Werner Lott (3 December 1907 – 2 May 1997) was a German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was taken prisoner on 29 November 1939 after he ordered his boat scuttled in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

at position after having been depth-charged by , and . U-35 Memorial Ventry 01

He was famously known for his humanity and being responsible for saving the lives of 28 Greek sailors whose ship he torpedoed; his submarine rescued the sailors who were treated with the utmost decency and landed them safely on a

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

beach in what was one of only two such instances when a German submarine crew risked its own safety to protect the crew of a vessel they torpedoed and sank. Another incident involving Lott happened while a prisoner of war in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

. He complained about the accommodations, and asked to talk to the officer in charge. Instead, he was visited by Lord

Louis Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was a British statesman, Royal Navy of ...

, the commander of the flotilla that sank his submarine, who arranged for the Admiralty to allow Lott and his second-in-command to dine at Scott's restaurant on the condition they not try to escape. Lott kept his promise, and was returned to the Tower later that night. A few days later, he and the other officers were moved to the Grizedale P.O.W. Camp. Later, the entire crew was moved to POW camps in Canada. In 1984 he visited the Kerry man, Jimmy Fenton, who catered for the Greek sailors and posed for a photograph shaking his hand.'Submarines in the bog holes': West Kerry's experience of World War II.The Kerryman, 01 October 1999, Historian T Ryle Dwyer
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* * 1907 births 1997 deaths People from Szczytno County Military personnel from East Prussia U-boat commanders (Kriegsmarine) Reichsmarine personnel German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 2nd class {{germany-navy-bio-stub