Unterseeboot 559
Unterseeboot 559 (U-559) was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Kriegsmarine. On the night of 30 October 1942 the British destroyer HMS Petard forced U-559 to the surface off the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. Able seaman Colin Grazier, Lieutenant Antony Fasson, and NAAFI canteen assistant Tommy Brown swam naked to the abandoned submarine which was in the course of sinking after being scuttled by its crew. They successfully recovered code books that produced invaluable information for the codebreakers at Bletchley Park working on the cracking of the Enigma machine. Grazier and Fasson failed to leave the submarine in time, and were drowned when the ship sank. Both were awarded the George Cross posthumously. The Victoria Cross could not be awarded because their bravery was not "in the face of the enemy". Brown was awarded the George Medal. The recovery was one of several such events that inspired the fictional account of the submarine capture in the movive U-571. See Also: List of U-boats
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