Topic: Nazi U-boat voyaged around New Zealand

Little known fact but of the 40 odd U-boats which reached or attempted to reach South East Asia in 1943-44, one actually patrolled New Zealand waters.

U-862 sank a freighter near Sydney on Christmas eve 1944 and then voyaged around NZ not making a single sinking in NZ waters. The voyage's purpose is still mysterious as the U-boat's war diary (kept in Germany from radio logs) disappeared on a Junkers Ju-290 flight to Barcelona on 5/6 April 1945.

U-862's sister sub U-196 simply vanished from history on the same voyage in even more mysterious circumstances. Her engineering officer Heinz Haake was an avowed anti Nazi. His grave is found on a former German plantation on the shores of Sunda straits. Claims that U-196 was sunk by an allied mine are also likely false since these were sewn by a Free Dutch forces submarine in the Sunda Straits a fortnight after U-196 passed by.

So if you come to NZ, bring a mask and snorkel because you just might find the bones of Nazi U-boat one day.

Here's a link for a website all about submarines in the pacific war:

Imperial Submarines

Originally Posted by tazjet

Little known fact but of the 40 odd U-boats which reached or attempted to reach South East Asia in 1943-44, one actually patrolled New Zealand waters.

U-862 sank a freighter near Sydney on Christmas eve 1944 and then voyaged around NZ not making a single sinking in NZ waters. The voyage's purpose is still mysterious as the U-boat's war diary (kept in Germany from radio logs) disappeared on a Junkers Ju-290 flight to Barcelona on 5/6 April 1945.

U-862's sister sub U-196 simply vanished from history on the same voyage in even more mysterious circumstances. Her engineering officer Heinz Haake was an avowed anti Nazi. His grave is found on a former German plantation on the shores of Sunda straits. Claims that U-196 was sunk by an allied mine are also likely false since these were sewn by a Free Dutch forces submarine in the Sunda Straits a fortnight after U-196 passed by.

So if you come to NZ, bring a mask and snorkel because you just might find the bones of Nazi U-boat one day.

A curious story popped up

05.11.2008 in the Northern Advocate (Whangarei) alleging

Noel Hilliam, of Dargaville, president of the New Zealand Underwater Heritage Group, claims U196, lies off the west coast of the Kaipara Harbour and that in 1944, U196 dropped off 13 high-ranking Nazis and three children on a nearby beach, with the people later passing themselves off as Austrians in Northland.
The group was said to have been transferred from another submarine to the U196 in the Bay of Biscay.
This is difficult to reconcile with sources such as
feldgrau.net which says one of the more bizarre claims about U-196 is that she was sighted being escorted into a Chilean Fjord by a Chilean cruiser but a more accepted explanation is that she struck a mine in the Sunda strait.
U196 was said to have been tasked to patrol around the south of Australia en-route to Kobe for replacement batteries.
Has anyone heard of hard evidence or documents that a U-boat was sunk or scuttled off the Northland coast, or that Germans landed with the ``loot'' referred to by Mr Hilliam?

I can't add to Hilliam's claims but there are very contradictory reports about U-196 striking a mine off Sunda Straits. Firstly the Sunda Straits area was not mined by the Dutch until 2 weeks after the U-196 was claimed to have sunk 30 Nov 1944.

Secondly Berlin was still broadcasting signals to U-196 as late as January 1945.

Thirdly on or about the same dates there were two different sightings of U-boats off east Australia around Xmas 1944 about 200nm apart.

Fourth there are claims which I have not been able to verify that U-196 is said to have radioed that it struck a mine after striking it... rather bizarre.

Fifth U-196's doctor is buried at a German plantation on Java with an inscription in Indonesian. Five other German servicemen buried at the same plot were not members of U-196's crew.

I have also been told a story of U-196 being escorted to a fiord in Chile by a Chilean cruiser. I can't recall now who first told me.

If the U-boat is discovered off Kaipara harbour it would rewrite several history books.

Thanks for the story... Cheers

Actually the story of a transfer of passengers at sea in the Bay of Biscay does not ring true at all. U-196 sailed in March 1944. The only U-boat bound for Asia which disappeared in March 1944 was U-851.

U-851 sailed from Keil and not from France so the story already appears unlikely. Furthermore, U-196 reached Penang in August 1944 and sailed from Djakarta in November 1944.

For any part of this story to make sense the passengers must have embarked on U-180 and either transferred to U-219 or U-195 bound for Djakarta.

Pondered this story even further over night.

The story of gold being smuggled here on U-196 is credible. Germany was shipping Uranium oxide to the Japanese and Japan was paying for it in gold.

In November 1944 when U-196 sailed for Australia would you as a Nazi leader require funds be repatriated to Europe on a mission which may result in a sinking ?

Few U-boats made it back from Asia in 1944. Nazi leaders might seriously think about smuggling the gold elsewhere. That part of this story is plausible enough.

U-196 is the only U-boat likely to be off Kaipara harbour. apparently the wreck has been dived on four times since 1981. Interesting !