10/22/1939 Caribbean Sea 10°48’N, 76°19’W, 120nm NW of Punta de Manzanillo 72nd day at sea
Since the last report Kapitan.z.S Hartmann decided to raid Bermuda, by the time Ship 77 made it to Bermuda the pocket battleship Deutschland had already cleared the area. But said vessel caused the intelligence reports by the B-Dienst to be outdated, which stated that there were at least 8 English vessels in the harbor. On October 3rd Ship 77 arrived off the coast of Bermuda, her aft 15cm camouflage being removed, proceeded into the harbor disguised as a British freighter, under the cover of darkness she arrived off Hamilton only to find all the anchorages empty. Immediately Kapitan.z.S Hartmann steered Ship 77 out of the harbor encountering neutral warships who didn’t challenge the raider, however she was 22km from Whale Bone Bay when a large tanker and small British freighter was sighted, taking a great risk Hartmann turned hard to starboard, decamouflaged, and opened fire with 6 15 cm/48 Tbts KC/36 guns the aft guns engaged the smaller freighter while the fore guns engaged the larger tanker, after 11 salvos both vessels were on fire and sinking fast, the tanker began to transmit but the main radio room managed to jam the signals. Hartmann ordered the V-boat launched at once and soon 171 survivors were picked up, The torpedo officer Oblt.z.S(T)Becker launched 2 torpedoes which missed both their targets in spite of the close range.
British freighter CAMBRIDGE 2,009 grt (JFHS) and DALE 17,423 grt (HKSF) as it later turned out both vessels were operating directly for the Royal Navy and were crewed by Royal Navy crews, both departed Liverpool and arrived at Halifax before making for Bermuda then to Aruba, where from there they were to proceed independently to Colombo, Ceylon. Ship 77 steered towards the Caribbean, by the 14th she was off the coast of Puerto Rico and the following day transited the Mona Passage and at 10:53 hrs. 26km off Haiti was in the Caribbean, now making for Aruba. After cruising for 3 days nothing was sighted so Ship 77 changed course and cruised off the coasts of Colombia and Panama with the goal of making it to the shipping lanes off the Panama Canal. On the night of the 22nd a shadow was seen and she was identified as a British freighter, again the ship hoisted the battle flag, decamouflaged, and switched on her searchlight (Searchlight Nr.II) the 12.7cm fires a shot across her bow however the English began to transmit “RRR...........” before the main radio room jammed the transmissions. 3 15cm (Cannon VII, IX, and X) opened fire 6 salvos send the vessel to the bottom. 2 lifeboats were recovered. 3rd mate most senior survivor was questioned, the freighter was the HAMMOND 2,009 grt (TYFB) from the Royal Line Ltd., London from Perth to London via the Panama Canal loaded with tires, wood, steel plate, and general cargo.
Hartmann is now considering where to take the raider.............
