Patrol 5 (02DEC39 - 31DEC39)

= Patrol 5 =

November, 12th 1939

Machinist Franz Bohm transfered to another uboat,
replaced by Georg Fischer.

Dismissed Klaus Brummer (Helmsman) and
Max Nadrup (Helmsman).

--

December, 2th 1939

Boat received upgrades on batteries and had all
joints replaced. A new air compressor and a brand
new radio and hydrophone equipment. All torpedoes
available are now type II and we are advised to only
use magnetic pistols.

--

December, 4th 1939

03:40 - U-43 reports returning to base.

14:02 - USS salmon might have sunk U-36 which failed to
report in same area.

--

December, 5th 1939

07:13 - U-35 is reporting : they have abandoned ship
after being attacked at 60.53N 02.47E

--

December, 6th 1939

11:56 - Received message without identification,
on open frequency. Reports Mine and nothing else.

--

December, 7th 1939

03:40 - U-29 reports returning to base. Tried to carry
out mine laying mission but failed because of anti sub
activity and bad weather. Position AM 77

05:26 - SS Taiandoen sends message reporting it is sinking
at coordinates 49.90N 04.51W

16:59 - Finished patrolling at ordered grid. No contact
to report. Setting course for north of Ireland. It's
a bit far at over 1500 Km away but has more merchant
trafic.

--

December, 8th 1939

00:46 - SS Scotia reports sinking at 57.31N 02.17E
Attacked by the bow, torpedo probably.

10:14 - Weather is getting bad. Visibility is very poor,
with moderate winds. Diving for some quiet so I can
drink my coffee properly.

11:06 - Contact detected. Moving to periscope depth
to look for ship. Fog is so bad nothing can be seen
over 100 meters.

--

December, 10th 1939

01:35 - Radio operator found out the radio was not
working properly. We had to stop and repair the
wire linking the radio to the antenna.

03:40 - U-30 reports port exhaust does not close.
Returning to port, at grid AN29.

--

December, 11th 1939

11:00 - Plate spotted. Ordering crash dive.

18:56 - SS Tellus reports saving survivors from SS Garoufalia,
and submarine has been spotted. Coordinates 64.36N 10.42E

--

December, 12th 1939

08:17 - Unknown ship reporting explosion and sinking
on open frequency.

--

December, 13th 1939

15:30 - SS Deptford reports sinking at 62.15N 05.08E

15:56 - SS Sekstant reports picking survivors of
SS Deptford.

--

December, 14th 1939

21:01 News report: Russia has been expelled from the
league of nations.

21:50 - Dived to avoid bad weather. Very high waves,
becoming dangerous to remain on surface. Hydrophone
contact, moved for interception.

22:10 - Ship was closing, bearing 310. Hydrophone
operator reported cracking noises. Checked on
periscope : ship is sinking due to bad weather.
If there are any survivors, they won't last half an
hour on this weather. Even at periscope depth, our
own ship is taking steep angles : ordering deep dive
to avoid casualties.

03:11 - Battery down to 1000 A or 5000. Closing to
periscope depth for check. Need to surface to charge
batteries to stay under during day to come.

--

December, 15th 1939

17:46 - Ship spotted. Warship. Diving to periscope
depth and moving for attack. Depth under keel 125 m.
Looks like an A&B class, about 1300 tons. Setting
torpedoes 1 and 2 for depth 2 meters, keel 4 m.

17:49 - Fired two eels at that A&B.

17:50 - One exploded about 100 meters from us.
Ship has been badly shaken, no flooding but we will
need to check for damage at next surfacing.

17:54 - Torpedo did miss. Too bad weather probably.
Going deep and letting crew rest for four hours
before surfacing.

18:18 - Rest is off. Merchant sound detected bearing
220 at long range.

18:54 - Ship spotted on periscope, looks like a
small cargo. Bearing 58 degrees left, about 5 Km away.

18:55 - Ship is going all lights off. Difficult to
see properly. Two masts, and she is loaded with two
big containers front and back of the central command
post. Setting torpedoes to magnetic influence, about
a little over 7 meters deep. Ship is around 6 to 7 meters
deep.

18:57 - Cant find the ship. surfacing while stopped
for surface attack. Ship should be around 3 to 3.5 Km
ahead of us.

18:58 - We got her. She is 3500 meters away, AoB 50-52,
going fast at 10 knots. It's going to be a miracle if
our torpedo hits. Only sending one torpedo.

19:00 - Torpedo is away. Full stop.

19:01 - Torpedo did explode again less than 100 meters
away. Heard metal crackling sounds.

19:05 - Chief Engineer went to forward tube to check.
Tube 1 is damaged : it cannot close anymore. Without
the pressure door we won't be able to dive below 50
meters until it's repaired ! Setting 1/3 ahead away
from boat, charging batteries. We won't be able to
check for damage until weather calms down. Fuel is
getting low at almost 25 % left. Setting course to
grid AM64 in direction of Stranraer/England and
Belfast south of Ireland. Slow convoy reported in that
straight at 16:10.

--

December, 16th 1939

10:07 - Weather is even worse. Winds are so strong
we can't even keep open eyes on bridge, and some
waves are bigger than our own Uboat would it be
totally in surface. Diving to 40 m.

10:15 - Tube 1 is leaking water. Setting depth to
25 meters. Without the pressure door working we
cannot dive deep now.

19:53 - Ship spotted bearing 43 degrees right. Should
intercept at about 1 to 1.5 Km. Diving and preparing
two last torpedoes for attack.

19:55 - Ship is a Granville-type freighter. Around
4000 tons. Setting torpedoes for 5 meters deep,
keel being 6.1 meters. Cannot use magnetic influence
pistols with current sea state.

20:05 - Ship should soon pass in front of us. We
are stopped at periscope depth.

20:07 - Last two torpedoes are away.

20:10 - Both missed.

20:12 - Setting course back to Kiel.

--

December, 17th 1939

03:20 - That's our luck. A large convoy has been
reported on our patch, and we are out of torpedoes.
Fuel is also very low and we might not have enough
to reach base (300 Km short).

--

December, 19th 1939

10:57 - Aircraft spotted. Ordering crash dive.

--

December, 20th 1939

06:57 - SS Carl Henckel calls for help. Located 57.00N
00.17E

06:57 - SS Rudolf reports being attacked at 57.00N
00.17E (they are attacked while rescuing SS Carl Henckel)

14:32 - Unknown ships reports having been torpedoed.
Message incomplete. Another eel took them down.

--

December, 25th 1939

16:31 - Received message from BdU for Christmas.
We are diving while the chef is preparing a good meal,
and plenty beer for the crew. Will let the crew rest
the whole day of 26th december before going back to
Kiel home port.

--

December, 26th 1939

Stopped ship near ocean floor. Crew resting.

--

December, 29th 1939

05:00 - U-30 reports being attacked by two repulse
class, escorted by destroyers. Repulse class has been
hit by at least one torpedo.

--

December, 30th 1939

12:01 - Message from BdU, Greece has chartered and
sold numerous ships to England. Decision has been made
to consider all Greek ships as hostile and to attack
if found anywhere around England. We must remain
unobserved while attacking those ships.

--

December, 31th 1939

06:55 - SS Luna reports attack at 58.48N 03.20E
She is sinking by the bow

15:23 - We reached Kiel. Out of fuel. We called by
radio for a tow ship to move us to harbour.

--

Been awarded the Iron Cross, second class
and the German Cross in Gold.
quite good for a patrol without sunking any
ship.

The bow has been quite damaged by the second
malfunctioning torpedo. A bit closer we would have
gone down with heavy flooding.

Been talking with other Uboat commanders. A lot of
us are having pistols problems with torpedoes.

Chief engineer thinks it will take at least two
weeks to repair the tube one damage and install a new
pressure door. Ordered only type I torpedoes to be
loaded on the ship from now on.