Surrender of 4 German U-boats-- Part 5: Poor Treatment at Hands of Americans

The Germans complained about the treatment they received at the hands of the Americans.  A subsequent investigation by the U.S. Navy confirmed  their abuse.  Navy prize crews seized the possessions of the U-boat crews and saved them as souvenirs.

They also distributed them to local boys in small boats who came up to the German subs as they were towed up the Piscataqua River.  Once in prison, the corrections officers looted and sold them.

Among those items taken:  pep pills, revolvers, canned goods, parts of German uniforms and decorations/medals.  Under the Geneva Convention,   the U.S. should have returned the prisoners' property.

After the crewmen of the U-873  were interrogated in Portsmouth,  they were taken to the Charles Street jail in Boston.  There, they awaited transfer to a prisoner-of-war camp in Mississippi.  As military officials marched them in handcuffs through the streets, crowds pelted them with garbage and insults.

--GreGen