Penang base (more a Kriegsmarine question)

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Mait
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Penang base (more a Kriegsmarine question)

#1

Post by Mait » 10 Jun 2003, 22:46

Hello to everyone :)

Has anybody got data about German base in Penang?

I have the usual stuff available in Internet (monsune boats, italian cargo subs, cargo traffic, etc) but I am interested in Penang base - maps, paintings, photos about it, etc.

Also some questions - did the Germans have any ground facilities there? Or did the Japanese just allow them to use Imperial port? What were the harbor defenses there? Where there any U-boot bunkers (or anything like that)?

Best Regards,

Mait.

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#2

Post by Panzermahn » 11 Jun 2003, 04:09

Hi Mait,

i'm sorry i couldnt help you on this one...Most of the malaysians didn't know about the Kriegsmarine base in Penang from 1943-1944...But from what i know, it is not a base in the purest sense of word..The japanese cooperated with the germans by letting the kriegsmarine using penang as a supply and logistical port....the japs are providing security in that area....hopefully british intelligence will declassified its files regarding the u-boat base in penang...:)


varjag
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#3

Post by varjag » 11 Jun 2003, 04:23

Seems the Japanese leased (?) some facilities to the Germans, such as accomodation, hospital facilities, docking and repair and also support for a small Luftwaffe detachment for marine reconnassaince. There were no bunkers for the U-boats and coastal defence - if any - was the responsibility of the Japanese.

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Mait
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#4

Post by Mait » 11 Jun 2003, 09:27

I have read from an Internet source (I don´t have the address with me at the moment, but it was about German naval planes and some Zeros used by Germans in Penang) that Germans built their own facilities or at least did not use Japanese ones. I am most interested if someone got any photo materials about the port or facilities? Or perhaps someone can give me more precise data about their "base" - the number of stationary German personell, some description about the facilities, etc? My greatest wish is to have a map of the base (but I am afraid that is too much to hope) :)

Best Regards,

Mait.

PS! If anyone knows about other bases used by Germans in Asia-Pacific (I have heard some whispers about Singapore and Sorabaya) - please share the info...

PPS! Panzermahn - You are the man of the region - do You have any friends or relatives near the Penang area? Perhaps they know some stories or happen to have some photo material of the place as it looks today?

Panzermahn
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#5

Post by Panzermahn » 13 Jun 2003, 14:53

Mait,

i had some friends in Penang and last year i met a local historian who specialise in the Battle of Kampar, Perak, Malaysia 1942 (Aussie vs Japs)..i asked him about the kriegsmarine u-boat base in penang..He says that the Penang Public Library has a book that seems had a bit of information...yes there is a map showing the former base but unfortunately no photos available of the base...i had yet to go the place to get as i'm in my 4th year studying electronic communication engineering in Johor..(very far away)..sorry had to wait until end of this year to go there to retrieve the infomation..


About the Indonesia, Djakarta was the final base of the monsun flotilla..(penang was abandonded by the germans after 1944)..


zeros used by germans in Penang? wow..i didn't knew that...anyone can shed some on that....if i'm not mistaken the japs provided the security of the based..the only germans there were under the kriegsmarine...

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Mait
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#6

Post by Mait » 15 Jun 2003, 00:13

I don´t have the file about the topic with me at the moment (i will check it out later and post more data) but it appears, that the germans had some arado planes in the Penang and exchanged them (or the little sub-marine chopper Focke-Angelis) with the Japs for some Zero fighters. It appears the Zero-s were of the modification with floats. I will post more I have found out about the subject later.

Best Regards,

Mait.

PS! Is there a possibility that You could have the map of Penang base scanned and posted electronically?

gabriel pagliarani
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#7

Post by gabriel pagliarani » 15 Jun 2003, 18:17

There is a possible error in transcriptions from DA NANG (Vietnam) in PENANG. Last year I read the story of an italian submariner captured there in November 1943 than enroled by Japs. He was a torpedo-motorist and in the interview the press-man asked him what he was doing there and the answer was he was sent there on an U-boot with the task to wait for replacement of a casualty on an italian submarine never come before armistice.

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Mait
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#8

Post by Mait » 19 Jun 2003, 15:26

Perhaps the European axis had some facilities for seamen in Da Nang?

Best Regards,

Mait.

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Andy H
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#9

Post by Andy H » 19 Jun 2003, 18:12

http://uboat.net/forum/search.php?f=3&s ... &fldbody=1

Hi Mait

I'm sure you've visted U-Boat net but in case you haven't the above link has the search results regarding Penang from the forum section.

Andy H

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Ibrahim Ahmad
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My research on the German U-Boats & its bases in Asia (Singa

#10

Post by Ibrahim Ahmad » 09 Jul 2008, 07:51

Hi everyone,

Last year December, I went to Penang, Malaysia to do my research on the German U-Boat bases in Asia (Singapore / Penang / Jakarta / Surabaya). Ive yet to find the time to update my website http://www.singapore-ww2-militaria.com on all the pictures that I took and information that Ive gathered but shown below are two interesting pictures of before and after shots of buildings in Penang that were utilized by the Germans.

Please email me at [email protected] or [email protected] if you have any info / pictures / documents/ etc to share.

I will be updating this thread as well as my website as my research progresses.
Thank You!

Shown below is from the book :-
U-Boat Far from Home: The Epic Voyage of U 862 to Australia and New Zealand by Stevens, David. St Leonards, NSW: Allen and Unwin, 1997


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Gustav_SC
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Re: Penang base (more a Kriegsmarine question)

#11

Post by Gustav_SC » 02 Sep 2008, 10:13

Excellent information Encik Ibrahim! I often wonder as I walk through the older port areas of Singapore, Penang and Jakarta (never been to Surabaya) if I'm in the footsteps of Monsoon crew.

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FAlmeida
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Re: Penang base (more a Kriegsmarine question)

#12

Post by FAlmeida » 02 Sep 2008, 17:54

Hello Mait

This is a nice book about all the boats operating in Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean in cooperation with Japanese Navy.
"Hitler´s Grey Wolves"
U-Boats in the Indian Ocean
By Lawrence Paterson
ISBN 1-85367-615-2

Cheers, Fernando

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