Secret Journey to Planet Serpo (4 page)

THREE U-BOATS SURFACE

According to UFO researcher/writer Erich J. Choron, ten of the missing German U-boats participated in a top secret mission in the last days of the war. In an article titled “How High Can You Jump?” in
The UFO Casebook
(vol. 26, no. 4), Choron says:

The fact that in the dying moments of the Second World War, ten U-boats, based in Oslofjord, Hamburg and Flensburg, were made available to transport several hundred German officers and officials to Argentina to found a new Reich is widely accepted. These officers, mostly involved in secret projects, and many of whom were members of the SS and Kriegsmarine, itself, sought to escape the “vengeance of the Allies” and continue their work, abroad. The U-boats were filled with their luggage, documents and, more than likely, gold bullion, to finance their efforts . . . Seven of the ten of the U-boats, based on the German/Danish border, set off for Argentina through the Kattegat and the Skagerrak. None were ever seen again . . . “officially.”

From what we have already seen, it seems evident that these submarines went to Antarctica, which was to be the home of the Fourth Reich, not Argentina. Argentina had joined the Allies in March 1945 and was now hostile to Germany. Choron also says that many of the missing U-boats were the very advanced Type XXI and Type XXIII, manufactured late in the war, able to travel much faster than previous models, and equipped with a new snorkel that allowed them to make the entire transatlantic voyage underwater. These could easily evade Allied warships in the South Atlantic.

All these submarines were known to have departed their home ports between May 3 and May 8, 1945. The naval war ended on May 5, 1945, when Admiral Karl Doenitz commanded all submarines to surrender, although the official German surrender was on May 8th. Three of these ships did eventually show up. U-530, under the command of Oberleutnant Otto Wermuth, and U-977, commanded by Oberleutnant Heinz Schaeffer, surrendered to the Argentine Navy at Mar del Plata on July 10, 1945, and August 17, 1945, respectively. U-1238 was scuttled by her crew off northern Patagonia, which is at the tip of South America, and was very likely en route to or from Antarctica. Wermuth and Schaeffer were intensely interrogated by both the United States and Great Britain before being released as civilians. It is very likely that information gathered in these interrogations triggered both Operation Taberin and Operation Highjump, although the British already had incriminating information of their own that they had not shared with their U.S. counterparts.

OPERATION TABERIN

According to James Robert, a British civil servant and World War II historian, in an article in the August 2005 edition of
Nexus Magazine
(vol. 12, no. 5), the Germans succeeded in building an underground base in the massive ice cave, using the discovered inlets for access. He claims that British soldiers from the secret Antarctic Maudheim Base found the entrance in late 1945 and

followed the tunnel for miles, and eventually they came to a vast underground cavern that was abnormally warm; some of the scientists believed that it was warmed geothermally. In the huge cavern were underground lakes; however, the mystery deepened, as the cavern was lit artificially. The cavern proved so extensive that they had to split up, and that was when the real discoveries were made. The Nazis had constructed a huge base into the caverns and had even built docks for U-boats, and one was identified supposedly. Still, the deeper they traveled, the more strange visions they were greeted with. The survivor reported that “hangars for strange planes and excavations galore” had been documented.

The Nexus article included a long-kept secret, firsthand account of what was called Operation Taberin II
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in October 1945, by a former British SAS (Special Air Service) commando, who had participated in the raid and survived.
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While Britain had several secret bases in and around Antarctica, the Maudheim base was the largest and was top secret because it was only about two hundred miles from the Muhlig-Hofmann Mountains, and it was from Maudheim that the attack was launched. During training for the operation, the agent was informed that Antarctica was Britain's secret war. The British bases in Antarctica had been set up in anticipation of an eventual confrontation, after they had learned about the construction of the Nazi base in 1939. This information was revealed by three key Nazis who were captured by the British—Rudolph Hess, Heinrich Himmler, and Admiral Karl Doenitz, all of whom knew all the details of the secret base—and by submarine commanders Otto Wermuth and Heinz Schaeffer. In fact, it was highly probable that Doenitz was named as Hitler's successor precisely because, as commander of the submarine fleet, he was best positioned to protect the Antarctic colony, the future home of the Fourth Reich. This choice by Hitler came as a great surprise to the entire German High Command.

After a month of arduous cold-weather training, the special commando team was informed that the tunnel to the Nazi base had been discovered during the previous Antarctic summer and explored by a previous SAS team. Of that team of thirty men from the Maudheim base, there was only one survivor who had succeeded in somehow lasting through the Antarctic winter without going stir-crazy. He told the new team what they had discovered and how the others had died. The new team set up an advance base at the mouth of the tunnel, and then were told they had orders to follow the tunnel all the way “to the Führer, if need be.” Two men remained behind with the radio and other equipment while eight commandos, led by a major and carrying a huge amount of explosives, went into the tunnel. After walking for five hours, they entered an enormous cavern illuminated by artificial lighting. In his account, the SAS agent says, “As we looked over the entire cavern network, we were overwhelmed by the numbers of personnel scurrying about like ants, but what was impressive was the huge constructions that were being built. From what we were witnessing, the Nazis, it appeared, had been on Antarctica a long time.” He says he was very impressed by the advanced Nazi technology. The team was discovered and fought a heroic engagement while being chased after setting the mines in place. Only three survived the encounter, but they succeeded in detonating massive explosions at the mouth of the tunnel, and sealing it so that no entrance remained. After being evacuated to the Falkland Islands, the three survivors were told that their mission was to remain top secret. The SAS agent says, “Upon reaching South Georgia, we were issued with . . . a directive that we were forbidden to reveal what we had seen, heard or even encountered.”

British newspaper report of the Doenitz appointment

OPERATION HIGHJUMP

Clearly, the United States did find out about Operation Tabarin, either by covert intelligence operations or by deliberate intelligence sharing by the British. The latter seems more likely because the British were probably convinced they had not succeeded in destroying the base, and wanted the U.S. to finish the job. Also, the OSS had learned a great deal from the interrogations of Wermuth and Schaeffer. Planning for Operation Highjump was initiated by Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal on August 7, 1946, less than a year after Operation Tabarin II concluded. Operation Highjump was sanctioned by order of the “Committee of Three,” consisting of the secretaries of state, war, and the navy. Presumably, the Cabinet had been advised by several intelligence agencies and already had the approval of President Harry S. Truman. This was to be a massive naval operation involving a fleet of thirteen ships, including a communications-laden flagship, two icebreakers, two destroyers, two tenders carrying three PBM (Patrol Bomber Mariner) seaplanes each, two tankers, two supply ships, one submarine, two helicopters, and the aircraft carrier USS
Philippine Sea,
carrying six DC-3 twin-engine planes equipped with both wheels and skis for landing gear. The flagship USS
Mt. Olympus
also carried a contingent of 4,700 Marines.

War hero Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who was also then U.S. chief of naval operations, appointed Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd as director of the mission. He also named decorated veteran of polar operations, Admiral Richard H. Cruzen as task force commander. The operation was publicized as exploratory and scientific. Clearly, with the involvement of three of America's top naval brass as well as a Marine fighting unit, this was no scientific expedition. The U.S. Marine Corps at that time was considered the toughest military organization in the world, still including in its ranks many veterans of the brutal Pacific Island campaigns only a year earlier. So this was no novice, token military force intended to accompany a scientific expedition.

The publicity notwithstanding, the military nature of the operation was clearly stated from the top down. The Committee of Three said that the main purpose of the expedition was “consolidating and extending U.S. sovereignty over Antarctic areas, investigating possible base sites, and extending scientific knowledge in general.” Admiral Marc Mitscher, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, said that the main objective was to extend U.S. sovereignty “over the largest practicable area of the Antarctic continent.” Presumably, the presence of such a formidable fighting force implied that this sovereignty might have to be gained by military action. But that made no sense because no potential enemy was identified. So clearly, that was just a cover story, and the real intent of the mission was to covertly destroy the Nazi base. Lest there be any doubt remaining, Admiral Byrd said, “However the basic objectives were not diplomatic, scientific or economic—they were military.” Quite possibly, it was actually Byrd who had initiated the entire operation and had convinced the Cabinet of the necessity of the mission because of what he had learned in Hamburg in 1938. This, added to the reports of Operation Tabarin and the U-boat commander interrogations, were sufficient to launch “the largest Antarctic expedition ever organized.”
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THE BATTLE OF THE WEDDELL SEA

The operation, planned jointly by Admirals Nimitz and Byrd, involved a three-pronged approach, very similar to an invasion scenario and typical of a military attack. The central group, consisting of two icebreakers, the aircraft carrier, two cargo ships, the submarine, and the flagship, would reestablish the previous base at Little America III, now to be called Little America IV. The six DC-3s would take off from the carrier in the Southern Ocean and fly over the Ross Ice Shelf to the base where a landing strip would be constructed for the planes. They would then conduct reconnaissance flights over the interior using ground-penetrating radar. When ready for the attack, the eastern and western groups, consisting of a PBM seaplane tender, a tanker, and a destroyer each, would encircle the continent from two different directions, and would rendezvous in the Weddell Sea off Queen Maud Land. Four DC-3s, carrying explosives—one piloted by Admiral Byrd—would then fly over the South Pole from Little America toward Queen Maud Land, while the PBM seaplanes were launched from the tenders. The PBMs (Flying Boats) carried loads of bombs and were capable of sinking ships from the air. They had sunk ten German U-boats during the war.

Descriptions of the expedition never mention the disposition of the Marines. Most likely they would be divided into two groups and carried onboard the tenders and destroyers from which they would be ready to disembark near the mouth of the tunnel from two different directions. The presence of the destroyers and the PBMs clearly signaled the military nature of the operation. So all three groups were to converge on Queen Maud Land. Presumably, the expedition forces had learned from the British the precise location of the entrance to the tunnel leading to the Nazi base, and they now had more current information from the DC-3 reconnaissance flights.

Western group seaplane tender USS Currituck

One of the PBMs flying off the USS
Currituck
seaplane tender in the western group discovered the ice-free zone and the warm water Rainbow Lakes in central Antarctica. The seaplane landed on one of the lakes and found the water temperature to be about 30°F. The eastern group encountered difficulty. The PBM designated
George One,
flying off the seaplane tender USS
Pine Island,
suddenly exploded in midair. Three seamen died in that incident. There was no official explanation for the explosion. The remaining six men in the crew were rescued thirteen days later by the seaplane
George Two,
having survived on the supplies from the plane in the wreckage. More mysterious was the fate of the tender itself. According to Erich J. Choron, in his article “How High Can You Jump?” (see
above), “The USS
Pine Island
was struck from the Naval Register, on an unknown date . . . Her title was transferred to the Maritime Administration for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet . . . on an unknown date . . . and . . . the ship's final disposition is unknown. . . . Now, how does one go about ‘losing' a major surface ship . . .”

According to the official records of Operation Highjump, all the ships in the eastern group met up off Peter I Island in the Bellingshausen Sea on February 14, 1947, and prepared to sail together around the Antarctic Peninsula to the Weddell Sea. It appears that the eastern and western groups were supposed to rendezvous there just off the coast of Queen Maud Land to execute a joint attack with the DC-3s. There is no further record of activity of any of these ships until March 3, 1947, when the operation was suddenly prematurely terminated, and they were instructed to sail back to Rio de Janeiro. According to a Russian documentary posted on YouTube, the fleet encountered several flying discs that emerged from the water and attacked the ships in a twenty-minute engagement. That must have occurred in the Weddell Sea during that period. Apparently, the discs were protecting the entrance to the tunnel. In the video, the discs can be seen darting over a ship. It was claimed that sixty-eight men were killed in that action. If the Pine Island was indeed sunk, it is very likely that it would have happened during that battle, and many of the sixty-eight dead would probably have been Marines.

Whatever happened in the Weddell Sea, it caused Admiral Byrd to cancel the entire operation on March 3, 1947. This was only two months into the mission, originally planned for six months through the Antarctic summer and fall. Onboard his flagship, the USS
Mount Olympus,
as it briefly docked in Valparaiso, Chile, en route back to Washington, D.C., through the Panama Canal, Byrd granted an interview to Lee Van Atta, a reporter from the Chilean newspaper
El Mercurio
on March 4, 1947. The story based on that interview appeared in the newspaper the next day. Van Atta wrote:

Admiral Richard Byrd warned today that it is necessary for the United States to adopt protective measures against the possibility of an invasion of the country by hostile aircraft proceeding from the polar regions . . . The admiral said: “It is not my intention to scare anybody, but the bitter reality is that if a new war should come, the United States will be attacked by aircraft flying in from over one or both poles . . . The fantastic speed with which the world is developing”—the admiral declared—“is one of the objective lessons learnt during the Antarctic exploration recently effected . . . I cannot do more than deliver a strong warning to my compatriots in the sense that the time has already passed in which we can take refuge in isolation and rest in the confidence that distance, the oceans and the poles constitute a guarantee of security.” The admiral reiterated the need to remain in a state of alert and vigilance and build the last redoubts of defence against an invasion.