Prior to this 73 years, the submarine was considered missing.
There were many rumors that Hitler managed to escape to South America.
After the end of World War II, there were many rumors that some leaders of Nazi Germany, including Hitler and Bormann, managed to escape to South America, taking gold and jewelry with them. These rumors were not groundless, because a number of Nazi criminals, using the "rat paths" (as the routes of escape of the Nazis from Europe were later called), really managed to hide in Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Chile … Among the escaped "rats" there was, for example, an officer SS Adolf Eichmann, in charge of the "final decision of the Jewish poll" in the Reich. Or Joseph Mengele, who conducted medical experiments on the prisoners of Auschwitz. Recall that in 2013, the American intelligence declassified a sensational document, which claimedthat in 1954 a former SS man named Philip Citroen met Hitler in the city of Tunja (Colombia). Their joint photo served as evidence. True, the CIA report says that this information has not been developed.
Allegedly a photo of Hitler taken in 1954 in Colombia. To his left is former SS man Philip Citroen.
One of the bases on which the legend of Hitler's successful escape was held was the fate of the German submarine U-3523. This ultra-modern (at that time) submarine was put into operation on January 23, 1945 - just a few months before the end of the war. Boats of this class were designed primarily for sailing underwater. Submarines of the previous generation acted mainly as surface ships and went deep only for a short time during an attack or flight. In contrast, U-3523 could travel 630 kilometers underwater at a speed of about 10 km / h. And the range of autonomous navigation on the surface was a record for that time - 28,700 kilometers. It is believed that it was the submarines of this type of bonza of the Third Reich that they planned to use to escape,because they could cross the Atlantic Ocean without stopping and reach the coast of South America.
U-3523 went to sea on May 5, 1945. The next day, while on patrol from the air, she was spotted by a British Air Force B-24 Liberator heavy bomber. The pilots attacked the submarine with depth charges and reported to the shore that the target was hit. However, then in the square that they indicated, the sunken submarine was not found. It was suggested that the German submariners nevertheless managed to escape from the blow and continued their flight.
“The fact that traces of the crash of U-3523 were not found for a long time fueled legends that some high ranking officials of the Reich still managed to escape on it,” says director of the Danish Naval Museum Gert Normann Andersen. - But in April this year, 73 years after those events, we still managed to find the hull of the sunken boat. He rests 9 miles west of the position indicated by the British pilots. The submarine was found in a strange position: its nose cut deeply into the sand, and its stern rises 20 meters above the bottom.
The German submarine on which Hitler "fled" to South America was found sunk off the coast of Denmark.
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It is not yet known if there were any high-ranking passengers on board, in addition to the 58 crew members? Did she carry any valuable cargo?
“We know that on the eve of May 6, 1945, German troops in Denmark, North-West Germany and Holland surrendered,” explains Gert Andersen. - Therefore, the boat could not carry out a combat mission. Most likely, the submarine was trying to hide. But we will be able to find out the details of this story only by penetrating inside, but it will be very difficult to do this, since the boat sank at a depth of 123 meters.
TTX SUBMARINES
Displacement: 1,621 tons.
Length - 76.70 meters.
Width - 8 meters.
Surface speed: 28.9 km / h
Submerged speed: 31.9 km / h
The immersion depth is 280 meters.
Armament: 6 bow torpedo tubes, 4 anti-aircraft guns.
Autonomous navigation range: 28,700 kilometers.
YAROSLAV KOROBATOV
