Franz Machon

On October 2, 1942 several hundred kilometers north of Cayenne (in position 06°50′N 52°25′W[1]) U-512 was intercepted by depth charges from an American Douglas B-18 Bolo of the 99th Bomb Squadron. The German U-boat 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 gas was produced from the batteries of electric torpedoes.) A short time previously it had been discovered that the escape lungs 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 were beginning to collapse rapidly from the combined effects of chlorine and high pressure. Others were starting to bleed from their mouth and from their ears in agony.[2]

In the next several minutes, tragedy would claim all 51 crewmen except for one, Machon. He and a boatswain's mate decided to attempt to open the torpedo loading hatch rather than die from the gas. Because his crewmate had no snorkel, he let him go first and quickly followed. After exiting the boat, his crewmate got confused with 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 200 feet (61 m) of rope.

The raft provided by the aircraft was his only form of shelter for the next 10 days. Several times, Franz unsuccessfully attempted to attract the attention of various tankers and passing aircraft by firing his signal pistol. In order to escape the heat he would usually swim in the water during midday.[3]

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, now helpless and facing the verge of death, etched his name into the paddle so that his body could be identified.[4]

The day following he was rescued by the United States destroyer, USS Ellis at position 07°50′N 56°05′W on 12 October 1942.