[Leandros]

U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - Nov. 161924 1944 - AN27 - Patrol 29

We left Trondheim on afternoon Nov. 12th for grid BE33 - Bristol Channel Approaches - but are now halfway across the North Sea on our way back to Trondheim.

We were taken off the escort hunter project but were able to scrounge together 4 extra homers in addition to the 1 already assigned for our 29th patrol.

We are a little p***** because of all the trouble we have had with enemies as well as local bureaucratics lately. We were blamed for returning a boat with only approx. 35% hull integrity two times in a row and not enough to show for it. We do have some ideas, though.

Anyway, almost across the North Sea on our way to BE33 we picked up radar signals from a group of warships. We were ready to pick a fight to give a little back for what we have received on the last two patrols, so we headed for them. However, they turned westwards and we were not able to catch up with them.

That was as well as east of the Orkneys we picked up another group of signals. Approaching them we could also register sonar signals from merchants - a convoy. As there were no more than four or five signal emitters we decided to give it a try - to prove our theories.

The convoy was heading south and we managed to get across its front to its starboard side. There we positioned us in front of its starboard screen and made us known. It was 5 of them and when it was all over we still had 1 homer left - and plenty of conventional ones for the merchants.

In a following fight we were pressed down by aircrafts 4 times. The second time we decided to stay surfaced as we were loading down spare torps and have very good AA equipment and crews. Unfortunately the deck gun crew was also on deck, having just started to fire on the nearest vessel in the convoy. Well, the three of them were killed by machine gun fire from the Catalina. OTH, we shot it down. After that sorry event, we dived when other aircraft showed up. In the end all but small merchants had been sunk by torpedo or gunfire. In the end there was no deck gun ammo left. It was not a large convoy but good enough.

We rounded it all up by returning to a Victory freighter. We had given it several torps earlier but it looked quite healthy in spite of being stopped. Suddenly it started off again at 5 knots. We used the last torp, a Zaunkønig, and it worked beautifully even at the ship's slow speed.

Stabsoberbootsman Vogel and matrosenhauptgefreiter Ebeling have been buried at sea. Stabsoberbootsman Wittenberg fell overboard after being hit by the Catalina and was lost.

Fred

Below:

1. Catalina on its way to the bottom of the sea
2. Other aircraft hunting us - Sunderland
3. Captain's log Patrol 29