Rudolf Hess

This Date in History: April 26

Views of the U-47

The U-47 returned to Kiel on April 26, 1940 and again required significant repairs. The submarine had left Wilhelmshaven on April 3, 1940 for operations off Norway and the Shetlands codenamed “Operation Hartmut” – the U-boat arm’s support of the invasion of Norway (“Operation Weserübung“) – after Hitler decided that only by securing Norway could he protect the 70% of iron ore Germany imported from Sweden. During this war patrol, the U-47 suffered from a complete failure of torpedoes, to include an ineffective attack – from pointblank range – against the British battleship HMS Warspite on April 19, 1940 near Narvik. The U-47 also experienced navigation problems within the confines of the fiords; at one point the U-boat became grounded. Gunther Prien managed to free the boat but at that moment a British destroyer attacked the boat with depth charges, damaging the engines. (Dönitz’s Crews: Germany’s U-Boat Sailors in World War II)

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Rudolf Hess

Rudolf Hess, Deputy to the Führer until 1941, born April 26, 1894 in Alexandria, Egypt, winner of the Nazi Party Blood Order, fled to England 10 May 1941, convicted at Nürnberg for crimes against peace and war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment, committed suicide under mysterious circumstances July 17, 1987 at Spandau Prison, on Adolf Hitler: “I suppose every genius has a demon in him.” (2,000 Quotes From Hitler’s 1000-Year Reich)

Nazis on trial at Nürnberg

Nazis on trial at Nürnberg; on the left is Hermann Göring, center is Rudolf Hess and right is Joachim von Ribbentrop. Göring, the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, said of Hess, the Deputy Führer, “But Hess – he’s insane. He’s been insane for a long time. We knew it when he flew to England.” Göring took poison and committed suicide on October 15, 1946 – hours before he was to be hanged. Hess died under mysterious circumstances on July 17, 1987, while confined at Spandau Prison in Berlin. Von Ribbentrop was convicted of war crimes and hanged by Master Sergeant John C. Woods at Nürnberg on October 16, 1946. His last words were, “God guard Germany! God have mercy on my soul! My final wish is that Germany should recover her unity and that, for the sake of world peace, there should be understanding between East and West.”