WWII Sailor Recalls Capture Of U-505: 'All Hell Broke Loose'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- One of the last surviving U.S. sailors who helped board and capture the German submarine U-505 during World War II was at the Museum of Science and Industry on Wednesday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the U-boat's capture.
"Of course, that was one of the most exciting times," said Don Carter, who was a 24-year-old signalman on the aircraft carrier USS Guadalcanal when German submarines were wreaking havoc in the Atlantic.
"If Hitler had put all of his money in the U-boats, we wouldn't be here today," Carter said.
Carter and was on the boarding party that took the U-505 during a battle in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of northwestern Africa.
Now 94, Carter's memory of the capture remains vivid. On June 4, 1944, the USS Chatelain, one of five destroyers escorting the Guadalcanal, detected the U-505 on sonar.
"It was a beautiful day, on a Sunday, and the sun was shining. There wasn't a wave in the ocean. It was calm, and the Chatelain came over the radio; it says we have a sub contact, and we're getting ready to attack," he said. "Then all hell broke loose."
While the Guadalcanal moved away at top speed, the Chatelain blasted the U-505 to the surface with depth charges and other anti-submarine weapons.
"All the destroyers turned loose on the sub with guns, and the Germans were all jumping in the water. They were trying to save their skin, you know?" Carter said.
Carter was positioned on the bow of the U-505 after the boarding party went onto the sub.
"I sent the messages back and forth between the sub and the carrier," he said.
All but one German sailor would be taken prisoner. Carter later became friends with some of the captured Germans.
Carter married his wife, Marie, when he returned home three months later. She said it made his day to tell his story.
"Just reminiscing, and meeting the guys that he sees once a year," she said. "As I said, just reminiscing about it, and thanking God that he survived."
Ten years after the sub was captured, the U.S. government donated the boat to Chicago, and it has been on display at the Museum of Science and Industry since 1954. It was kept outside the museum until 2004, when it was moved to a climate-controlled indoor exhibit to help preserve the sub after decades of being exposed to the elements.