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|commander1= Commander Jimmy Launders |commander2= ''Korvettenkapitän'' Ralf-Reimar Wolfram |strength1=V-class submarine HMS ''Venturer'' |strength2=Type IX U-boat, ''U-864'' |casualties1=none |casualties2=Submarine sunk, All 73 crew killed }} The Action of 9 February 1945 refers to the sinking of the German U-boat ''U-864'' in the North Sea off the Norwegian coast during the Second World War by the Royal Navy submarine HMS ''Venturer''. This action is the first and so far only incident of its kind in history where one submarine has intentionally sunk another submarine in combat while both were fully submerged.〔''U864: Hitler's Deadly Last Secret'', Discovery Communications, 2006〕 ==Background== ''U-864'' was a Type IX U-boat, designed for ocean-going voyages far from home ports with limited re-supply. She was on a long-range, covert mission codenamed Operation ''Caesar'' to deliver highly sensitive technology to Germany's wartime ally, the Empire of Japan. This included parts for jet engines and missile guidance systems, and 65 tonnes of mercury. She also carried Tadao Yamoto (a Japanese acoustic torpedo expert) and Toshio Nakai (a Japanese fuel expert). Also included were two Messerschmitt engineers, Rudolf ("Rolf") von Chlingensperg〔http://www.geneall.net/D/per_page.php?id=1666663〕 and Riclef Schomerus.〔 pg 8〕 On 6 February 1945, ''U-864'' passed through the Fedje area (off the coast of Norway) without being detected. During this voyage a normally quiet engine began making an abnormally loud and rhythmic noise that could be easily detected by any ASW equipment in the area. Since there were many Allied (primarily British) ships, submarines and aircraft in the area on anti-submarine patrol, and U-boat losses to anti-submarine units had been appalling for the last year or so, ''U-864''s commander, Ralf-Reimar Wolfram, decided to return to the pens at Bergen to repair the problem. By this stage of the war the German naval code, Enigma, had been broken by the British and was being decrypted by a team at Bletchley Park using a device called the Bombe. The German naval command was unaware that the British were reading communications sent to the U-boat fleet and so aware of Operation ''Caesar''.〔 Wanting to avoid giving the Japanese any advantage that might allow them to extend the duration of the war in the Pacific, Royal Navy submarine command dispatched ''Venturer'' to intercept and destroy ''U-864''. ''Venturer'' was now on her eleventh patrol out of the British submarine base at Lerwick in the Shetland Islands. Under the command of 25-year-old Lieutenant Jimmy Launders, ''Venturer'' had sunk thirteen German vessels during ten patrols over the previous 12 months, including the destruction of the Type VIIc U-boat ''U-771'' off the Lofoten Islands on 11 November 1944, seven nautical miles (13 km) east of Andenes.〔〔(Listing of British Submarines of WW2 )〕 Launders received a brief message from Royal Navy Submarine Command as to the estimated whereabouts of ''U-864'', that she was somewhere near the island of Fedje, off Norway's southwest coast, just north of the submarine pens at Bergen, along with instructions to destroy her. Launders set about the task, making one risky but calculated decision: he decided to switch off ''Venturer''s ASDIC (sonar). They would rely solely on ''Venturer's'' hydrophone, a common and long-used, though far less sophisticated underwater acoustic detection device than ASDIC, to try to detect ''U-864'' along the course that the Enigma-encoded traffic suggested.〔 ASDIC is an early name for ''sonar'', an active echo location system; it can quickly provide enough data on range and course for a target's speed and bearing to be calculated, and a firing solution for a weapon to be arrived at, even against a vessel taking evasive action. However – the ping given off can be heard by the target as well, it can also be heard much further away than the returned echo that indicated a target. Hydrophones are passive devices, very sensitive underwater directional microphones that an operator can use to tell where a noise is coming from by rotating the microphone and listening to from what direction the sound seems the loudest. Working out distance and exact speed are much more difficult, especially if a vessel takes evasive action (although rough speed can be discerned by how fast the enemies propeller and engine are spinning, and total volume gives a very rough idea of distance). In using hydrophones, the hunting vessel has to move quite slowly so as not to mask out any external noises by its own sounds. Launders' choice was to hide and see if he could hear the U-boat in the area. His plan was to listen for the German vessel and stalk her rather than risk alerting the enemy craft, although ASDIC would improve his chances of detecting her. He didn't need to worry about the German captain using sonar, because the Germans didn't have any. The intelligence derived from the German messages led Launders' commanders to direct him to search for the German U-boat near Fedje but ''U-864'' had already left the area on her mission to Japan. Wolfram's decision to return for repairs at the U-boat pens at Bergen to fix the abnormal engine noise problem brought ''U-864'' back past Fedje and the area where ''Venturer'' was located. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Action of 9 February 1945」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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