8 Dec 1941
1952: U-71 has been transferred to the new 29th Flotilla based at La Spezia. BdU is trying to squeeze the allies in the Mediterranean, and U-71 has been ordered to bring some eels into the fray. We are ordered to patrol grid CF99, and then on through Gibraltar. I've heard nervous tales in the Officers Club about the pass at Gibraltar and so we'll have to be on our toes. U-89 was sunk two weeks ago making the very same run we are about to make. Nevertheless, I have faith that if we make the run at night, and fast, we should make it through just fine. After all, 71 is certainly a more lucky number than 89. This transfer is a bit heavy with feeling, because we will be far away from our families now. BdU should transfer us back after a few patrols. If not, I will make the request. For those of my men that have families waiting for them, I think the month ashore after each patrol is needed medicine. And the good Lord knows that I won't make Petra wait for long; love her too much. As for those who don't have families, I'm sure that Italy will provide all the comfort and hospitality that they could ask for. I said goodbye to Philipp with a handshake and with a salute to his crew, who gathered at the pier out of respect for U-71. Wrought with anxiety about our unknown and dangerous future, we spoke little, exchanged grins, and departed.
9 Dec 1941
1201: Radio Message - BdU informed us that we are now at war with the United States of America. This news sends a cheer through the boat. One less flag we have to worry about sinking by accident.
10 Dec 1941
0156: Surprised by aircraft with searchlight BF76. Crash Dive. Depth charges land to stern. So much for the nighttime being safe for surface running. Will run under for 2 hours then surface to charge batteries before daylight.
1606: Radio Report - Enemy Warship AM46 heading S at 17kts. This takes him right across our path. Moving to intercept at flank. He should cross CF99 tomorrow some time.
11 Dec 1941
1519: Blast! Rain and fog. It will be impossible to engage the task force if this keeps up...
12 Dec 1941
0914: Sound contact - warship screws approaching at 82 degrees. Task force? Screws turning a little slow for anything big... Plotting course.
0941: closer now - definitely sounds like something big - and there are two of them. Carriers? Still shitty visibility. Will try to take an acoustic shot. Can actually hear the engines without the hydrophone…
0949: Just about got run over by King George class Battleship! Frantically fired all fore tubes - all duds! No detonation! Maybe range, maybe pistols. We swung the end around and got off Tube V - scored a hit, amidships. No obvious damage - she didn't slow. Moving to 165m and perpendicular. Will try to catch up to the task force because they don't seem to be traveling too fast. Maybe the damage will slow down KG. Maybe not. The good thing is that with all this fog I may be able to slip ahead unnoticed. Surfacing at flank.
1029: Ambushed by destroyer in the fog. Crash Dive. Received shell hits to bow and stern. Not sure if the pressure hull is compromised. Now at 140m and being pinged, DCed...
1156: warship screws have faded to 90 degrees. Surfacing and attempting to keep pace at flank. There's a small chance the KG is running slower due to flooding. Still foggy and rainy.
1937: Radio BdU - contact update, attack report. Bdu - "Disregard assigned patrol co-ordinates. Proceed to Gibraltar at flank, intercept enemy warship in the narrows. Then cross into Med. and on to La Spezia. Be More Aggressive".
13 Dec 1941
1151: Contact Report - enemy warship CG85, SSE 23kts. He's ahead of us, and moving very fast. We may not make the intercept..
2024: CG83 Ship sighted - almost hit a small merchant in the inky black rain. French flags.
14 Dec 1941
1445: Fog and rain still heavy. At mouth of Gibraltar - radio reports show that KG has passed through the narrows. We lost him. Too dangerous to cross narrows in this condition. Will patrol here until weather clears.
2300: CG89. Rain has stopped and sky is clearing. Proceeding towards the pass.
15 Dec 1941
1948: At the entry to the narrows. We're heading in at flank and will hug the south edge.
2053: Ship spotted - tribal destroyer 248 degrees, 4km. Hoping to pass it by.
2055: Ship spotted - Hunt 1 destroyer 270 degrees, 4km. These two are probably the west entry patrol.
2105: The smokestacks of four patrolling warships are visible.
2237: Seem to have been spotted by PT boat because it turned and is headed straight for us. Nearby Tribal is also approaching fast. We're in shallows (124m) about 1/3 of the way through the pass.
2257: Warships closing from all directions - 6 in total. Some are probably PT boats but there are at least a few DDs.
16 Dec 1941
0030: Gave them the slip. Surface, proceeding at flank.
0100: Detected again by PT boat. Diving fast to 140m to try to get ahead of the datum. I don't think PTs have hydrophones, but I can hear destroyers closing from the southwest, west, and northwest.
0120: Pretty sure that PT boats don't have hydrophones - all the destroyers are far at 180 - somewhere around where we were last seen.
0240: Came to PD. Heard a sloshing sound - started to raise the periscope and saw screws - a PT boat zipped right over us! It had no idea of our presence, and blasted off into the channel at 40kts.
0307: Surface flank. Spotted immediately by PT boat. Back down and evade.
0443: Surface flank.
0447: Task Force Spotted! Line of ships entering narrows - Carrier spotted among them! Moving to intercept!
0513: Moving into attack position - Clemson escort steers right down our bearing and detects us. Frantically fire off all four bow tubes at carrier and dive at flank. Machine gun fire damages the periscope and forward deck. DCed at point blank - they missed but almost rolled the boat over with the blasts. Two escorts pinging and DCing. Hear two torpedo impacts in rapid succession - too early to be the carrier - probably the Dido cruiser that was overtaking our firing angle on the carrier.
0837: Pinged and DCed for last 3 hrs. Have given them the slip. Small convoy passed over us while they were attacking. Two small ships and an escort. They didn't seem to mind the water and dead fish spraying everywhere. We're into CG96. Most of the warship screws are well to our stern, and we will probably spend the rest of the day at PD, and run our battery right down. I want to wait until nightfall to surface, if possible. Then we can repair and recharge.
0915: Depth charges in the water! Destroyer in attack run! I don't know how he surprised us, but my sound man didn't pick up his approach! Where did he come from? How did he find us? I'm guessing that the all-night terror in the channel has dulled everyone. Maybe our silhouette was spotted by a plane? Just when we thought we were safe, I hear propellers running over us and the boat jumps sharply left and onto portside. Must have come up in our baffles. For the love of god, we are so fortunate that he missed. He could have easily split the boat in two. Now...just to escape his sonar search.
1855: Surface. Just shy of critical Co2 and half battery. Time for repairs, torpedo reload, and recharge. We made it. Inspection reveals that the flak gun was jammed by impact. The deck gun's swivel was locked and the forward deck is dented by machine gun bullets. That will have to wait to be hammered out at port. Otherwise, the boat is sea-worthy. Since that run in with the KG escort, I haven't taken the boat too deep. It can still handle ~140m which was enough to get us out of all that stickiness back there. Radioed BdU to tell them we made it. BdU: "Be More Aggressive".
2323: Ship Spotted CH74 - C Class Destroyer. Escorting Large Cargo. Moving to intercept.
2359: DD got suspicious. Decided to torpedo him to avenge the hours of terror the crew has suffered. Dud. Fired second tube on his turn to investigate. Either missed or dud. Pinged. Turned astern and fired rear tube. Hit! Large explosion and fire on DD. It steams off at 20 kts. DD starts firing star shells - about 20 in rapid succession. It returns, slows, and gets back on its original course. Massive fires aboard, but no major list. Meanwhile, reload aft torpedo. Fire at merchant. Dud. Leaving area.
17 Dec 1941
0604: Ship Spotted CH81. Tramp Steamer. Shadow...British flag. Engage with deck gun. Major sighting problems from the damage received earlier - missing a lot of shots. Ranging off too - barrel may be warped. Receive return fire. Decent enemy gunner - a shot clips the bow torpedo room and collapses torpedo tube 1. No flooding. Ship Sunk! She rolls over and goes under. With all the damage we've taken, I don't want to do any more diving. PD is as deep as we should have to go - straight to port from here.
21 Dec 1941
0810: Sail into port at La Spezia. Made it, but barely. The feeling of elation is great. We are far from home, but for the time being, we are safe. We cut peaceful waters into an empty port. No parade, no party. But that’s almost better – nerves are shot throughout the boat. U-71 is scarred by the gauntlet at Gibraltar. For now, it’s quiet drinking with my officers, and time to explore the town.
Ships sunk: 1
Hull Integrity: 82%
Patrol tonnage: 2120
