German submarine U-1234

U-Boat Infobox
type=IXC/40
fieldpost number=
yard number=
order date=
keel=May 11, 1943
launch=January 7, 1944
commission=April 19, 1944
yard=Deutschewerft, Hamburg
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=Start Date
enddate=End Date
assigned unit=Assigned Unit
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=No Patrols
enddate=
assigned unit=31st FlotillaU-Boat Patrol
startdate=No Patrols
enddate=Training boat
assigned unit=4th FlotillaU_Boat Command
startdate=April, 1944
enddate=May, 1944
name=Kptlt. Helmut Thurmann
U_Boat Command
startdate=October, 1944
enddate=May, 1945
name=Kptlt. Hans-Christian Wrede
U_Boat Sink
type=Type of Ship Sunk
total=Number of Ships Sunk
tonnage=Gross Registered Tonnage
U_Boat Sink
type=Commercial Vessels
total=None
tonnage=0
U_Boat Sink
type=Military Vessels
total=None
tonnage=0

"U-1234" was an unusual German U-boat built during World War II for service in the Second Battle of the Atlantic. "U-1234" was most notorious for having sunk twice, once by accident and once as part of the great destruction of the remaining German navy in the days before the surrender.

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 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 one month from her commissioning date however on the 15 May, whilst cruising at night, she was struck on the broadside by a steam tug named "Anton" off Gdynia. 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 the 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.

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 Jakarta during the war and remained on the ocean floor at 53 metres depth for several decades. At the time of the sinking an SS officer had brought along a nazi propaganda painting to the depths, a painting featuring typical mythological nazi propaganda. The painting itself would bring in a sum of $50000 to whoever could deliver it to a collector seeking it.

References

* Sharpe, Peter, "U-Boat Fact File", Midland Publishing, Great Britain: 1998. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
* [http://www.uboat.net/boats/u1234.htm U-boat.net webpage for "U-1234"]

See Also: List of U-boats