Post 1,022
‘On July 30, 1915, our U-28 torpedoed the British streamer Iberian, which was carrying a rich cargo across the North Atlantic. The steamer sank so swiftly that its bow stuck up almost vertically into the air. Moments later the hull of the Iberian disappeared. The wreckage remained beneath the water for approximately twenty-five seconds, at a depth that was clearly impossible to assess, when suddenly there was a violent explosion, which shot pieces of debris – among them a gigantic aquatic animal – out of the water to a height of approximately 80-feet…
‘At that moment I had with me in the conning tower six of my officers of the watch, including the chief engineer, the navigator, and the helmsman. Simultaneously we all drew one another’s attention to this wonder of the seas, which was writhing and struggling among the debris. We were unable to identify the creature, but all of us agreed that it resembled an aquatic crocodile, which was about 60-feet long, with four limbs resembling large webbed feet, a long, pointed tail and a head, which also tapered to a point. Unfortunately we were not able to take a photograph, for the animal sank out of sight after ten or fifteen seconds.’
The words of Commander Freiherr George G. von Forstner, captain of the U-28 u-boat. Accounts such as his were common and all were ridiculed. So highly respected was the Commander that he knew, more than anyone else, that such tales were always met with scorn. He would never captain another u-boat ever again if he told such a tale. So why did he? Why risk everything… unless he was telling the truth.
The U-28 served in the First World War, conducting five patrols and sinking 40 ships, including the British steamer the Iberian. This was a merchant steamer, heading from Manchester to Boston, Massachusetts. It was sunk nine miles southwest of Fastnet, Ireland, killing seven people. The large explosion heard by the Commander of the u-boat was likely the boilers exploding and shattering into a million pieces. What happened next remains a mystery, but the Commander was sure of what he saw. A giant sea monster, terrorising the waves…
The Commander had no reason, at least on the face of it, to lie about what he saw. He risked everything by writing down the doomed encounter. Submarine captains never exaggerate and the fact that the Commander’s account is so matter-of-fact, with no grand embellishment, went a long way as to explaining why so many people believed him.
Your typical monster investigators soon speculated that it was a surviving pliosaur or mosasaur, whilst others thought, ‘Oh great, another sea monster and everyone thinks it’s a dinosaur.’ At the height of war, however, there were many encounters of this kind and speculation was rife that the monsters were the creation of the enemy, gigantic sea beasts designed to hunt down the enemy and slaughter every last one of them. Soon, people began to believe the U-28 Creature was a British creation and was being transported onboard the Iberian…
More logical minds of the time suggested it was some unknown crocodile, but at 60 feet, it’s a full 40 feet longer than Lolong, the longest crocodile ever found. Almost every single witness onboard that night said it resembled a crocodile so perhaps the simplest explanation is the correct one. But even the longest crocodile ever went extinct 112 million years ago and only reached 40 feet in length. And let’s not forget, 61 people survived the sinking of the Iberian. Not a single one saw a sea beast.
The Commander, in fact, published what he saw in a German newspaper 18 years later, and there’s no evidence to suggest that he did indeed write what he saw in his logbook. We only have his word for that. All this at a time when sea monsters were being seen every other day, including old Nessie. What had happened in that 18-year gap? Memories becoming distorted and confused. Perhaps, even, the Commander wanting to give Germany its own Loch Ness. Its own creature to be proud of and to be held up as a symbol of national pride. Which isn’t fair on Scotland because I’m fairly certain most of them are sick of the Loch Ness Monster, but back then, maybe things were different…
Newspapers across Europe picked up on the words of the Commander and many started to fear something was lurking in the waters. And what better proof does one need than the words of a respected German Commander? In fact, the more you look at it, the more you begin to wonder. This does sound like the work of mad leaders concocting some fiendish scheme to… well, scare others, or maybe as some warped symbol of German nationalism. Who’s to know?
The Commander published a second article on the beast a few days later, this time, featuring an illustration. It’s unclear if the artist came up with the drawing or if he was working under the instruction of the Commander. A 60-foot creature flying through the air would take tremendous force to propel it up, not to mention that such creatures are cold-blooded and lack the adaptations to survive in the icy waters of Ireland. The illustration also shows legs, like a modern crocodile and not some well-adapted sea creature. Not only that, the illustration closely resembles that of a young crocodile, suggesting to many that the artist in question drew some stuffed model, as evidenced by the misshapen features, a common problem with stuffed animals.
The strange life of the U-28 ended as strangely as it lived. One day, it was on the waters just off North Cape, ready to strike a cargo ship. The ship, the Olive Branch, was carrying a consignment of army trucks on the deck. When the German shell struck the ship, one of the trucks was flung into the air, landing on the U-28 and sinking it. And I’m not making that up, I’m really not! This killed all the witnesses to the great sea monster as described by the Commander, leading some to suspect the account was made up because there was no one left to challenge it. Except… Robert Maas, that is.
Maas was the ship’s cook, and is still alive to this very day. If he did see anything, he never reported it. Despite being with the other men who claim to have seen it, which is strange. Stranger still, the U-28’s war diary makes no mention of the monster, a record that also survives to this very day. ‘The submarine fired 11 shots as it chased the fleeing steamer and got two hits’, so the diary goes. ‘Much coal smoke was seen to emerge from the ventilators and funnel… [sinking] with her bow in the air’. The Commander found two survivors in a lifeboat and, remarkably, treated their wounds. He was, clearly, a complicated man.
Perhaps it is true that the Commander feared ridicule, or perhaps he saw nothing, resorting to the desire for a symbol of national pride. Or perhaps he was so scared that night that he clearly wasn’t thinking straight, rushing to help the wounded perhaps an indicator of his fragile and complex state of mind. It’s also worth remembering that this was a well-documented fact and that the crew of the Olive Branch did not return the favour in kind, not very peaceful, leaving the crew of the U-28, the very same who helped a few Iberian survivors years earlier, to drown at the mercy of the freezing waters, a long and painful end. With flying wreckage set against the black of the night, chaos and confusion all around, a loud bang and distorted memories, perhaps one lonely Commander suspected a giant monster was writhing around on the surface of the water…
Whatever the truth, what happened all those years ago will likely forever remain a mystery. But it stands the test of time as a powerful story of humanity and the lack of it, complex war and big arse monsters of the deep, unlike most tales of cryptids, and, for me, the story remains one of the most intriguing I’ve ever encountered.
So I’ll give this cryptid a 76 on my patented Cryptid-o-Meter, putting it 65th in the list of 77, with The Pope Lick Monster still bottom and The Beast of Gévauden still holding top spot.
The U-28 Creature. A fascinating cryptid indeed.
Ciao :)(:
Image (Click on It to Enlarge)
1) A drawing of the U-28 Creature…
(credit: cryptidz.wikia.com/wiki/U-28_Creature)
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