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U-805 Surrenders at Portsmouth, NH Mystery Cache

Hidden : 12/30/2006
Difficulty:
3.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

THE COORDINATES LISTED ARE NOT THE COORDINATES OF THE CACHE SITE!

The cache site is within a 2-mile-radius of this location at the intersection of US Route 3 and NH Route 106 in Pembroke, New Hampshire.

U-805

The first German submarine to surrender in New England waters was towed into Portsmouth Harbor on May 15, 1945. The 245-foot-long U-805 officially surrendered at Kitt’s Rock Buoy that afternoon at 1645. The Navy tug USS Dekanisora met the U-805 off the Isle of Shoals and towed her near the Revolutionary War Fort McClary where she was moored. After a brief press session the 27 crewmen and four officers were transported to the "Castle," a giant reinforced naval prison still standing abandoned in Portsmouth Harbor today.

Many German souvenirs, such as the manufacturer’s plate from an early computer shown below, found their way into the Portsmouth via a network of local onlookers.

During the crew’s detention, the U-boat’s radio operator, Oberstabsgefreiter Versch Lusseln, tried to gain favor with prison guards by offering information about one of U-805’s missions. According to an encrypted message transmitted by the German Defensive Force/Air Force the day of Germany’s unconditional surrender, U-805 was tasked with landing a German operative on the US mainland to retrieve stolen information detailing air defense emplacements along Hampton Beach. The information was allegedly placed in a small-sized container cached in the New Hampshire’s state capital region. Lusseln gave one of the guards crumpled page from one of the U-805’s codebooks and a scrap of paper imprinted with the following characters:

NTP OUL

HCJNE XHUSZ BCHSZ NDJAQ LZXAW TDQTZ JSGUA KXXVC KAGBU NXCQC NOAQP VCCPV SOUOP PSKGC OOCTY HRQWC YPGME QRQJU MXPK

After a brief detention at the Castle the prisoners were transferred to Washington DC.

The cache is a small lock n' lock. You may want to bring a fishing pole for disguise. Take pictures and post them.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Qvex Evwzranag. Ybbx va gur sbex bs n ynetr qrnq gerr.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)