U-Boat ID & Name:
U-38 - ParzivalU-Boat Class: Type IX A
Kommandant - Karl Schneider EK(2.K) (Kapitänleutnant)
Patrol DetailsPatrol Assignment - British Isles
Successful Patrol - Yes
Refit Time - Standard
Number of Freighters Sank - 1
Number of Tankers Sank - 2
Number of Capital Ships Sank - 0
Tonnage Destroyed (this Patrol) - 24,500t
Ships Damaged - None
Total Tonnage Destroyed - 29,500t
Senior Crew Wachts Offizier 1: Walter Rieflin (Oberleutnant-zur-See)
Wachts Offizier 2: Josef Lotze (Leutnant-zur-See)
Leitender Ingenieur: Georg Henger (Oberleutnant-zur-See)
Doctor: Albrecht Braun (Leutnant-zur-See)
Ships Destroyed:
"Carabulle" - 5,000 Steam Merchant (Grid AM 5512)
"Torinia" - 10,000 Tanker (Grid AM 3273)
"Kongsgaard - 9,500 Tanker (Grid AM 3273)
Award Requests:
Iron Cross, 1st Class & U-Boat Warfare Badge
Karl Schneider (Kapitänleutnant)
Iron Cross, 2nd Class
Walter Rieflin (Oberleutnant-zur-See)
Josef Lotze (Leutnant-zur-See)
Patrol ReportOur route can be seen on the patrol map attached.
Friday, December 1st It seems like forever since we got back into port after our first patrol. Due to the "Parzival" being a longer range U-Boat, it took almost twice as long for her to be refitted according to regulations set by Kommodore Gregor M Schmidt. Naturally, it was with some frustration we saw our colleagues going out on patrol again while we were tied up with Kriegsmarine red tape. Our patrols had been the same length, for goodness sake! However, rules are rules and as "the general" has always told me, "
rules are there for a reason, my boy!"
The plus side is that I was able to spend time with my family in Berlin. I even got a surprise visit at the base from my brother Kurt who is now a Leutnant in the Fallschirmjägers and had got some leave. Whereas I come up from the deep, he drops in from the skies. "The general" still can't see why his sons chose to be in anything other than the army.
"It was good enough for me, it should be good enough for you!" he keeps telling us. He is still proud of us, though, for serving the Fatherland as all good Prussians should.
Once again, the "Parzival" is patrolling British coastal waters. I still feel it is a "gross misuse of our capabilities" as a Type IX U-Boat but we have to go where the enemy merchant shipping is. We will be at sea for Christmas but looking at the schedule, I should have her back in port so my crew can see in the New Year on dry land.
Despite our patrol being only around the British Isles, I am proud to say my crew are "hungry hunters". During our down time, the watch officers have been drilling their respective teams and although we were able to sink one ship last time, they want more. My officers have all seen the chalkboard behind the counter in the officer's club. Josef supports SV Werder Bremen and dolefully commented about our position near the bottom of the chalkboard saying
"If we don't score any more goals, we'll be relegated to the E-Boat league"
Wednesday, December 13th - 1425hrs The first few weeks of our second patrol had been uneventful. As previously, the weather had been stormy and there had been no contact with other shipping. We could only stay below the surface for so long before our batteries needed recharging and then it was back to the damp hell of the North Sea. A luxury of being on a Type IX is that we now had our own doctor and he was kept very busy with bumps, bruises and nausea caused by the tumultuous sea.
This time, our patrol route took us around the west of Ireland where we hoped to intercept more shipping. It was early afternoon when Maat Mahlstead picked up a signal. As I did not want to go back into port not having "scored any goals", I gave the order for us to intercept it. When we were within range, we approached at periscope depth and identified a solitary ship, identified as the 5,000t "Carabulle". Whether it was heading to Belfast, Stranraer or another port was not my concern now. It was still a legitimate target.
We moved to close range and I chose again for a surface attack and to use the guns again. Josef Lotze eagerly got his gun crew ready. Upon surfacing, I hailed the ship to inform them of our intent. I do not know why we bothered as it ignored us and continued on its course. The deckgun fired two shots, one hitting the ship centrally, the explosion breaking it in two. Its crew could be quickly observed abandoning ship as we pulled away.
Tuesday, December 19th - 0140hrs Almost another week went by without any contact. We were heading up the English Channel and picked up a strong signal near the Isle of Wight. I was quickly woken up and made aware of the situation. It appeared that we were in the path of a convoy. Finally we had a foe worthy of our skills. With being in its path, I took her to periscope depth, maneuvering her into a favourable attack position and ordered the doors on the forward torpedo tubes opened.
I moved us to within close range of the convoy. We all knew that it carried a risk of detection but it gave us a better choice of target. None of the escorts seemed to be changing course. Raising the scope, I checked out the prey that we had on offer. I selected two fuel tankers, opting to fire two torpedoes at each them. ObLt Walter Rieflin had drilled his torpedo crew as thoroughly as Lt Josef Lotze had drilled his gunnery crew and I did not expect his team to let us down. The angle and speeds were set.
"Los!" The four eels streaked towards their prey. I took her down another 100m as we listened for impact. We heard only three explosions. Either the fourth one missed or it was a dud. There seemed to be a lot of those in the U-Boatwaffe.
The escort ships hurried around trying to find us but they were looking for us in the wrong places. I took her back up to periscope depth and saw two burning ships, breaking up from the explosions caused by our torpedoes, their crewmen jumping overboard to face the icy cold peril of the English Channel rather than be burnt alive on their ships.
The escorts came to the aid of those crewmen rather than look for us. In that chaos, we slipped away.
"Oberleutnant Rieflin, is there a football team you support?" I asked of my WO1.
"Kaleun, I am a German and football is our national sport. I support Hamburger SV!" he indignantly replied.
"So, the score is ... SV Werder Bremen 1, Hamburger SV 2", I replied.
"With respect, Herr Kaleun, this patrol is not over yet!" added Leutnant Lotze, "there is still time for my team to equalise".
Monday, December 25th As we were at sea on Christmas Day, we were to find that the Royal Air Force also did not have a day off. I was on watch in the conning tower when one of my watch spotted a plane in the distance, I shouted the alarm and we quickly scuttled down below deck while we made a crash dive. Once again, the crew excelled themselves. We avoided this Christmas Day being our last by denying that patrol aircraft the prize of a U-Boat as his Christmas present.
I believe that the crew enjoyed opening presents from home that they had brought with them with their kit. Also, I brought some records of Christmas Carols which were played for them instead of their usual diet of radio news or my weekly treats of Wagner. It was heartwarming to hear them singing along. I had also requisitioned a barrel of rum and each of the crew had a reasonable measure. That spirit may have helped to boost their spirits somewhat.
Saturday, December 30th - Return to Wilhelmshaven - 1440hrs We had three victory pennants flying from the periscope as we sailed into port. With 24,500t of shipping sunk, I think we might have gone up a few places on the leadership board ... for now, anyway. The crew were very upbeat considering they had missed Christmas but they would hopefully have someone to hold to see the New Year in. They just didn't seem to be enamoured with
"Der Fliegende Hollander" that I had playing over the ship's tannoy. Some people just don't appreciate Wagner.
As it was, Josef had to get the round in for us because Walter's team had scored more than his team on this patrol.
Report submitted
KptLt Karl Schneider EK(2.K)
Kommandant: U-38 - Parzival