In March 1945 the German submarine U-234 sailed for Japan with a top-secret cargo of advanced weapons and electronics in the Nazis' last attempt to share technology with their ally. Also aboard were a select group of officials and experts whose knowledge was, if anything, even more valuable. However the war ended while the submarine was still en route, and she surrendered to the Americans. After extensive research in US, European and Japanese archives, Joseph Scalia tells the full story of Germany's last mission to Japan. He evaluates the significance of the cargo carried, which included an entire Me 262 jet fighter and 560 kilograms of uranium oxide, thought to be connected to a possible Axis atomic bomb programme, but he argues that the passengers aboard were of even greater value, including as they did an air-defence expert, a top naval construction engineer, a radar expert and an aircraft designer who later became a key figure in the post-war American fast jet programme.
