Wentzel H. Ahbe (ヴェンツェル・H・アーべ Ventseru H Ābe) was a Lieutenant Commander (Korvettenkapitän) in the Kriegsmarine and the decorated captain of the Nazi-era German U-boat U-234. He was additionally a veteran of the Battle of the Atlantic.[1]
Appearance[]
Wentzel was an adult German man with short blond hair, a skinny build, and pale skin. He had patchy facial hair and wore a white Kriegsmarine peaked cap, indicating his role as his U-boat's captain. He was seen wearing a midnight-blue Kriegsmarine frock coat with his war medals, but at sea he wore a dark green smock coat, a pink-green square-patterned shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and blue jeans.
Personality[]
In line with his duties as a naval captain, Wentzel gave primary attention to his passengers' safety and travel. He considered himself to care more about his family and his crew members than devotion to his country.
History[]
Das Wieder Erstehen Des Adlers[]
Ahbe's last order in the closing months of World War II in Europe was to take U-234 and its veteran crew along with two passengers from the Kriegsmarine naval base at Kiel to return Lieutenant Colonel Matsudo to Batavia (now Jakarta). SS Lieutenant Colonel Spielberger, using papers from the Gestapo, forced his way onboard. Staring back at land as they departed from Nazi Germany, Ahbe and Matsudo conversed with each other on the conning tower, getting along well. On the other hand, both men had suspicion about Spielberger and his icy presence.
Near the Cape Verde Islands, he witnessed Matsudo playing shogi with Fritz, making him smile. That night, the crew members captured some turtles and cooked them for food. When they spotted a British freighter in the Indian Ocean, Ahbe wanted to attack them since Britain was Nazi Germany's enemy, but Spielberger advised against it because the former was not ordered to do so. Fritz asked his captain what they would do, and Ahbe ordered him to have their men hurry up with the torpedo launcher under maintenance. He then advised the SS officer to get below deck, but the latter claimed that an attack would be an unnecessary risk. Staring at Spielberger, Ahbe sternly asked Spielberger how he could recommend ignoring the enemy since he did not want Nazi soldiers to die for nothing, and Spielberger nonchalantly responded that sinking the ship would have no effect on Germany's fate. Guiding Spielberger back into the boat, Ahbe declared that his men would keep fighting until the very end.
Near the Nicobar Islands on March 25, 1945 close to their destination, Ahbe's crew ran into trouble when they encountered United States Navy destroyers in the area. Quietly traveling below the ocean surface, Ahbe ordered the garrison crew to set course to two-zero-zero. Fritz looked at his map and stated that they could get behind the enemy if U-234 turned twice, adding that the second turn would be in four minutes. A sonarman detected more ships in the area, so Ahbe ordered the U-boat to set both engines to full power, set course to one-seven-zero, and fire a torpedo. Accordingly, U-234 fired a torpedo at one of the Allied ships, which moved away. At that point, the crew members stopped the ship to make it silently run, with Ahbe and the others being silent in anxious anticipation. As Fritz noted one ship right above them, the same ship immediately deployed several depth charges. Quickly thinking, Ahbe shouted an order to turn 20 degrees to port and dive to 40 meters, but the depth charges hit U-234 before she could move.[1] Hearing about the water leak in the rear compartment, Ahbe ordered his men to get bracing frames to the diesel room. He also heard his men urging him to close the fore hatch since the torpedo room was flooded beyond saving. Forty seconds later, U-234 crashed against the ocean floor at a steep angle, further damaging the boat and leaving it stranded at a depth of 57 meters on the seafloor.[2]
With only two hours of air left, Ahbe relieved his crew of their military duties and allowed them to face death however they chose. The captain was surprised to hear that Matsudo had already taken his own life with his samurai sword, not realizing that the Imperial Japanese officer brought the weapon with him for that purpose. Speaking with Spielberger in the living quarters, Ahbe informed him about the ship's immobility, prompting an irate Spielberger to insult him. The SS officer said that it was of utmost importance to carry the painting "The Twelve Knights Led by Brunhilda" to safety, but the captain did not consider it important. Ahbe admitted that although he was proud to have fought for his country, he despised the Nazi cause, expressing his bitterness to Spielberger that the Nazis and Hitler had brought Germany to ruin. Additionally, Ahbe questioned Spielberger's devotion to country over family and expressed satisfaction that U-234's sinking would have meaning if it meant his children would never see the Nazi flag fly again, leading the furious Spielberger to shoot him.[1] In their last act of loyalty to their captain, his crew avenged him in a brief shootout. Ahbe left behind a wife and two children.[3]
Photograph of Ahbe (right) with his wife and two children.
50 years later in the wreckage of the U-boat, his Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords was sought after by Revy after she and Rock recovered the painting "The Twelve Knights Led by Brunhilda" for its value to a Spanish-nationality collector of Nazi artwork.[2] Ahbe was also shown to have received the Iron Cross 1st Class among his other decorations when Revy and Rock examined his skeleton. When Revy returned to the room after pillaging medals from the other corpses, Rock had found the photograph of Ahbe with his wife and two children on his corpse. Showing the photograph to Revy, Rock claimed that the medals belonged to the U-boat crew who fought for their country and therefore she should not have stolen the medals. Annoyed by Rock's attachment to sentimentality, Revy sternly berated him for not understanding that power and money, according to her, were the only thing that gave meaning to things in the world. Stating that Ahbe's medals only had financial value, she threatened to kill Rock if he ever criticized her again in a hypocritical manner.[3]
Trivia[]
- In the English dub, Benny incorrectly states Ahbe's rank as Major.
- He bears resemblance to Jürgen Prochnow's character from the 1981 film Das Boot. Prochnow's character was in turn modeled after real life U-96 captain Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock.
- Ahbe also shares similarities to Günther Prien, commander of the U-47 and one of World War II's earliest U-boat aces. Both are veteran commanders who held the relatively accomplished rank (for U-boat captains) of Korvettenkapitän in Nazi Germany and both were awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class and Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (though Ahbe's is one grade higher with swords, which was not available until after Prien's death on March 7, 1941). Both captains were highly skilled navigators, with Ahbe having successfully sailed from Kiel to the Indian Ocean before the U-234's sinking and Prien having sailed North Atlantic waters to infiltrate the Royal Naval basin of Scapa Flow, in which Prien would sink the battleship Royal Oak.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Episode 04: Die Rückkehr Des Adlers
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 05: Die Wieder Erstehen Des Adlers Part 1
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Episode 05: Eagle Hunting and Hunting Eagles