WWII – Autograph – U Boats – Gunther Prien excessively rare autograph letter signed by Prien dated December 3rd 1940 – only a few weeks before his death – thanking his correspondent, a young lady, for her congratulations (probably for his spectacular sinking of HMS Royal Oak), and apologising for a previous letter when he had wrongly addressed her thinking that she was a girl of only 10-12. This is the first letter of Prien we have ever seen. As commander of U 47, Prien carried out one of the most daring raids in the whole of WWII, slipping under the anti-U-Boat nets at Scapa Flow, which the British had thought impregnable, and sinking the British battleship the Royal Oak. How he did it – and got away again – is the subject of legend. When he returned victorious to Germany, he was feted by Hitler who sent him on extensive tours around Germany to boost morale. A children’s board game ‘Mit Prien Gegan England’ was also devised. Prien’s fame was short lived however. On March 7th 1941 his U-Boat went missing and has never been found. It is presumed that a torpedo failure was responsible and the boat with its entire crew was destroyed. The lot comes with a portrait photograph of Prien and two books about him