Rockets on U-Boots in Norway?

[Grzesio]

I was recently reading a small booklet of 1970's, dealing with German plans to attack USA during the WW2, and one information made me curious.
Did Germans have any kind of rocket launchers mounted on U-Boots in Norway?

According to the booklet, aerial photographs taken in the autumn of 1944 in Norway showed strange installations on some U-Boot decks. British analysts considered them as rocket launchers, Americans - as devices for loading torpedoes.
In early march 1945 a spy team codenamed Oyster, acting in Norway, radioed London, they had managed to take several pictures of German U-Boots in Bergen, with rocket launchers on decks. These pictures were urgently delivered to England via Sweden and the devices were recognized by British experts as launchers for medium range rockets indeed (whatever "medium range" could mean those days ).

Experiments with the U 511 in the Baltic sea are well known, there were some rocket armed Typ II submarines in the Black Sea, there were some submarines with 8,6 cm AA rocket launchers... But were there any other submarines in service with water-to-ground rockets?

I'm completely aware, the book is rather uneven - there is a lot of very reasonable information, while there are nearly fictional parts too. And so I just wonder, what is the case with the above information on the rockets.

Kind regards

Grzesio

[mark harrison]

Hi, This topic was mentioned in a post called cutaway decks on 23rd April 2014. So if you scroll down you can find out some more info.
http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-853A/U-853Dive.htm
The above link will take you to a document where divers examined a sunken sub off the US coast. On the last page it mentions Robot Bombs.
The Americans were very concerned that the Germans would launch some type of V weapon from a submarine. Possibly a scaled down version from
one of the larger Uboats.
Regards MH.

[oldhoweboy]

Hi
Any photographic evidence? Surely some would have been published by now!?
Rgds
Nobby

[Grzesio]

Thank you Mark, very interesting information indeed!

That's the problem - there should be pretty a number of recce photos showing the alleged rocket launchers in British or American archives. Apparently none of them surfaced so far...?
I'd also love to know if the Oyster spy team commanded by Lt. Larsson existed in reality...

Regards

Grzesio

[oldhoweboy]

Hello
Found this on Italian web site


http://www.grupsom.com/Libri/Articoli/UbootV3.htm

Taken on U 511

Regards
Nobby

[mark harrison]

http://www.uboatarchive.net/Admiralty/A ... -Frame.htm
Hi I updated the link for more info.
Check out the documents on the following dates. 12-13th January,19th January and 30th January.
As the previous links are dead.

Regards MH.

[Grzesio]

Thank you very much!
I think one information from the January 30 report is extremely interesting:

(B) ONE OF U-BOATS OFFICERS STATED WHEN DRUNK
U-BOAT WOULD BE USED TO ATTACK NEW YORK WITH
METEOR PROJECTILE. ENDS.

Meteor was one of the code names for the Rheinbote long range rocket. I think there were no serious problems with transporting the rocket and launching it from a submarine. It could be easily assembled from relatively small and lightweight stages, did not require fuelling or guidance and needed a launching rail just a few metres long...
I've never encountered any information of a naval use of the Rheinbote, but...

Kind regards

Grzesio

[stril]

According to the booklet, aerial photographs taken in the autumn of 1944 in Norway showed strange installations on some U-Boot decks. British analysts considered them as rocket launchers, Americans - as devices for loading torpedoes.
In early march 1945 a spy team codenamed Oyster, acting in Norway, radioed London, they had managed to take several pictures of German U-Boots in Bergen, with rocket launchers on decks. These pictures were urgently delivered to England via Sweden and the devices were recognized by British experts as launchers for medium range rockets indeed (whatever "medium range" could mean those days

I live in Bergen-Norway, and can tell that the story you mention is known here too, but not as you describe it. There was sendt radio messages to England reporting uboats with rocket launchers in Bergen. They asked for more info, proof, pictures etc etc. But it turned out to be a cranes at the docks/quay. The agents had got the information from others, only seeing the submarines in silhouette with the cranes behind..voila..submarine with a rocket.
The same agents is also known to have sendt another message reporting 200+ submarines hiding in a small fjord outside of Bergen
regards
stril

[Grzesio]

Thank you very much! I just wanted to verify the story - the cranes etc. taken for launchers seem very plausible.
Do you probably know, if the requested pictures showing the rocket launchers were eventually taken and delivered to England?

Regards

Grzesio

[Valtoro]

From a Naval Intelligence report from january 30th 1945. One of the sources to the so called "meteor bombs" mentioned in the report is probably the same drunken German Uboat captain

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Gentlemen,

This is pretty interesting!

Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Anymore input of this topic that had to do with rockets on U-boats in Norway? Allied agents tired to get near as possible to take clear pictures of these U-boats.
Edward L. Hsiao