WINSTON CHURCHILL (referring to the U-boat threat)      

"It was the only fear I had throughout the entire war "

Of 1,170 completed U-boats, 863 became operational, sinking 2,840 ships of over 14-million GRT.  Included were two battleships, three aircraft carriers, five escort carriers, six cruisers, and forty-one destroyers.

By February 1944 - D-Day mere months away and the war at its most intense - the U-boat force was also at its most powerful, with 447 boats in service. And in April 1944, the first of the revolutionary Type XXI boats came into service, new torpedoes were introduced, and the schnorkel device gave the boats extended endurance and survivability.  U-boats were now true submersibles.  No other navy had that capability.     

Now enter the same French chateau where Vice-admiral Karl Donitz conducted the campaign that Churchill feared more than anything else.   

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BELOW, ADMIRAL DONITZ IN THE MAP ROOM ON THE CHATEAU'S GROUND FLOOR OPPOSITE HIS OFFICE.  THE LOCATION OF Bdu COMMAND AT KERNEVAL, OPPOSITE LORIENT, WAS IDEAL FOR VIEWING ARRIVING OR DEPARTING U-BOATS FROM THE ROOF OF THE ATTACHED BUNKER.  UNTIL LATER IN THE WAR U-BOAT COMMAND HID IN PLAIN SIGHT AS LORIENT WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED.  A CHATEAU ON EITHER SIDE OF HEADQUARTERS ALSO SERVED U-BOAT COMMAND.  TODAY, HE WOULD EASILY IF NOT PAINFULLY, IDENTIFY HIS ELEGANT HOME AND COMMAND.  EVEN THE PRESENT ENTRANCE IS THE SAME IRON GATE THROUGH WHICH ENTERED U-BOAT CAPTAINS, DIGNITARIES AND CHATEAU STAFF.  AND THE ADJACENT CHATEAUX AND THEIR BUNKERS REMAIN AS THEY WERE IN 1942

BELOW, ONE OF MANY ROOMS IN THE CHATEAU CELLAR LED TO THE ABOVE GROUND BUNKER, ALL PART OF U-BOAT OPERATIONAL COMMAND.  BOX- LIKE WALL OPENINGS PERMITTED MESSAGES TO BE QUICKLY TAKEN TO THE SIGNALS STAFF FILLING THIS ROOM.  OVER 200 SIGNALS, SUPPLY, OPERATIONAL, AND INTELLIGENCE STAFF WERE HERE.  OTHERS WERE IN ADJACENT CHATEAUX. 

AT RIGHT, PART OF THE COLUMNED FOYER AT U-BOAT COMMAND.  THE DOOR LEADS TO THE SMALL OFFICE WHERE ADMIRAL DONITZ INTERVIEWED AND UNREMITTINGLY QUESTIONED RETURNING U-BOAT CAPTAINS.  THE AUTHOR IS IN THE FOYER AT Bdu  COMMAND.

THIS SWASTIKA FLEW FROM THE CHATEAU'S JACKSTAFF ON THE DAY LORIENT WAS LIBERATED. 

PAINTED BY CREWMEN, THE TILES FEATURE INSIGNIA FROM THE 2 FLOTILLAS AND 28 LORIENT U-BOATS, EACH WITH ITS OWN INSIGNIA.

(Below) THE UNCHANGED CHATEAU TERRACE AND THE ORGANIZATION - TODT BUILT ABOVE- GROUND CONNECTED BUNKER.  THE THREE MASSIVE PEN ENCLOSURES ARE 1,000 YARDS ACROSS THE SCORFF RIVER ROADSTEAD.  THEY WERE EASILY SEEN FROM THE BUNKER ROOF WHERE ADMIRAL DONITZ VIEWED MOST U-BOAT ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES.  FROM THIS OVERLOOK HE TOOK THE SALUTE OF CREWS MANNING THE RAIL, AND COULD HEAR A THUMPING BRASS BAND AT THE SELECTED PEN ENCLOSURE.  (Center) WARTIME VIEW OF ONE OF THREE SECTIONS, KEROMAN I, 2 and 3.  (Right) WARTIME VIEW OF A U-BOAT ENTERING ITS BERTH.   

(Below) REACHED FROM THE CHATEAU'S CELLAR, THE INTACT MULTI - ROOMED BUNKER HAD A 200-MAN SIGNALS STAFF THAT PREPARED 'APPRECIATIONS' FOR THE UPSTAIRS FLAG STAFF.  OTHER THAN THE WARTIME EQUIPMENT NOTHING HAS CHANGED.  EXCLUSIVELY MADE AVAILABLE TO THE AUTHOR, THE CHATEAU IS OTHERWISE NOT OPEN TO VISITORS.  THESE ARE THE ONLY KNOWN PHOTOS.  
         

(Above center and right) THE STILL EXTRAORDINARY SEVEN SECTION TWENTY-SEVEN FOOT THICK ROOF SHOWING PARTS OF BOTH AN INCOMPLETE AND A FULLY INSTALLED 'FANGROST' TOP SECTION.  THE FIVE U-BOAT BASES WERE THE MOST FIERCELY PROTECTED OF ALL THE ATLANTIC WALL DEFENSES, AND GIVEN THE DEFIANT DESIGNATION OF 'FESTUNG.' 

                                 (Above) THEN AND NOW.  (L) THE U-BOAT SLIPWAY BEGINNING AT THE WATERSIDE ENTRY THROUGH A CONCRETE SLIPWAY (C) ENCLOSURE TO (R) AN 8-TRACK TRANSPORTER SYSTEM.  SET ON A PORTABLE CRADLE AND AIDED BY AN OVERHEAD TRAVELING CRANE, A U-BOAT FIRST TRANSITED THE SLIPWAY.  BRIEFLY OUTDOORS, AN ELECTRIC- MOTOR POWERED TRACTION UNIT THEN MOVED THE U-BOAT ALONG PARALLEL RAILS (R) INTO THE SELECTED CONCRETE OVERHAUL BERTH.  IF ALL WENT AS PLANNED THE COMPLEX PROCESS TOOK ONLY ONE HOUR.  THE EQUIPMENT, OPERATION UNITS, AND HIGHLY ORIGINAL AND DETAILED PLANS CAME FROM M.A.N. INDUSTRIES OF GUSTAVSBURG, GERMANY.  OF 1,149 MAJOR WARTIME OVERHAULS, 492 WERE AT THE LORIENT YARDS.  A SECOND VISIT IN 2005 VERIFIED THAT THE LORIENT AND ST. NAZAIRE BASES ARE AS THEY WERE IN 1999, AND AS THEY APPEARED DURING THE WAR.  NOT ONE ALLIED BOMBING MISSION OF HUNDREDS EVER STOPPED THE PROCESS.  IT STOPPED ON THE DAY THE WAR IN EUROPE ENDED.

(Below) PRESENT DAY VIEW OF THE LOWEST SECTION OF THE ANOMALOUS SEVEN -- LAYER ROOF.  CONSTRUCTION NEEDS FOR ONLY THE LORIENT BASE - 3.4 MILLION CUBIC FEET OF CONCRETE - ALMOST EQUALED THE VOLUME OF CONCRETE POURED IN BUILDING THE HOOVER DAM, CONSIDERED ONE OF HISTORY'S GREATEST CONSTRUCTION ACCOMPLISHMENTS.  THIS 'BOX' HAS SILTED-OVER BUT IS OTHERWISE UNCHANGED.  FOR PERIOD COMPARISON, NOTE THE U-BOATS IN SIMILAR PENS.

(Below)  AS FERVENT BELIEVERS IN AND EXCESSIVELY PROFITING FROM THE REGIME, GERMAN COMPANIES (MANY WELL KNOWN TODAY) PROUDLY EMBOSSED THEIR NAMES ON ALMOST EVERY PIECE OF EQUIPMENT, INCLUDING THE BELOW LEFT PORTION OF A DRAINAGE PUMP.  EVER ATTENTIVE TO ORDER AND PRECISION (below center) GERMAN OVERSEER'S REQUIRED THAT EACH WORKER AND CREW MEMBER CARRY AN IDENTITY DISK LINKED TO A SPECIFIC "U_BOX."    PAINTED ON A PEN BUNKER WALL:  "DARE THE BOLDEST , STRIVE FOR THE HIGHEST, BEAR THE HEAVIEST: A GERMAN LIFE."

(Below) NOTE THE EXTREMELY SMALL APPEARANCE OF THE TWO FIGURES NEXT TO THE SLIPWAY LEADING TO THE U-BOAT REPAIR PENS.  AND, STILL VISIBLE IN TWO LANGUAGES - PASSAGE FORBIDDEN .

ALTHOUGH SOME SECTIONS HAD MINOR DAMAGE FROM HUNDREDS OF ALLIED BOMBINGS, TODAY, EACH BUNKER PEN AND ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT SEEM ALMOST OPERABLE.  THE FRENCH NAVY USED THE SAME BASES FOR THEIR NUCLEAR NAVY UNTIL DEPARTING THE SAME DAY MOST OF THESE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN.   (Below) THE LINE MARKS THE CONNING TOWER CENTER LOCATION WHEN DOCKING.
        

 (Below)  THEN AND NOW VIEWS SHOW THE ST. NAZAIRE AND LORIENT ENTRANCES IN ALMOST THEIR ORIGINAL APPEARANCE.                     A WELCOMING CROWD - APPEARING LIKE ANTS - WELCOME U-552, THE FIRST TO ENTER THE COMPLETED ST. NAZAIRE BASE.    

NO PART OF THE REICH HAD BETTER DEFENSES THAN THE FIVE U-BOAT BASES.  OVER 300 HEAVY CALIBER GUNS DEFENDED LORIENT.  ARTILLERY WAS SITED ON FLAK SHIPS, TOWERS, AND ON LAND.  FORTY-THOUSAND WEHRMACHT ENCIRCLED 'FESTUNG LORIENT'  

(Above left) COMPARE THE APPEARANCE OF THE VEHICLE TO A SMALL LANDSIDE SECTION OF THE LORIENT BASE.  MEASURED HORIZONTALLY, THE 3 SECTIONS WERE ALMOST THE SIZE OF CHICAGO'S SEARS TOWER, FOR 32 YEARS THE WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDING.  THE TITANIC TWICE OVER AND WITH 400 FEET TO SPARE, COULD OCCUPY THE COMBINED LORIENT PENS.  THE PHOTO OF THE WEHRMACHT TROOPS MAY HAVE BEEN TAKEN NEAR THE SAME LOCATION. 

HUNDREDS OF RAIDS AND THOUSANDS OF BOMBS ONLY DENTED THE 7- LAYERED BUNKER ROOFS.  CRUDELY SPLASHED ON A PEN WALL ARE THE NAMES OF 2 U-BOAT SAILORS, BUT DID THEY LIVE TO SAIL AGAIN?  THE U.S. EIGHTH AIR FORCE ALONE LOST 30,000 MEN IN FUTILE ATTACKS AGAINST THE U-BOAT PENS.  THE 10% DEATH RATE WAS TEN TIMES MORE THAN FOR U.S. GROUND FORCES.  FOUR THOUSAND GI's REST IN THE AMERICAN CEMETERY NEAR CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND. 

ALONG WITH HUNDREDS OF POUNDS OF ROTORS AND PARTS IN WEIGHTED BAGS, THIS IS ONE OF TWO ENIGMA DEVICES TAKEN IN THE CAPTURE OF U-505.  CODE-NAMED 'ULTRA' AND CONSIDERED TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT INTELLIGENCE FEAT IN HISTORY, CODE BREAKERS AT BLETCHLEY PARK REVEALED THE INNER WORKINGS OF NAZI GERMANY'S PRINCIPLE MEANS OF SECRET MILITARY COMMUNICATION.  (READ THE AUTHOR'S "SECRET AT BLETCHLEY PARK" ON THIS SITE).  THE ENIGMA DEVICE AND THE M.A.N. MEDALLION ARE AMONG THE NUMEROUS ARTIFACTS IN THE U-505 EXHIBIT AT CHICAGO'S MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.  U-505 IS THE ONLY EXAMPLE OF AN ALMOST FULLY FUNCTIONING U-BOAT.  ITS ORIGINAL TWIN SUPER-CHARGED NINE-CYLINDER DIESEL ENGINES REMAIN INTACT.  AFTER THE WAR, M.A.N. GAVE TECHNICAL ADVICE TO U-505 RESTORERS, ALONG WITH FUEL- INJECTOR VALVES AND GAUGES.  THE STARBOARD ENGINE WAS STARTED FOR THE 5OTH ANNIVERSARY OF U-505s CAPTURE.  

THE WOODEN CUPBOARD AND COFFEE MUGS ABOARD U-505 SUGGEST COMFORT, BUT 59 MEN LIVED IN A 292 FT IRON COFFIN ONLY SLIGHTLY WIDER THAN OUTSTRETCHED ARMS.  SURROUNDED BY EQUIPMENT HANGING OR RATIONS STOWED IN EVERY AVAILABLE SPACE, THEY SHARED RACKS WITH AT LEAST ONE OTHER CREW-MEMBER.  ALWAYS IN THEIR THOUGHTS WAS THE FEAR THAT THIS CRUISE COULD BE THEIR LAST.  AND FOR MOST IT WAS THE END.  THE ZEAL OF A RUTHLESS REGIME COST THE LIVES OF 28,000 U-BOAT SAILORS.  THE 70% LOSS RATE WAS THE HIGHEST IN THE GERMAN ARMED FORCES.  THE AVERAGE AGE OF A SAILOR IN THE 'KREIGSMARINE UNTERSEE' FORCE WAS JUST TWENTY-TWO.

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