SciTech Tuesday: U505 Captured

The capture of U-505. Image courtesy of the Historic Naval Ships Association.

Seventy years ago on June 4, 1944, German submarine U-505 was captured by United States Navy off the coast of West Africa. The capture of this elusive U-boat not only protected essential Atlantic supply routes, but also resulted in the successful recovery of German encryption technology and code books. The Enigma machine with its code setting manuals was a key piece of intelligence in allowing the Allies to interpret complex German encryption.

The U-505 was responsible for sinking three American ships along with 47,000 tons of Allied shipments. Using intercepted radio transmissions, U-505 was intercepted and brought to the surface by a depth charge attack from the USS Chatelain. Boarded by a party from the USS Pillsbury, U-505 was the first enemy ship captured at sea by American forces since the War of 1812. The long range U-boat, now housed underground at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, is the only Type IX-C submarine remaining in the world.

Learn more about this capture and the Battle of the Atlantic in our Lunchbox Lecture: The 70th Anniversary of the Capture of U-505 by John McGuckin on Wednesday, June 4, 2014. For more details on this event, visit us here.

Post by Annie Tête, STEM Education Coordinator