27th February 1941
3:40am 27th February 1941 - Contact report of another large convoy! I cant believe the luck were having on this patrol! The convoy is situated roughly 90km East of our position (grid DG69) heading NE at a slow speed. Again calculation showed we can achieve interception in around 6 hours and still be ahead of the convoy by a good 30-40km.The sea has become a little rougher with winds reaching 7mps, but the sky is clear and visibility is fairly good.
The only downside is the timing, it will be broad daylight by the time we reach the convoy, I'll have to remember to keep the scopes low in the water.We are currently heading along the intercept course at flank speed, with the sea as choppy as it is now we can manage only 15 knots on average, but its enough for what we need.
The only downside is the timing, it will be broad daylight by the time we reach the convoy, I'll have to remember to keep the scopes low in the water.We are currently heading along the intercept course at flank speed, with the sea as choppy as it is now we can manage only 15 knots on average, but its enough for what we need.
9:28am 27th February 1941 - Interception and approach went as planned, we slipped in the centre rows without any problems. Once we reached a good firing position, I fired 2 G7e's at an Ore Carrier to our Starboard side, and 2 G7a's at a Passenger/Merchant vessel to our port side.On our way down to 128 metres depth, the sound man picked up 3 torpedo impact explosions, I can assume one was either a dud, or missed.
At 11:08pm, our sound man picked up the distinct sounds of squealing and popping bulkheads, the distinctive death song of a dying ship. It was followed at 11:11am by a second song of another sinking ship.
At 11:08pm, our sound man picked up the distinct sounds of squealing and popping bulkheads, the distinctive death song of a dying ship. It was followed at 11:11am by a second song of another sinking ship.
Our sound man is certain the first sinking sounds are from the direction of the Ore Carrier, but the second sounds are from a ship that wasn't where the Passenger/Cargo vessel should be.... We hit and sunk something, but it wasn't the target I intended it to be!
27th February 1941 @ 11:08am
SS Sprucebay (Coastal Freighter), 1875 tons. Cargo: Steel. Crew: 30. Crew lost: 24
SS Sprucebay (Coastal Freighter), 1875 tons. Cargo: Steel. Crew: 30. Crew lost: 24
27th February 1941 @ 11:11am
SS Port Brisbane (Ore Carrier), 8086 tons. Cargo: Coal. Crew: 96. Crew lost: 61
SS Port Brisbane (Ore Carrier), 8086 tons. Cargo: Coal. Crew: 96. Crew lost: 61
We managed to evade the escorts trying to hunt us down, we stayed deep and slow at 1 knot. The escort that was hunting us didn't have ASDIC and most of the depth charges dropped were a long way from us. The escorts gave up the hunt after a couple of hours and allowed us to slip quietly away. We are now continuing on our way to our assigned patrol zone, which still lies a little over 2000km away, and we only have 3 torpedo's left.
