Chapter 17 end

Chatterton and Kohler finally clarified the identity of U869 in 1997.Until now, this has been a mystery.But why did U869 continue on to New York after receiving orders to go to Gibraltar? How did U869 finally sink?How did the crew die? These questions may never be answered, because the submarine's crew were all killed, and no one witnessed the sinking of the submarine.However, according to the assumption, the submarine is likely to have the following situation: It is likely that the torpedo launched by itself was the torpedo that caused fatal damage to the control room of U869. In 1945, submarines like U869 were generally equipped with two types of torpedo tubes.Ordinary "shaped" torpedoes follow a specific course to hit the target through the rotary control device.Acoustic torpedoes are relatively more advanced, judging the position of the target based on the sound of the enemy ship's propeller.But both of these torpedoes are likely to hit their own submarines.Torpedoes where this happens are called "ring torpedoes".Submarine records document multiple incidents of "circling torpedoes," each of which the submarine narrowly avoided a returning torpedo, allowing the torpedo to pass under or over the sub.Acoustic orbiting torpedoes are especially dangerous because they can track a submarine by following the sound of its motors, pumps and generators.To avoid this, the submarine captain usually orders the sub to dive immediately after launching an acoustic torpedo.

The captain can usually know the arrival of the "ring torpedo" in advance.The speed of the torpedo propeller at a speed of several hundred revolutions per minute will produce an obvious high-decibel rotating sound, which can be heard by the submarine operator from a long distance. This sound can also be clearly heard by the staff.If the captain is aware of this happening, he can often order the sub to dive or change course to avoid being hit by a "ring torpedo".No one knows how many of the 65 recorded missing submarines were sunk by "ring torpedoes."Because most ring torpedoes show no warning, and usually no one can witness being hit by a ring torpedo.

Under ideal conditions—calm waters, good submarine sound propagation, early detection and prompt reporting—Nürnberg might have thirty seconds or more to respond to the Ring Torpedo.If the situation is not ideal, or if the operator hesitates a little (or both), his reaction time will be shortened accordingly. The torpedo does not explode immediately after hitting U869.There was about a second of delay between when the torpedo made contact with the sub and when it detonated, as the fuze in the sub's head needed to detonate the charge after impact.This crash—a sound clearly discernible by submariners—was clearly audible even when it occurred to distant enemy ships.The period between collision and detonation was long enough for the submariners to be fully aware of the fact that they had been hit by a ring torpedo.

Most German torpedoes carried between 620 and 780 pounds of high explosive.Judging from the scars on the submarine, the "ring torpedo" probably hit the bottom of the conning tower, which is the center of the submarine.Those located around the control room - including Nürnberg and Brant - were sure to be immediately blown to pieces by the explosives.The crew in the adjacent cabins were also likely to be pushed to death by the violent vibrations caused by the explosion and collided with machinery and equipment.Aftershocks from the explosion would travel through the air toward the ends of the 252-foot-long sub, likely throwing crew members against ceilings, walls or colliding with other crew members.The steel hatch may have been blown open.The cabin farthest from the center of the explosion could not be avoided. The violent explosion blew off the hatch leading to the diesel engine compartment and the cover on the torpedo loading tube in the bow torpedo compartment.The force of the explosion could have easily blown open the hatch on the top of the submarine—at first, Chatterton and Kohler believed that this hatch was opened by the crew to escape.

The interior of the submarine was completely exposed to the sea, and the icy water rushed in.The air inside the submarine was ruthlessly replaced by sea water, and all this happened violently.Bodies in the submarine were rammed onto various machinery and equipment.The air inside the submarine gushed out of the boat like a typhoon, carrying dead bodies, machinery, parts, clothing and tools out of the submarine.In this case, everyone is helpless.Bodies - some without heads or arms - may have also surfaced. In less than thirty seconds, the submarine may be filled with sea water.A minute later, the submarine sank to the bottom of the sea.Even if someone survived the explosion and escaped the submarine and surfaced, he would not have the chance to survive an hour in the freezing water.Although the enemy ship they were going to attack was not far away, the roar of the engine, the sea wind and the sound of the waves beating the ship's side prevented them from hearing any call for help.

The best explanation for the communication problem between U869 and headquarters is due to weather, but a possible radio mechanical failure of the submarine cannot be ruled out.While Nürnberg probably didn't want to risk detection by Allied listeners, there was no danger of the submarine picking up the headquarters' signal.Since U869 continued to go to New York after the headquarters ordered U869 to divert to Gibraltar, this shows that Nürnberg never received the order from the headquarters. The fate of U857—the submarine that Chatterton and Koller once thought was the mystery submarine intercepted off the eastern coast of the United States in April 1945—is still a mystery.The reason for its disappearance has still not been determined.

The "Harbour Bar" -- aka the "Horror Bar" -- is no more.In the parking lot of Brielle, New Jersey, next to the pier where the Explorer was docked, and standing on the original site of the bar is the "Wreck Grill", which specializes in lobster bisque, honey grilled salmon and the first Rong lobster sauce.Older divers who come here for dinner occasionally swear that if they stay here a little longer, they will surely still hear about Bill.The sound of Legge asking for a gin. The "Explorer" built by Legg, which once discovered the mysterious submarine, continues to operate the business of chartering out to sea for diving.Its current captain is Danny.Cromwell.Cromwell rarely went to U869, and he often took the boat to dive some popular wrecks such as the Stolt Da Gali and the Alger. "If a client is interested, I'll go there," he said, "but there are very few divers like that these days."

There are several other dive charter boats such as the Howard.Crane's Eagle's Nest and Joe.Tezuoli's "John Jack" is still taking customers to U869 for diving.Nothing of greater value has been found on the sub since Chatterton salvaged the submarine-marked tag in 1997.Still, Chatterton and Kohler thought there might be a chance of finding Captain Nürnberg's diary among the muck and debris.If the diary is found intact, they will have a first-hand account of the submarine's fate. The art of wreck diving has changed dramatically since Chatterton and Koehler identified U869.Today 95 percent of deep-sea wreck divers use nitrox, a gas mixture that was considered voodoo in the 1990s.About half of wreck divers have ditched their previous full-open-circuit diving gear — a decades-old combination cylinder and regulator — and switched to a rebreather — a small, computer-controlled device , can make the exhaled air filtered and reused.A diver using a rebreather does not have to carry multiple cylinders to accomplish decompression.But this is less reliable than a traditional fully open circuit system.It is said that more than a dozen divers in the world have died because of the use of rebreathers.Chatterton was one of the first divers to use the new technology.Kohler, on the other hand, has remained true to traditional open-road gear.

In 1997, just a month after U869 was identified, Chatterton and Casey officially divorced.A year later, Chatterton used a rebreather when he was part of an elite expedition to Greece to survey the Titanic's sister ship, the Britannic. In 2000 he took part in an expedition organized by Israel's "Yad Vashem Holocaust Victims Memorial" and "United States Holocaust Memorial Museum" to survey the "Struma" in the Black Sea, an overloaded refugee ship. The ship, whose 768 passengers - mostly Romanian Jews - perished at sea in 1942 fleeing Nazi persecution. In November 2000, NPR aired the "Nova" series "Hitler's Lost Submarine," a documentary about the mysterious submarine.The show became the highest-rated episode of "Rising Star" ever.That same month, Chatterton was diagnosed with cancer that had spread to his tonsils, likely the result of prolonged exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.He started wreck diving again the following May. On Sept. 11, 2001, Chatterton was doing commercial diving at the bottom of the International Finance Center, across the street from the Twin Towers, when terrorists hijacked a plane and crashed into the World Trade Center.He and other divers fled the scene without any risk.

In January 2002, Chatterton and his girlfriend Carla of three years.Madrigal got married.They chose to have their wedding and honeymoon in Thailand before moving to a beach house on the New Jersey shore. In September 2002, Chatterton gave up his 20-year career as a commercial diver to pursue a degree in history and hope to qualify as a teacher at Kean University in Union City, New Jersey.After graduation, he plans to teach history in high school or college.Chatterton and Kohler have maintained a close relationship.They often have dinner at Scotty's. In May 2003, Chatterton's cancer cells were removed. In July 2003, he began hosting the shipwreck show "Deep Sea Adventure" on the History Channel.Kohler also guest-starred on several episodes.

Chatterton basically ended his connection with the submarine after proving U869's identity.Unlike Kohler, he didn't feel an inescapable responsibility to the crew's families. "I cared about those things, too," Chatterton said, "but those things were always in Ricky's heart. There's no one else in the world better suited to do it than Ricky." After proving the identity of the submarine with Chatterton, the first person Kohler notified was his girlfriend Tina.marcos.She trusts him, understands the responsibility he has for those crew members and their families, and she supports his love of diving.Their relationship is getting closer.Soon she became pregnant.But Tina is still entangled by her ex-boyfriend, who keeps begging Tina to come back to him. One day in 1998, Tina was eight months pregnant when her ex-boyfriend suddenly appeared at her door, shot Tina with a 9mm pistol, and then killed himself.When the police arrived, they found two dead bodies lying in the house.In this way, in less than a moment, Kohler's love and future were all shattered. For several years, Ricky had been scuba diving to distract himself from his pain. In 1999 he was co-leader of an Anglo-American expedition to identify previously discovered WWI and WWII German submarines sunk in the English Channel.Of the twelve submarines, the expedition identified four wrecks.In the fall of that year, Kohler's glass company opened a branch in Baltimore.He still lives with his son Ricky and daughter Nicky, both top students at school. Kohler is still full of fanaticism for history books, but since identifying the identity of U869, his attitude towards reading has changed greatly. “I have a question in my head about everything,” Kohler said. “It’s more interesting for me to study history with that in mind.” Since identifying the submarine with Chatterton, Kohler's connection to U869 has reached a new level.Since 1997, he has been visiting the family members of the crew members and informing them of the news of their loved ones.He got Kirk from Lone Wolf Films (the company behind the "Rising Star" series special).Wolfinger and Rush.Denouille, and German media giant Der Spiegel, which produced a television documentary about U869 and the wreck divers who discovered them, also assisted Kohler.With their help, Kohler found Otto, a 17-year-old crew member on U869.Britius' half-sister Barbara.Bo Lin.He also found Martin.Holenberg's daughter. Bolin has lived in Maryland for twenty years.She and Otto had the same father, and her father had often spoken of Otto to her in a voice of unfathomable affection since Barbara was a child.Bo Lin has always admired and loved her brother whom she has never met.When Kohler visited her home, he was surprised to find that her son Mark was a double of Otto, whose photo of the "Imperial Navy" uniform hung on the wall of her house.Bolin, who speaks fluent German, agreed to help Kohler contact the families of the other crew members. But Holenberg's daughter was reluctant to talk to Kohler. After U869 disappeared, her mother remarried and her stepfather treated her like his own daughter.Out of respect for her stepfather, she was reluctant to contact Kohler directly.Through an intermediary, she thanked the divers and provided them with several photos of her father.Chatterton took the knife from his desk—it had been with him for seven years—wrapped it carefully, and drove to the post office.A week later, the knife belonged to Holenberg's daughter. For a while, Kohler was disappointed not to be able to contact the families of the other crew members.Focusing on his personal life, he begins a relationship with Carly.Bassetti dating.Bassetti was an executive at a drug company in New Jersey, and soon after, she became Koehler's wife.Koehler met Bassetti while diving with the Explorer.He not only loves her love of diving, but also her natural sense of adventure and traditional attitude towards life. With the help of Der Spiegel in 2001, he got in touch with the families of many crew members.He was going to Germany because he had always believed that he should meet the relatives of those crew members in person. Before leaving for Europe, Kohler rented a boat and took Bolin and her family to the spot where the submarine sank.There he read a eulogy he wrote, then dove in to place wreaths and ribbons on U869. In the New Year of 2002, with Bo Lin as an interpreter, Kohler set foot on the land of Hamburg.He can finally realize his wish for many years. Kohler's first visit was Hans George.Brant, first mate Siedfried.Brandt's brother.Hans George is 71 years old and a retired auditor.He anxiously awaits Kohler's arrival at his son's home, and his son and grandson are eager to meet the divers who risked their lives to find Sig.Kohler knocked on the door.Hans Georges opened the door for him, well dressed in brown slacks, a brown cardigan, and a tie.The two looked at each other for a long time.Then Hans George came forward and shook Koehler's hand, speaking in his broken English: "I am very touched that you came. My condolences to the divers who lost their lives on the submarine. You are welcome." For six hours, Hans George has been recalling his older brother Sig, whom he loves today as much as when he was thirteen years old, when Sig took him on a tour of the submarine and instructed him to observe the outside through the periscope world.Whenever he talked about his brother, Hans George felt extremely sad.In the evening, Hans-George thanked Kohler again for his visit and took off his coat himself. "I've brought you something," Kohler said.He opened the suitcase.Inside he pulled out a schematic diagram of the metalwork he had recently recovered from U869's motor compartment. "When you and your brother visited the submarine, you probably went to this cabin." Kohler said. Hans George took the schematic diagram and looked at the writing and rust on it.For several minutes, he couldn't take his eyes off it.Finally, he ran his fingers lightly over the edges of the schematic and the rusty surface. "I can't believe it," he said, "I'll keep it forever." Early the next morning, Kohler and Bolin drove a few miles outside Hamburg to visit a sixty-year-old surgeon.The tall, handsome old man welcomed them into the house.He said he was Zhu Gen.Nürnberg, Captain Helms of U869.Nürnberg's son. Zhu Gen hardly has any memory of his father, because he was only three years old when U869 disappeared.But he remembers well the stories his mother told him, filled with love for his father.He shared these stories with Kohler, while his wife listened attentively.Zhu Gen also took out some photos and diaries from time to time. "Ever since I was a kid, I thought my father went missing off Gibraltar," Jugen said. "I was shocked when I learned that divers found the submarine off the coast of New Jersey. But it didn't affect me. Big. But I was worried that it would scare my mother. After all these years she believed in the official record, and now there is such a big shift, I worry that she will not accept it. Therefore, I did not put this matter Tell her. She loved my father dearly. She never remarried." Kohler asked Jugen if his father had any siblings.Jugen said his father had an older brother, Fred Helm.Koehler asked him to give him Fred Helm's phone number.Zhu Gen gave him an old number. "I don't know if he's still alive," Jugen said. "We've lost touch." Jugen and his wife thanked Kohler for all he had done and asked Kohler to pass on his thanks to Chatterton when he returned to New Jersey.After returning to the hotel that night, Kohler and Bolin called Fred Helm.An elderly woman answered the phone.Bo Lin said she was the sister of a crew member on U869.The old woman said she thought her husband would be happy to take her call. For the next hour, Fred Helms, 86, recounted his memories of his brother Helms. "Whenever I close my eyes, my brother is in front of me," Fredhelm said. "I watch him perform his duties. I think he has a premonition that he won't come back, but he He did his job." The next morning, Kohler and Bolin drove from Hamburg to Berlin.That night, they and 40-year-old Axel.Dr. Nestler meets.Nestler is the boss of a waste treatment engineering company. He holds a doctorate in water resources science, and his doctoral project was basically completed in North Africa.In his spare time, Nestler has become an authority on the reassessment of lost submarines as a personal hobby. In 1994, Nestler first thought of checking the intercepted radio communications between U869 and headquarters.At that time all historians believed that U869 sank in the waters of Gibraltar, and no one thought to check the radio communication of the submarine.Nestler wrote to Robert of the British Ministry of Defense about his findings.Coppock, and then Coppock told Chatterton and Kohler the news.During the conversation, Kohler was amazed at how knowledgeable Nestler was and how passionate he was about submarines.He asked Nestler why he didn't teach at the university. "Submarines are my hobby," he said, "and if I was making money off of it, it could get boring. It's the investigative approach that goes into solving these things that really appeals to me. Once you discover the history There is a mistake, and once you start investigating, you might be lucky enough to correct it, and then you're pretty satisfied." The next day, Kohler and Bo Lin took the Berlin subway to an elegant house of an old lady.On the mantelpiece in the middle of the living room were pictures of her children and a picture of a handsome young man who seemed to have been watching the years go by since World War II.The woman identified herself as Gisela.Engman.And the man in the photo is her fiancé, Franz.Nedale, a torpedo operator in U869. Engelmann spent the next few hours telling Koehler how she cut out Hitler's eyes from photos, how she climbed lampposts to show Hitler's photos to people all over Berlin, and at farewell parties. , how Franz and other crew members shed tears, and how she still believes that a person has only one true love in a lifetime, and her true love has been given to Franz. "Both my husbands have heard of Franz," she said. "When I tell my children about Franz, they cover their ears and say, 'Mom, you've already told the story. Over a hundred and fifty times'. " Like the Brants, Engelmann had doubts about the whereabouts of his fiancé long after the war. In October 1947, she received a notification from the government that all crew members of U869 were killed in action. "I miss him every day of my life," she told Kohler. "I've been married twice and had four kids since I parted ways with him, but I keep this picture in my in my bedroom so I can see him every day." Koehler also arranged another meeting before returning to New Jersey.He and Bolin flew to Munich, rented a car, and drove west through miles of snow-covered farmland to the outskirts of the small town of Meiningen.Following the instructions, a few minutes later, he arrived at the center of the town, where there are winding streets, century-old houses, and church spires soaring into the sky.Meiningen, he thought, is like a painting, like the Germany Mr Seger described to his father. Kohler drove along the narrow street, and he came to a very old house.He rang the doorbell.A minute later, a handsome and personable old gentleman opened the door.He was wearing a blue suit and a red tie, and his snow-white hair was combed neatly.It looked as though he had been waiting for his caller for years. "I'm Herbert Guschowski," said the old man. "I'm the operator on board U869. Welcome to my house." As his family gathered around the living room, Guschiwski recounted how he had survived the submarine. On a warm November morning in 1944, just days before U869 departed for patrol, Guschowski found himself ill.When he went outside to get some fresh air, he felt dizzy and eventually fell to the ground, unconscious.The people next to him rushed him to the hospital. He stayed in the hospital for three days and still had a high fever and was in a coma.When he regained consciousness, the doctor told him that he had contracted pneumonia and pleurisy.Although U869 was about to depart, he had to stay in the hospital for treatment.That's when the doctor told him someone was coming to see him. The door of the ward opened.Captain Nurnberger appeared in front of him, holding chocolates, cookies and flowers in his hands, followed by first officer Brant and chief engineer Kessler, and behind them were many submariners.Nürnberg approached Gusczywski, who touched Gusczywski's forehead and patted him on the arm. "You'll be fine, friend," Nurnberg said. Brandt took a step forward and took Guschowski's hand. "Get well soon, my friend," he said, with the same smile he had after hearing his jokes, "You're going to be fine." Kessler also came forward, and so did Holenberg and the other operators, all with tears in their eyes.They all wished Guschiwski a speedy recovery. "It's time to say goodbye," Guschowski told Koehler. "I have a feeling that I might never see them again. When I look them in the eye, I know they feel the same way." .” Guschowski, like others, has long believed that U869 sank off the coast of Gibraltar.When he heard that divers had spotted U869 off New Jersey, he immediately contacted Der Spiegel.It was through Der Spiegel that Kohler learned about Guschiwski. Kohler stayed there for two days.Guschiwski kept going on and on about Nürnberg, Brant, Kessler, and the rest of U869's crew.He recalled scenes from the past: the bombing in Stettin, singing with Nürnberg's guitar, an inadvertent tune-in to Radio Calais, Fritz.Daig's ham theft, and his friendship with Holenberg.He described in detail Brant's friendliness and smile on his face from time to time, but at the age of 22, he had the courage to share the fears and concerns of other crew members.He told Kohler that he missed his friends terribly. "Seeing a sub lying on the bottom of the ocean, battered, was horrifying to me," Guschowski said. "For fifty years, I've remembered subs as new and powerful, and I was the one." Part of the submarine. Now looking at the bones of my comrades on TV and in pictures... It is difficult for me to accept this reality, I am very sad." "I believe in God, and I also believe in an afterlife. If there is an afterlife to reunite with my friends, to see them again, to meet them in a world of peace, no more wars, no more young lives How wonderful it would be to perish for no reason. I hope to see them again under these circumstances." After their conversation the next day, Koehler and Guschwski stood up to shake hands and say goodbye.Koehler's plane back to New Jersey was due to take off in a few hours, and Guschiwski, a respected town council member, had another meeting that night.Both have plenty of questions for each other.Both promised to meet again to answer the various questions that had been on each other's minds. While Kohler was picking up his coat, Guschowski made a request. "Can you give me something from the submarine as a memento?" Guschowski asked. "Anything. Just something I can touch." "Of course," Koehler said, "I'll send it to you as soon as I get home." He already knew what he was going to deliver—a six-by-five-foot sign from a life raft , with instructions for the use of this device. "This stuff means a lot to me," Guschowski said.He waved Kohler goodbye and closed the door. Koehler walked to the car, feeling less of a burden on himself.The crew members on the bottom of the sea have all recovered their names.The family members of the crew members also knew where the remains of their loved ones were located. The weather was colder than when Kohler had just arrived here, and he took out the car keys.Guschowski suddenly opened the door and came out. He was not wearing a coat. He came to Kohler and hugged him tightly with his arms. "Thank you for your concern for those dead sailors," Guschiwski said, "Thank you for being here." John.chatterton The spare parts box that Chatterton recovered from the motor compartment.Note the number in the upper left corner of the spare parts box label—this is the number that ultimately identified the wreck and solved the mysteries of World War II history. Martin.Holenberg Ritchie.Coleridge.Kohler Martin.Holenberg Herbert on U869.Guschiwski Herbert.Guschiwski, Herbert, operator on U869.Guschiwski On January 26, 1944, Nürnberg (far right) saluted the military flag during the official commissioning ceremony of the submarine. Helms.Jugen, captain of Nürnberg U869.Nürnberg Jurgen.Nurnberg Nürnberg used the holiday to take her two-year-old son Jugen out on a sailboat and play with her newborn daughter on her lap.Before U869's official commissioning ceremony, he spoke with his older brother Fred Helm.This time he didn't mention his distaste for the Nazis, he just looked Fred Helm in the eye and said: "I'm not coming back." Ricky.Kohler Sid Fried.Brant, First Mate Ricky U869.Kohler When Brant's brother Hans George asked their mother why she was crying when she saw the picture, she told him it was Sig sitting - it reminded her of him when he was little, even now that Sig is gone He was a great hero, and she could still see him as a child in this photo. Gisela.Engman Franz.Nedale, U869's torpedo operator.Gisela.Engman Gisela.Engelmann, Franz.Nedale's fiancée.Ricky.Kohler U869 is training at sea.Note the Olympic rings symbol on the command tower.This means that the captain of the submarine graduated from the naval class of 1936, which coincided with the Olympic Games in Berlin.Ricky.Kohler Ricky.Koehler and Gisela.Engelmann, Berlin, January 2002.Herbert.Guschiwski A group photo of all crew members after the official commissioning ceremony of U869 on January 26, 1944.Three officers stand in the bottom row on the right, from right to left: Sied Fried.Brandt, Helms.Nürnberg, Ludwig.Kessler.