They couldnt find him in the Bunker, so they figured hey....why not
At the end of World War two There were 398 German U-boats afloat, mostly in the Baltic, however 49 were at Sea in the Atlantic ocean. On 4th May 1945, u- boats were ordered to cease attacking and sinking ships at sea, the U-boats were also ordered not to damage or scuttle their boats in any way. This order, however, was disobeyed and many U-boats scuttled themselves in various harbors in Norway and Germany
On May 5th U-853, under the command of Oberleutnant Fromsdorf, attacked and sank the collier SS Black Point along the coast of Massachusetts and was sunk the following day along with Kapitanleutnant Frische's U-881. Similar fates under similar circumstances also befell the Type VIIC U-1008 and U-320, plus three Type XXIs: U-2534, U-3503 and U-2538, all attacked and sunk in European waters by Allied aircraft a few days after the surrender order had been repeatedly broadcast. It is unknown if these U-boats understood the war was over as they were lost with all hands.
On May 8th allied commanders using German frequencies broadcast that all remaining ships were to immediately surface and fly a black pennant, then report via radio there location to be brought into the nearest allied port. Some of the skippers decided not to surrender immediately. Kapitanleutnant Ehrenreich Stever refused to surrender his ship and instead scuttled U-1277 off the Portuguese coast on May 20th. U-530 continued to make unsuccessful attacks on allied shipping as it wandered all over the Atlantic before reaching Argentina on July 10, 1945. The last ship left afloat,U-977 was the most controversial of all. This ship was thought to be the flagship of a 'ghost convoy' transporting Hitler and other key nazi's to a secret base in South America.
