MORE often than not, an assumption exists that there was a clear division in how the Second World War raged around the world; that the fight against the forces of Nazi Germany was exclusively focused on Europe and the Soviet Union while the Empire of Japan was the sole enemy across Asia.
As such, a claim that a submarine – also known as a U-Boat – of the German Kriegsmarine was sunk in a sneak attack in waters off Sungai Petani might seem ludicrous.
Is such a claim really ludicrous, or did such an incident really happen as claimed online and in books?
Verdict:
TRUE
Yes, such an attack happened – and the action on Sept 23, 1944, was a sub-vs-sub fight - as U-859 was sunk when hit by a torpedo fired by another submarine, HMS Trenchant of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, while heading for the Japanese-occupied Penang on its first war patrol.
In the attack, U-859 was spotted and hit at 05.46N, 100.04E, a point in the Straits of Melaka almost exactly halfway between Alor Setar and Penang and of all on board, 47 were killed, including its captain, and only 20 survived.
Of the survivors, electrician Arthur Baudzus was later interviewed after WW2 as he had written a work of fiction based on his experiences, and in the interview, he described the attack as having split U-859 in half.
As he told publisher Riverdale Electronic Books in an online question and answer;
"U-859 had only one battery in the front half of the ship. The deadly torpedo broke our boat into two halves. So, with the ear-shattering explosion, there was no power and instant blackness. There was only one way out of the boat, which was through the tower," he said.
Baudzus added that he was thrown out of his bunk onto the deck.
"The moment I hit the deck, I bounced up like a tennis ball toward the compartment's exit hatch. In total darkness, my hands clawed at the handles above the hatch, but other forces prevented me from proceeding any farther," with the "forces" being a compartment on fire and another flooded.
He then said that he shouted out to ask the current depth of U-859 and then decided to make his escape when he was told that it was only at a depth of 50 metres.
"Only luck kept me alive after I reached the surface. We were adrift in the Malacca Straits for 24 hours," he said of his time in the water before being rescued by the Japanese.
And of his life after the incident mid-way between Alor Setar and Penang, Baudzus had this to say;
"I count my birthday from Sept 23, 1944, when I was practically dead for ten minutes, incarcerated in the blackness of hell with my comrades at the bottom of the sea.
"That I should ever rise from there to a new life is truly a miracle worth remembering."
References:
1. https://web.archive.org/web/
2. https://uboat.net/boats/u859.
3. https://wrecksite.eu/
4. https://navyhistory.au/u-859-
