
The U-Flotille "Hundius" and its oceangoing U-boats.
War with Great Britain and France!
On October 1, 1939 The following U-Flotille submersibles will be ready to operate during the first half of October:
U-42 on October 2;
U-37 on October 5;
U-40 on October 16 (doubtful)
I intend to operate with them against merchant shipping in the Atlantic. They are all U-boats with a great radius of action.
Gibraltar has the disadvantage of a long one way passage, but as the outbound route traverses the merchant shipping lanes, successes can be expected here, there is also a large concentration of maritime traffic around Gibraltar. Weather conditions can be expected to be more favorable than in the north. Therefore I have decided to operate against the Gibraltar traffic.
Execution: Success will depend on the submersibles making a surprise appearance together. They will be ready on different dates. Therefore, they will sail on different days and occupy an area of operations in the southwest of Ireland, which so far the sinking figures have proven to be the best area. When all units have arrived there, they will receive orders to move on; They will be ordered to sail sooner or later depending on the situation. The Korvettenkapitän WERNER HARTMANN will be in U-37 as commander on scene of this Atlantic group and, if necessary, will assume control of operations against convoys. If he finds that the situation is not promising off Gibraltar, he will be authorized to order a new arrangement, somewhat further away from enemy bases, along the west coast of Spain and Portugal. Of course, only merchant ships bound for north to south would be intercepted here.
Source: http://www.uboatarchive.net/BDU/BDUKTB30247.htm
http://www.ubootarchiv.de/ubootwiki/index.php/1939
http://ktb.ubootwaffe.net/ (off-line)
Cheers. Raúl M
