The afternoon of 28 April 1941
U-86 enters the harbor at La Rochelle. While three Victory pennants fly from her periscope, the U-Boat shows extensive signs of battle damage.
U-Boat Name and ID Number: U-86, Ra’n
Successful Patrol: Yes
Number of Freighters Sank: 3
Number of Tankers Sank: 0
Number of Capital Ships Sank: 0
Total Tonnage Destroyed: 17,900
Refit Time: 4 months, ready for patrol Sep 1941
Award Requests: Wound Badge for dead and injured (1 Crew KIA=1 KIA, 4 SW, 3 LW-RTD)
Crew improvement roll
Narrative:
U-86 left La Rochelle he evening of 3 April bound for the British Home Islands. Passage through the Bay of Biscay went without incident. We learned of Germany’s invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece as we entered the waters of the Atlantic.
We were off the NW coast of Ireland the morning of the 11th when the lookouts spotted multiple columns of smoke to the west, most likely a convoy headed for the North Channel and thence on to the Irish Sea. Positioning U-86 in the convoy’s path, four targets comprising the starboard column of the convoy came within range. A lone Black Swan Class Sloop was escorting this side of the convoy. I fired four torpedoes from medium range at the largest of the targets, a 7,500 ton freighter. While we scored at least two hits, they were not enough to send her to the bottom. The escort failed to locate U-86 and we were soon in pursuit of our wounded prey, catching up with her shortly after nightfall.
The Freighter was still under escort, so use of the 8.8cm was out of the question. Instead, I decided upon a surface torpedo attack form medium range, opening with two 7es from the bow and following up with the stern tube if necessary. The stern tube was not needed, one of the bow eels hitting and igniting an explosion that left little of the target remaining.
Our joy was short-lived. The escort, bent upon revenge subjected us to a prolonged and vigorous depth charging (4 rounds of depth charge attacks), which resulted in the death of one crewman, serious injuries to four others that render them unfit for further duty, and three crewman with injuries that are not life threatening (1 CREW KIA). By the time the persistent Tommy finally broke of the attack we had lost our 8.8cm gun, our radio, and sustained damage to the pressure hull. Even so, I decided to continue the patrol.
Midday on the 17th, the same day Yugoslavia surrendered, we encountered a lone Freighter (5,700 tons) in company with a Fairmile D MGB. This ship must have been carrying munitions for when we hit, she disappeared in a series of successive explosions. All the fireworks apparently distracted the escort and we slipped away.
Off the Isle of Scilly the night of 19 April we encountered another Freighter (5,000 tons) escorted by a Flower Class Corvette. This ship, too, must have been a munitions ship for it also burst into a spectacular fireworks display upon being hit. However, this time it did not prove a distraction to the escort, U-86 once more subjected to a prolonged depth charge attack (3 rounds of Depth Charges) that further weakened the pressure hull, breached the fuel bunkers, jammed the forward torpedo hatches, damaged the hydrophone, and knocked the No. 1 electric motor off its mount. While Lt (Ing) was able to remount the electric, the rest of the damage was beyond our ability to repair at sea. This, combined with our dwindling supply situation, led to the decision to turn for home.
Passage back to La Rochelle was without incident, U-86 tying up to the pier the afternoon of 28 April. With all of the hull and systems damage U-86 will be in port for four months. This will provide time to recruit and train replacements for those crewmen either killed or too injured to continue serving.
Respectfully submitted,
KKpt Viktor Radel, Kommandant U-86