Last surviving WW II U-boat captain laid to rest

A key figure from World War II – Capt. Reinhard Hardegen, commander of the German submarine known as the U-123 – died June 9, 2018, at age 105.

His passing closes yet another chapter in global military history.

Hardegen was the last of Germany’s U-boat captains, one of that nation’s most decorated “aces of the deep.”

His official World War II record as U-123 commander includes at least 17 ships sunk and four damaged.

The U-123 was one of the first U-boats deployed to patrol the waters off the eastern coast of North America as part of Germany’s Operation Drumbeat in December 1941.

Hardegen is credited with the first casualty of Operation Drumbeat, the sinking of the Cyclops. The New England Historical Society (NEHS) tells the story:

“On the evening of Jan. 11, 1942, Reinhard Hardegen, the audacious captain of U-123…spotted the big British freighter Cyclops, carrying Chinese sailors and cargo to the British Isles, 300 miles east of Cape Cod (Mass.) in Canadian waters near Nova Scotia. The U-123 sent a torpedo into the Cyclops that cut her in two.”

From there, Hardegen headed south toward the United States, and the NEHS report continues: “He didn’t have good charts, but that didn’t matter. The Montauk Point (N.Y.) Lighthouse beamed a helpful navigational aid.”

On Jan. 14, 1942, the U-123 spotted the Norness silhouetted against the brightly lit coast (of the New York City metropolitan area). The huge Panamanian tanker was carrying 12,200 tons of crude. The U-123 sunk the Norness with three torpedoes.

On Jan. 15, 1942, Hardegen struck again. The Coimbra, a British tanker full of oil, was torpedoed off New York’s Long Island coast, and “within minutes the explosion sent a fireball 650 feet into the sky,” NEHS reported.

The death toll from these three swift attacks by the U-123 was 126, while 142 people were rescued and survived.

In compiling Hardegen’s obituary, Joe Daraskevich of The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Fla., wrote that the decorated German submariner was “best known for an attack that took place just off the coast of Jacksonville Beach on April 10, 1942.”

At 10:20 p.m., the U-123 torpedoed the Gulfamerica about four miles offshore. The tanker was on its maiden voyage, having left Port Arthur, Texas, laden with 101,500 barrels of furnace oil, destined for New York City.

“There were guys who sank more ships, but nobody did it with an audience like Hardegen did,” said Scott Grant, a Jacksonville historian.

The Beaches Museum & History Park in Jacksonville Beach recalled: “Hearing the explosions out at sea, people all along the beach rushed outside to watch in shock and horror as the U-boat continued its assault on the ship.” Several thousand people reportedly stood in awe along the shoreline.

Of the 48 men on the Gulfamerica, 29 survived the attack and 19 perished.

The museum scribe wrote: “While the attack was swift, the tanker took several days to sink completely, and the effect of the attack was lasting. A ban on nighttime lighting at the beach was issued following the event to avoid illuminating other American ships for the enemy. The war had reached the shores of northeast Florida.”

After the war, Hardegen returned to his hometown of Bremen, Germany, located in the northwestern section of the country on the River Wesser near the North Sea. He served for two decades in the Bremen State Parliament.

He made a well-publicized return to the United States after the 1990 publication of Michael Gannon’s book, “Operation Drumbeat.” Hardegen said at the time that he wanted to “show Americans that the enemies of yesterday are friends of today. Now, I sink putts, not ships.”

“I was a German submarine commander, not a Nazi commander,” Hardegen said in a 1990 article in The Florida Times-Union. “I did my duty for my country, not for (Adolf) Hitler.”