Clem said:
Here's an emblem reputedly worn on the conning towers of two German U-boats (U-330 and U-114), during WWII.
Hmmm.....this is deeply strange. I've checked out
U-Boat.net to try and find out some information and images of these boats but it appears that neither was constructed.
U-114 was ordered in January 1939 at A.G.Weser, Bremen, but the order was suspended the following September. Similarly the Type VIIC
U-330 was laid down at Flender-Werk, Lubeck on 3rd August 1943 but the construction was suspended on the 30th September and cancelled completely in July 1944. The octopus logo, if genuine, must have been a projected
bootswappen.
What is particularly confusing is that the site dedicated to the career of
Kapitanleutnant Stefan Michael Grabowski depicts a photo of the Type II U-330
The Octopus underway at sea on its way to Brest in November 1939. Another photo depicts the submarine in dry dock. I don't think that U-numbers were swapped between vessels so I'm not sure exactly was going on here.
I have found one other reference to a U-boat depicting an octopus but, unfortunately, no image. This is from the
'Navy Department, Report on the Interrogation of Survivors of U-595' :
"
U-595 left Kiel for her first war cruise on Thursday, July 23, 1942. She was in the company of a 1600-ton supply U-boat said to be commanded by an Oberleutnant Vogel. (ONI Note: It is possible that this Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant) Viktor Vogel, who was previously thought to command U-588, but who may have been transferred.) This boat had an octopus painted on its c/t."
Unfortunately the article does not record the number of this supply U-boat.
.....the quest continues.......