10/9/1939 EH 2427 Central Atlantic 101st day at sea
Ship 35 has been proceeding slowly along the shipping routes in search of more targets. Hartmann plans to remain in the Central Atlantic until November 1st. The tanker Ermland is expected to depart Kiel on October 11th and we will meet her at Point Andalusia in December. On October 7th , several changes have been made to Ship 35 Hartmann decided to change the disguise to a Greek freighter for this the following changes were made,
-4 Single post derricks taken down (2 between the funnel and bridge and 2 deck house aft)
-Peeling paint was not touched up as Greek freighters are not maintained well. the white line will remain, and since Greece is neutral, 6 Greek flags were painted on the hull, 3 on each side.
-The word “Greece” was painted 4 times on the hull 2 on each side
Ship 35 is now the Greek freighter ZEUS 8,800 grt (AMMZ). If we are Questioned when going from S to N we will be loaded with Misc. cargo from Karachi to Piraeus when going from N to S we will be in ballast from Piraeus to Durban. Today at 23:38 the port lookout on the Bridge OStrm Witterhold spotted a smoke column bearing 039T range 11.400m this was confirmed by the lookouts on the crosstrees who should have sighted it earlier nevertheless battle stations were called and soon Ship 35 closed the range at 23:56 the ship decamouflaged and opened fire on the ships which turned out to be a two stack liner, tanker, and small cargo ship. 181 HE 5.9 inch shells sent all three ships to the bottom. Hartmann ordered the motor launch and 4 lifeboats to rescue the survivors. A total of 204 were picked up from the 3 ships only the master of the tanker survived. All prisoners were searched and then sent to the prisoner hold and Hold No.6 the wounded were treated in the ship’s hospital. We now have a total of 536. Ship 35 is now seriously overcrowded so the next ship that is sighted will have to be taken intact. Proceeding NNW speed 12 knots.
All ships departed in convoy from Southampton, England to Singapore All ships were British,
-CRUSADER 17,957 grt loaded with stores for the army and misc. cargo. Ship belonged to the Ellerman Line
-ULISES 10,028 grt loaded with 11,900 tons of gasoline. Tanker belonged to the British Tanker Co.
-WACOSTA 2,192 grt loaded with aircraft engines and propellers. Freighter belonged to the Smith Shipping Co.
So far Ship 35 has sunk 7 ships for 51,847 grt
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