U-864 and Operation Ceasar
Number24
NorwayPosts: 21,804MI6 Agent
I would like to tell a remarkable story from WWII. Near the end of the war nazi Germany shipped the submarine U 864 to Japan. The cargo was very special: more than 6o tons of murcury for making explosives, prototypes and engineering drawings for the German jet fighter Me-262, German and Japanese experts (on jet engines, torpedoes and fuel) and possibly uranium. The mission was called Operation Ceasar and was top secret.
The u-boat changed snorkles in Horten in Norway and had an accident near Bergen, forcing the submarine to use the radio. The radio communications were sendt using the Ultra codes not knowing the allies could read them. In Bergen the U-864 was repaired in the huge u-boat dry-docks with room for nine submarines. British bombers attacked the dry docks during that time and U-864 was mildly damaged.
By the time U-864 left Bergen the Royal Navy was hunting for it too. On the 9th of February 1945, just off the coast, the British sub "HMS Venturer" discovered U-864 because it heard the engine noice. After a tense battle HMS Venturer managed to sink the German sub. This was the only time during WWII a submerged submarine sunk another submerged submarine!
In 2003 local fishermen contacted the Norwegian navy and the wreckage of U-864 was found near the smal island community of Fedje. So far 4 kg of mercury is leaking into the ocean. The 1 875 steel bottles filled with mercury remain a danger to the environment and a worry to the local population. Fishing is forbidden in the area and there are plans to entomb the wreckage of U-864.
The remains of U-864:
The u-boat changed snorkles in Horten in Norway and had an accident near Bergen, forcing the submarine to use the radio. The radio communications were sendt using the Ultra codes not knowing the allies could read them. In Bergen the U-864 was repaired in the huge u-boat dry-docks with room for nine submarines. British bombers attacked the dry docks during that time and U-864 was mildly damaged.
By the time U-864 left Bergen the Royal Navy was hunting for it too. On the 9th of February 1945, just off the coast, the British sub "HMS Venturer" discovered U-864 because it heard the engine noice. After a tense battle HMS Venturer managed to sink the German sub. This was the only time during WWII a submerged submarine sunk another submerged submarine!
In 2003 local fishermen contacted the Norwegian navy and the wreckage of U-864 was found near the smal island community of Fedje. So far 4 kg of mercury is leaking into the ocean. The 1 875 steel bottles filled with mercury remain a danger to the environment and a worry to the local population. Fishing is forbidden in the area and there are plans to entomb the wreckage of U-864.
The remains of U-864:
Comments
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZp7Ycu8WKk
The docks today: