freak accident. Graf Spee Vs U 35!!! (june 1938)

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Xavier
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freak accident. Graf Spee Vs U 35!!! (june 1938)

#1

Post by Xavier » 17 Apr 2003, 04:47

gives a new meaning to the term "friendly fire"
(I guess it was a "friendly collision"!!)

from http://www.U-35.com:
Image


Image

regards

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Daniel L
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#2

Post by Daniel L » 17 Apr 2003, 11:10

What happened, did it drive into the propeller?

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#3

Post by Ljunggren » 17 Apr 2003, 13:29

Good call Daniel!
It says on the website that she was overrun på The Graf Spee. In the lower picture you can really see how the propeller has chopped its way through the outer outer hull of the sub, turn by turn.

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#4

Post by Daniel L » 17 Apr 2003, 13:51

Yes, that's why I guessed so. Were there any casualties or is that a safe, 'uninhabited' part of the sub?

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x

#5

Post by Xavier » 17 Apr 2003, 17:17

from http://www.u-35.com:

"On 17 June 1938 at 10:07 a.m., while on a fleet parade for the Hungarian Admiral von Horthy, U 35 was overrun by the pocket battleship ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE resulting in extensive damage to U 35 and a damaged screw on the ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE."

No mention of casualties, I guess the Graf Spee's screw only ripped open the outer hull (casing) not touching the inner (pressure hull).

lucky boat indeed!!!

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#6

Post by [email protected] » 08 Jan 2004, 20:30

There were no casualties. The GRAF SPEE propellers chopped up the superstructure of U 35 and damaged some piping external to the pressure hull, which resulted in some contollable leaks into the pressure hull. The Watch Officer at the time was Wilhelm Zahn, who later (1945) survived the sinking of the Gustloff.
Several of the crewmembers on board at the time, including Chief Engineer Fritz Vollmer, are alive and helping me with the creation of the book.

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Jaffa
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Re: freak accident. Graf Spee Vs U 35!!! (june 1938)

#7

Post by Jaffa » 16 Aug 2009, 18:24

Hallo,
ich habe ein Bild der Schiffsschraube der Graf Spee nach diesem Unfall.
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Re: freak accident. Graf Spee Vs U 35!!! (june 1938)

#8

Post by tigre » 16 Aug 2009, 23:22

Hello guys :D; thanks for sharing this peculiar/strange accident (a lucky one indeed for most of the time when a sub and a ship met each other in that way the sub goes down). Cheers. Raúl M 8-).

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Re: freak accident. Graf Spee Vs U 35!!! (june 1938)

#9

Post by Tim Smith » 17 Aug 2009, 23:34

My God! The crew of U 35 must have been terrified! I hope the commander got sacked for his stupidity in allowing his sub to be run over by a ship the size of Graf Spee - he must have heard it coming even if he couldn't see it!

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Re: freak accident. Graf Spee Vs U 35!!! (june 1938)

#10

Post by Takao » 18 Aug 2009, 04:37

I honestly doubt it was the U-boat commander's stupidity, although it may have been a lack of experience. However, the captain of the ship always takes the blame. This appears to be a classic example of the Venturi effect, other sources may call it the Bernoulli effect, the terms are often used interchangeably. There have been several examples over the years, RMS Olympic - HMS Hawke, RMS Titanic - SS New York, etc. Or more recently USS Ranger - USS Wichita, USS Denver - USNS Yukon, USS Newport News - tanker Mogamigawa, and USS Hartford - USS New Orleans. The U-boat commander probably thought his submarine was clear of the Graf Spee only to find the sub being dragged inexorably towards the Graf Spee.

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Re: freak accident. Graf Spee Vs U 35!!! (june 1938)

#11

Post by Jaffa » 18 Aug 2009, 08:33

Hier noch ein Bild der Besatzung nach dem Unfall..
Der Schrecken steht ihnen noch im Gesicht geschrieben.
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Re: freak accident. Graf Spee Vs U 35!!! (june 1938)

#12

Post by Jaffa » 18 Aug 2009, 08:39

.
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Re: freak accident. Graf Spee Vs U 35!!! (june 1938)

#13

Post by Mimbrogno » 18 Aug 2009, 18:27

What I can't figure out is, why U 35 would be submurged during a parade review? I simply can't imagine how the top of the casing would have been cut across like that if the sub was on the surface, especially given the depth of the Spee's propellers below the surface. I thought the purpose of a parade was to showcase as many ships as possible, and it's awfully had to show off a submarine underwater...

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Re: freak accident. Graf Spee Vs U 35!!! (june 1938)

#14

Post by [email protected] » 18 Aug 2009, 18:50

I apologize about the earlier reference to the parade on my website; that error was corrected a while ago.

U-35 was damaged by Graf Spee during training maneuvers. The Chief Engineer noted in his accident report that the suction created by the Spee's screws was insurmountable. They had followed the standard procedure of the time, which must have been radically altered as a result of the accident. Accordingly, the commander (Werner Lott) was not relieved of duty; no officer or seaman was reprimanded.
By the way, the crew of Spee hardly noticed anything...

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Re: freak accident. Graf Spee Vs U 35!!! (june 1938)

#15

Post by Mimbrogno » 18 Aug 2009, 19:48

Ah, thank you very much for the clarification! That puts things in a much better perspective. I'm not surprised that the crewmembers of the Graf Spee hardly noticed anything, but I am surprised to see that the Spee's propeller wasn't damaged more than it was, given the number of cuts it made in the outer casing. It looks like that one prop blade got lodged in the conning tower of U 35 and stuck there for a moment before the ships seperated.

Thank you all for all the information! That is one nasty collision!

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