When two submarines decided to face off: What was the only submarine battle about?

The world is a weird place to live in. Judging by this, it is actually surprising that we only have one submarine versus submarine battle to tell and retell. So, what was it all about?

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The submarine U-864 of Kriegsmarine (navy of Nazi Germany) left Kiel on 5th December, 1944. The code name for the mission was Operation Caesar, and the task at hand was to deliver huge quantities of mercury, and blueprints for German jet fighters. But, that was not all. There were rumours afloat that mercury or drawings may not be all, as they carried uranium oxide too! The submarine was commanded by Ralf-Reimar Wolfram, and had to stop in Horten Naval Base, Norway, as there were problems with its snorkel; the chain of events which would later go down in history, were to start here. On 12th January, 1945, while it was making its way to Bergen (Norway), parting the seawater, it decided to again make a short stop in Farsund, and it was then when it was attacked by 32 Royal Air Force Lancaster bombers, and one Mosquito Bomber. The damage sustained during this incident proved fatal. The submarine decided to proceed according to the plan previously decided upon, but its engines gave away. PassingFedje was somehow smooth, but their misfiring engines made things extremely dangerous. As per orders, they were to return to Bergen, and provided with an escort. But on the 9 February, 1945, the British submarine, HMS Venturer heard the noises of the German submarine, as their diesel engine betrayed them. It was an intense situation, of not giving in to the temptation to annihilate the enemy by firing without any plans, as both the submarines played a dangerous game. Venturer was close on trail, and U-864 began to go zig-zag. Ultimately Venturer decided to fire its 4 bow-torpedo tubes, the last one of which hit the German submarine, killing all 73 aboard it!

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One fine day, a British submarine and a German submarine decided to engage in a dangerous game. And the world got its only submarine versus submarine battle. Well, if you are a super fun person, we are sure that you won't forget to randomly go up to strangers, and try telling them this. At your own risk, of course!

Post Written by - Lopamudra