U-51
Type VIIB
2-Flotilla, Wilhelmshaven
Kptlt Kurt Dennert, Commander
When last I reported in we had just intercepted a British task force whilst patrolling the Vestfjord in defense of Narvik in mid-April 1940, and had successfully attacked and sunk her proud centerpiece, the HMS Warspite.
We continued to patrol Norwegian waters until released from that duty by BdU, and did so in increasingly rough weather. Our only subsequent contacts there were via the hydrophone as we waited out the storms and poor visibility beneath the surface for as long as our batteries would allow - and Helmut, the senior man on station there, reported the sounds of the two nearest us sinking before I'd even given the order to reemerge into the tempest and attempt an interception. Whether they were friends or foes was impossible to determine, as was the means by which they met their unhappy ends. We could only stand by and listen as Helmut relayed his reports of their descent into the abyss and hope that anyone who had survived the sinkings would not be left to linger too long in the water before some merciful hand released them from their present misery. Whether it would be the hand of man, or of death itself, was a question none of us was willing to voice out loud.
After receiving orders from BdU to depart from the North Sea and attend to our original assignment, we headed northwest around the British Isles and then south towards our patrol grid, BE21. On the way there we sighted and intercepted a lone British ore carrier just east of Rockall, sinking her from periscope depth with two well-placed eels. Then it was a long dry stretch of no enemy contacts whatsoever until we completed our assigned patrol in early May and began patrolling the adjoining grids, slowly working our way south along the Liverpool-Freetown shipping routes.
Reports of a large neutral convoy further to our south and heading WNW drew us into what turned out to be a long and ultimately fruitless pursuit; although Helmut reported hearing their approaching screws - including those of their two warship escorts - when we submerged for sound checks, we had run into yet another fierce Atlantic storm on the surface. Our visibility was reduced to less than 4 kilometers in what passed, at least, for broad daylight. What it might have been had we continued on and found ourselves in the midst of our prey after nightfall was something I was unwilling to find out firsthand with no confirmation of enemy ships among the herd. We dutifully reported what information we could; perhaps some of our kamaraden would intercept and identify any potential enemy targets farther north or west, and under more fortuitous circumstances.
(to be continued...)
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