U 864:Passengers:
- Lt. Rolf v. Chlingensperg [deputy chief of Project Bureau Messerschmitt AG]
- Lt. Riclef Schomerus [Chief of Aerodynamic Project Bureau Messerschmitt AG]
- Kptlt. Plass
- Kptlt. Hahndorf
- Mtr.Gefr. Franz Türk (for he was already 37 years old, it is presumed that he was a specialist of some sort, too)
Besides the bottles with mercury, there are suspicions that also a Me 163 in parts was on board (for U 234 had a Me 262 in parts on board).
Moreover blueprints for a
"Campini aircraft", a
"Caproni submarine" (for there were no aircraft or submarines carrying such names, it is likely that these were codewords for some sort of secret cargo) and Siemens Radar-blueprints for a
"Satsuki submarine". This was the Japanese codeword for the German type IX U-boats.
Further were 30 containers with "treated water", i.e. presumably heavy water (Deuterium (D) - or ²H) on board. Whether there was also Uranium Oxyd on board (as on U 234) is not known.
Source: Günther W. Gellermann,
Geheime Reichssache - Geheime Kommandosache. Rätselhafte Fälle aus der Zeit des Zweiten Weltkrieges, E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg - Berlin - Bonn 2002, pp. 30 - 32
U 234:There were two Japanese Navy Officers on board:
- Fkpt. Tomonaga (U-Boat expert; had come on board U 180 to Germany)
- Fkpt. Shoji (aircraft engine specialist)
On board were:
- 560 kg Uranium Oxide (U235)
- a Me 262 in parts
- jet engine parts
- optical instruments
- 100 Leica cameras
- modern anti-tanks weapons
There is a book written by a crew member: Wolfgang Hirschfeld,
Das letzte Boot. Atlantik farewellSource: Günther W. Gellermann,
Der andere Auftrag. Agenteneinsätze deutscher U-Boote im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Bernard & Graefe, Bonn 1997, pp. 98 ff.