[Kaptlt.Endrass]

U-50 just ran across her first convoy of the war.

Departing Kiel on 24 February 1940, U-50 laid in a roundabout course to Grid AM35. Her path would take her past the coast of the Low Countries, continuing west until two hours after passing Dunkirk, where she would then turn north and make her way up the English coast, where some very notable success had been found by the crew prior.

The patrol was quiet, for the most part. Upon getting into range of the harbor patrols around Dunkirk, U-50 submerged and ran on batteries until 2300, whereupon she surfaced and continued on her course.

Taking a chance, I modified the course to take us well into the Thames Estuary, hoping to catch a merchant or two coming out of London. Rather than that, a sizable convoy of 12 merchants was picked up just outside the estuary, escorted by two destroyers. U-50 approached the convoy at standard speed, getting into position for a surface attack while selecting targets.

After finding the marks on two ore carriers and a Granville, a full salvo was launched from the forward tubes; one torpedo for the freighter, two for the foremost ore carrier, and one for the other. All but one hit and detonated, immediately alerting the convoy.

By this time, U-50 was already submerged and reloading her tubes, counting on the escorts searching where the torpedoes had come from rather than where the U-boat was now (admittedly, the two locations weren't that different). Finding success in this matter, the U-boat maneuvered into a new position. Upon raising the scope, I noted the Granville was all but sunk, her stern resting on the shallow bottom and her crew abandoning ship. The first ore carrier, which I had fired a single fish at, was threatening to capsize, a list of 30+ degrees having been acquired. The final ore carrier, however, looked to have shrugged off the blow, only one small fire burning.

Lining up the next shot on this relatively undamaged ship, tubes 1 and 2 were both loosed, scoring another hit that caused the ore carrier's back to snap, sending her to the seabed. The second shot found its target in the form of a passenger/cargo, which promptly erupted and sank.

Shortly after, the Granville's hull gave in, and she too met her end. The final ore carrier was lagging behind,her speed reduced to a simple 3-4 knots. Confident that, even if she didn't sink, I could finish her off once the main body of the convoy was over the horizon, I lined up the next shot on a medium cargo (C2) that had wandered a little close.

Looking back now, it wasn't the best target to choose from, but the torpedo found its mark. The C2, being as well built as they all are, just kept chugging along, continuing its voyage while her crew worked the spotlights over the seas around her.

Our final internal reserve torpedo was loaded into tube three, and a calculated shot was lined up on a large merchant at the rear of the convoy. This shot disabled her engines, bringing the ship to a halt.

At this time, a V&W-class destroyer came over, searching around for the perpetrator that had come so close to the English coast. A few charges were dropped to the port side, making a lot of noise but not causing any shaking in the U-boat, much less any damage.

As the destroyer slowed to search for any signs of life, she presented the stern tube with a broadside target, less than a thousand meters away. Not wishing to pass up the chance, a wild shot was fired from tube 5, the speed and AoB being quickly input by myself rather than measuring it. U-50's luck held, and the torpedo hit the V&W in the stern. The ship stayed upright for a few more minutes, then foundered and finally detonated as she went under.

As this had happened, the large merchant had sunk, and the other destroyer (an A&B) had come over to investigate and perhaps pick up survivors of the now submerged V&W. Her tubes all empty, U-50 went silent and snuck away, hiding near the still-floating (if immobile) ore carrier. As dawn broke, the destroyer departed, as did a MBT that had come by at some point.

An hour later, U-50 surfaced, putting a few rounds into the ore carrier, which finally went down. A report was made to the BdU on the convoy, and U-50 plotted a course for home.

Along the way, another passenger/cargo, alone this time, was intercepted only a few hundred kilometers from the convoy's intercept, and was put down with the deck gun.

Upon returning to port, the crew of the U-50 was applauded and congratulated. Herbert Schultze of U-48, with whom our tonnage scores had been in close competition, grudgingly accepted the victory, which placed us at nearly 150.000 GRT sunk throughout the course of the war so far.

Despite her age, it seems U-50 will continue being an effective warrior for the foreseeable future.