18. As part of Operation Teardrop, surviving crewmembers of the German U-Boat “U-546” were tortured for information
In late 1944, Allied intelligence received reports the German Kriegsmarine was contemplating deploying submarines armed with V-1 flying bombs to attack New York City; this information was corroborated several times by captured German spies who claimed U-Boats were being readied for such a mission. In January 1945 German Minister of Armaments and War Production Albert Speer proclaimed German rockets “would fall on New York by February 1, 1945”, precipitating the creation of “Operation Teardrop as a failsafe measure to protect mainland America; in April 1945, after the confirmed launch of several Type IX U-Boats heading towards the United States, Operation Teardrop was activated and 4 escort carriers and 42 destroyers escort formed perimeter lines across the Atlantic Ocean.
In the course of Operation Teardrop, the German submarine U-546 sank the USS Frederick C. Davies and resulted in the deaths of 126 of its 192 crewmen. Pursued by five American vessels, on April 24 U-546 was subsequently sunk by the USS Flaherty and its surviving 33 crewmen were taken prisoner aboard the USS Bogue. Whilst 25 of U-546‘s remaining crew were treated in accordance with international law and transported to POW camps, whether as an act of vengeance or intelligence gathering the remaining 8 were detained and brutally tortured for information in violation of the Third Geneva Convention; these abuses continued even after the surrender of Germany on May 8, with the men not released until May 12 by which time one officer had committed suicide as a result of the harsh treatment.
Whilst historian Philip Lundeberg has described the treatment of the survivors of U-546 as a “singular atrocity” motivated by the specific need to extract information on the possible imminent threat to mainland United State, it remains unclear what, if any, pertinent information was gained through this unlawful activity and it became clear after the war that no such V-1 or V-2 attacks were ever planned by the Kriegsmarine.