- Images show U-570 on the surface of the north Atlantic with defeated crew stood on deck waving a white flag
- Sub was captured during first ever patrol in 1941 and later recommissioned by the Royal Navy as HMS Graph
- Photos discovered in an archive of Montague Whittle, who commanded an RAF base in Iceland during WW2
- Archive includes logbooks, photos, and a letter of condolence on his death sent to family by King George VI
Newly-unearthed photographs showing the moment a fearsome German U-boat surrendered to the RAF have been found in a war hero’s archive.
The aerial images show U-570 on the surface of the north Atlantic with its defeated crew stood on deck waving a white flag after they were overcome by an air attack.
U-570 was one of only six enemy submarines captured by the Allies in the Second World War so hardly any photos showing the moment of capture exist.
The submarine was captured on its first ever patrol in August 24, 1941 and was eventually recommissioned by the Royal Navy as HMS Graph.
In one image, there is a dinghy containing two Royal Navy officers who would go on to board the U-570 and seized its cipher machine to be investigated by the codebreakers at Bletchley Park.
Incredible aerial images show U-570 on the surface of the north Atlantic with its defeated crew stood on deck waving a white flag after they were overcome by an air attack. Some of the crew can be sen perched precariously on the edge while wearing life jackets
The photos were discovered in an archive owned by Group Captain Montague Whittle who was in command of the RAF base in Reykjavik, Iceland, from where the RAF bombers originated on that day. In one image, a dinghy containing two Royal Navy officers are seen negotiating the terms of surrender with the submarine crew
In August 1941 several Hudson light bombers flew from their base in Iceland to patrol the north Atlantic for ‘wolf packs’ of U-boats when they spotted U-570 on its first-ever patrol. The inexperienced crew had wrongly thought the attack caused a deadly leak of chlorine gas, prompting them to surrender to the RAF
The photos were discovered in an archive owned by Group Captain Montague Whittle who was in command of the RAF base in Reykjavik, Iceland, from where the RAF bombers originated on that day.
A year after the incident Gp Capt Whittle was involved in an air accident. But he was killed when a German air raid on the hospital in Torquay, Devon, where he was recuperating.
His archive that includes his logbooks, photos, a letter of condolence on his death sent to his family by King George VI, RAF maps and his uniform are now being sold by a direct descendant of his.
Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge and Son of Devizes, Wilts, said: ‘These black and white photographs showing the moment the U-boat was captured are truly remarkable and exceptionally rare.
‘They were taken by one of the crew members of an RAF Hudson bomber which had forced it to the surface.
‘Rather than be obliterated in a further attack the German crew surrendered. The images are shown in graphic detail with the date and time they were taken shown on each image.
‘The pictures show about 20 of the crew stood on the deck and on the conning tower and you can just about make out a white object which may well be the white sheet signalling their surrender.
‘Only a handful of German submarines were captured intact by the Allies in the war and when they were they provided an invaluable opportunity to seized enemy codebooks.’
Gp Capt Whittle, from Cheshire, joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1918 and his career spanned the two world wars, culminating in him commanding the RAF base in Iceland.
His archive is being sold at for £2,000 on December 16.