4th December 1940
10:40am 4th December 1940 - We had only been patrolling BF11 for 2 days when we received a contact report of a large convoy moving NW through our grid at medium speed. Calculations showed we could easily intercept ahead of the convoy in under 2 hours at full speed (16kts) and still have plenty of time to analyze the convoy and decide on a method of attack.Looks like our intelligence information was correct this time!
The blasted convoy must of changed course soon after the report was received. We arrived in position and there was no sign of the convoy. We then move to the most likely positions north and west of the previous course and performed hydrophone sweeps. Still no sign of the convoy. Its frustrating how such a large number of ships can vanish like that! We are awaiting a report update in the next few hours and perhaps we can resume the hunt.Watch officer has just reported a visual sighting of Small Merchant heading south. If its unarmed we will sink it with the deck gun otherwise let it pass to conserve torpedo's for a convoy attack.
The gun crew began firing at 4:41pm. After 14 shells struck the waterline we witnessed a large explosion at 4:43pm. Possibly the cargo/fuel ignited and the merchant broke apart then disappeared beneath the water in less than a minute.
4th December 1940 @ 4:43pm
SS Katingo Hajipatera (Small Merchant), 2396 tons. Cargo: Iron Ore. Crew: 77. Crew lost: 2
