August 29, 1939 1800 left Wilhelmshaven, assigned patrol area: Grid BF17
September 3, 1939: the war has begun, crossing the Channel back to home is going to be tricky.
September 4, 1939 1600 Reached Grid BF17
High winds and huge waves, visibility nonexisthent.
Septembre 5, 1939: patrol complete, storm still raging, U53 head east toward the Channel.
September 8, 1939 grid BF19: sinked British large merchant, 2 attacks, 2 torpedoes each time, 1 dud each time. Let's hope these were all the duds we had.
September 8, 1939 1700: wind drops dead and the sea stills.
September 10, 1939: weather keeps sunny and with no winds.
0409 Grid BF22: sinked British Tramp steamer (deck gun)
0755 Grid BF22: sinked British Coastal Tanker ( deck gun)
2039 Grid BF26: sinked British Tramp steamer (1 torpedo + deck gun)
2155 Grid BF23: sinked British Small coal tanker with deck gun.
September 11, 1939: weather conditions stable, I'll try and use deck gun whenever possible to save torpedoes.
0538 Grid BF26: sinked British Ore Carrier (2 torpedoes)
1043 Grid BF26: sinked French Medium Cargo (1 torpedo + deck gun).
1050 Grid BF26: sinked British Schooner (deck gun + flak gun)
1247 Grid BF26: sinked British Coastal Freighter (1 torpedo + deck gun).
2208 Grid BF35: sinked French Small Freighter (1 torpedo + deck gun).
September 12, 1939: sunny, visibility moderate, light breeze, almost no waves.
0050 Grid BF33: sinked British Granville Freighter (1 torpedo)
1517 Grid BF32: sinked British Large Merchant (2 torpedo)
1523 Grid BF32: sinked British Tramp steamer (1 torpedo + deck gun + Flak gun)
Two targets very close one another, tricky to find a good solution but luckily enough it worked out just fine.
Heading back to Wilhelmshaven.
September 13, 1939
2324 Grid AN84 sinked British Large Merchant (deck gun + Flak gun)
It sunk on the very last flak gun ammo, no more offensive capabilities.
September 15, 1939 2354
U53 dock at Wilhelmshaven.
14 ships sunk, 61335 GRT
Luck was with U53 since the weather cleared up and no attack come our way.
Having trouble sinking small vessel with just one eel, must seek advice from other commanders.
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