U-Boat Heist! The American Operation to Capture U-505
The top secret US operation to capture German submarine U-505 in the Atlantic two days before D-Day in June 1944.
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My grandfather was a gunner on the ship that captured the U505. He told me so many stories about that day and he was so proud of what they accomplished. Thank you so much for posting this video!!!🇺🇸
As a member of the Museum of Science and Industry and someone who has been through U-505 nearly 100 times, if you are ever in Chicago, please come see the U-505 and exhibit; you will not regret it!
Loved the experience!
Just make sure to buy an interior tour ticket at least a day in advance. Otherwise, you're just looking at torpedos and the exterior. All of them were sold out my first day here.
It is a lot bigger than you'd expect in real life!
I live in chicago and have been many times i have no idea how ive never seen U-505
Did tour it and thoroughly enjoyed the experience
My uncle owned a manufacturing plant in the Chicago suburbs. One of his engineers was a former WWII submariner. When 505 had arrived in Chicago he "loaned" that engineer to the 505 project. The fellow was helping translate what various levers and labels were used for. He was amazed at two things: 1) that there was a scuttling charge still on board and 2) that had the boarding party tried to dive the boat it would have sunk. I remember talking about that with my uncle and the engineer. Great video Mark!
Boarding a sinking submarine is bad enough... but then it's also a sinking submarine armed with explosives... then you stop it from sinking and disarm the bombs while aboard. Good lord those were 8 brave men.
Brave beyond crazy.
Big Time.
One little addendum to this: Although many of the parts had been stripped from the sub by the US government, the German companies who made them were very willing to supply whatever replacements they could find in order to return the sub to her former glory.
rockets4kids I doubt the U.S. government stripped out all those parts. Other than the Enigma machine I’m willing to bet it was picked clean by all the American service members who love souvenirs. A known fact.
@@todd5082 so the US government?
Connor no not the government. The term “U.S. Gov” is normally used to mean ordered or authorized. The military servicemen (unauthorized) who love souvenirs tend to take enemy flags, helmets, knobs, even Normandy Beach sand. The official U.S. Gov has no use for used German sub parts. In the past the US military would use captured subs, boats, and tanks as practice gun targets.
@@todd5082 Other than friendly fire, it escapes me why they didn't just put to fight on their side. The Germans used British tanks in WWI after all.
@@JonatasAdoM I hear what u r saying. But tanks r much simpler to operate than say aircraft or in this case a submarine. Lots of training would be required to train a full crew. Simply not worth it. U don’t get the owner’s manual on how to operate an enemy sub when captured. Otherwise, American troops were notorious for repurposing captured weapons.
I went to Chicago and visited the sub. It is a fond childhood memory that I'll cherish forever.
Tyler Griffin Me too!!! That was back in the late 1960's - maybe early 1970's.
The sub is now indoors and has a spectacular display - highly recommend visiting.
it was out side when i went in it,,,,,its inside now
I saw it as a kid in the 80s!
Me too. I remember the tour guide yelling at someone for touching the periscope.
I actually met a German crew member of the U505 years ago in the early 1990's at a militaria show, his name was Hans (cannot remember his last name) but he had a ton of photos and had even written a small book on the subject, I believe the book was titled or had a subtitle of "I pulled the scuttle plug on the U505" he was rather old at that time so I am sure he is lost to time but it was still cool to hear his stories on this famous u-boat. He ended up having a fairly good life in the US after the war as a citizen from what he told me.
That was my father! Hans Göbeler! He would go to most military shows with me and my mom. I remember people crowding his table listening to his stories and asking him questions. He passed away in 1999 in Florida. His book is called "Steel Boats, Iron Hearts"
@@Michelle-ri2osamazing.
I just finished reading his book. Highly recommended
*This brings back memories... Back in the '70's we made a class trip to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois to see the U505 in all her glory. She is a narrow little ship where single file travel is the rule, I can't imagine being inside that tin can during operations at sea. It takes a brave man indeed to be a submariner.*
try getting pulled to the surface and riding out a hurricane in a fast attack for three days - could not re-submerge - everyone but one cook was seasick -
@@artbobik3516 *I'd rather not try that, but thank you anyway.*
Same here,
Arthur Bobik Below the surface it is calm and probably the best place to be in heavy seas
My favorite parts are the .50 caliber hellcat rounds and other rounds.
About a year ago I found a shirt at the goodwill that says "U-505 Captured 1944" I wear it all the time. When I saw this video title I got excited!
Crazy that you found a shirt with that on it man👍
Just about the coolest comment ever seen. Sweet!
@@eoin730 It was probably a souvenir shirt from the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, where the U-boat is on display. It's well worth the visit to see it.
That's Excellent. U-505 t-shirt.
I AM JEALOUS!! THAT'S MY SUB!
While in grad school in Chicago I visited U-505 with my father. The most overwhelming take away was just how small it was inside. Yet an entire crew lived and worked virtually within an underwater machine. Submariners are very brave indeed.
Each U-Boat was worth its weight in gold to the Allies, but each Mark Felton video is worth it’s weight in gold to us. Keep up the good work as always Mark!
I am so glad that she has been preserved. It is a very important piece of history.
I have spent several hours at the Chicago/ Field Museum of Science and Industry and it is well worth the trip. The place is truly massive with entire trains and the U-505 housed within, not to mention spacecraft, planes, automobiles and thousands of square feet of everything you can think of. You can easily spend a week just visiting this museum and still miss stuff.
Really enjoy your content mark. These events should not be forgotten.
My grandfather used to pick up German POWs at Moody Field (now Moody AFB) in Valdosta, Ga during the war and take them to work in the sugar cane fields. I still have a list of 10 of their names and a postcard one sent him soon after the war from England, where he was still being held in 1946.
When I was a kid, I went with my friend and his mother to the museum. Ronny saw the 505 and said, "that's a U-boat" to which his mother responded in a fake Italian accent "Thatsa nota mya boat, thatsa submarine."
This comment is 100% wholesome
@@ironwoodnf9128 and funny
I actually heard the accent....lol
A company I used to work for did a lot of the video and multimedia content for the U505 exhibit when it was updated some years back. Proud to say some of my animation work appears in a couple of the videos - and even more proud to say that a photo of my grandfather, great uncle and great aunt were used in the video that appears in the exhibit of US service men and women as you get on the elevator to depart the exhibit. Working on that exhibit has definitely been a high point in my career!
I see a notification for mark Felton i click. And as churchill said the battle of the Atlantic is the only thing that kept him awake at night. And with the capture of the u boat by hms bulldog alan turing and his colleagues could start to break the German naval enigma codes
Also the Bismarck was a nightmare boat for him The commandos that destroyed the French dry dock cutting off the Bismarck from the Atlantic is a crazy story ... It's also a documentary done by formally top gear and now grand tour host Jeremy Clarkson
@@StaceyIsles agreed but the tirpitz really got under his skin
@@steveholmes5207 I forgot that ones name (the tripitz) Both were the reason of the French dry dock being destroyed by commandos during ww2 N I defiantly recommend you watch that documentary
@@StaceyIsles i have seen the documentary with Jeremy Clarkson its well researched and i have seen it on more than one occasion may i also recommend his documentary on the Baltic convoys another excellent documentary
Yeah, the British FINALLY began to unravel the German enigma codes when they captured the U-110 in a similar operation to this with its communicator machine fully intact. America got an enigma machine also with this sub capture. U-505 I'm pretty sure was the first warship captured as a prize by the US Navy in over 100 years!
My coworkers wedding reception was in the room with the U 505! What a fun night! What an awesome exhibit! Great job Mark!
I read somewhere that this was the first time since the war of 1812 that the command "Away the boarding party!" was issued on a U.S. Navy ship.
I heard this too, many years ago (1960), from an article in "The Best from the Reader's Digest" - Italian edition
The German crew is justifiably happy in that video - submarines were nearly always lost with all hands in a horrible way to go.
That's because they didn't realize the boot was captured intact, enabling the destruction of countless of their comrades.
There's a lot of educational videos and footage taken of the battle and capture of the sub. They said that the mortality rate of u-boat sailors was 75 percent! That means only 1 in 4 survuved..Ugh.
@@whiskeybuilder6335 Roughly 40.000 German submariners went to sea, only about 10.000 came home.
@@Pow3llMorgan My God. A foot soldier had much better odds.
@@whiskeybuilder6335 Their odds were terrible, especially from 43 till the end. Of note however; more than 30.000 (of a rough total of 175.000) merchant sailors also were also lost during the war, so while the uboat campaign ultimately (thankfully) failed, it was at a dire cost.
One of the best things about living in Chicago is easily being able to see THIS.
Whenever I got into town I would visit her at the museum and just contemplate their implications. Definitely the drones of WW2.
Haven't been back to Chicago since +- '73. Someday.
Haven't been to the windy city since 1 1994 I think. Great town! Almost died in Michigan lake when traversing 2xfurther than the booey line suggested .. it started getting shallow again.. I could walk it was so shallow by now.. thank god I Stopped and looked back.. way far away from beach. When I Looked down in front of me.. less than one foot away from my toes was utter blackness.. I extended my right arm and the current I felt was very strong.. One more step.. No thanks. Tip toed back and didn't turn my back on it for 20 feet.. Omfg! That was one of the scariest things I ever did see. Chicago 4tw! Willard school 4tw! Just anout the nicest people I ever met from there.
@@gumunduringigumundsson9344 You have to know where the sandbars are. All the Great Lakes form them except Lake Superior. I grew up on the south shore of Lake Erie and there was always a prevailing Southerly breeze in late October that blew the water to Canada. You could walk out hundreds of yards and try to gauge and survey where the sandbars were for the next years swimming. There are no discernible tides on the lakes so it was pretty magical to naive kids. The goal when swimming was to get to the fifth bar- seldom achieved until I grew to 6'6".
@@BrianNavalinsky Cool! Weren't you scared of the cliff and the torrent near the deep? I wasn't scared.. just knew it would kill me if I didn't respect it.
my grandfather used to tell us about it a lot because back when i was 6 he would take a trip to chicago every year for a ham radio convention and his favorite museum was the science and industry one where U-505 is kept
-Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, many years ago was? one of the very finest museums in all of the world ; Natural History Museum nearby, came in second ... Many long Years ago... ;
77 meters long. I never realized their true size until seeing the huddle of men on the bow, under tow. That's a lot of steel.
And to think they built almost 2000 of them!!!
Still, it is very cramped inside. I visited it in the late 1950's when I was about 11 years old and was surprised how little space there was.
The Type nine was an oversized long range U-boat.
James Behrje The Germans operated less than 1,200 U-boats during WWII, with more than half Type VII variants (703 in all), at 1,070 tons (VIIC) significantly smaller than the Type IX (1,540 tons for IXC) like _U-505_ (193 of all variants). Only about 860 actually went on patrol. US submarines of the war were over 2,000 tons submerged. These carried about double the torpedoes of a Type VIIC (10 + 2 overload internal, 2 external, 14 total), and while they had about the same number of torpedoes as the Type IXC (12 + 3 overload internal, 10 external, 25 total), all 24 US torpedoes were inside the pressure hull and available without sitting on the surface for several hours manhandling heavy weapons down narrow hatches.
The final generation of the U-Boat design was just as advanced and impressive as the new Luftwaffe aircraft but it all came to late for Germany, but it was priceless R&D for the allies to incorporate into their R&D.
I haven't even finished watching the video but I already know it's a superb one. You're a professional, Mark, and I've long been a fan of your work. Please keep going at it. 👍
He is actually a professional.. see Hitler's steal beast on Netflix.. Mark is it that one
Good to hear the Uboats crew were mostly unharmed. Very few German Uboat crews were that lucky. This is a story which everybody can feel good about.
Toured her in 1976. One of the highlights of my family's bicentennial tour of America.
Its all different now. Its enclosed inside the museum. Wife and I went in the late 90's when it was still outside and I was surprised when i took our kids last year that they had built a building around it.
Entering a sinking enemy sub, possibly rigged with timed explosives in order to secure material that could alter the course of the war - that's the epitome of bravery
One of my earliest memories of WWII history is going to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and touring the 505. Many years later, some friends I met in Florida (two brothers who were also from Chicago) were telling me how they used to play on the deck of the 505, when it was still berthed outside, next to the Chicago River. One of them used to play with the deck gun, aiming it at boats on the river. When the brothers were caught, the one playing with the gun pushed it down and away from him as he jumped and ran away. He told me he could never again get the gun to move. By the time he got the nerve to go back up and play on the sub again, the gun had frozen/rusted in place. I imagine they got it fixed when they did the restoration and moved the 505 into its current display area. For a while though, it was aiming at the sky.
I met with the original U-Boat crew member (who still maintained the equipment) and was present for engine maintenance on this U-Boat in the 1990s.
the problem with engaging the shaft drive while under tow is you have to declutch the engine transmission then just hope the shaft seal bearings dont fry and disintegrate because if they go the sea will come into the hull through the stuffing box otherwise what happens is the boats screw will turn the generators via the shaft and be able to supply electricity for pumps and lights etc. at a time when the batteries may have suffered combat damage which was common.
and if you do not vent the gas from charging the batteries then there will be a very large boom -
It seems that the luck of U-505 had finally turned.... that the sub, Lange and his men, survived the war and intense firepower was short of a miracle...... greetings and thanks, Mark, from Bellows Falls, Vermont
Most of the bad luck the crew on U-505 had was from sabotage when the submarine was in the U-boat pens in France. I highly recommend you check out Steel Boat Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman's Life Aboard U-505.
@@Jermster_91 will do.... thanks, Jermster...
Some of the crew though that the U-505 suffered bad luck due to the U-boat sinking a sailing ship.
It’s been a long day of classes studying to be a history teacher. I am tired, I want to take a nap but there’s a new Mark Felton video. I’ll sleep when I’m dead (or in 12 minutes).
warren zevon?
I saw a 12oclock high episode where the Navy had an aircraft carrier. They needed the B-17s for escort. Now I just saw this.
For a long time U-505 was an outdoor exhibit. Glad to see she's inside.
I live in Chicago. I visit her every chance I get whenever I go to the science and industry museum
Senkan Yamato 🅱️
Thank god this episode didn’t end with, “it was scrapped after the war”
A T yea at least half of the stories end with that depressing note
Yes and her exhibit is beautiful. It's modeled like a u-boat pen. She still smells strongly of diesel and it gets hot in there with a small tour group after just minutes. I can't imagine life on that ship. The whole museum is incredible honestly.
Chicago also used to have a WWII U.S. Navy submarine on display on the lakefront. The USS Silversides. Unfortunately it was evicted from its display location by then Mayor Harold Washington. It is now in Muskegon, Michigan.
Did the tour of this boat on a field trip in high school around 1972 or73. It was the highlight of our trip!
My Father was aboard the DE Jenks when the 505 was captured. I still have his Unit Citation Award letter from Pres. Roosevelt. This was one of the only "good" stories he was willing to share. He saw WW2 from start to finish, first on the Battleship Pennsylvania under attack in drydock at Pearl Harbor to spending the rest of the war in the battle of the Atlantic to the end.
My mom has a relative that was on the Pennsylvania during the attack. His name was Kendrick "Bud" Wies, from Iowa. I me him when I attended ceremonies for 60th anniversary in Hawaii 2001.
RESPECT to your pops!!!!
My grandfather was also in WW2, also awarded for bravery but of course, been Italian, it was on the "other" side. He also would share with me only the "good" stories. My respect goes to ALL combatant that endured suffering, death, and losses...regardless of side. Respect from Italy and God may bless you all.
@@ZAGOR64 -Family member by marriage, was Italian soldier. In retirement from military, he went back to opera and successful international performances. Not describing the war, even to his children, he passed away quietly, leaving no stories ;
My neighbor was on the Arizona Saturday December 6,1941. He wanted to go ashore for church service’s the next day. He couldn’t go until all his responsibilities were fulfilled. He missed five opportunities to go. Finally in the evening, the mail boat came around. He caught a ride with them. The next day, Sunday December 7,1941, he was in a early morning mtg when he heard and felt the explosions. He told me a torpedo entered the area he would have been sleeping in. Had he been there he would have been killed instantly. All of his friends were killed. I wanted to join the marines. He would shake his finger while tearing up and tell me “ you don’t know the horrors of war!” “I pulled the burned, battered, bloody, and destroyed bodies of shipmates and friends from the water. I have felt helpless looking into their dead eyes! YOU DO NOT WANT TO JOIN THE MARINES OR ANY BRANCH OF SERVICE!” By this point tears would be streaming down his aged face. I only mentioned it a few times because I got the same response. Don’t get me wrong, he loved this country with great intensity. He just said wait till they draft you. His name was Gordon Douglas. One of the few survivors of the Arizona, because he wanted to go to church.
It may have had an unlucky reputation, but considering it is one of the few U-boats to survive the war and even till today and that almost the entire crew survived, it is a lucky ship in my book.
I don't even wear a tie to the office nowadays. Those guys wearing ties while at war on the open ocean? I don't even know what to say.
Been to the museum several times back when she was outside, looks nice in her new home.
I walked her probably several thousand times as a child/youth. I knew everything about it, and my mom saw them tow it across Lakeshore Drive.
As a child I saw the U 505 . It was one of the most amazing vessels I’ve ever been on.
I live in Chicago and have seen U505, many, many times. It is my favorite exhibit at the museum of science and industry. I will see it again, more than likely. It just astonishing that I have such an awesome piece of WWII history in my backyard. The exhibit is awesome, I highly recommend it.
When I was in the Navy I went to school at Great Lakes....got to visit this sub...it was a life long memory worth seeing......good video Mark
My father grew up in Chicago. In February of 1944, at the ripe old age of 17, he dropped out of Farragut High School, & tried joining the Marines with a friend who was 18. Marine recruiters told him to come back when he was 18. Dad was afraid that the war would be over before he got in to fight the Japanese. He ended up enlisting in the Navy, who decided to send him to Farragut, Idaho for boot camp. Dad's friend ended up in the 5th Marine Division. Charles (Chuck) Hlavaty was Killed In Action, on February 19, 1945, on the island of Iwo Jima during the first day of the US invasion. The 5th Marine Division's assigned landing beaches were the ones closest to Mount Suribachi. Chuck, along with father & mother, had emigrated to the US from Czechoslovakia after Adolph Hitler annexed the country. Chuck was their only child. He is buried in Wooodlawn Cemetery near Chicago.
@@Urbicide what a great read....I salute your dad and his friend Chuck...what a generation they were
As a child I grew up in Chicago. That U Boat was an easy bicycle ride from my home on 71st and Stony Island. I visited U 505 many times. After moving to Michigan in 63, I took my children to visit it several more times. good video Dr. Felton !!!
Growing up near Chicago, I toured through the U-505 when I was a kid over 50 yrs. ago. My most memorable thing about going to that museum.
The coal mine exhibit was pretty neat too. Shedd Aquarium was fun. The moray eels used to always creep me out.
I went through her in Chi 52 years ago. she was outside in the weather at the time.
They moved her indoors about 10+ years ago. They even filmed on how they moved her. You can easily find it on KZhead.
I know a few of the guys who helped move her
You Are Correct Sir
I got to see her back in the 1960's as a kid, when the sub was exhibited outdoors. They used to sell slices of her anchor chain, sawn from chain links & stamped with U-505, in the museum's gift shop, along with whole links from the chain. The Science & Industry was my favorite Chicago museum.
Urbicide u might not want to go back and see the museum now. It was my favorite place growing up. Most of all the great exhibits r gone.
Really enjoyed this Mark. I see other channels like yours but I don't watch them. You put a lot of work into these video's. They aren't just information about previous military operations they're also part of human history. Thanks for all the hard work and professionalism!
I toured the U-505 at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry in 1958. See it and a Stuka & Spitfire at age 5 ignited a lifelong fascination of WW2 history and technology. Thanks to KZhead I'm 68 now and still learn new and startling facts weekly about the war and it's vastness. The worst calamity in all of human history caused by bankers and their politicians. God Bless America 🇺🇸 🇺🇲🇺🇲😃👍
U-505 is still sitting in Chicago to this day. Its an amazing boat. Last time I went through it I was 5. Man it's been a good long,time since then. That was my favorite museum to visit of all time.
If anyone is interested in U-505, read Steel Boats Iron Hearts by Hans Goebeler. He was one of the crew members.
then read Blind mans Bluff -
Goebler and the rest of the crew were held in secret, sequestered from other prisoners, and incommunicado (to prevent the Germans learning of the captured Enigma) in Camp Ruston, a POW camp just west of Ruston LA, my hometown. Growing up there in the 60s I never knew it and only found out half a century later on visiting the exhibit in Chicago which references Camp Ruston. Artifacts are today viewable on the museum floor of the Louisiana Tech Library in Ruston.
What’s noteable in the Steelboats recounting is how much interpersonal violence there was amongst the Germans
He was a friend of mine.
I just read that book. Absolutely fascinating. Mr. Goebeler's voice came into my head when Mr. Felton said that the U-505 was an "extremely unlucky boat." We know Mr. Goebeler thought quite differently!!!
imagine how surprised their families were! "Wait YOU WERE IN A PRISON CAMP ALL THIS TIME???" That could be tricky, "Hi, meet my new husband!" Obviously the captured crews could not communicate home!
There's a story in that too!
I toured the U-505 on a Chicago visit 30 years ago. Amazing bit of history I'll never forget.
As a Chicagoan, and a person who has visited the U-505 exhibit at MSI, I’m really happy to see the video on how it was captured.
This gentleman's output is prolific! Thank you Mr Felton.
mark your herman georing episode was incredible!! mark can you please do a video on the french invasion and capitulation and how vichy was created?
The scuttling and destruction of the French Navy at port by the British so that they couldn’t be handed over to the Germans would make a good video. Also, that act of sabotage had something to do with it.
Absolutely, this is something that I think we'd all love to hear your take on it.
I had the pleasure of touring U505 a few years ago while I was visiting Chicago. Very interesting.
If ever in Germany? tour U 595. That was an experience. Forgot to mention-it's the only type VII-C still in existence. It's on Laboe beach and until his death-it's original Kdt used to conduct tours on that boat. He was Dr. Hand-George Hess. Was also a Knights Cross Recipient. Just a couple miles away in Moltenort-is the German U Boat Memorial. It has a plaque of every U Boat from WWI and WWII lost in action-including the crew's names.
Dr. Felton, thank you so much for recalling this bit of history! As a youngster, many times in the 60's and perhaps once in the early 70's, I've been through the U505 as far as the tour guides would let us go (and sometimes further, when they weren't paying attention). For me, going to the Museum of Science and Industry, meant seeing the U505, the Mine and the Train set, in that order. I have not been back in several years (10-20) and thanks to your historic video, I found they have enclosed the U505. Hopefully when I get back to Chicago this year or next, I'll be able to take another tour.
I’ve been on the 505 there in Chicago. The sub is well worth a visit if u are there. It still has that military metal smell. Hard to describe but some of u know what I’m talking about.
Todd Rey, yup and I have to say, there are times when nostalgia makes me wish I could find a spay bottle of that scent to use around the house, LOL,...like those bottles of 'new car smell'.
I think it's Brasso, or similar polish.
-The electrical wiring insulation, for just one aroma, in addition to lubricants, emits the initial chemistry vapors long after the time of original installation. ;
Paul D. I went aboard an old USN diesal electric boat as a Cub Scout in Norfolk in 1960-or there abouts. I later served as in the USN and served on CV62, the LPH 7, as a "guest officer" aboard the HCMS Nipigon, along with a navy tug and a squadron of PBR's. Odd. Every USN ship I ever went aboard smelled exactly the same as that old submarine. It was uncanny how they all have the same distinctive but identical smell. If I close my eyes I can smell it still after all these years.
terry lober I’ve been in a icbm missile capsule as well and it also has a “metal smell” very similar to a sub. U can’t say it’s diesel because I was also on a new navy nuclear attack sub which had a nicer metal smell. Lol
The germans had no idea that the U Boat had been captured and the enigma machine taken, both intact , what a huge trophy of information for the US intelligence.
Gallery received a severe reprimand from Admiral King, with court martial being mentioned, for not sinking U-505 after recovering the enigma material - its capture, rather than destruction, potentially compromised vital Allied intelligence sources on the eve of D-Day.
Being raised in the greater Chicagoland area, I've been on the U-505 many times, always loved to visit it.
As a kid, we used to visit the museum and I hated seeing this amazing piece of history slowly rusting out of doors. So glad she is in doors and looks so good again. Now they just need to find wheel pants for the original Junkers Stuka they've had hanging from the ceiling there for so many decades. Thanks for doing these Mark.
I hear Mark narrating my dreams 👍
Over _700 destroyed_ ? Sometimes I forget about the sheer scale of the human suffering of that conflict.
My father was on destroyers (Royal Navy) and had no sympathy for u boat crews .
@@keithrose6931 Rightfully so. To everyone in the Royal Navy, the U boats were a terror to their supply lines by sinking so many merchant ships.
Three out of four Kriegsmarine submariners-were killed in action.
75% of the U Boot crews did not survive the war. Highest death rate of anything but perhaps Japanese Kamikaze pilots.
This is as lucky crew they were captured and by the us navy wich treated their prisoners better
Uss Nemo. What a perfect name for the u-boat. Can't get any better than that.
Another great documentary by Mark. I visited U-505 in 1993, when it was kept outside. One of my uncles served aboard U-boats and was taken prisoner in the Mediterranean, after a sea battle. His son has also visited U-505. I don't think his father was interested in visiting it.
My respect for serving on a sub very WW2 salido he served on a submarine deserved a medal
The best KZhead channel! Greetings from Algeria.
U-571 is an underrated movie, one of my favorite of historical fiction WWII.
MrYoungGun yep and it featured Jon Bon Jovi! I’m not making this up.
@@mattkaustickomments no way ill have to check
@@mattkaustickomments WHAT? I've watched it like 20 times, often fragments while eating meals and I never noticed.
@dave johnson & AliveC4T hahaha! Yes really! What’s funny is I went back to check out the cast and I had totally forgotten McConaughey Harvey Keitel & Bill Paxton were in it- I had only remembered JBJ because he was such an anomaly! He played one of the Lts. I think it was the first time he cut his hair since the 80’s. I actually saw the movie on the big screen and haven’t seen it since.
MrYoungGun It might have been entertaining but from an historical accuracy view point it was a laughable piece of crap!
I was born in 1943. My mother and I lived in Lewes, Delaware during the war. I can remember going aboard U-505 when it was docked in Lewes near our house for the War Bond Drive. There were sailors on board and I asked my mother if they were Germans. When I was in high school in Benton Harbor, Michigan, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry an got to go aboard again. Very thrilling. Thank you Mark.
When I was in grade school in the late 1950s, my class took a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and I got to experience a tour of the U-505. I still remember it almost 65 years later.
-Field Trips were amazing intellectual experiences... 'back in the day' ;
Mark you make history so interesting and fun!
1162 U-boats!? Not a good time to be in the Merchant Navy, or any navy for that matter. God bless the heroes who kept our nation fed, and God bless everyone who fought against tyranny to keep the world free!
Define freedom.
The longest battle in WW2 (battle off the Atlantic '39-'45) cost alot on men, material and equipment. (36.000 sailors lost on 3.500 merchant ships + their cargo!) Those sailors who sailed on the UK and Murmansk routes from the America's are the unsung hero's of that conflict. Winston Churchill knew if he lost the battle of the Atlantic, Britain and the allies would lose WW2 . Even Stalin himself praised the sturdy and loved by the Red Army Studebacker 2.5T Trucks who were brought by those convoys to Murmansk. Those convoys made sure the Allies on all fronts where supllied to win the war.
@@Lensman864 Liberals out of power.
I totally agree with every thing you said, and I also feel that all of us lucky bastards, that live in free countries, owe so much to our war veterans, who fought and many paid the ultimate sacrifice so that pricks like Adolf Hitler aren't governing our lives.
@@benjigray8690 hahahaha say that again mate
I'm a qualified Submariner from the U.S. Navy. My boat was the USS Alexander Hamilton SSBN 617. While visiting relatives in Chicago during the early 1980's, we all went to the museum. We toured U 505 with a tour guide who was new and still not totally up to speed. In about 10 mins into the tour, I took over since the systems on U 505 were the same, pretty much, but a bit more primitive and basic. I answered all the other guests questions and was asked how I knew so much. I explained that I was a qualified submariner in the USN. I was told it I ever wanted to work there as a guide, they would hire me on the spot.
When I was a kid all I heard was how my friends had gone to visit it. I finally got to see it 2 years ago and it was fabulous. I intend to go again soon. Great video... Wonderful story And well presented.
I read about this when I was a teenager, 50 years ago..... USS Guadalcanal, CVE...
I was about to go to bed when this popped up - change of plans... Once again, a great video Mark
Again, fabulous! Better than television! Mark’s Documentaries are the best. They are factual and they don’t waste time he gets right to the point. Also the films that he uses are spot on.
The Museum of Science and Industry did an amazing job at restoring the boat and presenting it. You all definitely should visit the museum and see it!
Finally the U-505. Nice video
U-505 is the most amazing museum exhibit I've ever seen. If you do it right, you probaly spend 45min going thru the exhibit learning about what led up to the capture, then you round the corner and there she is.
Even better if you read the memoir of one of the crew members on U-505 and then tour it.
As a kid I've seen n gone thru the U-505. Great memories. Still have the magazine that covers the story purchased at the museum.
I have two connections with the U-505. First, my mother, father, and older sister, lived in Chicago, south side, near the lake. When U-505 was brought across Lake Shore Drive my mother and sister were in attendance, as spectators. My sister was just an infant being born in January of 1954. Second, I had a co-worker/friend who’s father was a crew member on the USS CHATELAIN (DE-149), at the time of capture. Been through the submarine many times, while on display outside, her previous location at the Museum of Science and Industry and after she was in her current position, indoors and under a roof.
Hey I love your vids I hope you can make more content I hope u see this I'm a big fan.
Back in the early 60’s I visited the U505 numerous times when it was mounted outside on its stands. I was lucky to have been born and raised in Chicago. I almost lived in the museum of science and industry and the Field museum of natural history.
That sub is a wonderful experience for the WW2 Naval buff. The guided tour on board U-505 will live with me forever.
I've seen that sub on a school field trip to Chicago about 1965. All of us kids were really impressed. I recall that it was displayed outdoors at the time.
As always, Dr. Felton delivers! I would love to see a video on how the Canadian first parachute battalion beat the Russians to Denmark in a mad dash across still semi-hostile northern Germany!
They went and captured Wismar on the Baltic riding on the tanks of the Royal Scots Greys
Absolutely great opening music!! Excellent content very educational and entertaining..Great Job Mark!
In Chicago , IL a few years ago they opened the NEW U 505 building, it is excellent to visit and have many displays and a excellent store. Go ARMY
Yes, they built a building around it to protect it from the elements. People who visited the U-505 thirty years ago should go back and see it again. It's an extremely impressive exhibit now.
If I'm not mistaken, when that ship was donated to the museum, it was basically a floating husk, stripped of its interior. So the museum asked to the German companies that made parts for submarines in the war if they could supply replacements, which they did free of charge, "as a testament to German engineering"
Been on the U505 more times than I can count, every time I went to the Museum of Science and Industry I went to the U505.
I hope you have read the memoir Steel Boat Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman's Life Aboard U-505.
Great video! Haven’t even finished watching it yet but I know it will be Absolutely amazing. Are you able to make a video on the Night of the Long Knives? I know that’s long before the war but it’s very interesting!
When I was a six year-old boy living in Chicago, I was fascinated by the U-505 whenever our family visited the Chicago Museum Of Science and Industry! Back then it was on display out of doors. Fortunately, the museum was later able to move the famous U-Boat indoors and completely renovate and restore it. I later had the privilege of taking my own son on a tour through the U-505! It is still one of my favorite exhibits when I visit the museum! Thanks for sharing this story, Mark!
Your channel is a treasure indeed. I've always been in awe of the type of soldier who could climb aboard a sealed target like a submarine or bomber and go off to war. The first time would be scary enough, but the courage to get back on board again is unimaginable. If Fate ever finds me in Chicago for more than a flight change I will stop in to see the U-505.
Definitely a tale of daring do. One of Germany's most feared weapons went from hunter to hunted. I did read that the casualty rate amongst U-Boat crews was higher the Japans Kamikaze pilots.
That's correct. Nearly 75 percent of all U-boat personal never returned. At the start of the movie Das Boat gives the actual figure. According to the short spiel no other armed forces units in WWII Axis or Allied lost so many personal.
@@barrythatcher9349 -'Sound of Music', Christopher Plummer was being ordered, sent to sea, as a U Boat commander. Good thing that he escaped ;
I've been on that ship! It's a really fascinating display in Chicago.
Thanks for posting this! I grew up in Chicago in the 50's and remember the U-505 well. I toured the boat many times. It is gratifying to see how it is housed now since it had for many years been outside and subject to Chicago weather extremes.
I went inside of that U-Boat when I lived in Chicago. AWESOME!
Mr. Mark Felton thanks for telling this shocking CLASSIFIED information to the public. And thank you for Teaching this amazing information to me.!!😍😍😎😎😎👌🏼👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🤝🤝
Just like to say its not classified. It was during the war
@@donwall9632 basically is CLASSIFIED, because 1, it is true that the allied want that u boat so badly but, not capture only to get information. 2 the American for the first time they got a German u boat. And these information is not to show the public, so is CLASSIFIED. But if you say is during the war, I respect your words. I shake your hand like friends. 🤝
Hasn’t been classified since the end of WWII.
“Each was worth its weight in gold.” Hitler: Darn it, I new that gold platting the hall was a bad idea, well at least the British can repair there overpriced printers.
Knew. Plating. Hull. Their.
You mean knew
Overpriced printers?
@@purplefood1 It's like one joke, with the punchline from some other joke thrown in for no reason.
@@Brok. apparently so.
Got to visit the U Boat in 1976 after graduation from basic training in Great Lakes. It was still outdoors at the time. Nice to see her inside and well preserved.
In 2014 I visited the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago with the main purpose of seeing U-505. What an impressive display! I'm glad they decided to preserve the sub and move it indoors. When I first visited the U-505 in 1985, it was displayed outdoors. There are several U.S. Submarines on display around the United States - all of them outside. Hopefully, in the name of history, one can be moved indoors and preserved like the U-505. NOTE: On my visit in 2014, the tour guide at the U-505 was a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic young woman named Rosie. Her attitude made the experience that much more enjoyable!