[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by El Whacko

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A journal entry from Erich Wegner's personal log book shortly after his last patrol
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26 August 1939
Three days’ ago, I returned from my first patrol as commanding officer of U-55, something that I am enormously proud of. Many people do not realize the immense amount of skill it takes to pilot a boat to the North Atlantic and back over a course of twenty-two days. I remember first departing on the first of this month and how anxious I felt, but when we got out into open sea that all went away. I find that being out on the ocean and hearing the waves calms me down a lot, it is a great way for me to escape anxiety and calm my mind.
First off, our orders were to gather intelligence on shipping in and around British waters. This we accomplished on 8 August when we ran into a O2 type Ore Carrier in grid AN13. We collected the intelligence we needed and conducted a firing exercise on the side, and the results from that said we needed to do better. So, when we reached our patrol grid of AL36 I drilled the crew relentlessly in torpedo firing and battle stations. Gradually we became better, as did our diving time. On August 13 we were ordered back to Kiel by FdU, and so we made our way to Kiel as quickly as possible. At a speed of 9 knots, we made it back on 23 August. I cannot describe the feeling of joy and pride I felt after stepping on to solid ground for the first time in twenty-two days.
But when I got back to homeport and I looked all around me, I saw warships being loaded with ammunition and provisions as well as busy docks where ships were being fitted out for their next deployments. I knew immediately that we were heading to something big. However, I had this suspicion when we were still on patrol because on 19 August Lehmann Radio News said on a broadcast that fourteen U-boats were patrolling different zones in the Atlantic. On 13 August trainings and simulated war patrols had ended, so I had a gut feeling that this was the real deal. Then seeing all warships in port being prepared for immediate departure I just knew that we were heading to something. I saw the cruisers Leipzig and Nuremberg being prepared for immediate departure, as well as several U-boats. Most of these, however, were small type II coastal U-boats who would barely make it to the Baltic and back.
Later that day, I was informed that the shipyard was fitting my U-Boat out with a new hydrophone: the Kristalldrehbasisgerat (KDB). This hydrophone was an improvement of the GHG (Gruppenhorchgerat) in that it was rotatable and hence able to provide more accurate readings from any direction. The disadvantage however was its extreme vulnerability to depth charges.
And then yesterday I was approved for sixteen days of leave. So today I will drive to Wilhelmshaven to see my mother and father, whom I haven’t seen since May of this year. From my parent’s letters it seems like they are both doing fine. My grandmother is going downhill quickly though. Her hearing ability is rapidly diminishing, and she seems to be very confused about some things. My parents are taking care of her as her husband died in a job accident in 1937. Personally, I fear that my parents are being overworked by taking care of her and will have a crash soon. But both of my parents are as strong as iron and will make it through.
We will see what the next two weeks will bring us.

Signed,
Leutnant z.s. Erich Wegner

Nice read ... also, nice personal touch on the report ...