[Bosje]

March 23rd, 1940. U-51, grid AM38 (35 kilometers NE from Loch Ewe)


-8:00 pm
This is our 7th day at sea on the 6th Feindfahrt but only now do I find the time to scribble in this journal. It will not be a long entry but I just want to say that the crew are reloading the sterntube. U-51 is a Type VIIB fleet U-boot and I am her commanding officer. More soon, we are very close to the 'secret' Royal Navy base of Loch Ewe and we are surrounded by patrolling warships. They still do not know where we are even though we sunk a merchants and a destroyer this afternoon.


-9:45 pm
We are heading back out to sea. We have spent 6 torpedoes already on this patrol and we still have 8 left but Loch Ewe is well defended and I dare not risk the boat on her first patrol. After all, we still have to get fully familiar with how she handles, the only similarity with the old U-2 is the rooster on the conning tower. Otto has set a course for the western approaches and we will see if we can intercept a convoy there.




March 25th, 1940. U-51, grid AM29 (western approaches northern route)


-2:30 pm
Convoy contact report. Interception course set for contact in about 8 hours, the plan is to set up a night surface attack. Which gives me some time to talk about our new boat. She is big and she is beautiful compared to our old U-2. Twice the number of crewmen, thrice the number of torpedoes, we have an 88 mm deck gun, a 20 mm flak gun, an improved KDB hydrophone and a sterntube. A machine truly fit for war. I loved her on sight.


I got my first look at her a month ago, me and my staff went to the sub pens like an excited group of boys who are about to inspect the new sweetshop in town. We climbed in and around her all day, pressing all the buttons and working all the handles to see how it all fits together, we had to get to know her very quickly because it would not be long before we took this baby out on war patrol. A couple of afternoons cruising around the harbor was all we had time for, the rest of the time was spent loading her up and getting her ready for combat. I have a new boatswain who served on Type VIIs before, he is my walking manual and he showed us all the gadgets and dials, I have a new officer on the staff as well, Gert is the chief engineer who keeps the diesels and electrics in working order while Fritz is learning all about the trimming and driving controls. This boat can go all the way into the Atlantic and patrol there for over a month, a far cry from the weekend trips we had on the U-2.


Patrol orders came through on march 14th, we were to be the kriegsmarine ambassador in grid AN28, off the Norwegian fjords. On the way to the patrol area we would be able to take the boat for a full test drive and get to grips with all her peculiarities but this was no pleasure cruise, we are still at war. The boat is brand new so chances were that we'd run into the odd malfunction or construction flaw but we would simply have to deal with them as events unfolded. We left Kiel 2 days later, march 16th. On the 18th we took our test runs shortly before reaching our patrol grid. The boat can do 18 knots on the surface, 8 knots submerged and we took her down to 200 meters without any water coming in through major leaks. The crew did not like that little adventure but I want to know what she can hold before we are being forced into the cellar by the enemy. So far she is holding together perfectly.


We spent 2 days cruising the Norwegian coast but all we ever came across were Norwegian fishermen. We set off for more dangerous waters, sank a large cargo north of Scotland and then we had our previously mentioned killing spree near Loch Ewe. A successful patrol so far, the plan is to engage this convoy, not take too many unnecessary risks with the new boat and get back home to celebrate an excellent maiden voyage.


-7:55 pm
Otto has come through true to form. We do not see any smoke on the horizon yet but we just went in for a quick dip and Karl got more screws than he can count at 25 degrees. The sun has just set, it is still a little too bright for my taste but it also means the Duke will get a fix on them from many miles away. The last contact report we received was an hour ago, I don't know who the shadowing boat is but the report says a large convoy traveling 9knots SSE and we are going to action stations.


-9:05 pm
Typical, as we got into attack position, submerged because it was still quite bright, we saw a frigate on the horizon which can only be the convoy picket ship. After 5 minutes it suddenly changed course at high speed and Karl reported all screws fainting away towards the northeast. The convoy changed course 10 kilometers away from us. They are not getting away from us that easily so we are running at full speed to get into a new position. It is good news, really, because the sky is getting darker with each minute, we will be looking at a surface attack after all.




March 26th, 1940. U-51, grid AM29


-0:30 am
Running due east at 15 knots, 4000 kilometers from Kiel unless we go straight through the Orkneys which we will certainly not be doing. The boat has taken some serious damage but we sank 3 C2 merchants. To summarize I can say that I am grinning again but the puddle under the observation scope which is my personal ashtray is full of cigarette butts. We still have 2 torpedoes but going back in for a second run on the convoy is just too much of a risk, the chief says the hull can not be trusted anymore at great depth and I am sure he is right. We just spent an hour at 110 meters and she was moaning and squirming so much we all felt sorry for her. It worked well though, the depthcharges never really got close, according to the boatswain. I wouldn't know, it's the first time for all my old U-2 comrades. The boat wobbled a little at the first run, after that they clearly lost us because the kept trowing the cans half a kilometer behind us, where we had dived. Being cocky does not work quite as well on convoy attacks. That is today's lesson.


I still don't know how they did it, but the gunners on that little corvette sure earned their pay. Their fire was bracketing us straight away and we took 2 hits under the waterline in quick succession before we got the boat into the cellar. Of course it was only their retaliation, I had drawn first blood. 1 torpedo for each large freighter in front of our bow, all 3 came to a stop as the rest of the convoy made a sharp turn to port. Tube 4 finished the closest cripple and we turned away at flank speed, finishing the second cripple with our sterntube. I ordered immediate reloading for the three remaining eels because the escorts were still quite far away but as I turned the boat back into the convoy, the little corvette opened fire from what must have been at least 3 kilometers. Before I knew it we were all swept from our feet on the bridge by the severe shock from the first impact, we crashdived but before the hatch was closed behind me we took a second hit. Initial damage reports revealed no mayer system malfunctions, we still have propulsion, steering and the leaking seems to be minor. After a quick inspection however the chief was increasingly worried about the effect on our pressure hull and fuel tanks. Both seem to be holding together so far, thankfully. The corvette was going after us but the other escorts, which we had only heard, not yet seen, seemed more keen to protect the rest of the convoy.


After the shells and the crashdive and the most urgent repairs we immediately went quiet and took a hard turn to port, the corvette followed us to port and as the first pattern of depthcharges splashed in the sea I ordered hard to starboard and flank ahead for 10 seconds. They exploded aft to our port, we went silent again and after that they never got close. It was scary enough from where I am standing but Hasse says he's seen worse. We submerged after an hour of making sure the corvette was back on his way to the convoy and then we surfaced, finished the third and last crippled merchant and ran the hell out of the area. Now we are going home for some well deserved rest en recreation while we get the boat ready for her second patrol.




March 29th, 1940. U-51,grid AN26 (North Sea)


-2:30 pm
We are 1500 kilometers from Kiel, no further incidents after our encounter with the convoy. Aircraft were spotted on the horizon as we cruised around Scotland but I agreed with the Duke that we should give our flak gun a try before immediately diving from them. They never got closer so that was the end of it. If the RAF are getting their stuff together just like the escorts seem to be doing, our days of charging in with a grin will soon be over. The rooster is proudly crowing on our conning tower but the war is savage and serious in the Atlantic. U-boots are not reporting in and presumed lost, convoys are getting through to England and the army are sitting quietly back home. I really wonder where this war is going, so far we are the only ones doing any fighting.


We just turned away from a Norwegian merchant. Too bad, she was a big one, but we are not at war with Norway and I don't like the Rooster becoming an indiscriminate murder party. The Duke agrees, we hunt for specific targets, not just any old schooner which happens along our path. It's almost a sport as far as he is concerned.




March 30th, 1940. U-51, grid AN35 (Skagerak)


-8:30 pm
Well we certainly found a good use for our last 2 torpedoes after all. A contact report came in on a large merchant steaming westbound from the Skagerak. I was sure she would be Scandinavian and I almost turned away when we saw a red flag but the Duke was convinced it was the red ensign. We came in close, the weather is rather miserable, but he seems to be right! We fired our last eels at her smokestack and she went up with a big bang. Almost identical to my first ever kill, but this time we blew her out of the water after a quick and accurate setup. We are certainly improving our skills.


That is it, all torpedoes expended and we are 2 days sailing from Kiel. The journal is going back in my locker and I am going to sleep for a week. Rooster signing off.




Leutnant zur See Vom Bosch,
KaptanLeutnant Type VIIb U-51