Merchant hunting off Canadian coast in '39, '40 & '41

Deathfrombelow23 · 01-21-08, 11:59 PM

Greetings my fellow Kaleuns! Have any of you been merchant hunting off the Canadian coast in 1939, 40 or 41? If so, what are the pickings like before early 1942 and Operation Paukenschlag? I'm mainly curious about 1939 and 40. Canada declared war on Germany on September 10, 1939, which would mean that if you command a Type IXB or IXC early in the war, you might be able to make it to Canadian waters. Has anyone done this?

Here is an excerpt that I found on Wikipedia about U-boat attacks in Canadian waters and all of them are in 1942 or later.
Axis U-boats operated in Canadian and Newfoundland (still fully British at this time) waters throughout the war, sinking many naval and merchant vessels. Two significant attacks took place in 1942 when German U-boats attacked four allied ore carriers at Bell Island, Newfoundland. The carriers S.S. Saganaga and the S.S. Lord Strathcona were sunk by U-513 on September 5, 1942, while the S.S. Rosecastle and P.L.M 27 were sunk by U-518 on November 2 with the loss of 69 lives. When the submarine fired a torpedo at the loading pier, Bell Island became the only location in North America to be subject to direct attack by German forces in World War II. U-Boats were also found in the St. Lawrence River; during the night of October 14, 1942 the Newfoundland Railway ferry, SS Caribou was torpedoed by German U-boat U-69 and sunk in the Cabot Strait with the loss of 137 lives.

01-21-08, 11:59 PM	#1
Deathfrombelow23 Electrician's Mate Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 134 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	Merchant hunting off Canadian coast in '39, '40 & '41 Greetings my fellow Kaleuns! Have any of you been merchant hunting off the Canadian coast in 1939, 40 or 41? If so, what are the pickings like before early 1942 and Operation Paukenschlag? I'm mainly curious about 1939 and 40. Canada declared war on Germany on September 10, 1939, which would mean that if you command a Type IXB or IXC early in the war, you might be able to make it to Canadian waters. Has anyone done this? Here is an excerpt that I found on Wikipedia about U-boat attacks in Canadian waters and all of them are in 1942 or later. Axis U-boats operated in Canadian and Newfoundland (still fully British at this time) waters throughout the war, sinking many naval and merchant vessels. Two significant attacks took place in 1942 when German U-boats attacked four allied ore carriers at Bell Island, Newfoundland. The carriers S.S. Saganaga and the S.S. Lord Strathcona were sunk by U-513 on September 5, 1942, while the S.S. Rosecastle and P.L.M 27 were sunk by U-518 on November 2 with the loss of 69 lives. When the submarine fired a torpedo at the loading pier, Bell Island became the only location in North America to be subject to direct attack by German forces in World War II. U-Boats were also found in the St. Lawrence River; during the night of October 14, 1942 the Newfoundland Railway ferry, SS Caribou was torpedoed by German U-boat U-69 and sunk in the Cabot Strait with the loss of 137 lives.