Unterseeboot 234 (U-234) was a WWII German Type X submarine (U-boat), designed as a mine-layer, whose first and only mission into enemy territory consisted of the attempted delivery of uranium and other German advanced weapons technology to the Empire of Japan. The submarine surrendered to the United States after Germany's unconditional surrender on 9 May 1945. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... Type X (XB) U-boats were a special type of German submarine (U-boat). ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... now. ... German UC-1 class World War I submarine A model of Günther Priens Unterseeboot 47 (U-47), German WWII Type VII diesel-electric hunter-killer (SSK) submarine Inside of the Argonaute, showing the typical obstructed, tiny space of a post-WWII diesel attack submarine. ... Unconditional surrender refers to a surrender without conditions, except for those provided by international law. ... May 9 is the 129th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (130th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...

From USS Sutton. U-234 surrendering.

U-873 and U-234 (r) at New Hampshire port.

A local news describing the surrender of U-234.

The end of U-234 as a target ship.(Off Cape Cod, Mass.)

An anecdote regarding the name, U-234, of this vessel: Reportedly the German crew were bemused when the two Japanese military officials to travel on the craft had cargo brought on board that was labelled "U-235" — their thinking was something like: "Look, they didn't even get the name of the ship right." According to the report, the cargo was however labelled accurately — it contained uranium 235. It is extremely unlikely though that it was truly all uranium 235, as this would have been more of the material than even the U.S. Manhattan Project produced during the war, and would have been enough material for around eight crude atomic bombs, considerably further along than the German nuclear energy project has ever been thought to have gone. Image File history File linksMetadata U234_KptLt_Fehler_USS_Sutton. ... Image File history File linksMetadata U234_KptLt_Fehler_USS_Sutton. ... Image File history File links U-234NewHampshire1. ... Image File history File links U-234NewHampshire1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata U-234NewsPaper1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata U-234NewsPaper1. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (532x671, 30 KB) Summary This picture has shot over 60 years ago and its copyright has expired. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (532x671, 30 KB) Summary This picture has shot over 60 years ago and its copyright has expired. ... Uranium-235 is an isotope of uranium that differs from the elements other common isotope, uranium-238, by its ability to cause a rapidly expanding fission chain reaction, i. ... The Manhattan Project resulted in the development of the first nuclear weapons, and the first-ever nuclear detonation, at the Trinity test of July 16, 1945. ... The German experimental nuclear pile at Haigerloch The German nuclear energy project was an endeavor by scientists during World War II in Nazi Germany to develop nuclear energy and an atomic bomb for practical use. ...

The U-234 sailed from Kiel in March 1945 with 240 metric tons of cargo for Japan. Its passengers included five German VIPs in addition to the two Japanese. The German personnel included General Ulrich Kessler of the Luftwaffe, who was to take over the Luftwaffe liaison duties in Tokyo, a Naval Fleet Judge Advocate to try cases of German traitors in Japan, Dr. Heinz Schlicke (renowned German scientist later recruited by the USA in Operation Paperclip), and an expert on the V-2 rocket. The two Japanese passengers, upon learning that the U-boat was to surrender, took an overdose of luminal (a barbiturate sleeping pill), died in their sleep, and were buried at sea. Kiel ( ) is a city in northern Germany and the capital of the Bundesland Schleswig-Holstein. ... Operation Paperclip scientists pose together. ... German test launch. ... Luminal is another name for the hypnotic, anti-epileptic drug phenobarbital. ... Burial at Sea for two victims of a Japanese submarine attack on the US aircraft carrier Liscome Bay, November 1943 Burial at sea describes the procedure of disposing of human remains in the ocean. ...

The U-234 had suffered a collision with another U-boat whilst submerged in the Baltic, so it had to be repaired before continuing its voyage from Kristiansand in Norway. On surfacing on 10 May 1945, and learning of Germany's surrender, her commander KaptLt Fehler consulted with another U-boat (U-873?) and radioed that he would sail for Halifax to surrender. The USS Sutton intercepted the U-234 on 14 May 1945 and took her crew off. The prize crew turned her south for Casco Bay, Maine, where it is suggested by U.S. scientist Dr. Velma Hunt that the U-234 may have unloaded some cargo in secrecy. The U.S. Navy reportedly unloaded about 1,200 lb (550 kg) of uranium oxide from the U-234 at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The cargo of two dismantled Me-262 jet fighters was not listed at Portsmouth, fueling speculation that they had previously been unloaded elsewhere. Author Robert K. Wilcox notes a discrepancy in cargo weights between the USN manifest and the cargo loaded in Germany. May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... DE- 771 USS SUTTON CLASS: Cannon TYPE: DET (diesel-electric tandem motor drive, long hull, 3 guns) Displacement: 1,240 tons (std) 1,620 tons (full) Dimensions: 306 (oa), 300 (wl) x 36 10 x 11 8 (max) Armament: 3 x 3/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 twin 40mm Mk1 AA... May 14 is the 134th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (135th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, USA. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth. ... Official language(s) None (English de facto) Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area  Ranked 39th  - Total 33,414 sq mi (86,542 km²)  - Width 210 miles (338 km)  - Length 320 miles (515 km)  - % water 13. ... Location Location in Rockingham County, New Hampshire Coordinates , Government County Rockingham County City Manager John P. Bohenko Geographical characteristics Area     City 16. ... The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow) was the first operational jet powered aircraft. ...

Wolfgang Hirschfeld was radioman on U-109 under Korvettenkapitän Hans-Georg Fischer and then under Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Bleichrodt when they hunted in American waters during the late phases of Operation Paukenschlag, or Drumbeat. At the end of the war, he was Oberfunkmeister (Master Chief - Radio) aboard the U-234. Hirschfeld has revealed since the war that U-234 crew members believed that Japan had succeeded in test-firing an atomic weapon before their departure from Germany in March 1945.

During World War II, Dr. Erich Bagge had developed a gas centrifuge for enrichment of uranium. Japan was also working on an atomic weapons program under Dr. Yoshio Nishina. By late in the war, Japan's A-bomb project was shifted to Hungnam in northern Korea with the 8th Imperial Japanese Army laboratory. Erich Rudolf Bagge (born 30 May 1912, died 1996), German scientist. ... The gas centrifuge is a hyper-centrifuge used to produce enriched uranium. ...

Rainer Karlsh, in his recent book, has suggested that Nazi Germany had successfully test-fired a radiological weapon (not an actual atomic bomb) at Ohrdruf in March 1945 and conducted other tests on Rügen Island. A radiological weapon (or radiological dispersion device, RDD) is any weapon that is designed to spread radioactive contamination, either to kill, or to deny the use of an area (a modern version of salting the earth) and consists of a device (such as a nuclear or conventional explosive) which spreads... Ohrdruf is a famous cathedral which J.S. Bach was the organist of. ...

U-boats like the U-234 were involved in shipments of uranium oxide to Japan, as were some I-class Japanese submarines that sailed for France under the Yanagi scheme. The I-52 was sunk in the Atlantic before reaching France but Enigma decrypts disclosed that 800 kg of uranium oxide awaited at Lorient for the return voyage. The I-30 also sailed to Lorient and returned to Singapore, but struck a mine after leaving there for Japan. The I-29 made a voyage to France in late 1943, reaching Lorient in March 1944; it returned to Singapore, but on the next stage of her voyage was also sunk. The plugboard, keyboard, lamps and finger-wheels of the rotors emerging from the inner lid of a three-rotor German military Enigma machine (version with labels) For other uses, see Enigma. ... This article is about The place Lorient in France. ...

An interesting suggestion has also been made that uranium was sealed in solid gold cases aboard the U-234.

In November 1947, the U-234 was sunk off Cape Cod as a torpedo target. Cape Cod and Cape Cod Bay from space. ...

Further reading

• Scalia, Joseph Mark Germany's Last Mission to Japan: The Failed Voyage of U-234 Naval Institute Press (2000) ISBN 1-55750-811-9
• Hirschfeld, Wolfgang Feindfahrten: Das Logbuch eines U-Boot-Funkers" Neff Verlag (1982) ISBN 3-7014-0189-6
• Hirschfeld, Wolfgang; Brooks, Geoffrey The Story of a U-Boat Nco 1940-1946 Naval Institute Press (1996) ISBN 1-55750-372-9

External links

• http://www.ihffilm.com/840.html
• http://uboat.net/boats/u234.htm
• http://www.ussvance.com/Vance/nazisub.htm
• http://www.spiegel.de/sptv/special/0,1518,230670,00.html