Operation Caesar
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| Operation Caesar | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of The Second World War | |||||||
 Location of U-864 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Germany |
 United Kingdom | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Ralf-Reimar Wolfram † | Jimmy Launders | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| U-864 | HMS Venturer | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | ||||||
 | |||||||
Operation Caesar (Unternehmen Kaiser) was a secret mission carried out by Germany in the Second World War to supply Japan with advanced technology. The operation failed due to the sinking of U-864 by a British submarine, the only known example of a submerged submarine sinking another submerged submarine.[1]
On 5 December 1944, U-864, on her maiden voyage, was dispatched on a secret mission to deliver supplies to Japan. U-864's primary cargo was advanced Messerschmitt jet engine parts for use in Japanese aircraft and V-2 missile guidance systems.[1][2] Her secondary cargo comprised 64 long tons (65 t) of the strategic material mercury in 1,857 canisters for use in weapons production.[1]
She left Kiel and headed north. While going through the Kiel Canal, U-864 grounded and damaged her hull. Her captain, Ralf-Reimar Wolfram, decided to sail to the U-boat pens at Bergen, Norway. On 12 January 1945, while U-864 was still undergoing repairs, British bombers attacked the pens, delaying the repairs further. The repairs were completed in early February and Wolfram embarked on his mission once again. British code breakers at Bletchley Park deciphered Enigma encoded transmissions and were alerted to U-864's mission. To counter the German U-boat, the Admiralty diverted the submarine HMS Venturer (Lieutenant James Launders), which had just left Lerwick in Scotland, to Fedje Island, off the coast of Norway to search for U-864.[1]
Action of 9 February 1945
On 6 February 1945, U-864 experienced trouble with one of her engines, which began misfiring, greatly increasing the sounds the U-boat made. Wolfram contacted Bergen, informing them that he would be returning for further repairs. Wolfram was told that an escort would be waiting for them at Hellisøy on 10 February. At the same time, Venturer arrived off Fedje Island and began searching for the U-boat. On 9 February, Venturer's hydrophone operator detected a noise that sounded like a diesel engine. Launders raised periscope and surveyed the horizon, he spotted what he believed to be another periscope (in fact now thought to be the U-boat's snorkel) and began stalking it, assuming that it was U-864.[1]
As Venturer followed the German U-boat, it became apparent that they knew they had been spotted due to the erratic, zigzag course U-864 began to take. After following the German submarine for three more hours, Venturer's crew made a calculated decision based on U-864's movements. At intervals of 17.4 seconds, Venturer fired all four of her torpedoes. Hearing the incoming torpedoes, U-864 took evasive manoeuvres, avoiding the first three torpedoes but unknowingly steered into the path of the fourth. The torpedo struck the U-boat, splitting her in half and sending her to the ocean floor. All 73 of her crew and passengers perished.[1]