I’m doing some historical research about the sinking of the U-550 on 4/16/1944 for a book that I’m writing (two publishing offers so far!) The USS Gandy, one of three US destroyers engaging the surfaced & largely defenseless U-boat, reported hearing “a Germanic accent” over their TBS system during the engagement. The words were not understood but it was believed to be an attempt to surrender. The U-550’s crew was indeed trying very badly to surrender at that moment, as they were crippled and under withering fire from three directions.

This claim, accurate or not, made it into the USS Gandy’s official reporting of the engagement. I’m not familiar enough with how the TBS system worked to know offhand how likely this claim is. There is no record from the German side of any such attempt, but the majority of the crew did not survive the battle so it’s possible the funker or someone other than the captain (who survived) made the attempt and subsequently died.

Several other things in the destroyers’ reports- such as the sub firing on them with its conning tower guns- are patently untrue and can be attributed to the stress and chaos of the brief but intense encounter. This claim could very well be another result of the Fog of War.