German submarine U-1234

German submarine U-1234 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine built during World War II for service in the Battle of the Atlantic. U-1234 was unusual for having sunk twice, once by accident and once as part of the great destruction of the remaining Kriegsmarine in the days before the surrender.

Service history
Constructed as a type IX submarine at Hamburg during 1943, U-1234 was delayed in her construction and did not reach full service status until almost a year after her construction began, a very long time for a U-boat. She was given to Kptlt Helmut Thurmann to command, and he began her process of mechanical testing and operational training in the Baltic Sea. Just under a month after her commissioning, whilst cruising off Gdynia on the night of 14/15 May, she was struck on the broadside by the steam tug Anton. The boat was holed and rapidly began to sink, slipping below the waves leaving her commander and most of her crew bobbing in the sea. Thirteen crew never reached the shore or the rescue boats and went down with their ship.

In October 1944, the boat was raised by divers and lifting equipment from the sea bed, and repaired and recommissioned into the Kriegsmarine. Such severe damage had been done to her vital systems however that she was no longer suitable for full combat duty, and was seconded to a training flotilla, where she remained to the end of the war. On 2 May 1945 her crew took her into the Hörup Happ off Flensberg and scuttled her to keep her from falling into Allied hands as their ground forces approached the port.

In fiction
U-1234 is also featured as a fictional submarine in the anime series Black Lagoon where it plays a vital part as the site of a treasure. In the anime, the boat was sunk by Allied warships off the coast of Jakarta during the war and remained on the ocean floor at a depth of 53 m for several decades. At the time of the sinking an SS officer had brought along a painting featuring typical mythological Nazi propaganda. The painting itself would bring in a sum of $50,000 to whoever could deliver it to a collector seeking it.