In memoriam - my first casualties ever

[Abd_von_Mumit]

I run a very interesting and "productive" patrol around BE59. It's my 19th GWX patrol and it's even more entertaining than the other. The shocking moment of it was loosing three crew members - my first loss of a man since I became a U-Boot captain (I got sunk three times before in my first GWX 3 careers, but then all the crew were lost, including me, so that's different). They were killed by a funnel of a sunken ship that was blown apart. The funnel fell on the boat, damaging it seriously and killing all the men but the WO. And, believe me, that was an experience... only being sunk by a destroyer 5 seconds after noticing it's presence was a bigger "wow".

U-52, a VIIB type U-Boot, under OberLeun. z. S. Herbert Mann lost during her last patrol:
- Bootsmann Fritz-Walter Hoff, torpedoman, completed 2 patrols, awarded U-Boot-Kriegsabzeichen,
- Matrosengefreiter Ernst Oehring, completed 2 patrols,
- Bootsmann Helmut Wessoly, torpedoman, completed 2 patrols, awarded U-Boot-Kriegsabzeichen.
They were killed while performing their duties, manning the deck gun. Shrapnels from an exploding allied freighter and the power of huge blast pushed them into waves seconds after successful sinking of the ship. They will be awarded Iron Cross II Class as soon as the boat reaches the home base. All the crew will attend their symbolic funeral and we also gather some funds for the families.

Watch Officer responsible for this incident will face the court – he should have known that coming so close to the enemy ship can seriously endanger the boat and her crew.