Kurt Tebbenjoahnnes Archives

05/08/201926/01/2024

Recalling the loss of UC 44

It was just about midnight on a calm moonlit night in Waterford Harbour. Aboard the WWI mine laying submarine UC-44, her skipper, Kurt Tebbenjoahnnes, satisfied himself as to their position and gave the orders to start deploying her load. The UC class of sub were a relatively new design and although they could deploy mines from the surface, secrecy was paramount. As the night was so clear and they were initially so close to land (at Creaden Head, Co Waterford) Tebbenjoahnnes gave the command to submerge. These mines were stored in chutes in the forward section of the submarine. Each mine was dropped individually and the position carefully recorded. As the mine dropped out, the sub floated astern on the tide. As it hit the bottom, a soluble plug held the mine in position, allowing plenty of time for the sub to clear. Saltwater reacted to the plug, which eventually dissolved and released the mine which floated up to a predetermined height on a wire.

Beneath the mine was a hydrostatic valve that was set to a specific depth which controlled the position of the mine. Whatever way the tide was running, it maintained the mine beneath the surface making detection much more difficult. There the mines waited for an unsuspecting ship to pass over and strike the protruding horns which triggered an explosion.

While this operation was ongoing Tebbenjoahnnes remained in the conning tower, checking the boats position and plotting his course for Queenstown (Cobh) in Cork harbour. Suddenly he heard and felt a loud explosion and his boat lurched downwards and struck the seabed.

Tebbenjoahnnes found himself on the bottom of Waterford harbour in the conning tower and was speedily joined by two other submariners; chief engine room officer Fahnster and a young apprentice named Richter. Any attempts to raise the submarine were in vain and with no communication with the rest of the crew and waters rising around them they were faced with only one choice, to try for the surface which was 90 feet above. All three emerged from below almost as one, but eventually they drifted apart. Miraculously Tebbenjoahnnes was pulled aboard a local fishing boat later that morning by Dunmore East fishermen. Tebbenjoahnnes was cared for in the home of Mrs Chester and was attended by Mr Austin Farrell. Later that morning he was turned over to the authorities and began his journey to London and life as a POW.

For a view of the wreck of UC42 which was lost in Cork Harbour follow this link via Carroll O’Donoghue via KINSALE DEEP SEA ANGLING

Removing the remaining mines following salvage. Courtesy of Paul O’Farrell

The rescue of Tebbenjoahnnes would trigger a series of events over the next few days and weeks that would see the death of a crew man aboard the minesweeper Haldon and the dramatic salvage of the submarine that would have a major part to play in the allies winning WWI.

All that was to come however. On that morning of the 5th August, Tebbenjohannes had breakfast before commencing his new life as a POW under escort to London for interrogation.

A story of the salvage and the implications of WWI is subject of a new book by Tony Babb. It makes for an interesting read

05/08/201606/08/2024

U Boat tragedy in Dunmore East

Standing on the breakwater at Dunmore East last night, I found it hard to try to cast my mind back to the scene 99 years ago to the day. For on August 4th 1917 just after midnight, an explosion ripped through the hull of a U Boat laying mines between Dunmore and the Hook. Three fishermen; Jack McGrath and two brothers Tom & Patsy Power, rowed out from the village in their fishing boat to assist. Later that night they pulled the half-dead commander of the submarine Kapitanleutnant Kurt Tebbenjoahnnes out of the water. From a crew of 30, he would be the only one to survive.

Once in Dunmore, Tebbenjoahnnes was cared for in the home of Mrs Chester and was seen to by Mr Austin Farrell. Later that morning he began his journey to London and life as a POW.

UC-44 lying at the quayside at Dunmore September
2017

accessed from:
http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/imperial-

germany-austro-hungary/german-u-boat-photos-postcards-156303/

Meanwhile, a salvage operation was initiated under Lieutenant Commander Davis. Divers (tin openers) were deployed, and entered the sub to bring up the U Boats papers and later cables were dropped from a surface vessel, brought under the sub and then brought back to the surface. At low tide, the cables were secured to the decks of two ships and when the tide rose, so did the submarine. Once the sub was sufficiently off the bottom, the salvage vessels moved towards Dunmore. In all, it took twenty lifts and as a consequence of bad weather it would be September 25th before they reached harbour.

Salvage operation at Dunmore via Paul O’Farrell

Although the U boat sank, at least 3 of her crew, the Captain, Tebbenjoahnnes, and two engine room staff; Richter and Fahnster escaped. When the explosion happened they were in the conning tower, and were separated from the main craft. Their escape necessitated them opening the outer hatch and a swim to the surface that lay 90 feet above. All three broke the surface together, but eventually they drifted apart.

An intact mine being unloaded (1 of 9 remaining
aboard) note Dunmore

Lighthouse to the left. via Paul
O’Farrell on the Waterford Maritime History page

Richter’s corpse washed up on Wexford shore in the following weeks and was buried in Duncannon and after the war re-interred in the German Military Cemetery at Glencree Co Wicklow. Apparently Joahnn Fahnster’s body was never recovered.

Of the remaining twenty seven souls little is known. There is a thread online claiming that 19 bodies were contained in the submarine when she reached Dunmore, undoubtedly the others would have washed out of the damaged hull. The reference for this claim is cited as Robert Grants book the U Boat Hunters. Some claim that in line with naval policy, they were taken out and buried at sea. It has been speculated that to inter so many in a cemetery on land would draw attention to the fact that the U-boat had been salvaged and thus lose an advantage to the German side. Many accounts don’t even mention the crew, their average age being 20! Perhaps seeing the crew list will make it more real.

Rank Surname
Christian name

Matrose	BARTZ	John.
Ltnt.z.S.d.Res.	BENDLER	Wilhelm
O.Masch.Mt.	BIENERT	Fritz
Heizer	BORGWALDT	K:
Btsm.Mt.d.Res.	BÖTTCHER	A.
O.Matrose	BÜRGER	O.
Masch.Anw.	CLASEN	H.
Ob.Matrose	DÜSING	August
Ob.Masch.Mt.	FAHNSTER	Johann
Heizer	FEHRLE	Erwin
F.T.Gast	GIESENHAGEN	K.
T.Heizer	GOLOMBOWSKI	–
U.Maat	HEUER	Otto
Ob.Btsm.Mt.	HORAND	Hans
Matrose	IDSELIS	Michael
Heizer	KERSTEN	Heinrich
Masch.T.Mt.	KLEIN	Karl
F.T.O.Gast	KRÄMER	A.
O.Masch.Mt.	LEHMANN	R.
Masch.Mt.	MÜLLER	Heye D.
Ob.Btsm.Mt.	PABSCH	J.
Masch.Anw.	RICHTER	W.
Matrose	ROTTSCHALK	Walter
Masch.Mt.	RÖSLER	P.
Ob.Heizer	SCHICKENDANZ	W.
Steuermann	SCHULTER	J.
Masch.Mt.	SCHMITZ	F.
Mt.Ing.O.Asp.	SEIFARTH	Helmut
Matrose	ZIELOSKO	Emanuel

What actually happened to the German U Boat UC-44 that night is still a matter of some speculation and controversy. Some say she struck her own mine, some that there was a design flaw, or tampering with the mines, whilst others say she was destroyed by mines left from a previous deployment. Truth like so much else becomes another victim during war.

I left Dunmore wondering if anyone else looked out last night on the sea and thought about the incident. To date, nothing marks the event, or makes mention of the seamen or their plight. They were, after all, just doing their duty. Ordinary men called in a time of crisis to do extraordinary things. As much as we may have objected to their mission, surely a century later we can at least acknowledge that they existed. (Postscript, in 2017 the Barony of Gaultier Historical Society did remember the crew of UC44 and many others who lost their lives in the seas around Dunmore East during this turbulent era)

1 Joefy Murphy had a comment (posted below) that there may be confusion with the names. I heard recently that there may be been another Dunmore fishing boat in the area.

My thanks to Michael Farrell of the Barony of Gaultier Historical Society for providing the names of the Power brothers of Dunmore mentioned above. And to Ray Mcgrath for the name of his father also mentioned. Thanks also to Paul O Farrell for the photos and to Mick and Nicki Kenny for information on the crew list.

If you would like to read more, I have published two blogs on the incident itself and the aftermath
http://russianside.blogspot.ie/2016/02/the-dunmore-east-u-boat-trap.html
http://russianside.blogspot.ie/2016/02/dunmore-east-u-boat-trap-part-ii.html

My Facebook and Twitter pages are more contemporary and reflect not just heritage

and history but the daily happenings in our beautiful harbour:

F https://www.facebook.com/whtidesntales T https://twitter.com/tidesntales

12/02/201606/08/2024

Dunmore U Boat trap – part II

Last week we looked at the story of the sinking of UC-44 in Dunmore East in August of 1917. This week I wanted to complete the account with a look at what subsequently occurred to the salvaged sub and her crew.

The U-boat was thoroughly examined and the design and features were noted. Once completed, some have said that she was towed upriver and used as a foundation in a breakwater in Duncannon. Stokes however has a different account, and perhaps this is where the confusion lies. Her engine apparently lay in a garage in Duncannon for years afterwards, and rusted and worn, was dumped into a new breakwater. (Stoke: p193)

Salvage operation at Dunmore via Paul O’Farrell
on the Waterford Maritime History page

Other accounts say that initially she was taken out of the harbour and dropped back to the ocean floor. There is further speculation that the wreck was depth charged or in some other way broken up and dispersed. Either way, there appears to be no known wrecksite. However, it was not until 2011 that her sister UC-42 was re-discovered lying intact outside Cork harbour, is it possible UC-44 remains to be re-discovered.

An intact mine being unloaded (1 of 9 remaining aboard) note Dunmore
Lighthouse to the left. via Paul O’Farrell on the Waterford Maritime History page

Some mementoes still exist of the U boat however. For example this piece from USA shows how important the event was and to the Americans who were there to assist aboard the USS Melvile. And they also have mementos in the Imperial War Museum in London. I wonder are there any still remaining in Dunmore, Duncannon or elsewhere?

An inscribed memento of the event via the Imperial War Museum
link above, passed on to me by James Doherty

Although the U boat sank, at least 3 of her crew, the Captain, Tebbenjoahnnes, and two engine room staff; Richter and Fahnster, escaped. When the explosion happened they were in the conning tower, and were separated from the main craft. Their escape necessitated them opening the outer hatch of the conning tower and a swim to the surface that lay 90 feet above. All three broke the surface together, but eventually they drifted apart and as we saw last week the commander, Tebbenjoahnnes, was rescued when three Dunmore East fishermen came to the rescue. (McElwee pp 183-9)

Tebbenjoahnnes was cared for in Dunmore overnight, but next day journeyed on to Waterford and then Cork and from there to Dublin for the short sea journey to Holyhead and subsequently to London for interrogation and life as a POW. (Ibid). The actual telegram and other correspondence can be viewed online! Stokes relates an interesting anecdote about Tebbenjoahnnes’ journey. He boarded the RMS Leinster under escort for the trip across the Irish Sea. He was sitting in the saloon with a British officer having a drink, when Captain Birch, the ship’s captain, approached the party and remonstrated with them. Captain Birch stated that he would clap them both in irons if the German was not immediately confined. Tebbenjohannes was led to his cabin, and there he sat out the remainder of the journey, apparently in an unlocked and unguarded cabin, while his escort went back to the saloon. He’d given his word not to try and escape! (Stokes p.198) The RMS Leinster would be sink following a U Boat attack in October 1918 and the good Captain along with 500 other souls would die. (Hutchinson: pp 77-84)

His “interrogation” in London seems to have been a conversation, at least when you read the actual report. He gives a good description of the event including his position; 52 07′ N – 06 59′ W, fixed with Hook light and Dunmore prior to laying mines. He also gives a list of the crew but this seems to be incomplete. There is a short piece online looking for further information on him, which suggests that he went into banking after the war, and in WWII played a role with the German Navy. It appears he was still alive in the early 1960’s, but nothing else seems to be known.

Of his fellow crew mates, less is known, unfortunately. Richter’s corpse washed up on Wexford shore in the following weeks and was buried in Duncannon. It was re-interred after the war to the German Military Cemetery at Glencree Co Wicklow. Bahnster was the name given in several sources as the other man. However I’d like to set the record straight on this, his surname was Fahnster. It’s a typical name of Northern Germany, which was revealed to me by a German friend, Nicki Kenny. Johann Fahnster’s body was not recorded as ever being found, as far as I can see.

UC-44 had 30 men aboard on the night that she sank. Having traced three we still have twenty-seven souls unaccounted for. There is a thread online claiming that 19 bodies were contained in the submarine when she reached Dunmore, undoubtedly the others would have washed out of the damaged hull. The reference for this claim is cited as Robert Grants book the U Boat Hunters. Some claim that in line with Naval policy, they were taken out and buried at sea. It has been speculated that to inter so many in a cemetery on land would draw attention to the fact that the U-boat had been salvaged and thus loose an advantage to the Germans. (Stokes: p.192-3). Many accounts don’t even mention the crew, their average age being 20!

Sunrise at Dunmore East last Sunday morning

Personally I think it is timely that the event be remembered. As someone who has lost a brother, an uncle and friends to drowning, it strikes me as sad not to have some testament of these sailors death. Whatever we may feel about the U boats and the destruction that they caused and lives that they shattered in Waterford, her harbour and beyond, they were still brave men, doing what they were ordered to, as was their duty.

Maybe by not knowing these men makes it easier to forget them, Well thanks to Nicki, who I have already mentioned I can at least reverse that small omission. The names and ranks of those lost are listed at the following link and below. With the anniversary coming up next year, we may have an opportunity to remember this event, and deepen our understanding of our harbours history and heritage.Rank Surname Christian name

Matrose	BARTZ	John.
Ltnt.z.S.d.Res.	BENDLER	Wilhelm
O.Masch.Mt.	BIENERT	Fritz
Heizer	BORGWALDT	K:
Btsm.Mt.d.Res.	BÖTTCHER	A.
O.Matrose	BÜRGER	O.
Masch.Anw.	CLASEN	H.
Ob.Matrose	DÜSING	August
Ob.Masch.Mt.	FAHNSTER	Johann
Heizer	FEHRLE	Erwin
F.T.Gast	GIESENHAGEN	K.
T.Heizer	GOLOMBOWSKI	–
U.Maat	HEUER	Otto
Ob.Btsm.Mt.	HORAND	Hans
Matrose	IDSELIS	Michael
Heizer	KERSTEN	Heinrich
Masch.T.Mt.	KLEIN	Karl
F.T.O.Gast	KRÄMER	A.
O.Masch.Mt.	LEHMANN	R.
Masch.Mt.	MÜLLER	Heye D.
Ob.Btsm.Mt.	PABSCH	J.
Masch.Anw.	RICHTER	W.
Matrose	ROTTSCHALK	Walter
Masch.Mt.	RÖSLER	P.
Ob.Heizer	SCHICKENDANZ	W.
Steuermann	SCHULTER	J.
Masch.Mt.	SCHMITZ	F.
Mt.Ing.O.Asp.	SEIFARTH	Helmut
Matrose	ZIELOSKO	Emanuel

Thanks to Nicki Kenny and her husband Mick for assisting me with the German research this week. Also to James Doherty for allowing me to wreck his head and to Paul O’ Farrell for some of the images.

Here’s a great link to a blog post by Roy Stokes on UC 44 and others, most of which is similar to what os contained in his book referenced below.http://lugnad.ie/flanders-u-boat-alley/

Another interesting blog post highlighting the sinking and a memento sculpted from the starboard propeller to the inventor of the depth charge Herbert Taylor:
http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/man-who-invented-the-depth-charge-1-7199079

References:
Hutchinson. S. Beware the Coast of Ireland. 2013. Wordwell. Dublin

McElwee. R. The last voyages of the Waterford steamers. date unknown. The Book Centre Waterford

Stokes. R. Between the tides; Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast. 2015. Amberly. Gloucestershire.

My Facebook and Twitter pages are more contemporary and reflect not just heritage

and history but the daily happenings in our beautiful harbour:

F https://www.facebook.com/whtidesntales T https://twitter.com/tidesntales

05/02/201606/12/2018

The Dunmore East U-Boat trap

I was a youngster when I first heard the tale of UC-44, a German U-Boat that sunk when she struck her own mine and was salvaged and brought back to Dunmore East. There her design and fighting capabilities yielded invaluable information to tackling the U-Boat threat. It was only over Christmas that I came to realise the true back story to the affair, filled with intrigue, subterfuge and probably a lot of luck. For UC-44 was lured to Dunmore with the express purpose of being captured and the outcome played a role in an allied victory of the First World War.

In July of 1917 UC-42 deployed mines in Waterford harbour aimed at interrupting the flow of provisions out of Ireland to the allied side. Usually this meant that mine sweepers were deployed and the port access cleared. However, not this time. This time the admiralty or at least those in control of the western Atlantic approaches based at Queenstown (now Cobh) had other ideas.

Dunmore East lighthouse in the background as sub lay alongside the harbour
photo accessed from WHG and uploaded by Jim O’Mara in July 2013

The losses being endured by the allies to U-Boats were steadily increasing. Resources were stretched, and the Admiralty seemed more content on maintaining a blockade of Germany than protecting those ships supplying the allies. Admiral Bayly and his team at Queenstown were fighting a losing battle despite the setting up of an anti-submarine division in December 1916, the introduction of Q ships, airships and the added resources gained when America joined the war in April 1917. American ships arrived at Cobh in May and were on patrol next day. The Navy needed all the help they could get and so the intelligence value of an intact sub was considered a priority.

So rather than clear the identified minefield to Waterford harbour a tactical decision was taken. The harbour was closed for two weeks, while a sham sweep by minesweepers was conducted. (This was in case spies were watching, or indeed U Boats). After two weeks the admiralty sent a coded signal to say Waterford was cleared and opened the harbour. Both sides had already cracked each other’s codes, and both sides seem to have been aware of such. (Nolan: pp232-4)

The German navy ordered UC-44, under the command of Kapitanleutnant Kurt Tebbenjoahnnes to sea on July 31st with orders to deploy 9 of her 18 mines in Waterford to replace those that had been “cleared” and the rest were designated for Cork harbour. She arrived off Dunmore on Saturday 4th August and surfaced at about midnight on a beautiful starlight night. The mines were laid while running underwater. While checking the boats position in the conning tower, to plot his course for Queenstown, he heard and felt a loud explosion and his boat lurched downwards. (McElwee pp 183- 189)

Tebbenjoahnnes found himself on the bottom of Waterford harbour with at least two other men, separated from the rest of the crew. Entombed and having failed to contact anyone in the main body of the submarine, they made the decision to try for the surface. Miraculously Tebbenjoahnnes was pulled from the water later that morning by three Dunmore East fishermen, Jack McGrath and two brothers Tom & Patsy Power, who had rowed out on hearing the explosion. Tebbenjoahnnes was cared for in the home of a Mrs Chester and was seen to by a Mr Austin Farrell. Later that morning he began his journey to London and life as a POW. (Ibid)

Meanwhile Admiral Bayly ordered a salvage operation to be commenced and it was initiated three days later under Lieutenant Commander Davis. Divers (tin openers) were deployed, and entered the sub to bring up the U Boats papers which were to prove explosive in themselves. It was decided to lift UC-44 to the surface and then to Dunmore. The strategy employed was basic, if complicated given that she was 90 feet down. Cables were dropped from a surface vessel, brought under the sub and then brought back to the surface. At low tide, the cables were secured to the decks of two ships and when the tide rose, so did the submarine. Once the sub was sufficiently off the bottom, the salvage vessels moved towards Dunmore. In all it took twenty lifts and as a consequence of bad weather it would be September 25th before they reached harbour. (McElwee pp189-191)

UC-44 lying at the quayside at Dunmore September 2017
accessed from: http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/imperial-
germany-austro-hungary/german-u-boat-photos-postcards-156303/

The admiralty learned much about the design and capabilities of the submarine and they were keenly interested in the rescued mines and the deployment system. However it was the log books and other papers which arguably proved the most value. The log proved incontrovertibly what many had suspected but which was denied by senior naval personnel. It highlighted how easy it was for Tebbenjoahnnes and other U Boat commanders to avoid detection and slip through the existing protection around Britain. (Nolan: p235) Such information coupled with the with the rates of shipping losses highlighted that Britain and her allies were at risk of losing the war unless the U Boat menace was finally dealt with.

Macintyre (1965) explains the failure to grasp the U-boat menace “…submariners…comprised a breed apart” They suffered “…contemptuous refusal of senior officers and their contemporaries in surface warships to take them seriously.” This attitude created a “…mental inertia or lack of imagination of the great majority making for an obstinate conservatism” (Macintyre p 20). Some have claimed that the retrieval of UC-44 actually turned the war for the allies. What is probably true at least is that it helped in the continuing shift in attitudes in naval strategy and personnel, and arguably contributing to the removal of Admiral Jellico as commander of the navy, More ships and resources were provided to tackling the issue. The Dover barrage including 9,600 mines was completed and finally the convoy system was introduced.

An enduring mystery of UC-44 was the notion that she was sunk by her own mine. There are many written accounts, both in books and online that suggest several scenarios. The majority believed for years that it was her own mine that sunk the ship. However, Nolan (2009) speculates that it may have been a casualty of the mines originally laid by UC-42, and as such a casualty of the trap created by the allies. More recently Stokes (2015) speculates that both UC-44 and UC-42, which struck her own mine in Cork Harbour later in 1917, were victims of sabotage, and that the deployment mechanism, or the mines themselves may have been tampered with by British agents operating in the German Naval dockyards. I’d imagine that we will never know for certain.

My thanks to Michael Farrell of the Barony of Gaultier Historical Society for providing the names of the Power brothers of Dunmore mentioned above. And to Ray Mcgrah for the name of his father also mentioned.

Macintyre. D. Fighting under the sea. 1965. Evan Brothers Ltd. London.
McElwee. R. The last voyages of the Waterford steamers. date unknown. The Book Centre Waterford

McShane. M. Neutral Shores. Ireland and the battle of the Atlantic. 2012. Mercier press. Cork

Nolan et al. Secret Victory. Ireland and the War at Sea 1914-18. 2009. Mercier press. Cork
Stokes. R. Between the tides; Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast. 2015. Amberly. Gloucestershire.

I publish a blog each Friday. If you like this piece or have an interest in the local history or maritime heritage of Waterford harbour and environs you can email me at russianside@gmail.com to receive the blog every week.

My Facebook and Twitter pages are more contemporary and reflect not just heritage

and history but the daily happenings in our beautiful harbour:

F https://www.facebook.com/whtidesntales T https://twitter.com/tidesntales