The naval brotherhood has been one of the most superstitious since ancient times. Not so long ago, practically every action of a sailor was determined by many signs and beliefs that have survived to this day. People took curses especially seriously. And among them was the so-called curse of Jonah. It was believed that only one unlucky crew member could "infect" the whole ship with his bad luck, in addition, this curse could be "picked up" from another ship. And one of the most famous victims of the "Curse of Jonah" was the German submarine U-505, which sailed the Atlantic during the Second World War.
The submarine U-505 began its combat path in 1942 under the leadership of Lieutenant Commander Axel-Olaf Loewe. The first twelve cruises of the submarine were quite peaceful and Loewe managed to sink seven enemy ships. But the eighth sunk ship became fatal. Later, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, commenting on the fate of the U-505, would say - “It was better not to touch that Colombian schooner at all”.
The submarine stumbled upon that schooner by accident during a free "hunt" and realizing that this civilian ship poses no danger, Loewe ordered to surface and shoot the defenseless ship from a 10.5 cm cannon. From that moment on, all the misfortunes of the crew of the U-505 submarine began.
A few days after the attack on the schooner with appendicitis, the captain of the submarine and the crew had to return to their base in French Lorient. Loew was sent for treatment, and a new officer was appointed in his place, on whom all the curse would fall. A few days after launching its first campaign under the leadership of the new captain, U-505 was attacked by a British bomber. The very first bomb put the submarine out of action and the crew was ready to say goodbye to life, but the curse spread with incredible speed - one of the bombs went off right in the bomb bay of the aircraft. And the sub is sent back to Lorient for repairs.
I spent six months at the U-505 dock. During this time, the entire submarine was repaired, modernized and rechecked several times. But two hours after going out on the "hunt" she came back - there were some electrical problems. Within four months, the submarine will repeatedly go to sea, but after a few hours it will return with a breakdown.
During this endless renovation, the crew of the damned submarine became a real "legend" among the base personnel, and a poster "U-505 Hunting Territory" was even hung over its dock. In the end, the captain manages to sail a respectful distance from the base. But just before entering the Atlantic Ocean, they are discovered by American ships. Depth charges inflict even if not serious damage, but it becomes clear to everyone that the damage received can only be repaired at the dock. Realizing the inevitable, the captain went into his cabin right during the battle and shot himself.
It was already the chief officer who had to pull out and lead the crew of the unkillable submarine home. Obviously, after such shocks, the crew should have been sent on a long rest, but at this time the Kriegsmarines in the Atlantic were losing a huge number of submarines and Harald Lange was appointed the new captain of U-505.
He managed to avoid endless repairs, but at the exit from the Bay of Biscay, the submarine again stumbles upon American ships. An aircraft carrier and five destroyers begin the hunt for the unsinkable submarine. But the hunt ends six minutes after it began - the very first depth charge damaged the controls and the electrics. Lange had no choice but to surface and report the surrender of the vessel.
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However, the curse did not disappear from this. Not believing in the sincerity of the German submariners, the captain of one of the destroyers gave the order to torpedo U-505. But the torpedo goes past the stationary submarine. Further attempts to destroy the downed submarine are stopped by the squadron commander and urged to board the submarine. Two destroyers took the U-505 in pincers, but even then there were some problems - during the maneuver, one of the ships collided with a submarine and damaged the propeller.
As a result, the Americans managed to arrest the crew, take their destroyer and submarine in tow, and go to the shores of the United States. The further fate of U-505 was much more successful than a military career. Since the series IX submarines were already considered obsolete, the Americans did not disassemble it for study, and after the war they were sent to the museum. The last captain and crew also survived the war, in connection with which it can be assumed that all the failures of the submarine ultimately turned into luck, because most of the German submarines in the Atlantic were killed by allied bombs.
Arseny Gursky