From the personal diary of KptLt Walter Rieflin
November 11th
"Not much pickings on this one, Herr Kaleun", said my 1WO. "Four freighters and the heaviest is about 7,500 tons", he added.
I had to agree that he was right. I don't know what came over me, though, as I decided to take a risk.
"Open both forward and aft torpedo doors, we're going to hit them with everything we have got", I replied.
"Firing solutions?" ObLt Krafft asked.
"Forward Tubes 1-3 on the largest freighter, Tube 4 on that 5,000t and then we pull it around and try and hit the other two with one torpedo each from the aft!"
"Jawohl, Herr Kaleun!"
The boat became a flurry of activity. I knew we stood a high chance of being detected but I felt that it was worth it.
Once in position, I started giving my orders.
"Forward tubes ... los!"
"Eels running, Kaleun"
"180 degrees to port!"
"Jawohl, Herr Kaleun!"
"Aft tubes ...... los!"
With stopwatches running, we waited for the sound of the impacts.
There were three explosions when I had hoped to have heard four when the forward torpedoes found their mark. Shortly afterwards, there were two other explosions.
"Enemy destroyer heading our way, Herr Kaleun!" reported Bernhard from the hydrophones.
"Take her down 50m, evade hard to port!" Wasserbombs exploded around us, rocking the ship and causing some serious flooding in some of the aft compartments. "Continue pulling hard to port, hold current depth!" I was sure we would be hit again but whatever it was, the enemy destroyer seemed to find another area to bomb far away from us. "Take her up to periscope depth, set a course of 2-7-0. I'm not risking it finding us again but I want to see what we've accomplished".
I saw one freighter slipping between the waves, the other three completely ablaze and about to go the same way, 22,000 tons of shipping not going to make it hoem.
It was a dangerous gamble and one I did not intend to do again in a hurry. I did not choose to pursue the convoy as one of the diesels was damaged. ObLt Henger got to work with his team and got it functioning properly.
November 16th Our second convoy came just five nights later. Among the prey were two freighters, each of about 7,000 tons. Perhaps it was overconfidence or just bad luck. I decided to fire two forward torpedoes at each of them. As it was, each ship was hit by just one torpedo, the other torpedoes both missing. Fortunately, the escorts did not seem to know where the attack came from. I gave the order to tail one of them but finding it to be accompanied by a four-masted destroyer, I did not consider it to be worth it and wrote it off to bad luck.
November 20th "Kameraden, we are about to take a risky attack that will very likely get us spotted by the Royal Navy and we will likely take some damage. One of their aircraft carriers is coming our way. If it isn't the HMS Eagle, it is her sister ship. I have judged that the attack is worth the risk. If this attack is a success, convoys will be more vulnerable to attack from other U-Boats and we will get a bit of glory ourselves. I know you will do your best to make it happen. Open all torpedo tube doors, forward and aft. Once again, we're giving the enemy everything we have got!"
I had not intended attacking like this again so soon, certainly not within just a few weeks of the last time it was done. This, however, was a British capital ship, a prize worth sinking at the least.
Of the four forward torpedoes, three hit the capital ship. It was damaged but it was not finished. Pulling the boat around, I fired the two aft torpedoes. I thought getting in to close range might have been an idea considering the aft tubes had electric torpedoes in them. Their accuracy was questionable. There was only one explosion, but it was enough.
However, two destroyers appeared to have found us and depth charges exploded around us. To try and shake them off, I ordered evasive action and to take her down to below test depth. I knew it would damage the hull further but it was a risk that I felt was worth taking.
The risk paid off. The next round of depth charges exploded above and away from us. The escorts did not give up, though. However, the wave after that was further away. I quietly gave orders to take us out of the area. From what I felt was a safe distance, we rose to periscope depth. The HMS Eagle was listing badly, aircraft sliding off the deck into the sea, crewmen frantically jumping overboard.
ObLt Henger and his repair team was hard at work. He was able to jury-rig the radio so it worked again. When we surfaced, he and his crew were able to straighten out the 37mm flak gun. We had also taken hull damage in addition to that sustained from taking her below test depth. However, despite having taken damage and still having torpedoes left, we were still well enough to continue.
December 1st Considering we had already surpassed 100,000 tons of merchant shipping on this patrol and sunk a major capital ship of the Royal Navy ten days later, we still had torpedoes left. We were good for one attack but even I knew our luck could be slipping away. However, we were a hunter of the deep and hunting while we still could was what we did.
We had been directed to a convoy. Like the first convoy we faced, the largest ship within our area was only about 7,200 tons. Instead of being bold and firing at four different ships, I ordered that a solution be set on the largest freighter for all four of the remaining six electric torpedoes. We lined ourselves up and waited. "Los!" I ordered, and the four eels sped through the sea towards the target ship.
Three of the four torpedoes hit the "Santore", tearing enough of a hole in her to cause her to start rapidly sinking. It was also enough to get the attention of the Royal Navy. Whether we had been too close or just unlucky, they seemed to know where we were and their depth charges dropped around us.
It was to be a gruelling ordeal. I could not easily risk taking us below test depth again. As the hunted and no longer the hunter, it was a different game we were playing. This destroyer captain may not have been able to exactly predict my evasive maneuvering moves but he was close on several occasions. Every time there was the of the wasserbombs exploding around us, we took more damage.
WRANGG!!! The hull took a hit. I took her to starboard and deeper.
WRANGG!!! The hull took more damage and there was flooding in the forward torpedo room. I ordered her further to starboard.
WRANGG!!! There was a hit to the engine room, one of the batteries being damaged. I brought the engines to half-speed and to take her hard to port.
WRANGG!!! Despite all of the previous damage, this last hit was most worrying. The hydrophones had been knocked out. We were now deaf in the water. I ordered a full stop.
Silence. The only sound was the heavy breathing of a nervous crew. "What are you waiting for, Captain Bligh?" I thought to myself, expecting the awful noise and the explosions to begin again and for us to be ripped apart.
After 10 minutes, I quietly instructed we go up to periscope depth. I would rather die seeing our foe than not knowing where the killer blow was coming from.
Nothing. All I could see was burning flotsam from the "Santore" and in the gloomy darkness of the North Atlantic, there were the receding shapes of the rest of the convoy.
December 14th I will never know what miracle saved us. All I do know is that for the next day, LI Henger was busy repairing and jury-rigging all of our damaged systems, the battery and the hydrophones being the priority. One of the engine room crewmen had passed out. Doctor Braun had seen to him, revived him and stayed with him until his breathing was normal. The cause could not be properly ascertained. It was put down to him inhaling some CO2 from the damaged battery, losing his balance, hitting his head on a bulkhead and passing out.
With only two torpedoes left and our time over, I had ordered us to head for home. Our journey had been uneventful, thankfully, and we pulled into La Rochelle with six pennants flying from the periscope.
Although our systems were working, it would be a few more months before the old girl would be heading out to sea again. However, the crew were all proud of what we had achieved, over 100,000 tons of merchant shipping sunk and a British aircraft carrier as the icing on the cake. At least one of the rounds would probably be on the Tümmler tonight.
It was good to be home, safe and sound.
WR