Von Tonner
09-07-05, 08:49 AM
There is an excellent and much more detailed article on U-505 at www.historynet.com.
Two extracts below.
Then, on July 22, a seemingly insignificant incident spelled the end of Axel Loewe’s tenure as captain of /U-505/. "We spotted a three-masted schooner flying no flag that was making violent zigzags back and forth," Goebeler remembers. "Not the kind of zigzags a sailing ship makes to move across the wind, but the kind a ship makes to avoid torpedoes. This made us suspicious, so we surfaced, and the /Kapitän/ ordered a shot to be fired across her bow. Well, the deck officer must have misunderstood his order because the first shot took off the ship’s mainmast, and that ship wasn’t a sailing ship any more! We couldn‘t leave the evidence floating around, so we sank her with the deck gun. "The boat turned out to be the property of a Colombian diplomat, and the incident caused Colombia to declare war against Germany! Well, at that point in the war, having Colombia declare war against Germany was like a dog howling at the moon; it doesn’t matter to the moon at all. But Kapitän Loewe blamed himself. We finally had to stop our patrol and return to Lorient earlier than planned. Loewe was having very bad trouble with his appendix, but I think his worry over the sailing ship was the main problem." Admiral Donitz’s comment in /U-505/’s war diary was that the sinking of the schooner "had better been left undone." Loewe was relieved of his command and assigned to shore duty as a member of Donitz’s staff. /U-505/’s second war patrol, which had begun so auspiciously, had ended in frustration.
Goebeler remembers his days in Lorient with nostalgic satisfaction: "The navy really treated us first class. They had a band there to greet us, and we had lots of time to relax. Of course, we had constant training to learn about new equipment, but we were free during many evenings to enjoy the town. There was a soldiers’ theater where we could see German movies, and they made sure we had plenty of fresh fruits, white bread, sausages and beer. And not the ersatz beer that everyone else drank; we had the real thing! And there were women, too. There was a place soldiers could go where the women were inspected regularly so that they wouldn’t get sick. But there were so many French girls that I never had to go there. The French treated us U-boat men very well, even after the British started bombing the place." The weeks passed quickly as /U-505/’s engines were overhauled and a fresh supply of torpedoes loaded on board. The crew, proud of their sub’s successful maiden voyage, was eager for more action. Admiral Donitz himself had visited /U-505/ upon her return and written in her war diary, "First mission of Captain with new boat, well and thoughtfully carried out." But he had also felt compelled to add, "Despite long time in operations area, lack of traffic did not permit greater success."
Two extracts below.
Then, on July 22, a seemingly insignificant incident spelled the end of Axel Loewe’s tenure as captain of /U-505/. "We spotted a three-masted schooner flying no flag that was making violent zigzags back and forth," Goebeler remembers. "Not the kind of zigzags a sailing ship makes to move across the wind, but the kind a ship makes to avoid torpedoes. This made us suspicious, so we surfaced, and the /Kapitän/ ordered a shot to be fired across her bow. Well, the deck officer must have misunderstood his order because the first shot took off the ship’s mainmast, and that ship wasn’t a sailing ship any more! We couldn‘t leave the evidence floating around, so we sank her with the deck gun. "The boat turned out to be the property of a Colombian diplomat, and the incident caused Colombia to declare war against Germany! Well, at that point in the war, having Colombia declare war against Germany was like a dog howling at the moon; it doesn’t matter to the moon at all. But Kapitän Loewe blamed himself. We finally had to stop our patrol and return to Lorient earlier than planned. Loewe was having very bad trouble with his appendix, but I think his worry over the sailing ship was the main problem." Admiral Donitz’s comment in /U-505/’s war diary was that the sinking of the schooner "had better been left undone." Loewe was relieved of his command and assigned to shore duty as a member of Donitz’s staff. /U-505/’s second war patrol, which had begun so auspiciously, had ended in frustration.
Goebeler remembers his days in Lorient with nostalgic satisfaction: "The navy really treated us first class. They had a band there to greet us, and we had lots of time to relax. Of course, we had constant training to learn about new equipment, but we were free during many evenings to enjoy the town. There was a soldiers’ theater where we could see German movies, and they made sure we had plenty of fresh fruits, white bread, sausages and beer. And not the ersatz beer that everyone else drank; we had the real thing! And there were women, too. There was a place soldiers could go where the women were inspected regularly so that they wouldn’t get sick. But there were so many French girls that I never had to go there. The French treated us U-boat men very well, even after the British started bombing the place." The weeks passed quickly as /U-505/’s engines were overhauled and a fresh supply of torpedoes loaded on board. The crew, proud of their sub’s successful maiden voyage, was eager for more action. Admiral Donitz himself had visited /U-505/ upon her return and written in her war diary, "First mission of Captain with new boat, well and thoughtfully carried out." But he had also felt compelled to add, "Despite long time in operations area, lack of traffic did not permit greater success."