Catalogue description [Note: ADM 137/1908, 1908A-1908C are produced as a single document: order as ADM...

[Note: ADM 137/1908, 1908A-1908C are produced as a single document: order as ADM 137/1908].

Intelligence: Interrogation of submarine prisoners.

Folio 1: Title page.

Folio 2: Explanatory note. During the period of the War, papers of a confidential nature in the office of the C-in-C Home Fleet were filed in Packs (numbered separately from the non-confidential records) in a Series 001 to 0042 inclusive. Copies of relevant telegrams were filed in these packs, but a complete set of all telegrams was also maintained. The secret packs were re-arranged by the Grand Fleet secretarial staff in February 1919, when papers considered unimportant were removed and destroyed, and the remainder re-indexed. They were received in this form by the Historical Section in April 1920, and bound as received, in a series of Volumes. The 1919 index will be found in the first volume (see ADM 137/1881) and extracts from these have been inserted in each succeeding volume. This volume is the 28th of the series.

Folio 3: Index of contents. Intelligence.

Folios 4-6: Blank.

Folio 7: Contents page: Section 6. Interrogation of submarine prisoners.

Folios 8-13: Admiralty letter M.NID/804, 28 November 1914 with translation of letter written by one of the crew of U.17.

Folios 14-39: Letter NID 10777, 13 February 1917 from Director of Intelligence Division to C-in-C Grand Fleet. Advanced copy of report on interrogation of an officer captured from UC.32. Officer named as acting warrant officer Bernhard Haack, age 26. Includes a chart of cruises of U.76, UB.35, UC31 and UC32 during 1916-17. Information given on submarines U.76 (U.71 – 80 class); UC 31 and 31 (UC.16 – 85 class); UB.35 (UB.18 – 47 class); U.51 – 60 class; submarine flotillas; mine-laying methods; personnel and organisation (names of officers of the submarines named are given); food.

Folios 40-47: Letter NID 11118, 3 March 1917 from Director of Intelligence Division to C-in-C Grand Fleet. Report of the interrogation of prisoners from UC.32 sunk off Sunderland on 23 February 1917. Crew listed with surname and rank and the three survivors names as:- Lieutenant Herbert Breyer. Navigation Petty Officer Wilhelm Skau. Stoker Reinard Schirm.

Folios 48-90: Letter NID 11247, 8 March 1917 from Director of Intelligence Division to C-in-C Grand Fleet. Report of the interrogation of prisoners captured from German submarine U.39 on 8 February 1917. Crew listed with surname, rank and submarine experience. Contents of interrogation report are:- Crew of UC.39. UC.39 commissioning and trials. Air raid of Bruges. Track chart of UC.39 [filed at Folio 90. From The Elbe to Zeebrugge and from Zeebrugge to Flamborough Head]. UC.39’s cruise. Sinking of UC.39. Commanding officer of UC.39 [named as Otto Ehrentraut]. Details of UC.39. Submarine blockade. Morale. Food. Flanders Flotilla. Losses. Black Sea Flotilla. Submarine school. Training for submarine service. Submarine construction. Destroyers. Minelaying cruisers. Older vessels. Kiel dockyard. Appendix: Translation of log of UC.39. Thursday 1 February to Thursday 8 February 1917.

Folios 91-92: Letter NID 12457/17, 9 May 1917 from Director of Intelligence Division to C-in-C Grand Fleet. Enclosing recent photograph of a German submarine, the first taken of one of these vessels with a 4.1in (10.5cm) gun. [stated as “probably U.54”].

Folios 93-98: Letter NID 12527/17, 13 May 1917 from Director of Intelligence Division to C-in-C Grand Fleet. Enclosing translation of a diary taken from a survivor of UC.26 sunk by HMS Milne in the Straits of Dover on the night of 8-9 May 1917. Diary author named as Leutnant d. Reserve Heinrich Petersen and dates from 30 April to 7 May 1917.

Folios 99-114: Letter NID 12617/17, 16 May 1917 from Director of Intelligence Division to C-in-C Grand Fleet. Report of the interrogation of survivors from U.93. Survivors named as:- Kapitӓnlietnant Freiherr von und zu Peckelsheim. Steuermann Wilhelm Knappe. Maschinistenmaat Walter Deppe. Report comprises:- List of survivors. Complement. General narrative. Details of U.93. Submarine construction. Organisation of submarine service. Prize money for submarines. Information obtained from commanding officer. Submarine warfare. The war on land. Food conditions in Germany. The Emperor and Crown Prince. Hospital ships. Experiences in U.32. Synthetic rubber.

Folios 115-120: Letter NID 4919, 15 May 1917 from Director of Intelligence Division to C-in-C Grand Fleet. Report by Vice Admiral Charles H Dare on information obtained from Lieutenant-Commander E Freiherr Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim, Commanding Officer of U.93 in course of conversation whilst on passage to port as prisoner of war.

Folio 121: Letter NID 13010, 1 June 1917 from Director of Intelligence Division to C-in-C Grand Fleet. U.93 reported sunk by HMS Prize is reported as having arrived back in Germany on 12 May 1917.

Folios 122-133: Letter NID 12606/17, 17 May 1917 from Director of Intelligence Division to C-in-C Grand Fleet. Report of the interrogation of survivors from U.81. Survivors named as:- Kapitӓnlietnant Raimund Weisbach. Ober-Leutnant Adalbert Fürer. Leutnant Otto Walter. Maschinist Paul Hagemeister. Bootsmannsmaat Fritz Heuschkel. Ober-Matrose Rudolf Roessler. Other Report contents are:- Last cruise of U.81. Details of the boat. Organisation of submarines. Previous cruises. Sinking of hospital ships. Other submarines. UC.3’s experience in the [English] Channel. Appendix: Extracts from engine room warrant officer’s notebook. List of ships sunk by U.81 [on 3 cruises January to May 1917].

Listing continued in ADM 137/1908B.