By some calculations, it had not been since the War of 1812 that the United States military had such a unique opportunity fall into its lap. Nearly 122 years after that conflict, at 11:09 on the 4th of June, 1944, the American hunterkiller Task Group 22.3 made contact with the German submarine U505 near Cape Verde in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Following a brief skirmish in which the Uboat took fire from torpedoes, depth charges, and hedgehog mortars, the badlydamaged German vessel was forced to surface. The German crew took orders from their captain to abandon and scuttle U505, but in the confusion that followed, it seemed that not all of the correct valves had been opened to totally flood the submarine. Instead, U505 spun in a slow circle on the surface as its engine continued running and its rudder stuck in a deflected position.

The sailors of TG 22.3 quickly recognized the possibility of recovering secret documents and codes, and they boarded the German Uboat to seize whatever could get their hands on. Once in control of U505, the Americans further realized that it wasn’t going to sink after all. Instead, they would claim a prize that had not been won in over a century and would tow the enemy submarine back to Bermuda. The feat, the capture of an enemy warship, would allow the United States to analyze the cryptic Enigma machines onboard and gain valuable intelligence that would bring the end of World War II one step closer...



Dark Docs brings you cinematic short military history documentaries featuring the greatest battles and most heroic stories of modern warfare, covering World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and special forces operations in between.

As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect and soundtracks for emotional impact. We do our best to keep it as visually accurate as possible.

All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas.

Thumbnail is actually U858... the first enemy ship to surrender to the United States forces following the defeat of Germany in World War II. I searched, but I couldn't find any color photos of U505. Let me know if you know of any! I actually wanted to use an image of a "German" flag and the US flag together over U505, but that imagery is frownedupon here, even in historical context.