When he wasn’t at the helm, his second-in-command, Müller, took pride in operating U-1226 as if he were in fact the commander. Ordinarily, his responsibilities were to shadow the commander and manage the sub’s weapon systems during an attack. The second watch officer, Lieutenant Schultze, a close friend of Claussen’s at the 11th Flotilla, generally manned the helm with Müller.
It was Schultze who first alerted Claussen to the change in demeanor of Müller. As the course of U-1226 set by Claussen strayed farther and farther away from the European continent, questions began to be raised by Müller. Whispers among the crew loyal to the former executive officer from the 9th Flotilla became increasingly hostile toward Himmler’s handpicked commander.
Within weeks, as the U-boat continued its course across the North Atlantic toward the U.S., Müller demanded answers from his superior. He made it known that while Claussen was his superior in rank, he was certainly inferior in experience.
The two men began to butt heads as the long journey continued. Müller worked surreptitiously to spread discord among the crew. A divide became evident between the seaman from the former 9th Flotilla and those loyal to Claussen.
Finally, Claussen called a meeting of his officers, excluding Müller. He disclosed to them the secretive nature of their mission and their destination as the Gulf of Mexico. Early on in the war, German U-boat activity in the Gulf had been responsible for destroying nearly a hundred ships containing oil and supplies for the Allied war effort. Operation Drumbeat, in particular, wreaked havoc in the Gulf and had an unnerving effect on Gulf Coast residents.
Because of the discord caused by his second-in-command, Claussen contemplated placing him under arrest. He decided to table the decision until he had an opportunity to discuss the matter with Müller once they approached the Caribbean. That civil conversation never took place. The sub’s Oberbootsmann, the noncommissioned petty officer responsible for crew discipline, was overheard discussing the potential arrest by Müller loyalists.
What happened next doomed the mission.
Chapter Twenty-Four
November 1944
Aboard the U-1226
North Atlantic Ocean
“One thousand meters below the keel, Herr Oberleutnant,” announced the helmsman. “Increasing speed to two-thirds, right ten degrees.” The two-hundred-fifty-foot submarine weighed just over a thousand tons, smallish in comparison to modern-day vessels.
Claussen patted the young helmsman on the back and unfurled his nautical charts on a square table set in the middle of the conning tower. He studied the route. During his preparations, he’d had conversations with other commanders who’d made their way into the Gulf of Mexico and also received the most up-to-date intelligence data on the Americans’ defense of the coastal waters between the Florida Keys and Cuba.
It was tempting to sail through the Straits of Florida, but the water depth was only six thousand feet, leaving little room for evasive maneuvers. The preferred route was longer, but deemed safer because it avoided detection via depth charges or aircraft reconnaissance. The hulking submarine tended to stand out in the crystal-clear waters of the Caribbean Sea.
“Continue your course west of Bermuda toward Puerto Rico,” Claussen instructed the helmsman. “This should take you on a southerly track between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.”
In the days before sonar navigation, submarine commanders navigated the same way surface ships did. They identified position fixes, such as land masses and celestial bodies, and then used dead reckoning in between, taking into account ocean currents at various depths. Winds were also considered because submarines spent much of their time on the surface.
Claussen was unaware that his executive officer, Müller, who’d been intentionally excluded from most of his conn duties, had appeared behind him.
“You are making a mistake traveling in these waters,” said Müller with a gruff. He’d abandoned all pretense of addressing his commander with respect. He welcomed Claussen’s attempt to arrest him. His men were ready to respond. “You should not traverse the Devil’s Triangle at depth.”
Claussen closed his eyes and shook his head. For days, he’d ignored Müller and simply tolerated his presence. He’d been advised by his bosun that arresting the second-in-command would likely instigate a mutiny. The mission he was given by Reichsführer Himmler was far too important to allow petty comments by a jealous second-in-command to get in the way.
“Nur Aberglaube,” Claussen muttered. Only superstition.
“Nee,” Müller shot back. “It is not. The facts are there. In 1918, the American ship Cyclops disappeared in these waters. Her sister vessel suffered the same fate many years later. You call yourself a seaman. A commander. Yet you do not know the history of these treacherous waters?”
“What do you suggest, Müller? Hmm? Surface travel under the nose of the U.S. Naval aircraft? Perhaps we should sail to Miami for lunch?”
Müller lit a cigarette, another act of defiance against the young commander’s standing order prohibiting smoking on the conn. He took a deep draw on the Eckstein No. 5 and intentionally blew it in Claussen’s direction.
Müller was clearly instigating something with Claussen. It was a test of Claussen’s authority, and his failure to respond would be a sign of weakness to the entire crew, not just those loyal to Müller.
“Lieutenant Müller!” Claussen shouted as he spun to face the taller man. “You are to clear the conn and return to your quarters until further notice.”
Defiant, Müller continued to smoke. “No, I refuse to die in bed. Nor will I watch you destroy mein Unterseeboot!”
Müller turned to his bosun and was about to order Müller arrested when the helmsman shouted. His voice was urgent.
“Herr Oberleutnant! The gyrocompass!”
The gyrocompass, reading the Earth’s revolution and gravitation, showed the direction of true north while at sea. It was designed to ignore any magnetism put off by the operation of the submarine or changes in the Earth’s magnetic field. It was generally steady, changing only with the turn of the vessel.
Now, it was shifting in fits
