Unterseeboot 195

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (November 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Unterseeboot 195 (U-195) was a German U-boat (submarine) used during World War II. It was one of two IX-D1 transport U-boats that had their forward torpedo tubes removed and the compartment converted to a cargo hold. The other IX-D1 was U-180, lost in the Bay of Biscay in 1944 whilst setting out for a voyage to Japan. U-180 had been trialed originally with six diesel engines driving two propeller shafts, but overheating proved such a problem that these engines were removed and replaced with a pair of 2,200hp MAN diesel engines. It is unclear if U-195 underwent the same engine history as U-180, but it seems likely.

U-195 sailed from Bordeaux for Asian waters on 21 August 1944 under the command of Oberleutnant Steinfeld. Amongst her cargo were parts of 12 dismantled V-2 rockets for the Japanese military. U-219 also carried part of the same V-2-rocket consignment. Both U-boats arrived at Djakarta in December 1944. These two U-boats are also thought to have carried Uranium oxide requested for Japan's atomic bomb project by General Toranouke Kawashima in July 1943. The signals requesting Uranium were part of PURPLE decrypts which have since been declassified by the United States.

Reference for this atomic bomb project can be found in the book "Japan's Secret War" by Robert K Wilcox.

U-195 was also involved in an abortive attempt by several U-boats to sail back for Europe. Instead she had to refuel her sister U-boats in the Indian Ocean and return to Djakarta. After Germany's defeat in the European conflict, she was seized by the Japanese and her crew were interned as prisoners. By August 1945 she was captured by the Allies at Surabaya and broken up in 1947.