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Roger Griffiths is well known as a Naval Researcher who has helped many other researchers
and authors. Here, he provides instructions on how to obtain the reports made by the Admiralty after they had interrogated
survivors of U-Boats that had been sunk. Many thanks to Roger for his very useful work. |
The National Archive UK (TNA) formerly The Public Record Office (PRO) contains 4 volumes written by the Admiralty Publications Dept, entitled INTERROGATION OF GERMAN NAVAL SURVIVORS 1941-1944.
These files cover most but not all U-boats, S-boats, Capital Ships and Merchant Raiders whose crews were captured by the British between 1941 and 1944. As this website is dedicated to the Ubootwaffe I have only included information which appertains to that branch of the Kriegsmarine. For other vessels contact TNA.
These files are a useful source for naval historians interested in a particular U-Boat. Not only do they give a description of the sinking/capture but also technical details and general information about conditions in the Kriegsmarine. They make for very interesting reading, the report on U-434 being typical. Some reports are more detailed and others only contain a couple of pages. The file numbers are as follows:
ADM186/806
1941.Contains files on
U-70, U-100, U-99, U-76, U-110, U-138, U-556, U-651, U-501, U-570, U-111 & Technical file on HMS GRAPH.
ADM186/807
1942. Contains files on
U-433, U-95, U-574, U-434, U-451, U-131, U-93, U-581, U-374, U- 379, U-335, U-352, U-701, U-210, U-464, U-353.
ADM186/808
1943. Contains files on
U-660, U-517, U-331, U-357, U-224, U-444, U-187, U-432, U-175, U-301, U-439, U-659, U-752, U-528, U-202, U-506, U-558, U-459, U-706, U-461, U-462, U-454, U-489, U-607, U-468, U-523, U-135, U-643, U-470, U532, U-732
ADM186/809
1944. Contains files on
U-340, U-536, U-593, U-73, U-406, U-386, U-264, U-257, U-91, U-358, U-744, U-472, U-973, U-845.
| Thanks to Mike Holdoway who has written this search engine (right) for the above information, making it quick and easy to find a reference number for a particular boat. |
How to obtain the file you are interested in
These instructions have been updated on 29th July 2004 to reflect the changed National Archives online catalogue system.
If you cannot visit The National Archive, you can still obtain copies. This is not a free service, and an initial quote will cost you £10.
TNA have just introduced a new online catalogue so the procedures for obtaining documents is a little complicated but if you follow these steps you should be OK.
Step 1
Either print this page, or make a note of the ADM file number from the above list.
Step 2
Go to The National Archives | The Catalogue
You should see a page that looks like this:
Step 3
You need to provide the ADM reference number, e.g. ADM186/806
Near the top left left corner, where it says type reference here type in ADM186/806 (or whichever reference is appropriate for the U-boat you are interested in). Then hit the button underneath that says Go to reference.
You should then get a page that looks like this:
Step 4
On that page, the details of the file are given. There is a button on the right hand side, about mid-way down, outlined in red that says Request this. Hit this button.
You should then get a page that looks like this:
Step 5
There are several Go buttons on this page. The first one, which is alongside the Printed or digital copy, Paper or PDF row, is the one you need. Hit it.
You should then get a page that looks like this:
Step 6
Fill out the page as follows:
Where it says in red, Document 1 Please include instructions for copying your documents,
either check the box to copy all pages or uncheck this box and enter details of the parts you are interested in. You probably don't want the whole file, it also includes various reports on surface ships, the whole file could cost a lot of money.
So in the Only copy the following parts in this document text box, type in something like
PLEASE COPY THE ENTIRE INTERROGATION REPORTS ON THE FOLLOWING U BOATS ONLY
and then provide the U-boat numbers you are interested in.
Step 7
Continue down the page, filling in the boxes with the appropriate file numbers (if you need more than one). Hit the Continue button and you will be asked to fill in your personal details on a secure site.
There is an initial charge of £10 for a quote
Many thanks to Roger Griffiths for sharing his tips and expertise.
Next page: an example transcription of an interrogation report, that of U-434.