U-Boat Name and ID Number U-74 Stachelrochen
Patrol #18
FKpt – Volkhard Schreiber
Patrol Assignment Atlantic
Successful Patrol Yes
Number of Freighters Sank 5
Number of Tankers Sank 1
Number of Capital Ships Sank 0
Total Tonnage Destroyed 39,000
Ships Damaged Arlington Court Ships Destroyed British Steam Merchant of 10,300t –
Ixion, Norwegian Steam Merchant of 2,400t –
Torny, Brazilian Steam Merchant of 6,700t –
Parnahyba, Norwegian Steam Merchant of 6,600t –
Erviken , French Steam Merchant of 7,000t –
Louisiane and American Steam Merchant of 6,000t –
Raphael SemmesRefit Time Standard
Award Requests None
Crew Names: Crew Status: EliteFKpt Volkhard Schreiber
1WO Goetzpeter Staufenbiel
2WO Adam Luedtke
2WO - EXPERTLI (Eng) Reinhold Kraft
Doctor Herrmann Rieger
Doctor - ExperteU-74 (Stachelrochen) enters La Rochelle on 30th April with six victory pennants flying from her conning tower.We were the first to leave base for this patrol on the 2nd April, just a few minutes into the first day of February and the crew were happy that we had left early, as this was our opportunity to trial the new torpedoes in the Atlantic. We traversed the Bay of Biscay without incident and had no contact with the enemy on transit to the patrol area.
On the morning of the 8th April we arrived at our patrol area and this spring morning met us with a totally calm sea and the sun slowly rising.
During the evening of the 15th contact was made with a convoy. We tracked the convoy to get into an advantageous position and made our attack. At medium range, a full spread was fired. One of the new G7a FaT l torpedoes missed the
Condylis, but by following its pattern it hit what was later identified as a neutral ship; A Brazilian steam merchant called the
Parnahyba. One eel hit the
Torny portside amidships and it sank quickly by the stern. The Ixion was hit by all three torpedoes of which two detonated, this caused it to settle and it sank by the bow around 20:50 hours. The BOLD decoy was used and as a result, we only just evaded detection; if this had been just a few months ago, we would have been detected.
Staufenbiel, my right hand man and trusty 1WO had already scanned the area for more targets and plotted solutions for a long range attack. Three more steam merchants had been identified and this time just the G7a FaT I torpedoes were fired from the bow tubes. One torpedo hit the
Shawcross, but it failed to detonate and as I cursed the fortune of that torpedo, two others went slamming into the
Erviken. The Norwegian steam merchant was hit on the starboard side below the bridge, broke in two and sank within three minutes. The fourth eel hit the
Arlington Court beneath the bridge but did not damage her enough to sink her. After we had avoided detection, I made the decision to continue following the convoy, rather than finishing off the crippled British steam merchant, which would survive to haul its cargo another day.
With only electric torpedoes left, I got to long range and fired at two large freighters, looking to see what the new FaT II and Falke torpedoes could do. I was pleasantly surprised to get any hits from that range with what was essentially upgraded G7e’s. The
Louisiane was hit by one of the two torpedoes targeted towards her and she sank by the stern after being hit by the coup de grâce at 23:29 hours. The
Raphael Semmes was also hit by one of two torpedoes, but only minor damage was observed. With the BOLD decoy fired, the escort found it difficult to get a bearing and we remained undetected. I gave the order to follow the crippled Steam Merchant and get into close range as it was now unescorted. I fired the final torpedo that was left on the ship; the electric eel from the aft tube, but to no avail as we listened to the sound of silence when there should have been contact. The gun crew fired off a full salvo of fifty rounds and finished her off. We questioned the survivors and searched the area and just as we would like to be treated if it happened to us, Rieger and his team took care of their wounds and I gave them tobacco, cigarettes, water and food before leaving the area.
With only deck gun ammo onboard, we continued with our patrol for another week, but there were no unescorted ships to attack.
We made no further contacts and there was no further engagement with enemy ships or planes. We continued on our way back to the Bay of Biscay.
The rest of the passage to La Rochelle was uneventful and we arrived back at base on the morning of 30th April 1943
After shore leave and re-supply, U-74 will be ready to resume patrol in June.
FKpt Volkhard Schreiber