Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz,
January 1941
I am impressed by the work of our commanders. The U-boat arm is truly proving itself to be a first class service arm and it has so far and continues to sink considerable amounts of enemy tonnage. There are, however, I suspect, problems with our own torpedo systems. The current Mark G7a and Mark G7e models are really producing problems in terms of inadequate depth keeping, defective pistols and faulty detonators. Of course, we cannot merely place all the emphasis on just these factors to explain the problem. The Allies too have strategic manoeuvring that has produced good avoidance from our attacks. There are too the problems of having the anti-sonar Oppanol coating that has serious adhesive problems on the hulls of the U-boats, which have been causing them to not work as effectively as usual in disguising their acoustic signatures. We have to, and it is absolutely imperative, find better technology to suit the U-boats. This will make us even more decisive in winning this war. I am glad to see the Wolf Pack tactics are honestly causing real damage to the other side however, and we must be strong and last through the arduous months which are to follow with skirmishes bound to occur much like the eternal and unchanging expanse of the sea.
