From Kkptn. Lutz Schraube
Ops. Officer 2nd U-Boot Flotilla
U-52 Patrol 6-30 April 1940 (Balz).
U-52 left Cadiz at high speed to take advantage of the few days of predicted good weather. The commander had made careful plans taking into consideration known shipping routes and most probable ones. He used a 20 kilometer wide zig-zag route toward Cape Sao Vicente and sunk 2 ships with the deck gun. Off cape Sao Vicente, he sunk two more ships.
A speedy dash south revealed two Frenchen travelling together. By the time the weather changed, U-57 had expended all but 17 rounds of 98mm shells.
Noticing that traffic going to and coming from Gibraltar used several scattered routes approximatelly 20 kilometres appart, U-52's commander adopted a tactic of high speed north-south dashes with frequent listening dives.
Although, there were periods where no contacts were made for several days, the tactic often produced several intercepts a day. The enclosed chart shows how scattered Allied shipping is transitting the area. (GWX2.0). It also shows the accuracy of Lt. Balz's forecast routes.
