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Leandros · 01-23-12, 07:48 PM

U47 - Lt.z.S. Willi Hartmann - 5th patrol - Feb. 1940 011600 - in Wilhelmshafen

Back in Wilhelmshafen again after a very quick patrol, left on the evening of Jan 28th. No transfer to larger boat type as Onkel Karl was not happy with the surface skirmishes on the previous patrol where a crew member was killed.

The assigned area this time was AM11, just South of Iceland. However, only half way across the North Sea we ran into a large convoy from Norway to England, more than 30 ships. They went without lights and escorted by naval vessels so they should be valid targets. When we returned we got very little credit for, as I see it, a rather good performance inside little more than an hour. Some of the targets were neutrals.

We approached the convoy from its forward port side. There were two destroyers, one on each side. They did not discover us before I fired a salvo at a Large Merchant and an Ore Carrier, 3 torps in all. All were duds! Before we could do anything else we had to defend ourselves against the approaching destroyers, going down to periscope depth. They were J&K's. Both were hit with G7's on magnetic fuze on minimum distance as they approached from the fore, they went down rather quick.

I then considered it safe to surface but then a third J&K popped up from the rear of the convoy. Down again, but only after we had received some damage. All the foward tubes were now empty so had to lure him on from the fore to sidestep and take him with an aft torp as he turned around behind us. Never fails!

After that it was totally Texas. We went up again and alternated between using the deck gun and torpedoes, sometimes both. In the end we were out of everything. As dawn approached we had followed two burning Ore Carriers for several hours but they refused to go down. I turned tail and proceeded back to Wilhelmshafen.

Two days later:

When analyzing the patrol, based on B-dienst intelligence, one or more of the 3 first torps must have had some effect. No hits were observed or heard but a fire was observed on the first Large Merchant.

Patrol 5 - page 1:

Patrol 5 - page 2:

01-23-12, 07:48 PM	#4009
Leandros Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Stockholm Posts: 676 Downloads: 17 Uploads: 0	U47 - Lt.z.S. Willi Hartmann - 5th patrol - Feb. 1940 011600 - in Wilhelmshafen Back in Wilhelmshafen again after a very quick patrol, left on the evening of Jan 28th. No transfer to larger boat type as Onkel Karl was not happy with the surface skirmishes on the previous patrol where a crew member was killed. The assigned area this time was AM11, just South of Iceland. However, only half way across the North Sea we ran into a large convoy from Norway to England, more than 30 ships. They went without lights and escorted by naval vessels so they should be valid targets. When we returned we got very little credit for, as I see it, a rather good performance inside little more than an hour. Some of the targets were neutrals. We approached the convoy from its forward port side. There were two destroyers, one on each side. They did not discover us before I fired a salvo at a Large Merchant and an Ore Carrier, 3 torps in all. All were duds! Before we could do anything else we had to defend ourselves against the approaching destroyers, going down to periscope depth. They were J&K's. Both were hit with G7's on magnetic fuze on minimum distance as they approached from the fore, they went down rather quick. I then considered it safe to surface but then a third J&K popped up from the rear of the convoy. Down again, but only after we had received some damage. All the foward tubes were now empty so had to lure him on from the fore to sidestep and take him with an aft torp as he turned around behind us. Never fails! After that it was totally Texas. We went up again and alternated between using the deck gun and torpedoes, sometimes both. In the end we were out of everything. As dawn approached we had followed two burning Ore Carriers for several hours but they refused to go down. I turned tail and proceeded back to Wilhelmshafen. Two days later: When analyzing the patrol, based on B-dienst intelligence, one or more of the 3 first torps must have had some effect. No hits were observed or heard but a fire was observed on the first Large Merchant. Patrol 5 - page 1: Patrol 5 - page 2: __________________ www.fredleander.com - look in to see my new book on Operation Sea Lion "Saving MacArthur" - a book series on how The Philippines were saved Last edited by Leandros; 01-24-12 at 05:41 AM.