The German submarine U-234 left Norway on April 14, 1945, on its last mission to Japan with a cargo of uranium and other strategic military supplies. The cargo included a complete jet aircraft and several tons of documents and plans to build jet aircraft and other German aircraft in a plant to be built in Japan.
Japan and Germany had cooperated in their efforts to build the first atomic bomb by sharing precious raw materials and technology. The Allies had effectively blocked thousands of tons of seagoing strategic military supplies, and later in the war, Germany had invaded the previously neutral country of Russia, cutting off the other route for supplies traffic via the Trans-Siberian Railway.
At the time, there were no aircraft capable of large shipments of cargo over such distances, and the only option was shipping by the only route left: underwater by submarine. The U-234 was the last resort to ship large quantities of cargo over long distances. Aboard the submarine were forty-five crewmen, a German general, three German officers, and two high-ranking Japanese naval officers.
On 8 May, 1945, the submarine was ordered to surrender to the Allies as it plied the cold waters of the North Atlantic. The war had ended in Germany, and the submarine surrendered to the USS Sutton. The surrender of the submarine and its cargo was accomplished with the aid of the Alsos Missions as part of the Manhattan Project. The Alsos Missions continued work in the Pacific to assist the Allies develop and eventually deploy the first atomic bomb.
लेखक के बारे में
The dawning of the Atomic Age occurred on July 16, 1945 in the desert of southern New Mexico. It was 5:30 in the morning and bright daylight as my father was awaken thinking he was late for work. As he dressed, the light faded back to darkness and he went back to bed. I slept through both the bright light the slight concussion that rattled the venation blinds. That was the impact on my family in Socorro, New Mexico 27 miles from Trinity Site and Ground Zero. I was five years old and did not recognize the importance of the event until I was much older and in the Army building, maintaining and moving atomic weapons in the 60’s.
During a visit to the National Nuclear Museum in May of 2014 I was embarrassed to see and explore the many items, people and locations that I had been exposed to during the following 69 years and had forgotten or dismissed as unimportant relics of the past. As a result of that visit, I have now written three books about that time. 2015 is the seventieth anniversary of the test that confirmed that nuclear weapons were possible. It is also the anniversary on the dropping of “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” on two major cities in Japan to end the war in the Pacific.
I have written the three books to remind myself and others of the importance of that period of time.
James now lives with his wife in Grand Prairie, Texas
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