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Originally Posted by Egan
There is a great myth grown up on these forums abot exactly how often a U-boat would be aided by a tender. Unfortuatly, in terms of realism, it pretty much was the boat 'against the bloody world.'
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There was a good deal of resupply operations that did not envolve the secrecy of a tender in a neutral port or high seas nor the rare but exceptional operations of the milk cows....! Indeed, many ressuplies (much more than those done by tenders or milk cows) were arranged by Doenitz when one U-boot was returning home after a patrol. Doenitz asessed the returning sub's fuel and torpedo status and eventually would arrange a mid-sea encounter. The sub going to the patrol zone would top its torpedo load, but specially its fuel tanks load from any excess that came out from BdU's calculation of what the returning sub needed to get back to harbour.
Kapitänleutnant Bleichrodt on U-109 was paranoic about being short of fuel, and usually instructed his chief ingenier to cheat when he had to transfer fuel to other subs. If you read "Hirchsfeld, secret diary of an U-boat" you will realize that this kind of resupply meetings between frontline boats was much common than that of subs with tankers or milk cows.
Bleichrodt's concerns about fuel was one of the reasons of his nervous breakdown during a patrol that ended with the BdU landing him & not allowing him to go on war patrol again.