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From: Vizeadmiral Karl Dönitz
To: Führer Adolf Hitler, Großadmiral Erich Raeder
Date: 07 NOV 1940
Subject: Loss of U-51 (Walter Frönlich, Kapitänleutnant)
Herren:
With great sorrow and regret, I must report to you that U-51 and all hands, including Knights Cross (with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds) holder Kapitänleutnant Walter Frönlich, is missing and presumed lost.
U-51's last transmission to BdU was a normal status report at 1631 on 31 OCT 1940 in the Atlantic between the Azores and Portugal. Shortly thereafter, B-dienst reported a large convoy in the vicinity of U-51, which we assume U-51 intercepted and attacked. A B-dienst intercept recorded at around 1900 31 OCT 1940 stated that two merchant ships in this convoy were reported sunk. We must believe that those two ships were sunk by U-51, as no other U-Boots were in the area. Later, another intercept indicated that the Royal Navy was highly confident they had sunk a U-Boot.
With your permission, we will notify the officers' and crew's next-of-kin, but for now, we recommend that this news be kept secret from the public and the Kriegsmarine due to the impact of losing the greatest U-Boot captain we have had in this campaign so far.
Including the two ships reported sunk in the B-dienst intercept, and two more reported by U-51 during this patrol prior to its loss, Frönlich was responsible for the sinking of approximately 288K tons of enemy shipping during 13 war patrols. This is a staggering measure of his success, as the next most successful captain, Otto Kretschmer, has sunk 194K tons. As you can see, this is a loss of monumental proportions to the Bootwaffe, the Kriegsmarine and to the Reich.
We will await your response as to notifying the families of the lost.
/s/ Dönitz
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