Diary of Manfred Bollmann, 20th March 1941, 19:10, U-104 “Lucky Halibut”, Bay of Biscay.
Four days ago we have left the lovely harbour of Las Palmas. There, we discovered three ruptures in the right fuel tank, which leaked fuel through the outer casing into the sea. That left a bit of a trail when travelling or surface and even worse, rather big pools of floating diesel at places of our dives and resurfaces. Our chief engineer, Peter Zeisller, wasn’t sure if we’d be able to repair the tank without dismantling it or how reliable would such a temporary repair would be. On top of that, the boat would have to be dry-docked once we return to Lorient either way. The captain decided that the best way to deal with it would be to just empty the fuel tank and head straight home. He seemed certain BdU would agree with him.
Because the fuel tanks are meant to receive diesel and not to deliver it, the operation was a bit awkward and took a few days. Most of the crew wasn’t needed on the boat for the time, so we used the first day of our visit to get rid of the rest of our spoiled food and restocked fresh rations for the trip home. For the rest of that time we took a shower and borrowed some proper clothes for a visit of Las Palmas. Those few days were so refreshing, it seems like there are 20 degrees all year at the Canary Islands.
Once the damaged fuel tank was empty, we set off back home. Shaved, clean, our matresses turned to the clean side and our boat “spacious” (since we dropped all the canned food and loaded fresh food for only a week), we were quite a happy bunch. We had a calm sea all the way home, which made our light list to the right stand out (and a bit weird). But the captain ordered to maintain the boat as light as possible, so we could race back to Lorient as fast as this beast can, so no trimming the weight distribution by addition saltwater… The British duo prepared some of their culinary magic, which helped since our cook isn’t very good.
Everyone was happy with our situation now except the captain. He loathes the fact that we’re returning home not at all like heroes from the battlefield, but as a group of tourist, clean and well fed, with only a few ships hunted down. On top of that, BdU won’t be very happy with his log once we arrive, our captain yet again disobeyed a direct order – this time he tried the magnetic pistols for the torpedoes. Things like that are the reason why he doesn’t have the Knight’s Cross yet. And he’s well beyond the hundred thousand tons, which is generally accepted as the proper amount for the decoration.
We have a few more hours to go. The crew already started to make their plans, since the repair of the Lucky Halibut will take a few more days than usual. Only thing I am afraid of now that we’ll never see our British friends again. Maybe it’s better to not know what will happen to them…
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