|
Post by andy254 on Nov 23, 2016 4:55:12 GMT
U-Boat ID & Name: U-38 - ParzivalU-Boat Class: Type IX A Kommandant - Karl Schneider RK+E (KorvettenKapitän) Patrol No. & Date - No.8, July-August 1941 Patrol Assignment - West Africa Coast Successful Patrol - Yes Refit Time - Standard Number of Freighters Sank - 6 Number of Tankers Sank - 4 Number of Capital Ships Sank - 0 Tonnage Destroyed (this Patrol) - 77,900 tons Enemy Ships Damaged - 2 Total Tonnage Destroyed - 313,900 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 "River Afton" – L - steam merchant - 5,500 tons "Sarita" – T - steam tanker - 5,800 tons "Erviken" – T - steam merchant - 6,600 tons "Empire Comet" – L – motor merchant - 6,900 tons "Inversuir" - T – motor tanker - 9,500 tons "Hurunui" - L – steam merchant - 9,300 tons "British Influence" - T – motor tanker - 8,500 tons "Kingston Hill" - L – steam merchant - 7,600 tons "Fairport" – L - steam merchant (C-2) - 6,200 tons "Llangibby Castle" - L – troop transport - 12,000 tons Award Requests: KKpt Karl Schneider - Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves & Swords - for the sinking of over 250,000 tons of shipping LzS Dieter Krafft - Iron Cross, 2nd Class ObLtzS Walter Rieflin - Iron Cross, 1st Class Report submitted KKpt Karl Schneider RK+E Kommandant: U-38 - Parzival
Detailed patrol log to follow
|
|
|
Post by andy254 on Nov 23, 2016 5:03:47 GMT
From the personal log of KKpt Karl Schneider
July 1st, 1941 - 07:00hrs The "Parzival" was already under way into the Bay of Biscay on its 8th Patrol when I let the crew know our patrol area was the waters off the west coast of Africa. Considering they were expecting summer either around the British Isles or in the Atlantic, they were very pleased about the change of scenery. I had not let them know while we were in port. Naval Intelligence was convinced some of the civilian staff involved with construction work on the base were spying for the British. As I did not want a welcoming party from British aircraft based in Gibraltar as we headed south, I made sure I did not tell them anything until we were safe.
July 21st, 1941 - 02:00hrs Our transit period to the patrol area had been uneventful. Also, our first week in the patrol area was also quite uneventful. The warm climate was a welcome change and despite it being an active patrol, the crew's morale was high and they were relaxed. Perhaps we could have just sat it out working on our tans and having swimming breaks, but there was a war on and we were patrolling an active shipping lane. On the late afternoon of July 20th, we had come across a convoy heading north and we shadowed it until nightfall. Although the pickings were not as rich as I would have liked, two viable targets were picked out and I carefully brought her in undetected to close range and ordered that the forward torpedo tube doors were opened. Tubes 1 and 2 were set for the "River Afton", which was a 5,500-ton freighter and Tubes 3 and 4 were set for a 5,800-ton tanker named “Sarita”. The first two torpedoes were fired and then the other two. All four hit, all four exploded, two enemy ships started to take on more water than they could pump out and the bewildered escort ships had no idea where the attack had come from. In the chaos, we quietly slipped away in the chaos and left the "little friends" of the convoy help pick up the survivors.
July 23rd, 1941 - 08:30hrs Just over two days later and we had our next contact with enemy shipping. The watch crew picked up one smoke stack that appeared to be a large slow moving ship. I set us on an intercept course and found us flanking the "Eviken", which was a 6,600-ton tanker. Checking thoroughly for any escorts and having the watch crew watch the skies for aircraft, I called on my new 2WO up. "Leutnant Krafft, you and the gun crew have the task of sinking her. Do you think you can do that?" I asked. "Of course, mein Kapitän!" he confidently replied. Two 105mm shells slammed straight into the midships of the tanker. There were two satisfying explosions causing a chain reaction of other explosions around the ship and it quickly started to sink. Not wanting to overstay our welcome, I ordered us on a course away from the area.
July 28th, 1941 - 07:45hrs Five days later and we were shadowing a convoy. The forecast was that a storm was coming our way and I did not want to risk us losing a convoy in the rising swell. We had been watching the convoy for several hours and the corvettes and destroyers escorting the convoy appeared to be quite seasoned in their own patrol patterns. I did not want to risk taking her in close and being detected before I could get a salvo off. I erred on the side of caution and kept our U-Boat at medium range. It afforded us some extra safety but a higher risk of our torpedoes missing the targets. "Open all four bow torpedo doors. We're going to spook them up this time. We're going to fire at the nearest four ships, one torpedo for each of them and we shall just see what happens", I confidently announced. "Mein Kapitan, are you sure that is the wisest move?" said ObLt Rieflin. "Oberleutnant, most of the targets are small and at the very best, we could sink them all. I am expecting that we may sink one of them and we damage a few more. Then we might have a straggler that we can break off from the convoy and pick it off later", I replied. The four eels were primed, released and swam swiftly towards the unsuspecting convoy. The first torpedo hit and damaged its target, the second torpedo hit and damaged its target, the third narrowly missed its target whereas the fourth torpedo slammed into the 6,900 ton "Empire Comet", ripping it in two. It started to sink so quickly, the escorts were distracted and we escaped detection. Following the convoy for another few hours, we tried to shadow the "Nolas Pateras", which had been damaged and was the ship with the highest tonnage of those we had damaged. I was about to sort a firing solution out, but a "Flower" class corvette was detected nearby heading towards us. I cursed, ordered us to drop to 100m and to turn 45 degrees to port and away from the area. Hopefully, if there was another U-Boat in the area, it could finish it off.
August 1st, 1941 - 11:05hrs The storm had lasted for only a day and the crew had again got back to relaxing and enjoying the last few days of being in the patrol area. In a few days. We were due to head home. The watch crews were vigilant, however, and two smoke stacks were detected on the horizon. The crew immediately readied themselves for action and I set us on an intercept course. The "Inversuir" was a 9,500-ton tanker with a "Tribal" class destroyer as its escort. We closed to medium range and I had us go down to periscope depth. "Open all bow doors, all torpedoes to be targeted on that tanker!" I ordered. Making minor course adjustments, I waited for the right moment. "Los!" All four torpedoes raced towards the target. All four torpedoes hit. All four torpedoes exploded. One stricken tanker exploded and starts to sink. One escort vessel quickly starts to pick up survivors. There was no reason for us to outstay our welcome. Our job was done. "Helmsman, turn 135 degrees to starboard, ahead on full power", I commanded.
August 2nd, 1941 - 06:30hrs I was sleeping quite peacefully and was expecting to have two more hours sleep. "Herr Kapitän, I am sorry to trouble you", said Lt Krafft doing his best to wake me as gently as possible. "Dieter, you better have a good reason for this", I murmured. "We have received a coded message directly from the B-d-U. As the kommandant, I have brought the decoded text directly to you", he nervously replied. I stretched, shook myself and took the message. I read it. I read it again. I went to the charts table to confirm what I had read. It was then I realised I was not going to get back to sleep. I then instructed the helmsman to set a course of 275 degrees and took the microphone to let the crew know what was happening. "Officers and crew of the Parzifal, I have good news and I have some not so good news. I have a message from the Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote congratulating us on the work that we are doing. Somehow, the Admiral has heard of our achievements on this patrol. However, we are doing our jobs too well. We are doing our work so well that we are heading to a rendezvous with a milchkuh to be resupplied with fuel, ammunition and fresh food. It means we will not be heading home as soon as we had planned. I will want all gun crews on station at 13:00hrs if the British try to intercept this rendezvous. That is all." 13:00hrs – On schedule, we met with a Type XB U-boat with clear skies and clear airwaves. I had heard of these U-Boats but never expected to meet one. Originally built as a minelaying boat, they were adapted as U-boats with the intention of refuelling and resupplying other U-Boats, normally the Type VIIs. However, this time they were supplying us. Our diesel tanks were filled up; we were given several 105mm shells to replace the ones we had spent when sinking and our galley was replenished with fresh supplies. Unfortunately, it could not supply us with any more torpedoes.
August 5th, 1941 - 02:50hrs A few days ago, we had received a message from the B-d-U about a convoy heading through our patrol area and we headed off to intercept. We had intercepted the convoy where our calculations had predicted and shadowed it from its starboard side. Four good targets were identified, all of them either large freighters or tankers. As I could not clearly tell how efficient the convoy escorts were, I erred on the side of caution and instead of taking us in close, we worked out firing solutions from a medium range at the largest freighter – “Hurunui", 9300t – and the largest tanker – “British Influence", 8,500t. Expecting to at least damage one of them and perhaps pick it off later, luck was on our side when it came to hitting the two target ships. All four torpedoes hit and exploded on impact, causing sufficient damage to both ships to cause them to start sinking. Luck also remained with us as the escort ships paid more attention to helping pick up the survivors than find out who had attacked them. 04:10hrs - We managed to resume contact with the convoy and approached from its port side. The targets were not as profitable, but there was one large freighter that I selected as our target. As the boat was running low on torpedoes in the bow compartment, I selected the target and left it to ObLt Rieflin to calculate the firing solution using torpedoes in the aft tubes. Using his solution, I fired the torpedoes, both slamming into the 7,600-ton "Kingston Hill" and breaking it in two. However, our luck had run out and the HMS Carnarvon, which was a Castle-class corvette, had picked us up and started its attack run. Depth charges exploded around us, damaging the hydrophones and causing flooding near the forward battery. The crew worked furiously to stop it getting worse. If the compartment was fully flooded, the boat would be filled with chlorine gas and we would have to surface and scuttle our boat. As it was, I had the boat turn hard to starboard and go further 50m deeper. On the Carnarvon’s second attack, depth charges were dropped but this time away from us. We maintained course moving under the convoy and confusing any readings. Whether it was skill or just luck, we escaped further attack. "Herr Kapitän, might I recommend we break off our pursuit of this convoy?" came a practical suggestion from ObLt Rieflin. "On this occasion, I agree with your recommendation, Number One", I replied. 08:00hrs - ObLt Henger reported that the hydrophones had been fixed and all flooding had been pumped out of the battery compartment. All non-essential crew were advised to get some rest. Before he got his rest, Lt Krafft sent coded details or our attack on the convoy, its bearing and speed so hopefully another U-Boat would intercept it closer to its destination. Although I was also very tired and could have done with some sleep, I was not non-essential and I took over the command of the watch.
August 13th, 1941 - 06:40hrs It was over a week later since our attacks on the convoy and our encounter with the HMS Carnarvon. I was again woken up, this time by Bernhard on the hydrophones, to let me know he had picked up what sounded like a solitary merchant ship. As the crew were tiring of doing very little, I thought we should investigate. The ship was the "Fairport", which was a 6,200-ton steam merchant. Once again, Lt Krafft was given command of the gun crew to see if he could duplicate his accomplishment on his previous sinking. My skilled 2WO and his gun crew did not disappoint me. Two shots, two hits, one sinking merchant ship.
August 17th, 1941 - 20:30hrs We had been trailing a convoy for most of the day but when a sudden storm came up, we lost contact. We did our best to resume contact but all trace of the convoy had been lost. Morale with the crew was starting to slip as we had been on patrol for a long time but to make up for this lost contact, we had a night of music played around the ship to soothe our spirits.
August 22nd, 1941 - 23:00hrs "If the records are correct, sir, it's the ‘Llangibby Castle’. It's a 12,000-ton troop ship. In pre-war life, it was an ocean liner", said ObLt Rieflin providing me with the identification of a solitary ship we had come across. "I'm surprised it hasn't got any escort", added Lt Krafft. "What matters is that it is here, it has not taken our generous offer to abandon ship and as it is a troop ship, it is therefore a legitimate target", I replied. "Two torpedoes and two shells should hopefully finish it off. Find me a solution, Lt Rieflin, and get your gun crew ready, Lt Krafft", I said. Two torpedoes sped through the water, one narrowly missing but the other hitting the stern. Two 105mm shells slammed into the centre of the ship, which was just enough to cause a set of explosions around the amidships and for the passengers and crew to man the lifeboats. "I think our work here is done, gentlemen. Let's head for home before the admiral keeps us here for any longer", I concluded.
August 29th, 1941 - 07:30hrs We were southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, about half of our way back to La Rochelle, when we came under attack. Coming in low over the horizon out of the sun, none of the watch crew saw it coming. The Short Sunderland's front turret strafed the conning tower, wounding one of the watch crew. It dropped two anti-submarine bombs, which exploded by us, taking out the periscope, our radio and another damaging the aft torpedo doors. Fortunately, the flak crews were well drilled, fired on our attacker and critically damaged the plane, causing it to crash-land in the sea off our starboard side. 14:15hrs - With some jury rigging, our LI had fixed the radio and the periscope was operational again. The aft torpedo doors, however, would need fixing back during refit. Also, our injured crewman had been patched up by Doctor Braun.
September 1st, 1941 - 13:30hrs – Bay of Biscay My well-drilled crew exercised a very efficient crash dive after another aircraft was spotted as we passed through the Bay of Biscay. As we were only days away from home, the crew were not going to let another enemy airplane blow chunks off us or finish us off now.
September 3rd, 1941 - 10:20hrs – La Rochelle We finally coasted back into port having spent over two months at sea. Ten pennants flew from our periscope indicating that in that time, just short of 78,000 tons of enemy shipping had not reached its destination and was now at the bottom of the ocean. I was proud of my officers and crew who had proven that when a Type IX U-Boat is permitted to be a long-distance hunter, it serves the Fatherland well. I did wonder if our patrol could have been better if we had been in one of the new Type IXCs that had just come out. This time, the band was playing. Whether it was for our benefit or that of the Admiral who was on the jetty with some of his aides, we could never tell. As he was the man responsible for us being at sea for so long, I think he wanted to welcome us home personally. We all put on our best show for the Admiral when he came aboard. We exchanged pleasantries, he said how the U-38 was a credit to the submarine service, how he was looking forward to seeing me get the swords added to the oak leaves on the ribbon of my Knight’s Cross and then inquired about when my next performance review was. The crew were glad to be dismissed. Most of them headed straight for their bar and if it wasn’t already open, they would make sure it would open for them. By the day’s end, I knew that the ‘Parzival’ would be in dry dock. The maintenance would be crawling all over it and seeing what it needed for its refit. For now, I was keen to get back to my lodgings and I was looking forward to some home-cooking. Tomorrow, I would be back at the base filling out reports but I hoped that sometime in the month while we were being refitted, I would be able to get back and visit the family. Although it might not be a Blue Max, which “the general” wore proudly, I think the new adornment to my Knight’s Cross might impress him.
|
|
|
Post by keyboy on Nov 30, 2016 18:38:13 GMT
U-Boat Name and ID Number U-74 Stachelrochen KKpt – Volkhard Schreiber Patrol Assignment British Isles Successful Patrol Yes Number of Freighters Sank 3 Number of Tankers Sank 1 Number of Capital Ships Sank 0 Total Tonnage Destroyed 36,000 Ships Damaged 0 Ships Destroyed French Motor passenger of 10,500t - Brazza, British Steam Merchant of 8600t - Surrey, British Steam Merchant of 8900t – Port Hardy, British Motor Tanker of 8000t - AnadaraRefit Time Standard Award Requests Crew Advancement Roll Crew Names: Crew Status: EliteKKpt Volkhard Schreiber 1WO Goetzpeter Staufenbiel 2WO Adam Luedtke LI (Eng) Reinhold Kraft Doctor Herrmann Rieger U-74 (Stachelrochen) enters La Rochelle on 30th August with four victory pennants flying from her conning tower.With that old saying, “Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund” playing on my mind, I ensured that on the 1st August 1941, U-74 and its crew set out for the British Isles, before any other U-boats from the flotilla. The passage to our assigned patrol station was uneventful and all watch commanders had a very easy time of it. On the morning of the 6th the lookouts spotted smoke on the horizon. I ordered the boat to dive and make a submerged approach, finding a large freighter, The Brazza (10,500 tons) unescorted. I readied the deck crew as we surfaced and got in close. The gunners hit and caused multiple explosions onboard, so I fired the aft tube to finish it off. I waited for the explosion, but it never came. No escort appeared as we reloaded and so it was to the credit of our deck gunners that they again hit with all shells and the freighter blew up. It was carrying lots of mail, as there seemed to be bits of letters all over the surface. After a few false sightings and the radar being moody, we saw no further action until the evening of the 13th. The watch commander had spotted a dim light off the starboard bow and I was awoken to deal with the situation. We managed to get identification at around eleven thirty: Another large freighter, The Surrey (8,600 tons). As this was a viable target, I gave the order to surface and get to a nice close range. The gunners hit with accuracy and breached the freighter’s hull and it finally sank beneath the waves at around midnight. The crew and I were on a high for nearly a week after the lat sinking. On this patrol we had already sunk nearly 20,000 tons of enemy shipping; more than some of our previous patrols and we were only just over half the way through the month. The next week just dragged on and the crew had now gone from being elated at the last action to boredom and depressed after nearly twelve days of chasing shadows. On the evening of the 25th whilst I was on watch, I caught site of what I believed to be a ship’s light and then I spotted others and we had managed to slip into an escorted convoy. There was a tanker, two large freighters and a small freighter. All crew were ready for action and after deciding to ignore the small freighter and ordering us to medium range. The escorts were not close by, so we managed to fire tubes #1 and #2 at the tanker and tubes #3 and #4 at the largest freighter. The four forward eels all hit their targets; both G7a’s exploded when they hit the large freighter Port Hardy (8,900 tons) and broke the back of the steam merchant which sank within minutes. The other two torpedoes did considerable damage to the tanker Anadara (8,000 tons). The escort had detected us and bore down on us at speed, my evasive manoeuvres failed to prevent any depth charge hits. As a result, both the aft torp door and periscope needed some attention. The escort turned quickly and once again had detected us and fired off depth charges. This time the flak gun must have got hit and there was flooding in one of the upper compartments. The escort approached for a third time, but this time we had evaded detection. The flooding had been stopped and repairs were under way. Once the escort had got a little further away, we surfaced to make repairs and pump the water out manually. The periscope was repaired; however the flak gun and the aft torpedo door were kaput, which meant the aft torpedo tube could not be fired and we would have two G7e’s stuck in the aft of our ship doing nothing. We followed the damaged tanker and this time let loose with all forward firing tubes at long range. Two missed completely, whilst the other two hit and caused enough damage to force the tanker to sink slowly. The escort did not detect us this time and may well have had orders to save as many crews of the destroyed ships as they could. With four torpedoes reloaded, we attempted to follow the convoy, unfortunately they slipped away and that was to be the last engagement of the patrol With fuel getting reasonably low, I decided to head for home. The passage back to La Rochelle was uneventful, other than the crew’s constant singing about our good fortunes and sinking thirty six tons and there are only so many words that rhyme with tons. After shore leave and re-supply, U-74 will be ready to resume patrol in October. KKpt Volkhard Schreiber
|
|
|
Post by keyboy on Nov 30, 2016 22:31:07 GMT
September 1, 1941, Gentleman, from my quick glances at the reports you did well this month, sinking 113,900 tons of shipping, and 14 hulls. The first round tonight is on me, while the second round will be on the crew of the Stachelrochen. The third round will be supplied by KKpt Karl Schneider who has been awarded the KCO&S. The remaining rounds will be supplied by Horst Beckmann, Werner Bornhof and Wolfgang Ackerman who have all been promoted to the rank of FKpt. AwardsKnight's Cross with Oak Leaves and SwordsKKpt Karl Schneider Knight's Cross with Oak LeavesNone Knight's CrossNone Iron Cross 2nd ClassLzS Dieter Krafft Iron Cross 1st Class ObLtzS Walter Rieflin U-Boat War Badge To the Crew of: NonePromotionsNone U-74 Stachelrochen keyboy Doctor - Experte Advancement in Rank for Unterseeboot Kommandant Korvettenkapitän Horst Beckmann promoted to the rank of Fregattenkapitän Korvettenkapitän Werner Bornhof promoted to the rank of Fregattenkapitän Korvettenkapitän Wolfgang Ackerman promoted to the rank of Fregattenkapitän
|
|