German submarine U-1230

"U-1230" was a German Type IXC/40 U-boat of World War Two. Laid down on 15 March 1943 at the Deutsche Werft in Hamburg, and commissioned 26 January 1944 under the command of Kptlt. Hans Hilbig, it only undertook one patrol, operating from Horten, Norway, returning safely to Kristiansand, Norway in early 1945.

At the end of the War it was captured by the Allies, transferred to Loch Ryan in Scotland, and destroyed by the Royal Navy frigate HMS Cubitt as part of Operation Deadlight. Unusually for a U-boat, U-1230 does not seem to suffered any casualties during the War.

Its one war patrol was of historical interest less for its role in the Battle of the Atlantic (a Canadian steamer of 5,458 tons was its sole victim), but for its role in transporting two German spies to the United States. William Curtis Colepaugh and Eric Gimpel were landed at Hancock Point in the Gulf of Maine on 29 November, 1944 in Operation Elster ("Magpie").

External links

* [http://uboat.net/boats/u1230.htm uboat.net webpage on "U-1230"]
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/rep/U-1230/ ibiblio.org webpage for Allied report on the interrogations of Gimpel and Colepaugh]