Herbert Werner

Herbert A. Werner (13 May 1920 – 6 April 2013) was a Kriegsmarine (German Navy) officer who, by his own reckoning, was one of only about "two dozen captains still alive" at the end of World War II. He served in five U-boats, as an Ensign, Executive Officer and Captain in the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel, the North Sea, the Baltic, the Norwegian Sea and the Mediterranean. He survived the sinking of U-612 in the Baltic and the loss of U-415 in Brest harbour.

At the end of the war, he was detained in turn by British, American and French troops before making his way back to Germany in late autumn 1945. He moved to the United States in 1957 and became an American citizen. Werner subsequently wrote a best-selling memoir of life in the U-boat service, en-titled "Iron Coffins".

Early life and career
Werner was born in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, in southwest Germany. He was photographed, aged four, in a naval uniform. He joined the German naval academy at Flensburg in 1939, aged 19 and graduated in April 1941. He was posted, as an ensign, to his first U-boat, (GS U-557), after his initial assignment, GS U-551, which he expected to join in Kiel, was reported lost in the North Atlantic.

U-557
GS U-557, a type VIIc U-boat was at Königsberg when Werner reported to her captain, Oberleutnant zur See Ottokar Paulssen. Werner was not too pleased when he found out that U-557's next voyage was to Kiel. This journey, although short, was dramatic. During a routine trim-dive, the boat plunged to the bottom of the Baltic; one man died in the accident. The boat was trapped on the sea-bed. It was only after many hours of exhausting baling of water from the stern to the bow and lots of movement by the crew as a sort of human counterweight, that the submarine came free, surfacing after 20 hours and resuming her passage to Kiel.

1st Patrol
Following the boat's safe arrival, Werner, as one of three ensigns, was kept busy collecting technical manuals and charts, typing, drawing diagrams and assembling lists of equipment, as the crew prepared for their first patrol. The three junior officers, perhaps naïvely, drove into Kiel to buy reading material for the "long weeks at sea". With all manner of items loaded and stowed away, U-557 departed Kiel on 13 May 1941. It was Werner's 20th birthday.

U-557's first victim, a freighter, was hunted and sunk in the north Atlantic on 19 May, south of Cape Farewell, Greenland. After this success, Werner, tired, cold and wet after nine hours on the bridge, stripped naked and crawled into his bunk. But the respite was short-lived. As food rotted and paper disintegrated, the storm tossed U-boat received news that the GERMAN BATTLESHIP Bismarck, Germany's largest warship, had broken into the Atlantic, sinking HMS Hood (51) on the way. Thoughts of the battleship were put to one side on 25 May when a convoy was spotted.

U-557 dived, to lay in wait at periscope depth. For many of the crew, it was their first experience of being hunted by the escort, the metallic 'ping' of their Asdic (sonar) striking the hull and ringing throughout the boat. It was also the first time that many had suffered the effects of a depth charge attack. However, the latter sensation was not to be, the submarine remained undetected. Werner, who had been at the helm, gave up that position and as a member of the "assault watch", moved onto the bridge of the surfaced submarine. Moving the boat to 300 m astern of a ship, five torpedoes were fired, three hits were registered. With the torpedo tubes re-loaded, Paulssen intended to repeat the performance and was just moving into position when the U-boat received a signal to not attack further, but to "transmit beacon signals" for other U-boats to home-in on. Which she did. The transmissions also brought retribution in the form of a destroyer, which Werner spotted 1000 m away. Despite the U-boat's engines running flat out, the escort ship was gaining (she had also been joined by two consorts). The boat dived; a series of depth charges followed, but the submarine escaped.

U-557 was one of many U-boats instructed to go to Bismarck's assistance; a second signal was received shortly afterwards, which ordered the searching for survivors. None were found.

Paulsssen was relentless when it came to training the three ensigns. The books so carefully bought in Kiel remained unread. Instead, engineering manuals were studied at all hours of the day and night. Having sunk another ship about 600 nmi south of Greenland, the boat requested fuel, which was to be provided by the tanker Belchen. Having completed refuelling, a few days had passed when three torpedo tracks were suddenly spotted, Werner saw them pass under or behind U-557. A British Thames class submarine had come close to sinking the U-boat. U-557 attacked another convoy, sinking two more ships before being damaged by the escorts; she then curtailed her patrol and headed for Lorient, in western France.

Werner had his first bath and shave for eight weeks before setting out, with his colleagues, to explore the port. A few days later, the crew were visited by Admiral Karl Dönitz, the commander of all U-boats. He made a speech and presented medals.

2nd patrol
U-557's second patrol, which began in early August 1941, was similar to her first; sinking three ships before being subject to depth charge attack. Werner continued to gather experience which would stand him in good stead when he got a command of his own. That experience included long periods on the bridge where numerous layers of clothing plus a rubber divers' suit provided inadequate protection against the elements. Having expended all her torpedoes, U-557 returned to Lorient, arriving on 18 September.

3rd patrol
U-557 commenced her third patrol on 8 October 1941. A familiar pattern evolved; chase a convoy, fire torpedoes, suffer a bombardment from depth charges. At one stage, flares in the darkness meant that Werner "could count the whiskers on the Captain's face." She had sunk six ships, but missed with her last torpedo, U-557 turned for home, arriving in Lorient on 27 October.

Transfer and promotion
Werner was told he was to be transferred to Brest, to a different flotilla; it was a very fortuitous move - U-557 was lost in the Mediterranean in December with all hands.

The move also necessitated travelling to Germany to attend U-boat school. After a brief visit to his parents and sister in Frankfurt, Werner went to Berlin to see a girlfriend and then on to Pillau via Königsberg, arriving on 1 December. Accordingly, he moved to the Naval Academy at Flensburg in early February 1942, staying there until mid-May when he was assigned to GS U-612, in Danzig.

Sinking, salvage and selling
Leutnant zur See Werner, as Executive Officer, reported to Oberleutnant zur See Siegmann, the Captain. The boat had a hard training regime to follow, which lasted until 6 August. While on manoeuvres in the Bay of Danzig, GS U-444, collided with and sank U-612; two men died. The survivors were picked up by two U-boats, one of which was U-444.

It was decided to raise U-612. With the aid of a diver and two cranes, the submarine was lifted from its resting place and taken to Danzig. There, a temporary patch was fixed in place and the water pumped out. The boat was put into dry-dock where a detailed inspection revealed that repairs would take eight to 12 months.

While the salvage operation was on-going, it was discovered that the cook had been selling food on the black market. On the day of his sentencing, following his trial, it was discovered that the man had absconded with amongst other items, a pistol. Werner went in pursuit of the fugitive, but he was found by police in a ditch, having tried to commit suicide. Werner visited the cook, now blind, in hospital. On questioning him, it emerged that he was a communist and "I don't believe in God." Werner thought that the man had "lost his senses".

The crew, including Werner, were allocated another boat but first had to undergo familiarization (Baubelehrung). The replacement, GS U-230, was in Kiel. Werner had another duty to attend-to first; his sister, Trudy, was getting married.

U-230
U-230, a new boat, was commissioned on 24 October. Werner was kept busy, inspecting new installations such as radar, Metox, (an early type of radar detector) and anti-aircraft guns and also taking part in many 'working up' exercises in the Baltic.

1st patrol
After a number of false starts, U-230 departed Kiel in January 1943. Having crossed the Skagerrak, she set out from Bergen in Norway on her first patrol. The first of many aircraft alerts was soon sounded, forcing the boat to dive. As conditions in the North Atlantic worsened, it became apparent that some of the provisions loaded in Bergen, including four barrels of eggs, would have to be consumed rapidly by those who could withstand the constant battering of the ocean. Werner found himself eating eggs raw, scrambled, poached and soft-boiled at all times of the day and night.

Despite the weather, a convoy was sighted by another boat in the 'pack'. Once the submarine was in position, Werner fired four torpedoes, resulting in three hits. Having reloaded her torpedo tubes, U-230 moved ahead of the convoy and dived to the relatively peaceful depth of 140 m. On surfacing again, Werner and Siegmann were shocked to discover that the boat had come up in the middle of the convoy. By now sea conditions were so bad that U-230 could not attack the ships. The escorts could do nothing about the U-boat in their midst, either. The boat dived once more.

On 10 March Werner was on the bridge when he detected the odour of smoke and burned fuel. Six ships were ahead of the U-boat. Suddenly one of the vessels disintegrated, (she had been carrying ammunition). Debris rained down, three escorts pursued Werner's boat, it was later deduced that the ammunition ship had been attacked by GS U-221, but the depth charges were now raining down on U-230 which had descended to 245 m. If she did not shake-off the pursuit, she would be on her way to the ocean floor, some 5000 m below. After eleven hours of being hunted, U-230 cautiously surfaced to find that the escort ships had returned to their convoy.

Three more ships were torpedoed before U-230 set course for Brest; but she was not safe yet. On 25 March, while crossing the Bay of Biscay, she was forced to crash-dive by a seemingly endless procession of aircraft. Nevertheless, Werner was soon conning the submarine to her berth.

2nd patrol
Following an overhaul and the crew sampling the delights of Brest, U-230 began her second patrol on 24 April 1943. Werner noted the time it took to run on the surface and be detected in the Bay of Biscay (17 minutes). It was while the submarine was in its allotted 'square' of the Atlantic in early May that he realised that the tide of battle had turned, when the boat intercepted a steady stream of distress messages from sinking colleagues. In a vain effort to counteract that tide, U-230 shadowed and prepared to attack a convoy, but was constantly harassed by aircraft; on one occasion the U-boat was fortunate to survive when both AA guns jammed, (Werner had manned one of them). On another, the attacking aircraft was shot down. The pilot, thrown from the cockpit, was seen by Werner to "disintegrate in the explosion of the four bombs which were meant to destroy us".

U-230 pushed her luck again; on 14 May she evaded aircraft and ships by diving or being forced to a depth of 280 m. Due to the bad atmosphere, Werner moved through the boat, forcing crew members to stay awake. The U-boat finally surfaced after 35 hours beneath the waves. Another convoy was detected and shadowed; the men, who had been at battle stations for 70 hours, seemed to understand that things had changed for the worse when yet another aircraft was sighted. Werner moved through the boat again, clapping shoulders and uttering words of encouragement to the tired crew.

Things did not improve on the return journey to Brest. U-230 was attacked numerous times, but managed to reach her home port on 28 May. Amongst Werner's waiting mail was a parcel containing a stale cake which had broken into many pieces. He felt obliged to eat some.

Leave
Werner had many days leave owing, so he went to see his parents in Frankfurt. He was shocked to discover that his father had been arrested by the Gestapo. He learnt that his father had had an affair with a Jewish girl. She was put into a concentration camp, his father was jailed. Werner secured his father's release after a visit to Gestapo Headquarters in Frankfurt. Werner learned much later that the girl had survived the war.

He also travelled to Berlin to see a girlfriend. The increasing destruction there was emphatically demonstrated when he found that his girlfriend had been killed in an air raid.

Werner returned to Brest.

Special mission
Siegmann informed Werner and two other officers that U-230 had been selected for a special mission - the laying of 24 mines in Chesapeake Bay, opposite the US Navy Base at Norfolk on the eastern coast of the United States. The U-boat left Brest on 5 July 1943 in the company of two consorts; it was felt that the combined firepower of the U-boats might sufficiently deter air attack, particularly in the Bay of Biscay. That theory was soon put to the test when three Liberators and one Sunderland flying boat attacked the small flotilla. The Sunderland was shot down, but not before one of U-230's gunners was wounded. The crewman was sufficiently patched up by a very seasick doctor they had on board who otherwise spent the entire patrol in his bunk.

After a relatively trouble-free Atlantic crossing, U-230 laid the mines on 29 July; Werner reported to Siegmann: "Twenty-four eggs dropped into Uncle Sam's front yard."

The good mood was dispelled when the U-boat intercepted messages from three U-tankers and it was realised that they were all sunk in the same position in the Bay of Biscay, using tactics similar to that which U-230 and her companions had unsuccessfully employed and abandoned a few days before. U-230, down to her last two tons of fuel, signalled that fact to Headquarters, who instructed the boat to meet another U-tanker, GS U-117 (1941). However, she never arrived. Having completely run out of fuel, U-230 was left drifting helplessly, but met up with GS U-634; it was decided, after more communication with HQ, that U-634 was to share her remaining fuel with U-230. Both boats would then rendezvous with another 'milch-cow'. This was successfully accomplished, although Werner was amazed at the seemingly complacent attitude of the tanker's crew.

Having evaded British anti-submarine forces in the Bay of Biscay once more, U-230 entered Brest harbour on 8 September.

3rd patrol
U-230 left port on her third patrol on 4 October 1943; at one point her latest foray included being chased by a destroyer fitted with an infra-red searchlight. The pursuing escort ship was eventually lost in the darkness and rising seas. An ominous trend now revealed itself; a steady stream of air alerts which only let up when the U-boat was inside the huge concrete shelter in Brest.

Harbour routine
Once in port, Werner tried to relax, but his gloom was exacerbated by news of non-returning friends and the near-constant air-raids.

After one such raid he could not resist visiting a wounded American airman in hospital where he exchanged views on how they both thought the war was going. He left the airman after a spirited debate, but later could not shake-off a feeling of uneasiness. A short visit to Paris was a welcome diversion.

Not long after his journey to the French capital, Werner and two other officers from U-230 received surprising news from the Captain; the submarine had been "ordered to break through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean.''

The Mediterranean
Werner's boat left Brest on 26 November; the Captain informed the crew of their destination shortly afterwards: "their reaction was a mix of surprise and cautious acceptance." Werner, on an inspection tour of the submarine, found one man in the forward torpedo room with a bra and panties 'liberated' from his girlfriend. He was surrounded by his friends who were grinning and making lewd comments. Werner joined in.

Approaching the Bay of Cádiz, Werner discovered via a radio message that he and a colleague had been promoted to Oberleutnant zur See.

When the lights of Tangier became visible, the boat changed course to due east and steered for the space between the two continents. Among the propeller noises and asdic pings was a new, unknown sound. Werner and the "best sound operator [in the boat]" were baffled by the strange tones. Realisation dawned; a school of dolphins were playing in the current sweeping the Strait. The detonation of depth charges some way off was enough to send the mammals back into the Atlantic.

A cautious sweep of the periscope revealed a view of Africa and Europe; the Rock of Gibraltar had already been passed. On 15 December,U-230 sailed into Toulon harbour. What had looked like a suicide mission passed with relatively few incidents.

Travel and training
Werner was told he must attend commanders' school before getting his first boat. To do so involved a long train journey from Toulon to Neustadt on the Baltic coast. Stopping off at Frankfurt, he went to see his parents. Their apartment building appeared to be spared the ravages of air-raid damage, but a closer inspection revealed that the back wall had been sheared off; although Werner's parents apartment was largely unscathed. Of his parents there was no sign. A day later, they turned up.

Having completed the theory in Neustadt, it was time for some practical training in Danzig. The majority of Werner's fellow students had no time in U-boats; coming from all other naval backgrounds. He did not think that they would last long. Werner came top of the course; his reward was command of U-415.

His new boat was waiting for him in Brest; but first he diverted to Frankfurt where his parents had been made homeless by another air-raid, they moved to Karlsruhe.

U-415
Werner took the boat over and proceeded to drill the crew relentlessly over the next few days in the Bay of Brest. His flotilla commander briefed him on his first patrol: operations had been "suspended" in the Atlantic, his patrol zone was to be the westerly approach to the English Channel. On studying a chart, Werner realised that the relatively shallow water (150 m), made it imperative that U-415 was fitted with a schnorchel, (a device that allowed the U-boat to run its diesel engines underwater and the crew to breathe).

1st patrol
U-415 sailed on her first patrol on 11 April 1944; Werner was acutely aware of the water depth, or lack of it. She was soon attacked by destroyers and aircraft. On the third day, Werner fired four torpedoes at a convoy, three concussions were felt. The boat dived as much as the depth allowed, almost hitting the bottom. The response from the escorts soon followed; U-415 was battered for 37 hours.

The boat returned to Brest after being instructed to do so, although compliance with the signal was not as simple to implement; she was hunted, chased and harried all the way.

D-Day
The reason the boat had been recalled (Werner had initially thought it was for the fitting of a schnorchel), became clear when he and his flotilla commander discussed the invasion threat. While U-415 underwent re-fit, Werner tried Lorient, St Nazaire and even a freight yard in Paris in his quest for a schorchel, all with no success.

Werner and his crew waited to depart for many hours on 6 June 1944 even though the invasion was under way. He finally received sealed orders to "sail to the [southwestern English] coast and attack all shipping". After using all his torpedoes he was instructed to ram a ship with his submarine. At 2230 hrs, Werner in U-415 and seven other U-boats followed a minesweeper out of Brest harbour. The procession soon came under attack. U-415 was damaged, crewmen were wounded, including Werner. The boat's condition meant that she had to return to Brest, which she did after being stuck on the sea-bed. Werner was treated by a doctor the following day.

2nd patrol
Werner's second patrol with U-415 began on 3 July; her assigned area was 80 nmi west of Brest harbour; the list of repairs had been whittled down from 550 to 50 due to the shortage of spares and time. She could barely function. By 13 July she had been recalled "for a special task."

Loss
On the day that U-415 was due to conduct manoeuvres in the Bay of Brest, Werner slept-in. As he hurriedly made his way from his accommodation to the pen where the U-boat was moored, he caught sight of his submarine moving into the inner basin. Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the area. U-415 had struck a mine. Two men died and 14 were injured, two seriously. The flotilla's Chief Engineer had become impatient with the Captain's non-appearance and ordered the boat's Executive Officer to take the submarine out of the pen with disastrous results. Instead of using the quiet electric motors (used when a sub was submerged) to back out of the concrete bunker, the "Exec" had used the noisy diesel engines (used when on the surface), which set off the acoustic mine a British aircraft had dropped days before. The Germans knew the mine was there but had been unable to locate it. The two men killed were buried on 25 July; Werner found it very difficult to write to their families.

New boat
With no boat, Werner began training his men for ground combat and to be part of the defence of Brest. But in early August, he was informed he had been appointed Captain of U-953. The original officer had been stranded in Germany. With a substantial number of the crew in the same situation, Werner made up the deficit from the men of U-415. Preparations to leave were hampered by an air-raid on 13 August that was so severe that the concrete pen used to house U-boats was damaged. Werner's boat, despite sustaining no obvious damage in the air-raid, was found to have defective torpedo tube doors. This had to be rectified before departure.

Evacuation
Werner left Brest on 23 August, it was his second attempt; U-953 was bound for the twin ports of La Rochelle and La Pallice. She carried no torpedoes, but every nook and cranny was filled with "engineering equipment, valuable instruments and key personnel". Werner had also included the non-injured crew members of U-415. 99 people were crammed into the U-boat; this was reduced by two civilians leaving the boat following Werner's address, then increased by four "technicians" at the last minute. After much evasion and 'bottoming', the submarine arrived on 28 August in La Pallice, the only U-boat from Brest to do so. She was also the only one left in any French port.

Arrival in Norway
U-953 sailed out of La Pallice in the early hours of 7 September 1944, initially bound for the North Channel (the stretch of water between Northern Ireland and Scotland), then Bergen in Norway. Off the west coast of Ireland, a constant stream of mechanical breakdowns jeopardized the boat. The schnorchel becoming stuck (fortunately in the 'up' position), was the last straw; the boat somehow made her way to Norway. A crash was an indication that the device had collapsed on deck just prior to docking.

Overhaul
The boat's next destination was Germany, initially Kiel then Lübeck. She had gone to Lübeck for overhaul, which Werner was told, would take eight to ten weeks. Werner used this time to travel to Darmstadt to see his parents. It was on this journey that he met a friend of his sisters who informed him that his parents and sister had died in an air-raid. Werner changed his plans at this news and travelled to Überlingen, near Lake Constance to see an uncle. He then went into the nearby mountains and with a cousin, went skiing; but the war was never far away. They could hear artillery to the west in the Vosges.

Werner returned to his boat to find other crew members in a similar situation to him. The common rallying point seemed to be U-953. The U-boat had emerged from her overhaul, but underneath the fresh paint and grease and a new schnorchel, she was still tired and obsolete.

More faults
U-953 departed Lübeck on 8 February 1945, heading north. It was not long before another mechanical problem became apparent, this time a faulty hatch. The problem could only be rectified in Bergen, which involved a perilous voyage on the surface to the Norwegian port. Having riveted and welded the offending hatch shut, the boat left her Nordic haven on 17 February, heading for the Atlantic. However, new orders were soon received to the effect that the submarine was to operate in Plymouth Bay (on the southwest English coast). Having navigated the dangerous waters around the west of Ireland, the U-boat patrolled the shallows of the bay, looking for suitable targets.

On 20 March, U-953 tracked a convoy of seven cargo ships. The submarine seemed to have the convoy at her mercy. To Werner's consternation, the outer torpedo doors would not open fully. The fault was serious enough to warrant an immediate return to Norway.

The end
U-953 returned to Bergen on 7 April. The defect was such that she required a dry-dock, which meant that the repairs would have to be effected in Trondheim. Having arrived in the early morning of 14 April, Werner was enjoying a coffee when he and his crew heard about the death of American President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The submariners were unmoved. Werner was downhearted to learn on 17 April that the boat's repairs must include the re-alignment of the torpedo tubes and the dry-dock would not be available in the immediate future.

Werner could see that the war was lost and began work on an abortive plan to escape to South America. He was then informed that he would be taking command of another U-boat in Kristiansand. On 4 and 5 May two signals were received from Dönitz concerning capitulation; the war was over, Werner had survived it.

In the chaotic days following the surrender, a few U-boats came into Kristiansand. Werner was a witness to the execution of three German sailors, who, while facing hanging, began fighting with their guards and were shot instead. He assisted with their burial at sea.

Escape and evasion
Werner and the other surviving sailors were confined to the island of Tromoey; they were questioned by the British in nearby Mandal on 24 July. Two days later, they returned to Germany. They were transported by train from Bremerhaven to Frankfurt, by American soldiers. However, they went on to, then through Höchst and were met by French troops and taken to the "notorious Camp Dietersheim".

Werner and a companion were to live there in the open, but the former U-boat commander resolved to escape that night; the companion was not so enthusiastic. Werner succeeded in getting out of the camp, only to be recaptured and sent in a freight train, to a camp near La Flèche in France. In the third week of his incarceration, Werner and his friend escaped to Le Mans where they managed to board a train to Paris. The two men became separated on the train; on his arrival in the French capital on 1 September, Werner was recaptured when he dallied too long waiting for his friend. He was taken to Fort Cormeille where he enlisted, under duress, in the French Foreign Legion. He also suffered a severe bout of dysentery which resulted in a spell in hospital. He was moved to another camp near Le Mans where he used the contents of a Red Cross parcel to barter for what he needed for another escape attempt.

Werner succeeded in leaving the camp on 20 October and repeated his journey from Le Mans to Paris. From there he travelled to Metz and the border town of Forbach. Reaching Saarbrücken, he gave himself up to the station master who, with some off-duty colleagues, helped him on his way to Frankfurt.