SILENT SERVICE TV SHOW U-47 IN SCAPA FLOW GERMAN U-BOAT ATTACK ON HMS ROYAL OAK 24724

“U-47 in Scapa Flow” is a 1958 black-and-white episode of the docudrama “The Silent Service” - a show that was typically about the U.S. Navy's submarine fleet. This particular episode is different in that it tells the story of a German U-boat. "Silent Service" episodes were based on fact and the realism was heightened by actual use of combat footage from the files of the Navy. The stories were varied between the South Pacific during World War II and the Korean War. The series was the brainchild of Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers, who retired from the Navy in 1949 after 22 years service and introduces this episode.
This episode stars Carleton Young as Richards, John Wengraf as Donitz, Kurt Krueger as Hauser and Werner Klemperer as Captian Prien. The plot is based on the daring mission of the U-47, which penetrated the British home waters near Scapa Flow to attempt to cripple the Royal Navy.
The episode includes footage shot at the U.S. Navy's submarine school in New London at the start. It also uses captured German footage to show the start of the U-47's patrol and underway. The interior of the U-boat however is an American submarine used in "Silent Service" episodes.
German submarine U-47 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II.She was laid down on 25 February 1937 at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel as yard number 582 and went into service on 17 December 1938 under the command of Captain Günther Prien.
During U-47's career, she sank a total of 31 enemy vessels and damaged eight more, including the British battleship HMS Royal Oak on 14 October 1939. U-47 ranks as one of the most successful German U-boats of World War II.
On 8 October 1939, U-47 began her second patrol. On 14 October 1939 (six days after leaving port), she succeeded in penetrating the Royal Navy's primary base at Scapa Flow.[8] Although most of the Home Fleet was not at the base at the time, U-47 managed to find a target, the battleship HMS Royal Oak.[9] Once she had spotted Royal Oak, she opened fire with her torpedoes. Her first two salvos did nothing more than sever an anchor chain. After reloading the bow tubes the last salvo of three torpedoes struck the British warship, causing severe flooding. Taking on a list of 15 degrees, her open portholes were submerged, worsening the flooding and increasing the list to 45 degrees; Royal Oak sank within 15 minutes with the loss of over 800 men. Following the attack, Prien received the nickname Der Stier von Scapa Flow ("The Bull of Scapa Flow"); the emblem of a snorting bull was then painted on the conning tower of U-47 and the image soon became the emblem of the entire 7th U-boat Flotilla. Prien was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the first sailor of a U-boat and the second member of the Kriegsmarine to receive this decoration. The rest of the crew members were awarded the Iron Cross. Two other U-47 crew members also earned the Knight's Cross later on during World War II: the chief engineer (Leitender Ingenieur) Johann-Friedrich Wessels and 1st watch officer (I. Wachoffizier) Engelbert Endrass.
Many years later, in September 2002, one of the unexploded torpedoes that U-47 had fired during the attack on Royal Oak rose to the surface from its resting place on the bottom. The unexploded torpedo, minus its warhead, gradually drifted towards the shore, where it was spotted by a crewman aboard the Norwegian tanker Petrotrym. A Royal Navy tugboat intercepted the torpedo, and after identifying it as having belonged to U-47 63 years earlier, EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) personnel discarded it a mile from shore.
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[@jonathonhass4178]

Werner Klemperer was a quite gifted actor. Quite a dashing looking young man when he filmed this. Funnily enough, his Colonel Klink character was terrible on the violin BUT Mr. Klemperer was actually quite accomplished with it. RIP Werner Klemperer.

[@rickyleeincali5375]

I'm guessing that his dad Otto, a renowned conductor, made sure that Werner played at least one musical instrument proficiently!

[@Monty_BeGoodToEachOther]

This is the first Silent Service I have watched that featured the actions of an Axis submarine. I am surprised and impressed with the portrayal awarded to the Axis boat. After all this is still just a decade after the war and I would have expected some debasement of the recent enemy. So props to you producers and writers based on that alone...

[@jamesfields2916]

Well said.

[@francisbusa1074]

Man, this show takes me back to the '50's when I was a kid.

[@timholmes4331]

It's Groton, Ct. I love this show ! I built subs for 43 years at EB . Go Navy !

[@BrassLock]

I hope you haven't retired yet Mate; Australia needs some new subs - wanna help us out?

[@Red-rl1xx]

Whaddya know? Werner Klemperer was the Uboat commander!

[@oceanhome2023]

Red 13 Only missing his monocle !

[@frederickwise5238]

@@oceanhome2023 He was young then. lol

[@wapiti3750]

a/k/a Colonel Klink!

[@jeffgreen7499]

That's before he joined the Luftwaffe and was made Commandant of Stalag 13.

[@thephantom1946]

Werner Klemperer has said he always played the heavy before Hogans Heroes came along. I can remember that he always did, too.

[@swamprat69er]

And in Hogans Heros he played a bumbling German Commandant. A good role for a Jewish man.

[@jamesfields2916]

He wasn't a heavy here. He plays a real life German hero doing his duty.

[@briannicholas2757]

There is an overriding theme that governed the US Navy at the beginning and throughout World War II: they learned from their mistakes and they learned everything they could from and about their enemies. A great many mistakes were made, and men and ships were lost because of them, but ship captains, their officers and their senior NCOs examined their actions under a very harsh light and their after action reports highlighted their mistakes, proposed whatever corrective action the coukd think of, and they gave credit to their enemy commanders. So it's not really surprising that a show like Silent Service, which was produced to show the public how the war was won, gave credit to enemy naval commanders like Günter Prien. Submariners, in any navy, were a very small group of officers and sailors. Bu today's standards, the technology used by WWII submarines and u-boats was primitive at best. While u-boats were vilified as a treacherous tactic by the allied propaganda, their commanders and crews were well respected by the allied navies. Many of their tactics made their way into the playbooks of British and American submarine commanders. As we were taught in Military College, know your enemy, study his tactics and strategies, and he has something that works, dont be afraid to borrow it.

[@BrassLock]

It's the way all aircrew learn from crash investigations, and also medical personnel learn from the errors of their peers. Seems to be the quickest way to turn a large organisation around, because the "nay sayers" can't argue against the facts uncovered by investigators.

[@sillyone52062]

German naval officers tended to use a military salute, rather than the Nazi salute. Odd that "British" planes are Heinkel 111's.

[@HemlockRidge]

Yes. I noticed both as well. Oh well, 1950s TV.

[@mulicamassault9587]

Wasn't prien a non devoted nazi

[@frederickwise5238]

Had to use whatever stock footagethey could find. LOL.

[@Monty_BeGoodToEachOther]

sillyone you have a keen and watchful eye.. you would have made a good lookout/spotter.

[@CAROLDDISCOVER-FINDER2525]

Colonel klink without his monocle as a U-Boat Commander.

[@paul-andrelarose3389]

I always admired the courage and patriotism demonstrated by the crews who then fought for our freedoms. I believe that, to a large extent, this was representative of the nationalism, and to a certain extent, to the high moral values then demonstrated by the the general population. Conversely, I am saddened by the current loss of the moral fabric in a large segment of the general population, as this can only lead to self-destruction of a society that, although imperfect, was previously a model excellence in human governance. I greatly appreciate that the internet has allowed for the preserving and wide diffusion of this excellent series. 2024/05/06. Ontario, Canada.

[@DidivsIvlianvs]

Came to see Klink with hair.

[@chiefmacarthur]

Thanks for sharing this!!!!

[@johnrogan9420]

Captain later became the Commander of Stalag Hogan's Heroes!

[@johnrogan9420]

Seems like Prien's sub U-47 was detected by the British fishing vessel and by aircraft who bombed the sub...a miracle he escaped the scarpa flow harbor!

[@bumfit5491]

Holy. Mackerel it’s colonel Klink.

[@coilmanjoe]

I think the second in command was in The Enemy Below.

[@joa3322]

The name of Prien's XO was actually Engelbert Endrass not 'Heinz'. Engelbert Endrass began his naval career in April 1935. Like Prien he had previously spent some years in the merchant navy. After some months serving on the pocket battleship Deutschland and some escort vessels, he was assigned to the U-boat force in October 1937. He joined U-47 in December 1938 as Leutnant z. See. Endrass was 1WO when Günther Prien made his famous Scapa Flow attack and sank HMS Royal Oak. It was Endrass who painted the famous snorting bull emblem on U-47's conning tower before they returned. He stayed on U-47 until December 1939, and after some training courses took command of U-46, another type VIIB U-boat, in May 1940. His first patrol with U-46 was very successful. Endrass sank five ships with a total of 35,347 tons, including the British auxiliary cruiser HMS Carinthia of 20,277 tons. Although hampered by a damaged main (attack) periscope, he repeated that success on his second patrol: he sank five ships, in total 27,038 tons, including another British auxiliary cruiser, the Dunvegan Castle of 15,007 tons. After returning from this patrol Endrass was awarded the Knights Cross. After the seventh patrol, the Oak Leaves were added. In September 1941 he left U-46 and a month later took over the type VIIC U-boat U-567. Endrass was killed on 21 December 1941, when U-567 was sunk with all hands (47 men) by depth charges from the British sloop HMS Deptford and the British corvette HMS Samphire NE of the Azores at 44.02N, 20.10W

[@aryanscience]

Col. Klink really got around!

[@steveprestegard5151]

Last show of the series.

[@oceanhome2023]

Always remember nobody ever escapes from Stalag 13 !!!

[@tommissouri4871]

25:09 - "Be with us again when we bring you another true story..." - Unfortunately, this is the last episode of The Silent Service on 28 Nov. 1958.

[@BrassLock]

It's utterly *_amazing_* that the Nazis would choose exactly the same random-groove plywood for their office walls as the Americans.

[@stuart8663]

It is indeed, groovy.

[@briannicholas2757]

Good taste always creates a trend.

[@dosrios57]

some scenes from this are from the 1941 German Movie, 'U-Boats Westward'. Which is on Y-Tube.

[@jefferyhorton7496]

A lot of tactics he used could be found in “The Art Of War”. Only he did not know his enemy thinking he was impregnable.

[@tankengine8889]

Hes got hair!

[@karenstjohn6759]

Col Kilink has hair!

[@Pgcmoore]

it's col. klink!!!

[@edwinmorene2817]

Colonel Klink!

[@johnrogan9420]

Third blocking ship was delayed as the English military reps haggled over the price of the ship to be sunk...seems like an "emminent domain" type of law would be in place during wartime..???

[@drlong08]

@6:44 Preen could take no chances, so he loaded the deck gun with a Total Boat Kaput Round just to be sure!

[@johnrogan9420]

Captain Kurtchmer

[@autocad3227]

I spot colonel Klink

[@johnrogan9420]

WW2 started on 1 not 3 September 1939.

[@rickker20]

The eagle on the captains hat is to big lol.

[@johnrogan9420]

Too

[@johnrogan9420]

Really?😅

[@samiam5557]

Col. Klink? LOL

[@Pgcmoore]

yep, i saw that too

[@zyruemusic]

I KNOW NOTTING!!!!....HEROS OF HOGAN!!!

[@johnrogan9420]

14:00 minute mark...klink has a book with every English war ship!

[@johnrogan9420]

U99..kretchmer und sein crew gesinken on 10 March 1944 aber er war angeslossen bei der Anglish.

[@wandrinyew]

Colonel Klink on a sub? LOL!

[@tommissouri4871]

16:04 - "set torpedo depth at 0 feet" - The Germans would have used meters, not feet.

[@frederickwise5238]

The war in Europe actually started on Sep 1st not the 3rd, when the Luftwaffe bombed Polish cities. They only thot there were no survivors. 3 men made it out stern torpedo tubes and swam to shore. Captain Prien was honored secretly and promoted to Camp Commander at Stalag 13 where Col Hogan became his huckleberry. LOL

[@carlnapp4412]

8:51 These ain't British bombers, they look more like German He 111. Too bad that Schulz wasn't with him.

[@kacodemonio]

Schulz couln't pass through the u-boat hatch.

[@carlnapp4412]

@@kacodemonio A design fault, without a doubt!

[@Franklin-pc3xd]

Since when did Colonel Klink get re-assigned to the Navy?

[@coilmanjoe]

That was his brother Helmut!