Resupply ships historical question

[GoldenRivet]

Assume you are a u-boat commander on patrol near Casablanca / Gibralter

Scenario:

Late one evening you encounter a lone merchant west of Gibralter. Moving in for the kill you opt for a night surfaced attack on the unarmed tramp steamer.

Lining the ship up in the UZO, it quickly becomes apparent that something is amiss.

Searchlights flood in your directions. The sides of false boxes and containers fall away revealing .50 cal, 20mm and 5" guns... It's a Q-ship

The smaller caliber weapons open fire on your boat and one of your senior officers catches a ricochet in the neck.

The boat submerges with no damage, but the man's wound is grievous. The most medically qualified member of your crew stops the bleeding and advises you that the man will die without treatment.

You set course for the Corrientes resupply ship in Las Palmas as you can make it there at full speed within 15 hours

The question:

Historically speaking, Would corrientes (or any resupply ship) have had a doctor and any sort of clinic/ sick bay aboard of a suitable nature to stabilize the man for transport back to the uboat base in France?

[Gustav Schiebert]

Hi GoldenRivet.

As far as I know, resupply ships did not have surgeons, certainly not navy medical officers. As interned merchant ships there would be a few undeclared Navy personnel and skeleton crew which might include a (possibly civilian/merchant) ship's doctor. Better than nothing but perhaps not the man to treat a neck wound such as that.

When this sort of thing happened in the Atlantic, usually the best medical treatment would come from a 'milk-cow' boat which usually carried qualified military surgeons for exactly this situation. Peter Cremer, commanding U-333, was saved when despite several serious injuries he was transferred to U-459 and brought safely back to base.

Later in the war, aircraft began surprising watch crews on the bridge more effectively and bullet/shrapnel wounds became more common, and U-boats began sailing with navy doctors on board, although manpower was often short and this was the exception.

In answer to the question I wouldn't have thought that supply ships would be equipped for this emergency. But in the circumstances (I don't think Gibraltar had many milk-cow boats at hand, all in the mid-Atlantic?) that's probably the best option. I would imagine in wartime the attache or embassy staff might be able to arrange local treatment? That's just a guess though.

[Jimbuna]

As far as I'm aware the Corrientes was on station for resupply and basic repairs only.

[HW3]

I would think that most merchant ships, which resupply ships were, would carry a medical doctor to treat the crew of the ship. After all, merchant ships were usually at sea for months at a time.

[GoldenRivet]

i appreciate the responses... i think a more appropriate question would be:

if a crewman was seriously injured, or became seriously ill during a patrol and the prognosis was that he would die within a few days if not hours without medical treatment or surgery, what would be the options?

what about being on a long drumb beat patrol and one of the men comes down with appendicitis?

[Gustav Schiebert]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

i appreciate the responses... i think a more appropriate question would be:

if a crewman was seriously injured, or became seriously ill during a patrol and the prognosis was that he would die within a few days if not hours without medical treatment or surgery, what would be the options?

what about being on a long drumb beat patrol and one of the men comes down with appendicitis?

This is a good question, got me thinking. I've been doing a bit of digging, and as far as I can tell, ultimately the operational status of the boat wouldn't be comprimised for the sake of one man. If he was dying, and there was no immediate opportunity to relieve him, then he'd die on the boat. I searched on u-boat.net and found -

U-488, 15 Oct 1943
A man died of illness on 15 Oct. [Maschinenmaat Karl Bergmann]

I know one incident doesn't prove the rule but in the various memoirs/autobiographies I've read there's reference to illness on the boat. Mostly VD, but the procedure seems to have been getting casualties off onto milk-cows where possible. Where it wasn't - burial at sea.

I think the place to start would be any memoirs of milk-cow crews, but given that all 10 boats were lost I doubt weather any exist. This is the problem with the history of the Atlantic War (especially amateur historians like me) is that this stuff is passing out of living memory now. Things like torpedo-firing procedure (not just how the TDC worked) are pretty much gone as there are barely any operational commanders left alive now.

[Karl Heinrich]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

what about being on a long drumb beat patrol and one of the men comes down with appendicitis?

Not exactly answering your question, but on Royal Navy boats this seems to have been a common complaint. Not actual appendicitis, but that many of the crew suspected they had appendicitis. They were given laxative pills and told to rest. Sorted out the problem almost all of the time.

In terms of doctors on merchant ships, it would depend on the size of the crew I would imagine. On many I would believe a "doctor" would be someone with rudimentary training, a stash of dressings and a smattering of medicines. And that would be a secondary role I would think. Speculation, but not entirely baseless.

Doctors in the sense of trained physicians are not likely to be scattered amongst ships liberally, they would be better placed in a port (for their own careers too...)

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Gustav Schiebert

I think the place to start would be any memoirs of milk-cow crews, but given that all 10 boats were lost I doubt weather any exist.

Indeed....and here is some photographic evidence: