26 Jul 1941
1153: Depart St. Nazaire. Patrol Grid CG77. My brave crew sets out again today after an early parting lunch; maybe the last formal meal for several weeks. This time BdU sends us south to the funnel area near the entry of the Mediterranean. We hope to catch a convoy there, or, as has been rumoured in the Officer's Club, a military taskforce. On his last patrol, Philippe was hunting in the Irish Sea and spotted the lengthy smoke trails of a fast-moving group of warships. He never had the chance to engage them, and quietly admitted that he was slightly relieved that this was so. Despite this risk, we owe it to Germany to sink these ships. Battleships and cruisers routinely pass through Gibraltar, and if god is willing, we will have the chance to rend the hull plates of one of these monstrous ships. My men whisper about this possibility, but no one wants to jinx our chances with bold talk. We will see what the father of war has for us this time out...
30 July 1941
0245: Entered Patrol Grid. Weather clear - 15km visibility. Plotting Z-pattern for patrol.
Jurgen Luth, Oberleutnant z. S.: Navigator.
01 Aug 1941
0300: Radio BdU: Patrol Complete - no contacts. Requesting permission to move to CG94, mouth of Gibraltar.
0455: Report received - permission granted. Set Course ENE.
1945: Merchant ship sighted CG78 - closing for intercept. Small Merchant - British flag. It is a bright clear evening, and the wind is low. Decide to attack with the deck gun.
2020: Ship Sunk! Small Merchant. Quite a battle. Our quarry turned out to be armed with a light gun. However, its crew was hopeless and despite firing over fifty rounds at us, it never came close to a hit. We shot 45 rounds of HE into its waterline and it blazed and sank gradually. As I write this, we sit at periscope depth and my XO is watching to make sure the burning hulk finally vanishes under the darkening waves. Pretty soon we will move to clear the datum.
03 Aug 1941
1423: Radio Report - Enemy Convoy leaving narrows. Moving to intercept.
1840: Convoy Sighted - CG94. Plotting course and moving into position. Medium winds.
2119: In position inside of convoy facing second convoy lane (roughly 350m away). Southhampton Cruiser sighted in center of convoy! Target with Tubes I,II, electric eels. Wait 20 seconds, fire III, at Large Cargo ship in line behind Southhampton, IV fast at Large Cargo in line past cruiser, and Tube V at Large Cargo at 180...Torpedo Impact - Large Cargo hit. No report from electric torps at cruiser - two duds! Torpedo impact aft! Large Cargo Hit. Tube IV miss. Diving to 165m, moving perpendicular to convoy.
2230: Sounds quiet. Started to ascend to PD around 2145, only to be pinged by escort still circling the area. Flanked back to 165m, heard DCs in wake. Lost escort...screws fading to 270. Surfaced, flanking convoy, loading tubes and moving externals. Our first attack has failed - all ships still with convoy.
2350: Convoy changed course to straight W. Corrected plot and moved to attack position.
0019: Ship Sunk! Southhampton Cruiser. Electric eels to fore and aft ammunition bunkers caused massive explosion. Hulk burns.
0022: Ship Sunk! Large Cargo. Third tube into Large Cargo behind Southhampton - broke the ship in half. Tube IV into far Large Cargo - hit amidships. Tube V to same Large Cargo as before (180). This time it seems crippled - engine stopped. Dive to 165m, move perpendicular to convoy.
0040: Ship Sunk! Large Cargo. sinking sounds heard by SO - 270 degrees - victim of Tube V!
0105: Came to PD and torpedoed wounded Large Cargo moving at 2kts. She sinks rapidly astern.
0344: In position for final attack on convoy - last two torpedoes. One for far Large Cargo - hit, slowed. Knuckle to port and fire Tube V fast. Hits bow and causes fatal explosion. Dive to 165, move perpendicular to convoy. Pinged by escort. No DCs. Leave the area in silent run.
0810: Radio BdU - torpedoes expended. BdU - RTB.
1425: Ship spotted - Tramp Steamer: CG83. Weather has cleared. Engaging with deck gun. Ship returns fire - often close. Keeping our distance at 3000m, remain facing target to minimize silhouette. Enemy gunners lose sight of us on and off. Shells landing left and right of us, whizzing close by as we pound the small steamer with over 100 HE rounds. It sinks on fire.
05 Aug 1941
0935: Crew wishes me a strong new year upon my birthday, and produces a bottle of Schnapps. I share it with the officers over dinner and when finished, fill it with our hopes for the future, cork it, and throw it overboard.
07 Aug 1941
2017: Arrive at St. Nazaire. Success Again! And this time, 10 thousand tonnes of military steel. The men are bragging in the bar right now, hopped up wild on beer and confidence. We have inflicted terror and destruction upon our enemies. I have distributed medals and honours. The crew is no longer green.
My XO and I have discussed the last patrol: the escorts were not amateurs. Though my men may not have realized it, we were ambushed by an escort that had shut off its engines and waited for us to surface after our first attack. We both agree that the reason we escaped so easily was the high sea and poor Asdic conditions. It was a bit of luck, once again. That's not to mention the duel with those merchant gunners. I was surprised to find them armed. If they had been anything but fool gunners, we might have been scathed. And, I am still disappointed by our weapons. The first attack on the cruiser could have been a perfect kill, but BOTH T2s appear to have been duds. We had complete stealth and a long lead up, and so I'm sure that our target-motion data were perfect. This is totally unacceptable. How many times can we be expected to line up the perfect shot?
Awarded Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves
Awarded U-Boot Badge
Ships sunk: 7
Hull integrity: 100%
Patrol tonnage: 41540 (including 10725 military tonnage)
