U-234: HITLER'S LAST SUBMARINE This meticulous recreation of U-234's final voyage sheds new light onto one of World War Two's enduring mysteries. Departing Germany in late March 1945, U-234's mission was to deliver cutting-edge German military technology to Japan; its payload included V-2 rocket and jet fighter components, and about 1,200 pounds of uranium oxide – a key ingredient in Japan's own atomic weapons program. After weeks of evading Allied attacks, the ship's crew surrendered to the U.S. Navy upon learning of Germany's defeat; the ship was escorted to an American port and its cargo carefully scrutinized. The uranium oxide however quickly vanished without a trace. One of this film's key revelations comes from Major John Lansdale, a Manhattan Project official who apparently confiscated the uranium for America's own bomb-building program; he and others argue persuasively that U-234's uranium shipment, intended by Germany for its Japanese ally, was ultimately delivered by America, in the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Combining sharp archival detail with exhaustive interviews – including U-234 crew and officers, the Manhattan Project's Hans Bethe, Lansdale and others – this film provides powerful answers to one of the war's most intriguing chapters. USA/Germany, 2001, B&W/Color, 56 minutes, English commentary.
