World War II - Hunt for U-479

Good morning, I wish I could do another Last Voices of World War I, but alas I ran out of those documentaries.  Now let’s shift to a documentary on World War II and the Baltic Sea.  When it comes to World War II, a lot of action took place on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, however, we never hear about what happened on the Baltic Sea.  The run time for this documentary is 50:50.  It is called the Hunt for U-479.

There are 50,000 shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea.  It has unique environmental conditions that help preserve the shipwrecks.  It is considered a treasure trove of history.  During World War II, the Soviets and the Nazis were fighting for control of the Baltic Sea.  The biggest disaster took place in the Baltic Sea.  The Wilhelm Gustloff was sunk in the sea and took 9,000 souls.  A dive team is assembled to tell this story among others from World War II.

The Wilhelm Gustloff was a cruise ship that was created by the Nazis to provide the people with a cruise vacation.  During World War II, Wilhelm Gustloff was requisitioned for service to help evacuate German civilians from the advancing Soviets.  Thousands of people tried to get on the ship, and historians put the number at 10,000 plus people that were on the ship at the time of the sinking.  The Wilhelm Gustloff was among two other ships that were fleeing from the Soviets.  The other two ships were the Goya and the General Steuben.

The first wreck explored is the Wilhelm Gustloff, and this was one wreck that nobody had ever heard of.  The one thing that was shocking about the wreck was the lack of human remains on the wreck.  Jak P. Mallmann Showell talks about the Wilhelm Gustloff and how it was built.  It would not have the speed that other ocean liners.  It could not be able to outrun a Soviet submarine.

The next wreck that is explored is General Steuben.  Over four thousand people lost their lives on this wreck.  The General Steuben wreck is a wreck that is covered with nets so the divers have to be careful when exploring the wreck.  In the midst of diving these wrecks, the shipwreck hunters are looking for a lost U-boat.  The U-479 had operated in the Baltic Sea but is now lost. 

Horst Bredow talks about his experiences in the U-Boat.  He served on the U-Boats during World War II.  He manages an archive that deals with U-Boat histories.  He recalls being seasick on the U-boats.  If you are an avid watcher of PBS, you would remember Horst Bredow from the U-869 documentary.  It was very nice to see him in this documentary.

The team turns to learning more about U-Boats and what conditions were like in those U-Boats.  They are going to use these studies to help find the U-Boat.  They eventually make their way to Estonia to make their plans to find U-479.  Then there was a discussion on another shipwreck that was discovered in the Baltic.  Then there is a short discussion on the ferry Estonia shipwreck and a visit to that memorial.  What challenges will these divers face in the Baltic?  Will the shipwreck divers find the U-479?  What do the Baltic shipwrecks reveal about World War II?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

It would have been nice to have this documentary divided into chapters to help break things up.  The documentary just jumped from one wreck to the other.  Some parts were really fast-moving and then slowed down when it came to learning more about a wreck. It was nice to see Horst Bredow in this documentary.  I do not believe the mention of the MV Estonia was very appropriate for a documentary on World War II wrecks, although I understand that it relates to the weather on the Baltic Sea.  I also would have appreciated a longer discussion on what was going on during World War II on the Baltic Sea besides the refugees fleeing the war.  I would not recommend this documentary for a history class nor would it be good for research purposes.