Many U-boats were at sea or in port when the “Regenbogen” order was given to surrender on May 3, 1945. This was not as easy as it might sound since a submarine suddenly appearing out of the water was a target, even if it meant to surrender. Many German submarine commanders chose not to surrender and scuttled their subs in place. As all this was going on, combat operations and logistics were still taking place. The German Navy was in far better shape than the German Air Force or land armies. Their fuel bunkers still possessed sufficient quantities of quality fuel; many, if not most of their barracks were still intact and not bombed; their foodstuffs were plentiful and varied. Surface ships like the “Prinz Eugen” and many, many others were conducting combat operations up till the last day of the war. E-boats, the German equivalent of the British MTB or the American PT boat were conducting combat operation up till the very end, the E-boats sinking 50,000 tons on the last day alone from bases in Holland.
The Germans had been frantically trying to complete the revolutionary Type XXI submarine program, using revolutionary mass-assembly techniques and many were on the stocks when the war ended. But only two achieved operational status, U-2511 and U-3008. The commander of the 2511 was able to infiltrate a fleet of British ships undetected and was about to commence a torpedo attack when the surrender order came in. He made a mock attack instead, to prove to himself the value of the class of submarine, and then he made his escape, still undetected and surrendered. If it had been built earlier the Type 21 could have had an impact on the war. The Russians completed many of them and used them till 1973. Both the Americans and the Russians used the design as the basis for an entirely new direction in submarines.
Some sub crews refused to surrender right away. One sub, the U-977 Type VIIC made an unprecedented underwater trip to Argentina to surrender and spent 66 days underwater during the 99 day trip. Another U-boat, the U-530 also refused to surrender. The U-530 also made a dash to Argentina. The 530 was a Type IX, larger and better equipped than the Type VII and had survived seven war patrols, which was an extraordinary event by that time of the war. It surrendered in Argentina on July 10, about two months after the war ended and creating many controversies since the logs were destroyed, identification destroyed and equipment destroyed. It was said to have landed Hitler before surrendering, although the obviously white-washed reports from the Argentinian government denied such things. Both subs were in bad shape when they arrived in Argentina and were eventually sunk by the Americans.
The U-234 was a Type X minelaying submarine carrying uranium oxide and plans and engineers and diplomats to Japan, including two high ranking Japanese officers when the surrender order came. The commander, instead of trying to reach Japan, decided to surrender to the Americans at Portsmouth, NH. In a dashing trip with much excitement, he finally surrendered, and as he did, the two Japanese officers shot themselves rather than submit to capture.
Many other submarines were captured in place. The Type 21 sub U-2540, the most advanced of its class, was scuttled in relatively shallow water and later raised by the post-war German government and re-fit as a research vessel named “William Bauer” for the pioneering German sub inventor who developed a sub to attack Denmark in the 1800s. The sub is a museum ship now in Kiel and tourists are still impressed by its complexity and advanced design. Many of the techniques and designs were used by the US in the development of the “Albacore” and eventually the first nuclear sub “Nautilus”
About 156 U-boats surrendered to the Allies after the war, almost 100 less than still existed - there were 236 U-boats operational or near-operational at the time of surrender. Over 770 had been sunk throughout the course of the war, meaning 75 percent of the crews were killed. There was almost an 90 percent chance of dying on every patrol by the end of the war. About 28,000 men died, the highest of any service in the German military. Note that a German soldier fighting from the beginning of the war had about a 70 percent chance of surviving the war while the average U-boat sailor had a 10 percent chance of surviving a single three month patrol by the closing months of the war. The subs that did not surrender were scuttled by the crews or captured by Allied elements. Of those 156 subs, 116 were sunk by the British off Ireland in an operation called “Operation Deadlight” in Nov, 1945. Until then, they had been sitting at makeshift docks, exposed to the elements and being stripped for souvenirs. Some sunk while be towed to the scuttling area, others had to be blown up because they refused to sink. Efforts have been made to raise a couple of them from time to time.
Right before the surrender the U-534, a training sub, was sunk by the British and was raised in 1993 by a team who believed she was filled with gold. Instead, they found a large quantities of potatoes.
Today, there are four German U-boats remaining as museums, as well as parts of U-boats scattered around. The U-505 was captured by the Americans off Bermuda and now sits outside at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. One of the motors was actually started in 2000. The U-995 sits as a memorial and tourist attraction in Kiel while the U-2540, “William Bauer” is permanently moored at Bremerhaven and the U-534 is a rusting tourist attraction in Birkenhead, England. The bow and torpedo tubes of a U-boat are used as a traffic guide and memorial in L’Orient, France, where the massive German sub pens still sit.
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Source: Jay Bazzinotti (Quora)