Korvettenkapitän Manfred Buchmann
Patrol # 25

Duration:	18.06.1943 - 02.07.1943, 15 days on sea
Patrol Area:	EC 92
Ship:	U 841, Crossed Swords
Type:	IX C/40
Flotilla:	9. Flotille, Brest

19 Jun, 06:50, BF5454
Air alarm. I prepare myself for the endless actions of crash dives and surfaces.

20 Jun, 06:44, BE6676
Air alarm.

11:39
I get a desperate message sent in the clear by U-388. She was bombed by aircraft in AJ2891 and is sinking. The poor devils.

17:20, BE6733
Air alarm.

24 Jun, 07:02, CE1656
Air alarm.

11:00
U-119 fails to respond to calls from BdU. At 13:25, U-200 also fails to respond. Good Lord, two at once.

25 Jun, 09:24, CD6285
Air alarm. After leveling off at 155 meters, propeller noises are heard faintly in the distance bearing at 305 degrees (true). We steer in that direction while the plane passes harmlessly over us, and after an hour we surface. At 10:16 we see smoke from the convoy. We get into position ahead of the convoy, radio the coordinates, and then submerge. As the convoy passes over us, we come to periscope depth and let the torpedoes out of their tubes. We sink 4 merchants for 21.307 BRT! We submerge and escape under the cover of the merchant's screws. By this time it is late afternoon. We stop to reload the tubes on the surface and then chase after the convoy. As we near the convoy, a sloop races up behind us, having just the edge in speed. We are forced to dive, and I send two acoustic torpedoes from the stern tubes out at the sloop. They slam into the sloop, and it sinks shortly by the bow. Surface, ! back after the convoy!

26 Jun, 14:00, CE2757
After almost a full day of catching up to the convoy (it's traveling at around 10 knots), I am able to get around to the front again. In a similar maneuver to before, I up the periscope in the middle of the convoy, and I am able to sink another 55.704 BRT of shipping by staying at that depth until the second salvo from the tubes have been reloaded. It's a risky maneuver, but I decided to do it, and it worked out. I submerge and turn away from the convoy. The punishment begins.

Destroyers shake the boat and damage the bow compartment pumps and the hatch. I come up to a safe depth so the hatch can be safely repaired, and while I am at this depth, the escorts leave, presumably to catch up with their convoy. I let the crew finish repairing the hatch before I order a sound check, and then I take a quick look with the periscope, and the boat surfaces. Time to head home.

30 Jun, 08:32, BE6864
Air alarm. Again at 14:25.

1 Jul, 06:17, BF4677
Air alarm. It is awfully close this time, a Sunderland. We take our chances and stay on the surface. Our AA gunner is amazing, he is able to put a burst into the fuselage, and the plane veers off while dropping depth bombs. They all miss, and the Sunderland crashes into the ocean.

2 Jul, 04:02, Brest
We return to base.

Patrol results: 11 ships for 77.011 BRT (one sloop)

Career results: 194 ships for 1.259.577 BRT

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

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