After the success of the first patrol, U-47 continued to makes forays in to the Atlantic from Kiel. Three more successful patrols followed, including the fourth, in support of the Invasion of Norway. Averaging about 50k tons per patrol, we found mostly lone merchants, with the occasional convoy to pick a target or two out of. The waters northwest of Loch Ewe, off the coast of Stornoway proved most productive.
A few task forces were sighted, but we were unable to close to an advantageous position, and in each case they got by without an attack being made. In the fourth patrol in the Norwegian Sea, a task force of one troop ship and many Armed Auxiliary Cruisers was found lying to. Made a submerged approach and torpedoed the troopship. Follow up attacks against one of the Auxiliaries failed as torpedoes striking the ship caused a crash to desktop. After two more attempts I gave it up as a bad job, but something is not quite working right with these ships. I don't reload in sub sims, but the crashes forced me to.
Later in the patrol we sank a large tanker escorted by 4 patrol boats, who evidently were not equipped with active sonar. Finally a convoy was sighted heading for Russian waters and several ships went to the bottom from this.
Countermeasures so far have proven ineffective, but airplanes are a real threat, and one needs to be ever vigilant and quick on the diving alarm. However I know this will not last for long, and more destroyers are being encountered as we head in to late 1940. In June of 1940 U-47 departed on her fifth war patrol. As I mentioned in my previous posts, I hoped starting at the beginning of the war would allow the crew to gain more experience, and many of the crew have seen promotions and have acquired specialties as I believe that only a highly experienced crew might allow us to survive the war, insofar as that may be possible.
After departing Kiel, U-47 sailed to the north, passing Scapa Flow and entering the Atlantic. We managed to put a 6000 ton passenger/freighter on the bottom near our objective in the northeast quadrant of the AM grid. After several weeks of fruitless searching I decided to move south, in to CG grid off the coast of Spain. This is a common route for ships coming up from Gibraltar and the Med. Eventually a convoy was spotted, and in one of my most successful attacks in German boats, all 5 torpedoes were fired. The stern tube sank a 5000 ton steamer, two bow tubes sank a 7000 ton freighter, and the final two tubes were fired at an 8300 ton tanker in the far column. The first torpedo hit, but the second was a dud and she sailed on, with a slight starboard list and with flames visible near the forecastle. When moving in on this convoy, the lead escort had been too far out to port as we closed from starboard, and the starboard escort too far out of position to the rear and way out on the flank, leaving a yawning gap for us to slip through.
We dove to evade, and after being held down for 5 hours, we surfaced to trace the convoy's route and hopefully find the tanker straggling. After running up their track for 30 kilometers, the tanker was sighted and we made a submerged attack, first firing the stern tube for a dud, then another dud from a bow tube, and finally one the hit near the stack and the ship exploded and sank.
Cleared the area to the south. As the U boat Flotillas were in the midst of shifting to French coast bases, I decided to make this a double-barreled patrol, and put in to Lorient for a reload, with the view to patrol until our new base would be ready in St Nazaire in the middle of September. The we left for the waters west of Gibraltar in the hopes of making contact with heavy men-of-war.
Soon after arriving on station, the bridge watch spotted the tops of warships on the horizon closing from the east. Ordered a flank speed surface dash to close their track, and plotted their speed at 19 knots. If they kept on, the best I could hope for was a shot on a broad angle at around 4000 meters. However, in the clear weather in bright sunshine we were spotted and as the destroyers escorting the heavies showed a zero angle and bones in their teeth I pulled the plug and continued to close, albeit at a much slower speed.
But after being sighted, the big ships, which we now identified as a battleship or battlecruiser and a heavy cruiser, slowed and began that constant helming that alerted ships in Silent Hunter do. Soon our plot showed them at 12 knots along their base course, which would allow us to reach a suitable firing position. As the lead ship's angle broadened slightly we were able to see she was the majestic Hood.
We continued to close the Hood's base course and set up the shot. Here is a water-lapping exposure to check bearing and AoB.
All four bow tubes with steamers loaded were opened, depth 4 meters, impact, fast. AoB 80 starboard, bearing 350, speed 12 knots, range 600. As the Hood crossed the wire, all four tubes were fired at intervals to spread the torpedoes along her length. Firing torpedoes like this is also a fail-safe against speed or range errors, and it virtually ensures that at least three of the four eels hit, unless the data is very far off. In the event, all four hit and detonated, and Hood exploded.
With the escorts still off depth charging the area where we submerged after being sighted, I lingered to observe our handiwork and watched as she began to slide below the waves. Then we started the descent to 160 meters and began evasion.
Here the fourth and final torpedo strikes Hood near the stern moments before she went under.
It appears to be business as usual for the crew of U-47 despite the sinking of the 48,000 ton battlecruiser.
