German U-Boat Crew Surrendered in Panic After Mistaking Depth Charges for Poison Gas

Описание: The Incredible Surrender of U-570: A U-Boat Crew's Panic Hands Britain the Keys to the Atlantic
In August 1941, during her very first war patrol, the inexperienced crew of the German Type VIIC submarine U-570 suffered relentless seasickness in the rough North Atlantic south of Iceland. When Kapitänleutnant Hans-Joachim Rahmlow surfaced to ventilate the boat, an RAF Lockheed Hudson bomber piloted by Squadron Leader James Thompson spotted them and attacked with depth charges. The explosions ruptured battery cells, releasing choking fumes that the terrified young sailors mistook for deadly chlorine gas. In blind panic, believing they were suffocating in a poisoned tomb, the crew forced Rahmlow to surface and surrender.
Without firing a shot, they waved white flags—sweaters and shirts—to the circling aircraft. Royal Navy forces boarded the intact U-boat and discovered a treasure trove: an Enigma machine with current rotor settings, codebooks, and secret orders—all untouched. This windfall reached Bletchley Park, where Alan Turing and Hut 8 codebreakers used it to resume reading Kriegsmarine traffic, sharply reducing Allied shipping losses for months.
The captured submarine was repaired, repainted, and recommissioned as HMS Graph—the only German U-boat to serve in the Royal Navy. Meanwhile, Rahmlow and his crew spent the war in Canadian POW camps, their surrender forever branded as disgrace.
A single moment of human terror changed the course of the Battle of the Atlantic.

All historical photographs and archival footage of U-570/HMS Graph, RAF Hudsons, Bletchley Park, and related events are sourced from public domain collections including the Imperial War Museums, U.S. National Archives, and Royal Navy official records. No copyright restrictions apply to their use in educational content.