Fregettenkapitän Gerhard Thäter was Skipper of U-466 and U-3506, and one of a handful to make it through the Straits of Gibraltar twice. He was decorated with the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold for bravery.
What makes this so unusual is that their boat, U-3506, was in Hamburg, fitting out for a war patrol, when
the war ended. Thäter scuttled his U-3506 along with U-2505 and U-3006 inside the Bunker Elbe II in
Hamburg, where they lay unknown until a small group of Sharkhunters went into this ruined bunker in
1988 and actually walked on the deck of one of the boats. Sadly, the bunker was recently filled in with
sand, the boats are actually sunken in sand, then a layer of concrete was poured over the surface and
the bunker itself was demolished - so this area is now a container terminal - with three Type XXI
U-Boats buried in the sands below - and Gerd Thäter was Skipper of one of them.
Gerd Thäter was a fine man and a strong supporter of Sharkhunters. He began his "Eternal Patrol" in 2004 and he will be deeply missed.
Thäter
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