Hunting for Nazi submarines in Argentina

By Nina E. Tveter
Photo: Javier Garcia Cano

Scientists from NTNU searching for submarine wrecks 1 200 kilometres south of Buenos Aires.

In the 1970s, an Argentinian newspaper editor received a letter from an individual who reported that he had come to Argentina in a submarine after the Second World War. This submarine commander wrote that Hitler had ordered him to fill 10 submarines, each with 50 officers and crew, and to sail to Argentina to found a new Reich. Seven submarines are said to have reached their destination.

The newspaper editor regarded this as just another tall story. The letter was filed away, and was forgotten. Right up to last year, that is, when the newspaper editor received a second letter from yet another submarine commander who recounted a similar tale. This person gave his full German name as well as his commander's identity number. According to both commanders, the submarines, which were all of type XXI, were sunk in shallow waters off the coast of Patagonia, and everyone on board reached the shore in rubber dinghies. The second letter also included an old snapshot of the submarine in Patagonia which the commander had taken.

Elderly Argentinians confirm that they saw German submarines off the Argentine coast in the closing days of the war. Also, a few years ago a pilot took an aerial photograph which revealed the outlines of two oblong objects on the bottom of the Bay of San Matias, 1 200 km south of Buenos Aires.

This has rekindled debate about Argentina's relationship with Nazi Germany. The Argentinian people are now demanding that all the accusations concerning post-war Nazi activities in their country should be brought out into the open.

Sonar diagrams are being compared to aerial photos of the oblong objects on the bottom of the sea.

Last year, the president of Argentina, Carlos Menem, set up a committee to look into this matter. The Argentinian newspaper which received the letters, Ambito Financiero, has also been heavily involved in the search for the wrecked submarines. The country lacks the expertise involved in submarine exploration, and thus last year the Argentinian newspaper contacted researchers at NTNU, partly because they have a wide experience in locating wrecks and interpreting sonar diagrams, and partly because NTNU is already collaborating with the University of Rosario on other projects.

In November 1998, Fredrik Søreide, a post-doc researcher, and Morten Kvamme, senior engineer from the Department of Marine Systems Design carried out the first underwater search for the submarines together with Associate Professor Marek E. Jasinski from the Department of Archaeology.

Sonar revealed submarine structures - 20 metres below the water surface. Argentinian divers went down, but unfortunately the structures turned out to be only black sandstone. But sandstone samples were taken in case they should contain traces of rust.

The researchers from NTNU also hoped to locate other historic shipwrecks in the area, and even though no submarines could be found, the search led to the discovery of a frigate which probably dates from the 18th century.

Even though they did not confirm the myth about the submarines on this occasion, the NTNU scientists hope to conduct more underwater searches off the coast of Argentina in the near future. In the meantime, reporters from the newspaper which is hiring the NTNU researchers, are trying to locate the German submarine commanders. They will also examine more closely reports concerning the observation of submarines.

Contact at NTNU: Fredrik Søreide
Tel.: +47 73 59 55 81
E-mail: Fredrik.Soreide@marin.ntnu.no