U-Boat ID & Name:
U-38 - ParzivalU-Boat Class: Type IX A
Kommandant - Karl Schneider RK+E (KorvettenKapitän)
Patrol Assignment - Atlantic
Successful Patrol - Yes
Refit Time - Extra month added for Hull Damage
Number of Freighters Sank - 2
Number of Tankers Sank - 2
Number of Capital Ships Sank - 0
Tonnage Destroyed (this Patrol) - 59,500 tons
Ships Damaged - None
Total Tonnage Destroyed -
236,000 tonsSenior Crew Wachts Offizier 1: Walter Rieflin EK (2.K) (Oberleutnant-zur-See)
Wachts Offizier 2: Dieter Krafft (Leutnant-zur-See)
Leitender Ingenieur: Georg Henger EK (2.K) (Oberleutnant-zur-See)
Doctor: Albrecht Braun (Leutnant-zur-See)
Ships Destroyed "British Security" - motor tanker - 8,500 tons
"Chastine Maersk" - motor tanker - 5,200 tons
"Baron Pentland" - steam freighter - 3,500 tons
"RMS Empress of Britain" - steam passenger ship - 42,300 tons
Award Requests:
None
Patrol ReportMarch 1st, 1941 - 05:00hrs Our new 2WO was not long out of training was and for some obscure reason, he had applied to come on our boat. LzS Dieter Krafft was young, enthusiastic and from a naval family who lived on the outskirts of Kiel. Walter had shown Dieter around and he told me the new kid should fit in quite well. From the amount of steins of bier that he drank last night, he could certainly match the most seasoned of my crew. Oddly enough, he was not the worse for wear today. Lucky so-and-so. My primary concern was that he could handle the gunnery crews like Josef did and decode our messages correctly.
The good news was that we were heading back to the Atlantic. Although I would have liked to be part of one of the wolfpacks that Admiral Doenitz was experimenting with, we were heading out to hunt on our own.
March 13th, 1941 - 12:30hrs We had been at sea for almost two weeks. The weather had been mixed ranging from stormy to foggy to calm. Otherwise, there was nothing to report until now.
We had received a report that a convoy had been hit two days ago by a Wolfpack. Many ships had been sunk but many others had been damaged. As it was within our patrol area, we went to investigate and like hyenas, we planned to scavenge what wounded prey that we could. The report was right. A solitary large ship had been sighted and we plotted an intercept course. It was identified as the "British Security", which was an 8,500 ton motor tanker. We hailed the ship, offering them the usual kindnesses of letting them abandon ship. For once, they obliged. However, I knew we did not have much time to waste as quite probably they had sent a radio message calling for support and letting them know their position.
"Leutnant Krafft, it is now time to prove if you are worth serving on the U-38", I said calmly and sternly.
"Yes, sir!" he replied, even trying to click his heels, which is not easy on the top of wet conning tower.
"Take command of the deck gun and and sink that tanker before anyone else turns up to help", I commanded.
"Jawohl, Herr Kapitän!" Two shots from the 105mm deck gun was enough. The tanker started to go down.
I congratulated him.
"You seem to know what you are doing. Excellent work, Nummer Zwei. Now let's get out of here."March 15th, 1941 - 21:30hrs At 13:30hrs, the watch crew had picked up a convoy. It appeared to be well escorted so I chose to wait until dark before we attacked. That was an unwise move. Two hours later, the weather became quite foggy and hydrophone contact was poor. The convoy kept changing course and by the time night had fallen, we had lost contact with it. I even questioned whether I was fit enough to be part of the crew of the "Parzifal" or whether it was just bad luck.
March 21st, 1941 - 22:00hrs Again, we had picked up a convoy during the afternoon. Despite my earlier failing of a week ago, I chose again for us to tail it until we could attack under the cover of darkness. The luck had changed and we were able to maintain contact. Moving in at periscope depth, we were able to move in close without being detected by the escorts. The pickings were not as great as would have been expected. There was a tanker and several small freighters in our range. The best was the
"Chastine Maersk", which was a 5,200 ton motor tanker, and the
"Baron Pentland", which was a 3,500 ton steam freighter. I ordered the bow doors opened and two torpedoes to be fired at each of them.
Of the four torpedoes, two impacted harmlessly off the hulls. So much for the B-d-U's assurances that the trigger issue with the torpedoes had been fixed. Fortunately, one was for each ship and also fortunately, the other torpedo generated enough explosive force to sink each ship, the
"Chastine Maersk" exploding quite dramatically. I gave the order to take her down to 100m and steer 90 degrees left as I was quite sure the escorts would be taking an interest. I was correct.
On the first attack, depth charges exploded around our port side, causing flooding in the aft quarters. I ordered us to steer 90 degrees starboard and to take us up to 50m.
On the second attack, depth charges erupted around our starboard side, causing heavy damage to the hull and jamming the aft torpedo doors. I ordered another sharp 90 turn to the starboard and to take her down 100m.
Somehow, it seemed to do the trick. Depth charges were dropped away on our port side but too far for any effect. I ordered us to maintain course and continue to shadow the convoy and reload the forward torpedo tubes.
Yes, it was risky but we were doing what was expected from us, plus I had an inkling it would work out for us.
23:45hrs About an hour later and we were faced with a very rich prize indeed. If it wasn't the "Empress of Britain", it was her sister ship, all 42,300 tons of her. This ocean liner had been requisitioned as a troopship and I intended it would not escape tonight without diving to the depths or at least taking serious damage.
Again, I took the risk of taking her in close. Despite a tanker and another large freighter being within range, my vision was blinkered. I saw only one target.
Four torpedoes were fired, all four of them hit, one proving to be a dud but the remaining three to have enough explosive force to break her in two.
I took her down to 150m and escorts did drop depth charges around us, but at the wrong depth. However, they continued to track us. I ordered a 90 turn to starboard and took her down to 200m. This time the escort ship was more successful, depth charges exploding around us, further damaging the hull and causing further flood damage, this time to the aft torpedo room and the galley. I ordered a full stop and to drop to 220m. Any further attack and I would have to risk taking her even further down.
Depth charges dropped harmlessly ahead of us, the destroyer continuing to follow a predicted course. I quietly ordered a reverse at the same depth.
The sound of the depth charges got fainter and fainter and the destroyer finally returned to the convoy and the task of rescuing the survivors.
This time, I did not choose to follow the convoy. Our boat had taken a battering and our nerves were frayed. I ordered a course of 135 degrees away.
March 22nd, 1941 - Licking our Wounds It was the day after our attack on the convoy. All of the water had been pumped out of the aft torpedo room, aft quarters and the galley. Normal service on our battered boat was being resumed. LI Henger and his team had done what repairs that they could and assessed the damage.
"Herr Kapitän, I regret that the aft torpedo doors were buckled from the water pressure that was blasted from the depth charges", he reported. "
We could try again but I cannot see any further repair work making any difference". "No, I know that you have done the best that you can", I replied.
"How badly is the hull damaged?" I asked.
"I anticipate the Parzival will require another month of refitting before she is fit to resume operations again," he said.
"Thankyou, Georg. I think we can accept being on dry land until the beginning of July," I replied.
We had reached the end of our patrol. If we stayed any longer in the area, we risked not having enough fuel to get home. I ordered a course set for La Rochelle.
March 31st, 1941 - 15:00hrs Our journey home was uneventful. The weather was quite calm as well. We had let La Rochelle know of our success, that we had sunk the largest ship in the war to that point. Four victory pennants were flying from the conning tower as we sailed into port. Unfortunately for us, she had not been a capital ship otherwise the admiral and the brass band would have been waiting for us. It did not matter, we were all glad to be home.
Despite the patrol being successful, I was very annoyed that despite the Admiral's assurances that the issues with torpedo impact fuses being fixed, three of the eight torpedoes fired on this patrol had been duds. I am even wondering if our equipment is being sabotaged by our French "hosts".
Nevertheless, I felt that Lt-z-S Dieter Krafft had done quite well. He had proven himself to be competent and fitted in well with the crew. I just hoped there were plenty more of successful patrols ahead of us before this war was won.
Report submitted
KKpt Karl Schneider RK+E
Kommandant: U-38 - Parzival