My uncle was an "old tin canner"

[breadcatcher101]

He has been gone now for over 20 years, but I have never known someone who loved the navy as much as he. Had a passion for ships like many of us do for sports cars.

Was on a converted yacht the Emereld and patroled the eastern seaboard of the US after America's entry into the war, later was on SC-500, a sub chaser, then was a CPO on the DE Daniel 335 for the rest of the war. Full of stories and could tell you things you never knew.

One day when I stopped in to visit, he gives me a letter. It is in German and I realize that it was from Admiral Donitz! My uncle had watched a tv show about the U boats and it had a segment with Donitz and somehow he got his address and wrote him telling him of once when they were in a convoy approaching Gilbrator they recieved a message from Donitz telling them he had a nice Christmas present waiting for them at the strait, being a group of U boats. Many of them were sunk and this was the core of my uncles letter to him, but he also touched on the horror of war and of doing ones duty, also talked about ships in general and a bit about his family.

Anyway, Donitz wrote him back and here was his letter in my hands! I could read some of it but not enough to understand. Also he included a picture of him, same one that is in the movie "Das Boot", only smaller, about the size of a playing card. My uncle took the letter to a local college and had it read to him. He said that the Admiral recalled the incident and regrets too the horror of war, plus more topics such as U boats, several type ships, both military and not, and of his family, about a page and a half, all hand-written.

Back then there was not a easy way to "run a copy" as we can now. What a mistake on my part! After my uncle died, my aunt gives me all his books, pictures of him and his ship, and all the DESA publications (Destroyer Escort Sailor's Association) from day one, plus many T shirts he bought at these yearly meetings. Strangely I didn't get the letter. I didn't feel it proper to ask about it, no one else in the family cared about those type things. I fear it was tossed out in the trash maybe, but hope it was given to maybe one of his fellow mates, who knows?

He always wanted a U boat captains cap but could never find one. It was strange to me at the time but he thought the German navy uniform looked very well-made and thought the American one was shabby-looking. He was right, you know? Anyway, I find him a reproduction cap and walk in Christmas Day and you should see the look on his face! He lit up like a Christmas tree. My aunt told me he would wear it during his walks and the ladies would admire his "handsome cap" not even knowing it was German. He always got a well-manered laugh out of that fact.

It wasn't much longer after that when his heart finally just gave out and he died. I am glad I got the cap for him, took me a long time to find one but to me it was my way of thanking him for all the stories he shared with me.

I am sure many of you have the same type stories your uncles, fathers, told you about the war. You know then the special meaning of it all then, to hear it from some one who was there.

Thank you for this very interesting story! The fact that Donitz would send a 'warning' tells something about the kind of comraderie that existed in WW2 between the navies of both sides.

[Lurchi]

Interesting story - but can this be true? I mean, by giving such a warning to a convoy he would have reduced the chances of success of the u-boats and heavily endangered the soldiers under his command. Especially in the usually heavily patrolled Gibraltar area. This contradicts every picture of Dönitz i have.

Mmmmh, i don't want to sound like a "know-it-all" but i never read about him doing such a thing and it doesn't really fit into the situation of 1941 - 45.

Anyway, i'm not in the position to question a veteran so please excuse but i find this story quite interesting, thanks for posting it.

[breadcatcher101]

You know, I thought the same thing about it. Why would they give notice they were there waiting? I didn't question him about it, and the fact that Donitz recalled it as well. More than likely it really hapened.

I can tell you another story he told me even more interesting that is along those same lines:

They used to play movies aboard during convoy runs. One night after a movie they got a radio signal that read, "We enjoyed the musical you played for us this evening. Heil Hitler."

Apparenty a U boat overheard the music from the movie form underwater. I wondered about this as you would have noise from the ship engines as well.

Anyway after that, the captain of the Daniel, forgot his name, only that he was from Manhatten, played no more movies.

My uncle would have been in a position to have known that as he was electrical/radio specialist on the Daniel.

The ship was scrapped in '74, he was present at the time. They needed a mast to put in front of a naval office somewhere for flags and they just happened to pick out the one off his ship because it was on the corner, easy to get to.

Originally Posted by Lurchi

Interesting story - but can this be true? I mean, by giving such a warning to a convoy he would have reduced the chances of success of the u-boats and heavily endangered the soldiers under his command. Especially in the usually heavily patrolled Gibraltar area. This contradicts every picture of Dönitz i have.

Mmmmh, i don't want to sound like a "know-it-all" but i never read about him doing such a thing and it doesn't really fit into the situation of 1941 - 45.

Anyway, i'm not in the position to question a veteran so please excuse but i find this story quite interesting, thanks for posting it.

Hmm, good point. Theoretically I guess it wouldn't have made much of a difference had they told about it or not, the Allied probably couldn't alter the course anyway. However, I do find it likelier that such radio communication probably didn't exist.

[Sailor Steve]

Great story! Always good to hear first-hand accounts from people who were there.