Alexandre Korganoff Livres

On the night of October 13-14, 1939, the German commander of U-boat U-47, Günther Prien, steered past the sunken block ships and chains which inadequately protected the British naval base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. The U-Boat sank the old British World War I battleship HMS Royal Oak and then escaped into the North Sea. The loss of the Royal Oak was insignificant in naval terms though over 800 men perished with her, however this was a bitter blow to British moral. There have been two 'Phantoms' of Scapa Flow. The first was U-47 and how she slipped through the heart of the heavily defended base. The second was the insistence of Prien that he hit two warships that night. The British Admiralty admitted only to the loss of Royal Oak. The second phantom is that unknown ship claimed by Prien. This book investigates both phantoms beginning with a dramatic reconstruction of the German operation. The second part is the result of research in both Britain and Germany including much evidence gathered from surviving eye witnesses on both sides. In a series of appendices the various conflicting facts and opinions are laid before the reader, producing a remarkable picture of the actual events.

In der Nacht vom 13. auf den 14. Oktober 1939 dringt U 47 in den als unbedingt sicher geltenden britischen Flottenstützpunkt Scapa Flow ein. Der U-Boot-Kommandant, Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien, meldet, das Schlachtschiff Royal Oak versenkt und den Schlachtkreuzer Repulse schwer beschädigt zu haben. Die Royal Navy gibt den Stützpunkt vorübergehend auf und verlegt ihre Schiffe in Ausweichstützpunkte. Doch von der britischen Admiralität wird bestritten, die Royal Oak sei torpediert worden, und man beharrt darauf, es habe sich um Sabotage oder ein Explosionsunglück gehandelt. Der französische Militärhistoriker A. Korganoff ist der spannenden Frage nachgegangen, was damals wirklich geschah.