Korvettenkapitän Manfred Buchmann
Patrol # 17

Duration:	29.04.1942 - 04.05.1942, 6 days on sea
Patrol Area:	AL 19
Ship:	U 519, Crossed Swords
Type:	IX C
Flotilla:	9. Flotille, Brest

29 April 1942, 20:45, Brest
We leave port. After 16 patrols I feel about 20 years older. Some new faces on this one; new recruits who have no need to shave yet. They must be 18 or 19. Quite astounding. They know their posts well enough, but they have yet to get used to the cruel manner of the sea. They don't talk very much, maybe after a while they will loosen up.

U 519 on it's way to the hunting grounds

1 May, 10:50, AM7993
The sun glances off the wing of a Sunderland aircraft. Crash dive. One depth charge is heard off in the distance. The new men (boys?) put up a good front, but I don't think I've seen many people sweat as much as they did. We surface after an hour.

21:40, AM7582
Now is the time to put the men to the test! En route to our own patrol area, a convoy is spotted at 320 degrees (relative), course of 190 degrees. A message is send to HQ. It's a fast one, they must be doing 10 or 11 knots. Five or six escorts are seen, and the dusk does not permit a surface action, so I bring the boat down to periscope depth and work my way in. At 1400 meters I fire all four bow tubes at three targets. An escort has seemed to pick us up on ASDIC, but I hesitate to go deep yet. A minute after the shots are fired, three explosions. I up the scope to find one torpedo has sunk a 6.000 BRT ship, and two torpedoes have slammed into a 7.000 BRT ship. Time to go! I bring the boat to 200 meters. The dance between U-boat and Escorts begin.

2 May, 00:01
The escorts have left. After a quick check at periscope depth, I surface the boat and demand flank speed. We're going to attack again. Another message to HQ is sent. The weather has deteriorated, and visibility is limited.
After two and-a-half hours of flank speed, an escort is seen coming to hunt us. It's a chase! The escort has the edge in speed, although I must say we did a darn good job keeping him at bay while it lasted. At 2600 meters he shoots, and we immediately go to periscope depth. Dead slow ahead. The sloop slows down, searching for us. We have come so close to finding the convoy again, I don't want to be driven into the depths yet again. I stay shallow, and I turn to the starboard ten degrees. I up the scope, and at 800 meters the two stern fish are fired. They both hit and sink the escort, hurrah! I was very close to having to go deep, but what a relief to cancel that order. We surface, and rush after the convoy.

03:41, AM7295
The convoy is sighted again, heading 60 degrees, same speed. Another message is sent. Visibility is still limited, so I am able to weave my way through the escort screen on the surface until I am in the columns. It's getting lighter, so I will not have much time to do my work, and I must hurry. We race in, blasting at 18 knots. A four-stacker destroyer spots us and comes at flank speed toward us. The water is churning. Three tankers and a troop ship are lined up. All tubes are fired. The escort, nearly on top of us, shoots. A shell slams into the boat aft. Quickly, we submerge. We find there is no damage to the pressure hull, so we'll worry about the top of the deck later.
This convoy is very large, and most of the convoy has to pass over us, so the escorts are foiled. They have to avoid the ships, so they veer off. In the meantime, we reload. As the convoy nears the end of the columns, scope is put up, and one last shot at a tanker puts another 2.429 BRT on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Time to submerge again.
How very odd! The destroyers move off without a fight. They rush to the convoy to protect it. Maybe they believe a wolfpack is around!

06:00, AM7266
We surface and race yet again after the convoy. Will we be stretching our luck? We've sunk so much, yet I don't feel we're through. Although it is getting lighter, fog and haze has set in, making visibility just as poor as when it was night. As I'm thinking about this, I turn to the new men to see how they are. They look absolutely exhausted, but resolute. I slap them on the back and tell them they are doing a good job. They smile, stand a little taller, and get a little more excitement back in their eyes.
Just before 07:00, three escorts are seen trailing behind. One is coming up rather quickly - the old four-stacker that put the shell into our rear. Seems he just doesn't want to give up. He holds his fire until he's very close, maybe he is attempting to ram us? At any rate, we don't hold our fire. Two stern shots, and we cross our fingers. Two massive explosions heave the destroyer out of the water, and the shock wave hits all of us on the bridge. Hurrah! We cannot believe our luck. After the convoy now!

08:00, AM7233
Again, we meet up with the convoy. Another message to HQ: course 350 degrees, speed 11. The fog lifts a little to reveal an aircraft circling our position! All anti-aircraft posts are manned, and we are ready for surface action. A destroyer which we have previously outwitted now sees us in the lifting haze. Turns abruptly and blasts in at more than 30 knots. We choose our targets quickly, let loose four bow torpedoes. A short while later, four detonations on four ships for 2.000, 3.000, 4.000, and 6.000 BRT! The destroyer now shoots and hits us squarely aft. Time to go again. We dive quickly. The pressure hull has now been damaged, and the crew works furiously to repair. We skulk away from the convoy. We have done our patrol's work. Five hours of hunting before we are able to surface at 14:15. We head home.

4 May, 16:27, BF5542
Aircraft is sighted. Submerge quickly. No depth charges, no damage.

18:01, BF5561
Incredibly, an hour and a half after the aircraft sighting, we come across a lone merchant. We approach submerged, and fire a shot to send another 6.000 BRT to the bottom.

20:43, Brest harbour
We are escorted into the harbour.

PATROL RESULTS

DECORATIONS

U-boat badge	1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class	1939 Iron Cross 1st Class	Knights Cross	Knights Cross with Oak Leaves	Knights Cross with Oak Leves and Swords	Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds

Back to top of page