Credit River - U-869 Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

res2100: The famous U-869 has sunk. Time to say goodbye.

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Hidden : 7/14/2013
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
4 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:


Credit River - Shipwreck Series

U-869
 February 11, 1945



There are many shipwrecks around the world. Some very famous and others not so. Each however has it’s own story to tell. As you travel along the Credit River doing this series of caches, we have highlighted a number of these shipwrecks. During low water levels on these parts of the Credit River, you need to be careful in a canoe or kayak so as you don’t wind up in your own shipwreck. Besides the many large rocks along the way, there are also some other obstacles such as dams which should be avoided. All of the geocaches in this series have been placed by tubing, inflatable boat or on foot by walking in the water along the Credit River. Whichever way you choose to search for these caches, use caution and common sense.
More information about this series can be found here: Credit River - Shipwreck Series

U-869
German submarine U-869 was a German Type IXC/40 U-boat of the Kriegsmarine during World War II whose wreck was discovered off the coast of New Jersey in 1991. It was commissioned on January 26, 1944 with Kapitänleutnant Hellmut Neuerburg in command. Neuerburg went down with his boat.

U-869 conducted one World War II war patrol without success. It suffered no casualties to its crew until it was lost in February 1945, with all but one of 56 crew members dead. One man, Herbert Guschewski was not on board as he became ill just before the patrol.

The men who found U-869 believed that it was a victim of its own torpedo, which may have become a "circle-runner". Torpedoes manufactured later in the war had acoustical seeking capability. It was theorized that the torpedo was initially fired in a turning pattern and when it missed its target, it picked up the sound of the submarine's propeller. At least two other U-boats are known to have been lost to their own torpedoes: U-377 in 1944 and U-972 in late 1943. Chatterton and Kohler based their theory largely on a lack of other evidence to support other causes for sinking. They claimed there was no reported naval activity in the vicinity thereby ruling out a sinking by attack. Also, the damage to the hull was from the outside and thereby ruled out an internal explosion. This problem also affected the US submarine force at least twice, as seen with USS Tang (SS-306) and USS Tullibee (SS-284).

Gary Gentile, a noted wreck diver, researcher, and author, rejects Chatteron and Kohler's theory. He cites attack logs and eyewitness accounts from the crew of two destroyer escorts suggesting that the U-boat was initially damaged with a hedgehog launched by the Howard D. Crow (DE-252) and then subsequently damaged with a depth charge by the accompanying Koiner (DE-331).

The United States Coast Guard, in its official evaluation of the evidence, discarded the circle-running torpedo theory and awarded the sinking to the two destroyers. This was confirmed by Marlyn Berkey who was on a destroyer as part of the Pacific fleet entering NY harbor after the war was over, the submarine showed up on radar and his destroyer depth charged the sub and sank it as evidenced by him of oil and debris floating on the surface, they were allowed to place a broom upside down coming into New York which meant "clean sweep". Contributing to their findings was the fact that there are two damage holes in the wreck of U-869. This was more consistent with the attack reports that cited two explosions versus the circle runner theory which would only explain one hole. The official records state that U-869 was destroyed on February 11, 1945 by two U.S. destroyer escorts, Howard D. Crow and Koiner.

Only one crew member survived by virtue of not having been aboard. Second Radio Officer Herbert Guschewski came down with pneumonia and pleurisy shortly before the boat's departure. Like the families of the crew, Guschewski did not know what happened to his fellow sailors until 1999. He watched a program which eventually became the NOVA episode "Hitler's Lost Sub" and contacted the producers shortly afterwards, who interviewed him and kept a portion of it in the 2000 American broadcast.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ghor unatvat ba gerr oenapu nobhg 4 srrg bire jngre.

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)


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