Gunther Prien
15 October 1939
We have effectively destroyed the HMS Royal Oak! Our efforts of penetrating into the enemy’s heart and Scapa Flow have been successful. The intelligence received has informed us that the British had inadequately defended the anchorage of their home fleet and therefore this was signal for us to strike. I had openly volunteered for this task, and even mastered to the best of my abilities the charts that I did not even have to refer to the charts when the mission was underway. Ha! The spirit of the U-47 cannot be broken. However, it was not as easy as a task as it seemed. Our expectation of Stauwasser, or calm seas, was made problematic by the necessity to remain submerged for extended durations and thus we eventually needed to attack with the current. Upon entering the Scapa Flow we had observed 3 guard ships, and had encountered a situation of our rudder being caught by the current whilst attempting to manoeuvre between the 45 degree angle at which the anchors of the guard ships were and the shore. This was resolved by my order to blow out the flooded diving tanks and to surface. After subsequent directional changes, we had found our target and launched an all- out attack upon it. However, even though we managed to get them, we had to fire more than three torpedoes to finally destroy the target. I wonder what these firing errors seem to signify. Perhaps there are issues with the system itself. But now is the time to celebrate, and then return to duty. It shows truly that Germany has been able to find a response to the misery our scuttling fleet after the First World War. Let them never underestimate the Kriegsmarine.
No comments:
Post a Comment