Matrosengefreiter Franciszek Machoń (18 March 1918 – 1968), known as Franz Machon and later as Frank J. Machon, was the only survivor of the sunken , and one of few

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

U-boat survivors. His story strikes remarkable similarities with

Klaus Bargsten Klaus Bargsten (31 October 1911 – 25 October 2000) was the captain and sole survivor of the sunken . He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Career ''U-521'' under Bargsten's command was sunk on 2 June 1943 by the United ...

of . After his capture, Machon agreed to help the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

observe behaviour characteristics of fellow German

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

Early life

Machon was born in Kattowitz (Katowice) to John and Anna Machon, two

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

commoners. In his early years he worked as a streetcar conductor while attending school. He married a woman named Mary Munik (Maria Munik) who gave birth to a son (his son was 15 months old when he was captured). After the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

, Machoń was drafted into the Pioneer Corp. He later requested a transfer to the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

for

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

training.

''U-512''

Sinking

On 2 October 1942, several hundred kilometers north of

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...

(at position ), was intercepted by depth charges from an American

Douglas B-18 Bolo The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American heavy bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company f ...

of the 99th Bomb Squadron. The German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

quickly filled with water, and left the entire crew panicking in fear. Soon, the entire cabin was filled with chlorine gas and the crewmen began to cough. (It was guessed that the

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate betwee ...

gas was produced from the batteries of the electric torpedoes.) A short time previously it had been discovered that the

escape lung The Momsen lung was a primitive underwater rebreather used before and during World War II by American submariners as emergency escape gear. It was invented by Charles Momsen (nicknamed "Swede"). Submariners trained with this apparatus in an deep ...

s had been improperly stowed and that the majority of them had become wet from a buildup of condensation in the boat. Soon, air pressure in the compartment began to mount and speech became very difficult. Men began to collapse rapidly from the combined effects of

and high pressure. Others started to bleed from the mouth and ears in agony.

Escape

In the next several minutes, all 51 crewmen died, except for Machon. He and a boatswain's mate opened the torpedo loading hatch. Because his crewmate had no snorkel, he let him go first and quickly followed. After exiting the boat, his crewmate got confused about the direction to the surface and swam horizontally, only to lose himself between the hull and the superstructure. Upon reaching the surface, Machon swam around for roughly 1.5 hours, unsuccessfully looking for his partner until an inflated life jacket was dropped to him from a circling airplane from the 99th Bombing Squadron. This was soon followed by a drop of a thermos outfitted with water, a signal pistol, paddles and about of rope.

The raft

The raft provided by the aircraft was his only form of shelter for the next 10 days. Several times, Machon unsuccessfully attempted to attract the attention of various

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanke ...

and passing

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

by firing his signal pistol. To escape the heat, he would usually swim in the water during midday. On the ninth day at sea, he was attacked by seabirds which pecked him on the shoulders so violently he was left with permanent scars. He managed to capture two of the birds, which he split and dried in the sun. Later, with his provisions running low, he decided to eat them, complaining slightly of their fishy taste to his interrogator. Machon, on the verge of death, etched his name into the paddle so that his body could be identified. The next day, 12 October, he was rescued by the United States destroyer at position .

Interrogation

When Machon was rescued, the interrogators gave some time for him to recover his health. When he was found, he was severely sunburned and emaciated. On 19 October, he was formally interrogated. At first he was very nervous giving details to the Navy officials, but then opened up after realizing Nazi propaganda about Allied torture as an interrogation method was false. During his stay he helped Navy officials gather intelligence data on other prisoners and was extremely co-operative to his captors. After being relieved from his duties, he stayed at Fort Hunt until his release.

Later life and death

On 16 April 1945 he was handed over to the Polish authorities. He briefly settled in

Wirek Wirek (german: Antonienhütte) is a district in the centre of Ruda Śląska, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. In 2006 it had an area of 5.9 km2 and was inhabited by 20,595 people. On January 12, 2006 a part of it was split off to form a ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, before relocating to the United Kingdom. He married Alice Homer in

Thanet Thanet may refer to: *Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England *Thanet District, a local government district containing the island *Thanet College, former name of East Kent College *Thanet Canal, ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, in 1951. Machon died in 1968 after suffering from an allergic reaction to a

bee sting A bee sting is the wound and pain caused by the stinger of a female bee puncturing skin. Bee stings differ from insect bites, with the venom of stinging insects having considerable chemical variation. The reaction of a person to a bee sting may ...

. At the time he was working as a chef at the Bungalow Hotel in Birchington-on-Sea.Frank J. Machon in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Machon, Franz 1918 births 1968 deaths Kriegsmarine personnel of World War II People from Katowice Military personnel from the Province of Silesia Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom