think it was an article published in the Saturday Evening Post.

If so, I'd say it was false.

[ChristopherPerrien]

The book in question was published in 1948.

I think it can be easily inferred that Mr Riess was predisposed to reflecting a great bias in articles and books that he wrote, simply becuase it was appropriate for the time of many of his writings, besides his own personal reasons.

The "thrust" of this idea/supposition of Prien dying in a concentration camp is that the Germans as "Nazis" were "dishonorable" besides being "stupid".

A quick glance at this wiki bio should be enough.http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... n%26sa%3DG

Chris

[vonbrunke]

Thank you gentleman. Was almost positive his story was false.

Best Regards and a Happy New Year!

vonbrunke

[tigre]

Hello to all ; some comments and questions about this topic.......................

How the idea about Scapa Flow came?

Two German submarines had already tried it during WWI, in October of 1914, the U 18 under von Henning reached the Scapa Flow base, hidden in the wake of an English merchant, but unfortunately for him, the British fleet had sailed and the base was deserted. In 1918, the U 116 under von Emsmann also reached the base, but before he could attack struck a mine and sank with all hands.

One day in September 1939 the BdU Karl Dönitz studied a large scale map at his headquarters in Kiel; it was a map from the Orkney Islands in the north of Great Britain, between two large islands the sea expands forming a bay: Scapa Flow. The admiral was planning something special, it would not be a particularly serious tactical setback for the enemy, but would tell the world that nothing was safe from his submarine force.

On September 11, 1939, observing an aerial photograph of the area, Dönitz noted that several capital warships of the British navy were anchored in the bay, it was a significant target for a raid with a submarine.

On September 13, 1939 at 09:00 hours sailed from Kiel the U 14 (Kplt. Horst Wellner); the submersible was to operate against the British traffic in front of the Firth of Moray and carry out the reconnaissance over the approaches to Scapa Flow.

Sources: Fotoalbum-U-Boot-Atlantikboot-Feindfahrten-FrontbootTop bei eBay_de 1918-1945 (endet 14_02_10 200556 MEZ)
http://www.u-boot-archiv.de/krieg/prien_gegen_sf.html
http://www.ubootarchiv.de/ubootwiki/index.php/U_14
KTB U-Bootwaffe. 1939-09 y 1939-10. Das Kriegstagebuch der U-Bootwaffe von Roland Berr.
Husarenstück in Scapa Flow. Die Versenkung der Royal Oak durch U 47 in Scapa Flow. http://www.seekrieg.de

Doubts: Since when Dönitz had this idea? ... He exchanged views with the Abwehr, ie Canaris? ... Any particular reason for selecting Kplt. Horst Wellner and U 14 for the reconnaissance? TIA. Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; the end.......................

How the idea about Scapa Flow came?

On September 18, 1939 the BdU exposed his idea about an attack in Scapa Flow to Admiral Raeder, the Grand Admiral gave his approval but said that there should not be an action of laying mines.

On September 26, 1939 Dönitz received new aerial photographs of the bay and examining every inch, he saw three accesses were fully insured, but the access from the north posed a possibility of infiltration for a submersible. The task was risky because in addition to the security measures, in the area took place powerful tidal currents which could exceed 10 knots (submerged submarine reached 7 knots).

On September 29, 1939 at 09:30 hours U 14 returned to Kiel with the valuable information that the admiral was expecting. The Kaleun reported that the area east of Scapa Flow was constantly monitored by fixed guards, aircraft and groups of three to four destroyers on A / S mission and should be counted the ships had tracking equipment. However Wellner added that due to the strong currents in the area they would lose effectiveness.

On Sunday, October 1, 1939 after lunch Dönitz cited three officers to his office, Krv Kp Ernst Sobe (Flotilla Commander), kplt. Horst Wellner (U 14) and kplt. Günther Prien (U 47) to discuss the issue (SONDERUNTERNEHMEN "P"). Despite having 48 hours Prien accepted the mission the next day October 2, 1939 and on October 8, 1939 at 11:00 hours U 47 (Kplt. Günther Prien; IWO Oblt z S. Endraß, Engelbert; IIWO Oblt z S. Varendorff von, Amelung; LI Oblt z S. Wessels, Johann-Friedrich; OStrm Spahr, Wilhelm) sailed from Kiel and navigating through the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal with wind 7, headed to the North Sea, the rest is history ......

Sources: Fotoalbum-U-Boot-Atlantikboot-Feindfahrten-FrontbootTop bei eBay_de 1918-1945 (endet 14_02_10 200556 MEZ)
http://www.u-boot-archiv.de/krieg/prien_gegen_sf.html
http://www.ubootarchiv.de/ubootwiki/index.php/U_14
KTB U-Bootwaffe. 1939-09 y 1939-10. Das Kriegstagebuch der U-Bootwaffe von Roland Berr.
Husarenstück in Scapa Flow. Die Versenkung der Royal Oak durch U-47 in Scapa Flow. http://www.seekrieg.de
Prien Greift An. Wolfgang Frank.

Cheers. Raúl M .