{Atlantic Coastline – June 1945}
Yeager assessed the damages to his U-boat, and to his relief, he confirmed that the submarine’s watertight hull was not breached. He and his crew then took measures to slowly guide the vessel up toward the ocean’s surface. Even so, because of the direct strike to the sub’s two propellers and rudder system, Yeager could no longer control his craft’s direction or speed. Addressing his crew, Yeager announced, “We are fortunate that our vessel still has retained some battery functions. This will keep us buoyant and alive.”
As the U-boat rose to within a few yards of the surface, Yeager used his periscope to search the horizon for any sign of his former convoy. Not speaking to anyone in particular, Yeager said, “I cannot see the other U-boats. We must keep our faith that we will soon drift to a port that will offer us sanctuary.”
When Franz Schmidt finally regained consciousness, he began yelling at Yeager wildly. In response, Yeager ordered, “Confine this nuisance to the cargo room.”
Franz was escorted out of the control room and placed in a previously locked storage compartment. The room offered very little space for Schmidt to maneuver since it was filled from floor to ceiling with an unbelievable number of cargo crates! Just before the door was closed and securely locked, Schmidt screamed at the top of his lungs, “You are a traitor, Captain Yeager!”
For the next two weeks, the rudderless XXI-A class U-boat was pushed by both the equatorial current and the massive storm system across the Atlantic. Captain Yeager estimated that his vessel was headed toward the Caribbean islands, where it would likely enter the warm and swift Gulf Stream waters.
As anticipated, the U-boat was carried past Florida and drifted northward, parallel to the eastern coast of the United States. Unfortunately, Yeager was truly distressed when several crewmembers passed away from severe injuries they had suffered during the recent attack on his U-boat. While alone in his quarters, the captain silently prayed for his rudderless vessel to quickly reach a safe port, as he did not want anyone else to be harmed.
Although the captain tried to maintain a positive and professional demeanor within the drifting U-boat, on June 20, his worst fears came true. Not only did the vessel’s stern begin to leak, but the relentless tropical storm had turned into a very powerful hurricane!
Yeager’s crew was helpless to do anything but hold on as the 130-mile-per-hour winds, torrential rain, and enormous ocean waves pushed the U-boat out of the Gulf Stream’s grip and westward toward the shoreline.
In a brief moment of calm, Yeager climbed up the ladder that led to the conning tower and opened the U-boat’s upper hatch. As he began to look to the horizon, a bright flash of lightning lit the sky. At that moment, Yeager witnessed a coastline less than a quarter mile to the west. For a fleeting moment, Yeager felt extraordinary relief, believing that he could now surrender his vessel and seek asylum in a friendly country.
Unfortunately for Yeager, his dreams were short-lived. Unexpectedly, a monstrous 125-foot-tall rogue wave came roaring from the east and crashed into the U-boat with astronomical power. The conning tower was instantly crushed, and the hatch torn from the vessel. With seawater pouring into the U-boat, there was little hope of saving the engulfed vessel.
The submarine was tossed and turned as if it were a small cork falling over a powerful waterfall. The great force of the wave carried the U-boat toward the shore, where it crashed into a large stone breakwater jetty that protruded from the coastline. At that moment, the U-boat suffered a fatal fracture and was propelled westward across the inundated island with unimaginable force. At the same time, Franz Schmidt was hurled out of the shattered cargo room and into the frenzied seawater.
The tsunamic wave ripped through the northeastern portion of Seven Mile Island, tearing up dozens of acres of beach dunes and shredding all that was in its path. Incomprehensible amounts of earth, sand, and debris were relocated and deposited over a half mile away at the island's northwestern side.
Life ceased that day for all occupants of the doomed U-boat except for one survivor. Somehow, Franz Schmidt managed to stay afloat as he was carried westward by the raging wave across the bay and through the North Channel. Eventually, he was deposited onto a high section of marsh and sand located just south of Stites Sound.
