Oberleutnant Manfred Buchmann
Patrol # 5

Duration:	17.04.1940 - 24.05.1940, 37 days on sea
Patrol Area:	BE12
Ship:	U-87, Crossed Swords
Type:	VII B
Flotilla:	9. Flotille, Brest

17. Apr. 40, 20.04
We leave port and proceed to our assigned grid at BE12. It is exciting to be in a type VIIB with so many torpedoes and more tubes. We all feel a bit prouder and anxious to bare our new-found teeth.

U-87 on it's way to the assigned patrol area

19 Apr., 18.20, AM3287
A ship has been spotted at 58 degrees (relative). The sky is becoming dark very fast, so we prepare for surface battle stations. After closing to less than 1.000 meters, we discover the ship is a 12.000 ton British tanker. At exactly 1900 two fish are fired at 700 meters. Both hit, and the ship begins to sink! A fire spreads rapidly, and the heat is intense. We don't get too close. A message is transmitted revealing her name as the "S.S. Patricia", but it ends abruptly with no co-ordinates sent. There is no way of even trying to rescue survivors, so we watch the ship disappear and resume patrol. We are rather close to Britain, so we don't waste any time leaving the area.

23 Apr., 10.16, BE12
We reach our assigned patrol quadrant.

24 Apr., 16.03, BE1218

A British merchant is spotted plodding along, heading relatively straight for us. We submerge and approach, waiting until we are 740 meters away. Two torpedoes are fired; the time is 1659. One dud, one hit! It sinks within 12 minutes. We surface. A lifeboat approaches, and we take a few on the foredeck to interrogate them. The ship was the "S.S. Thistledew" of 7.000 BRT. There were a few injured men in the boat (one broken arm, one concussion, two with burns), so we gave them medical attention, brandy, and directions towards the nearest land. The few we interrogated were put back into the lifeboat and we resumed our patrol.

26 Apr., 08.43, BE1245
Another lone freighter is sighted and we prepare for surface firing. It's of 7.000 BRT, and we shoot one at 700 meters. Dud. A second is fired at 390 meters, which is a hit! It sinks within one minute, which is astounding! There are no survivors; poor devils. I've never seen a ship sink so fast! They didn't even have a chance. We resume patrol.

26 Apr., 18.49
We have an unexpected crash-dive practice. We reach 155 meters in 1 minute 10 seconds. Very good!

27 Apr., 01.02, BE1228
Another British freighter is sighted off the port beam. It's very dark and clouds obscure all light from the moon and stars, so it's sighted only when it's 2.800 meters away. We turn and fire two torpedoes at 600 meters. One dud, one hit! A wireless message is sent out, reading, "Torpedoed, S.S. True Love, 50 46N, 22 52W". Lloyd's Register puts her at 8.595 BRT, a cargo merchant. We resume our patrol immediately, seeing that a successful transmission of our position has made any lingering very dangerous.

08 Mai, 07.29, BE1254
After a number of days of not spotting anything, we come across a very large ship. We approach it at flank speed, finding it to be flying neutral colors. Too bad; it's nearly 13.000 tons! We let it go and resume patrol.

08 Mai, 13.16, BE1282
A short time later that day a Finnish hospital ship is sighted. We let it go as well.

17 Mai, 21.32, BE1264
Another length of time passes when a merchant is sighted in the distance. We close the distance at flank speed. When we get to within 2.100 meters, it opens fire! This was unexpected as we have not been fired upon before. How rude! We go to periscope depth and shove a torpedo into her from 900 meters. She sinks, and we add another 3.000 BRT to our score.

23.14, BE12.32
Less than two hours pass before we come across smoke clouds! A convoy! We radio BdU and approach slowly, feeling out how many merchants and escorts there are. Looks like around 25 freighters with only two escorts. Wonderful! However, a major drawback is the fact that there is a full moon. As I'm contemplating the attack plan, the convoy tacks and heads right for us! What luck! I send off another message and submerge to periscope depth.

18 Mai, 00.12
The sound man reports ships very close. The periscope goes up and reveals a 7.000 BRT tanker almost directly ahead. One torpedo is fired, a dud. A second one is a dud (not again!). The third torpedo hits home with a massive explosion. Its back is broken and it begins to settle in two halves. I swing the scope around, firing a torpedo at a 5.000 BRT freighter. It too is a dud. I retract the scope and we dive to 155 meters. As I turn the boat around to trail the convoy at slow speed using their propellor noises as cover, we hear the dreadful implosions and grinding of metal as bulkheads collapse and tear. It's a terrible thing to hear. Nasty thoughts flash through my mind as I wonder what it would sound like if such a thing were to happen to us. I dismiss those thoughts as the sounds of destroyers come closer, one pinging away with ASDIC. After a while it moves off, and we come to periscope depth again. We have one torpedo left in the stern tube, so I decide to pursue the convoy and see if I can't bag another! Let's hope an escort doesn't see me. Flank speed.

01.00
A destroyer spots me and comes charging at me at over 30 knots. Damn! We try to get away on the surface, but it's just too fast. When it starts to shell us we begin to crash-dive. As I'm lowering myself through the hatch, a thought comes across: I'm a member of the 9. Flotille, right? The 9. Flotille is known for sinking escorts, right? I'm one of the few not to have sunk an escort yet, right? Why not attempt it? We practiced extensively during training on a VIIB; why not put it into practice? Fine! We go to periscope depth instead, and I slow the boat to minimum revolutions. I assume the destroyer thinks I've gone deep, since he can't see or hear me (for the moment). I put the scope up for only a second or two, and sure enough, the escort has slowed to only a little more than ten knots. I put the scope down and wait a little longer until it gets closer. Only a short time later I up the scope and find it's swinging to starboard, only 650 meters away! At 610 meters I fire my last torpedo and pray it hits. As we begin to descend into the depths, we hear it explode against the destroyer's hull! Coming back to periscope depth, we see the escort sinking! Hurrah! Those of us in the conning tower get a chance to take a peek in the scope, and then I order us to go deep. Another escort is on it's way. We evade the escort, and it drops no charges.

05.56
We surface, sending one last contact message to BdU, then head for home.

23 Mai, 09.50
En route back to base we spot a Sunderland bomber, which in turn spots us. We crash-dive and hear two Wabos detonate quite far away. We surface again at 11.20.

24 Mai, 04.52
We return to base.

PATROL RESULTS

DECORATIONS

U-boat badge	1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class	1939 Iron Cross 1st Class

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