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Recent Groundbreaking Discoveries of World War II Artifacts

Larry Holzwarth January 13, 2019 31 min

World War II - Hansa Bay — The crew of the missing B 24 bomber known as Heaven Can Wait, which was discovered in Hansa Bay in the spring of 2018. USAAF

18. A German U-Boat which may have been used to transport Nazis to South America was discovered in 2018

Type XXI U-Boats moored in Bergen, Norway in 1945. Wikimedia

The German Type XXI U-Boat was the most advanced design of the war, built to travel long distances and according to some historians carry passengers, leading to speculation that they were used to carry escaping Nazi officials to safe havens near the end of the war. On May 6, 1945 one of the Type XXI boats, U-3523, was spotted in the waters in the Skagerrak and sunk by a British bomber. In April 2018 researchers from the Sea War Museum Jutland announced that the wreck of the sunken submarine had been found, with the bow of the vessel buried in the sea bed and the remainder of the submarine angled upwards at a forty-five degree angle. The vessel is in about 400 feet of water, making access to it relatively simple, especially using remote piloted vehicles.

An examination of the U-Boat could provide hard answers regarding the U-Boat activities and South America at the end of the war. At least one U-Boat made it to South America, known as a fact because it surrendered there. Reports of others being sighted were common after the war ended. An examination of U-3523 could determine if it was fleeing there with Nazi leaders, departing the Skagerrak only two days after the Germans had surrendered in Denmark and the Netherlands. The likelihood of raising the vessel or exploring it for artifacts is slim, since it is designated a war grave. The angle at which it lies would also be a problem for searchers, so whether it was laden with looted gold, or carried Nazi leaders will likely remain a mystery.

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“Wreck of USS Juneau Discovered in the Solomon Islands”. Jason Daley, Smithsonian.com. March 22, 2018

“Pilot of lost Second World War plane to be buried”. Hannah Furness, The Telegraph. May 14, 2012

“Robert Ballard’s Bismarck”. Robert Ballard and Rick Archbold. 2007

“Pigeon takes secret message to grave”. Our History, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). December 15, 2016. Online

“Uncovering the I-400 Class Japanese Submarine Aircraft Carriers of WW2”. Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering. April 27, 2017

“Nazi aircraft carrier located”. BBC News. July 28, 2006

“Discovery of World War II soldier’s plane brings closure”. John Rogers, The Associated Press reprinted in Military Times. May 24, 2018

“Messerchmitt Bf-109 that was found in a Russian lake and recovered by Jim Pearce”. Jack Beckett, War History Online. March 6, 2015

“Schoolboy in Denmark finds downed Messerschmitt on family farm”. Nick Squires, The Telegraph. March 8, 2017

“Titanic explorer finds Yorktown”. CNN. June 4, 1998

“Unique Soviet T-34 tank recovered from river in south Russia”. Kristina Brazhnikova, Russia Beyond/TASS. July 14, 2016