[Aktungbby]

Apparently Kapitänleutnant Werner Pfeifer was not a very ardent Nazi; and his crew reflected this at post-capture interrogation http://ww2today.com/2nd-february-1942-the-unpopular-u-boat-officers-from-u-581 The crew 'spilled their guts to interrogators and were not happy sailors. Some insightful stuff here: http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-581INT.htm

It would appear that "U 581's" Commanding Officer gave the order to abandon ship soon after the first attempt to ram had been made and the Engineer Officer had accordingly opened all vents to accelerate the sinking. Pfeifer estimated that there were some 50 tons of water in the boat at the time of her sinking and she was almost unmanageable. He said that, when he abandoned ship, water was already entering through the conning tower hatch. He also stated that the attacking destroyer fired two rounds at his craft in between the ramming actions. The entire crew were wearing life-saving jackets when they jumped into the water, which they described as warm, and some of them were of the opinion that they could, given a favourable current, have succeeded in swimming ashore. There was no evidence, however, of any of them except Siedeck wanting to escape capture. On the contrary, it was frequently stated by non-commissioned ranks that they were only too pleased to be rid of their unpopular officers in this way. H.M.S. "Croome" and H.M.S. "Westcott" rescued 41 out of a total complement of 46, One of the officers, Leutnant zur See (Sub-Lieutenant) Werner Siedeck, managed to swim to Pico Island, doubtless much to the disgust of "U 581's" Commanding Officer and Engineer Officer, who displayed great apprehension lest he should report, not only the unpleasant atmosphere that always characterised :U 581," but also on the unsatisfactory handling of the boat during the whole of her last cruise. The Commanding Officer of "U 581" lodged an official protest regarding what he claimed to be unlawful capture while in neutral waters. This protest is reproduced in Appendix II of this report.