U-Boat ID & Name:
U-38 - ParzivalU-Boat Class: Type IX A
Kommandant - Karl Schneider RK (Kapitänleutnant)
Patrol Assignment - Spanish Coast
Successful Patrol - Yes
Refit Time - Standard
Number of Freighters Sank - 0
Number of Tankers Sank - 2
Number of Capital Ships Sank - 0
Tonnage Destroyed (this Patrol) - 17,200 tons
Ships Damaged - None
Total Tonnage Destroyed - 147,600 tons
Senior Crew Wachts Offizier 1: Walter Rieflin EK (2.K) (Oberleutnant-zur-See)
Wachts Offizier 2: Josef Lotze EK (2.K) (Leutnant-zur-See)
Leitender Ingenieur: Georg Henger EK (2.K) (Oberleutnant-zur-See)
Doctor: Albrecht Braun (Leutnant-zur-See)
Ships Destroyed:
"Halo" (Tanker) - 7,000 tons
"W.D.Anderson" (Tanker) - 10,200 tons
Award Requests:
None
Patrol Report
Friday, August 1st - 05:30hrs Without much fanfare, we quickly and quietly headed out of Wilhelmshaven. Not as many U-Boats seemed to be coming and going. It appeared as though our base was downsizing its operations but it did mean our refitting was fast-tracked. Either way, I was not going to question it in the event the commodore realised a mistake had been made and we should have remained in port for a month longer.
The crew were keen to head out to sea and our orders had us heading out to the Spanish Coast.
Monday, August 4th - 18:20hrs There was a massive clattering as a long walking burst of .303 rounds hit the deck and the conning tower. A low-flying patrol aircraft had come in from the west, the setting sun obscuring its approach. Beware of the Tommy in the sun! Despite its knowledge of this tactic, the pilot failed to fly evasively and our flak cannon brought it down in flames.
"Where the hell did that come from!?" exclaimed Leutnant Lotze, securing the hatch as we commenced a crash dive under the waves of the Nordsee.
The boat then shook from the impact caused by two timed bombs dropped from the plane before it had been hit.
"Take her down to 100m, set a course of 235", I ordered.
It was calm. It appeared the plane had not had time to call for backup.
"What can you hear up there, Bernhard?" I asked of my Hydrophone Operator.
"Nothing, sir. I can't hear whether there is anything up there or not. My phones have been hit from that blast", he replied.
As well as the hydrophones, the radio had been damaged and Oberleutnant Henger had been in the conning tower when the boat was attacked and he had been hit in the shoulder. Doctor Braun quickly tended to those wounds. Despite him being one of the most boring men in the Unterseebootwaffe, I was impressed with my Leitender Ingenieur's practical abilities and if we were to continue on patrol, I needed him.
Despite his injuries and his arm in a sling, her oversaw the repairs and they were successful. Had they not been, I was close to ordering a mission abort and returning us to port. What use is a U-Boat if you can't hear what is going on, get orders or call for help?
Tuesday, August 12th - 17:10hrs Over a week had passed since our last encounter. Georg's arm no longer appeared to be bothering him since all bullet fragments and shrapnel were removed and it had been patched up. Our journey through the English Channel, around the north and west coast of France had been uneventful and we were now in our patrol area of the Iberian peninsular. Perhaps visibility was a lot better here as another British patrol plane was spotted coming from the southwest. This time, we were alert and successfully crash dived before it was able to attack or the flak crew needed to prove themselves.
Saturday, August 16th - 12:05hrs "Gentlemen, for those of you who were expecting to watch the first matches of the season, you might need to change your support to a French team", I said over the intercom. I could hear the murmurings and complaints from around the ship. "The Befehlshaber der Unterseeboot has been shuffling around all of the U-Boats, making the most of French ports so we are closer to the shipping coming from across the Atlantic and via Gibraltar. We are no exception. Some of you might have noticed that there was not the same competition for the attention of our Fatherland and sailor-loving frauleins when we were last in base." Muffled cheering and laughing could now be heard. "This is only because our kamerads from the Type VIIs are starting early with the pretty mademoiselles of La Rochelle." That cheering turned to moans and groans.
"Upon completion of our mission, I expect my crew to show the pretty ladies that it's not just our ship that is bigger than that of the other U-Boats in the flotilla. As you make me proud to fight with you, I know you will make me proud to be the kommandant of the crew that shows gets more 'hearts and minds' than any other crew. This might take some time to sink in, but for now, here's some music from 'Der fliegende Holländer' by our favorite composer, Richard Wagner!"
Instead of cheers, I heard more groaning from the crew. Perhaps Wagner is an acquired taste.13:05hrs I was up in the conning tower. I could hear Wagner as clearly up there as I could down below decks. The shock of hearing our home had been changed had not properly sunk in for a lot of the crew. However, there was a war going on and we had to boost our morale.
"Herr Kaleun, there is a single smoke stack at a bearing of 205 degrees", reported my WO1. I looked where he was reported and concurred that there was one clear smoke stack of what was probably an unescorted lighter freighter.
Checking the hydrophone signature, it sounded like a large freighter or tanker.
Within 30 minutes, we were in visible range and it was identified as the 7,000 ton "Halo", which was a medium-sized steam tanker.
"We'll attack on the surface at close range. We will fire two torpedoes and two shots from the deck gun", I ordered.
"Let us see whose crews are better trained now, Mein Herren", I said to my Watch Officers.
"In the meantime, let us get to know the crew and see if they might be more amenable to us than other crews." This crew were more concerned about saving their own skins and abandoned ship when we surfaced, impressed them with our armed and fully operational Class IX A U-Boat and gave them a chance to abandon ship or go down with it.
"Shock and awe, Herr Kaleun?" asked Oberleutnant Henger.
"It appears to have worked for once, Georg", I replied.
"Ready for your orders, sir", reported my WO1.
"Mein Herren", I said to my Wachts Offizieren,
"show me what you can do. Fire!" Although the ship was sunk, it was disappointing. One torpedo missed, one shot from the gun missed but the others both hit and it was enough to send the tanker down.
"I suppose we could class that one as a draw, Herr Kaleun?" Henger suggested.
Wednesday, August 20th - 03:15hrs "Herr Kaleun, are you asleep?" nervously asked my Hydrophone Operator.
"Bernhard, what would you do if I replied that I was?" I replied without opening my eyes. As it happened, I couldn't sleep. All I could do was a mixture of inspecting the inside of my eyelids and thinking with my eyes closed.
"Then I would have woken you up as gently as I could, sir," he confidently replied.
"I take it that you have picked something up?" I inquired.
"It sounds like an escort and a larger ship. Freighter or tanker, roughly 10,000 tons from its signature", he reported.
I opened my eyes and sat up, reaching for a lukewarm mug of Ersatz coffee and taking a swallow. I grimaced. I think a mug of warm engine oil would have tasted more like coffee than what was being passed off as it.
"Are they within a feasible intercept range?" I asked.
"Herr Kaleun, such decisions are outside my field of expertise and above my pay grade ... but the sounds do appear to be getting louder if that is what you meant", he calmly responded.
If he wasn't such a good hydrophone operator and didn't make me laugh, I would have had him reassigned to a minesweeper in the Baltic for showing such disrespect and insubordination.
I listened to the phones and looked at Bernhard's notes, confirming that the cargo ship and its escort were getting closer. I went to the charts table and plotted an intercept course.
04:10hrs We were within range to attack. The bow torpedo tubes had been loaded with G7a steam torpedoes. Despite claims that the electric torpedoes were "new and improved", I did not believe the hype. The cargo ship had been identified as the 10,200t "W.D.Anderson", which was a tanker. Its escort was a Tribal class destroyer and from its number was identified as the HMS Zulu.
We were coming in from the tanker's port side where the night was still at its darkest. I was keeping us at a what could be classed as a medium range and firing from torpedo depth of 25m.
"Open bow torpedo doors", I commanded.
"Ready all forward torpedoes". I watched carefully.
"Launch all on my command". I had to time this properly. It was probably only about 20 seconds, but it seemed like an eternity.
"Los!" The four steam-powered eels cut through the water towards the target. After about 20 seconds, there was the sound of only two explosions.
"God in heaven, I'm sure all four would have hit!" I muttered to myself.
"Two of them were duds, all four hit", replied Bernhard who had been tracking them on the hydrophones.
"It's enough, though. She's going down, Herr Kaleun!" Checking through the scope confirmed it. The HMS Zulu was more concerned with helping rescue the crew of the sinking tanker crew than expecting us to surface and announce
"We did that, Royal Navy!" I set us on a course of 45 degrees and took her out of the area.
Saturday, August 23rd - 15:00hrs My veteran team had performed a textbook crash-dive. An enemy seaplane had been spotted approaching from the southwest.
"What is it with these damned planes?" asked Lotze to nobody in particular.
This was the third encounter with an enemy airplane but also the second encounter where we crash-dived before it was able to attack.
Friday, August 29th - 14:05hrs - Home sweet Home With two pennants flying from the conning tower announcing the 17,200t of shipping that we had sunk, we sailed into La Rochelle. There was not much of a fanfare. Despite us being the glorious victors of the Battle of France, I didn't expect French dockyard workers to yet be fans of the Kriegsmarine.
I am sure that Viktor would already have been charming the more classy French girls with his charm and guile. After all, he had a reputation to live up to if he wanted to have two girls in every port.
As it was, I was tired from this patrol but not tired enough to want to find out whether French wine tasted any better if was drunk on its native soil than as I'd tasted at home. Mutti had been quite partial to a glass of two of Beaujolais.
The pleasures of the female kind would come after a good meal and a few bottles of wine. I intended to be in bed before midnight and not my own.
Report submitted
KptLt Karl Schneider RK
Kommandant: U-38 - Parzival