Lt. Col. Matsuda was an Imperial Japanese Army officer stationed in Germany to study aeronautics with the Luftwaffe. In March 1945, he boarded the German U-boat U-1324 for the journey home, commanded by Captain Wentzel Ahbe.
He shared the voyage with SS Lt. Col. Spielberger, who'd managed to get aboard in Kiel carrying a painting allegedly created by Adolf Hitler—"The Twelve Knights Led by Brunhilda." (Decades later, it turned out to be essentially worthless.) Unlike Spielberger, who stayed mostly in his cabin, Matsuda was friendly and social with Ahbe and the crew. He even taught them shogi during the crossing to Batavia, playing the Japanese board game with them across the Indian Ocean toward the base in the South China Sea.
The U-1324 had decent luck avoiding enemy detection and even sank an American tanker along the way. But their luck ran out near Batavia when they encountered a U.S. Navy patrol. The submarine was depth-charged and driven nose-first into the ocean floor. With no chance of escape and unwilling to face capture, Matsuda chose to commit seppuku rather than surrender.
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