
The U-Flotille "Hundius" and its oceangoing U-boats.
War with Great Britain and France!
On November 14, 1939, Professor Cornelius visited the BdU. He was nominated "Torpedo Dictator" a few days ago, with wide powers, giving him ample scope to reorganize and develop torpedoes. The duties of him are of great importance for the submarine Branch. Hopefully he will be completely successful. His duties cover 3 main fields:
1) eliminate faults in the fuses
2) ensure torpedoes will maintain perfect depth
3) ensure proper production.
While the torpedo can by no means be considered a useful front-line weapon today, the TMB mine has proven to be a very effective weapon for submarines. However, it has been found:
1) that large ships do not sink safely to depths of about 30 meters
2) that the mines are fired by smaller ships than intended.
The practical conclusions to draw are:
1) TMBs can only be placed at depths not exceeding 25 meters.
2) You should aim for even shallower depths. For shallow water, mines should be set according to the type of ship they are primarily intended to react against.
The Superior Naval Leadership prepares a memorandum on the situation of the supply of German submersibles in Spanish ports.
U 38 sailed towards her areas of operations. Attacks on English timber traffic. (Operating Orders No. 10).
U 38 - Wilhelmshaven/North Sea - 12:30 - Departed from Wilhelmshaven (AN 9814). Start of the 2nd Patrol. The U-boat is to sail to MURMANSK and conduct reconnaissance tasks there. PQ: AN 9814
U 41 - North Atlantic - 05:35 - The Norwegian ship SIRENES stopped (AM 4330). No contraband. Released. Storm, Sea 6. Broken periscope mount. All the conning tower flaps opened. Flaps detached and thrown overboard. A man overboard. Brought aboard with a line, a petty officer injured in one eye. PQ: AM 4330
U 43 - North Atlantic - Storm, Sea 6. No weapons may be used. 12:50 - 13:36 - Test dive. PQ: BE 3315 - BE 3354 → BF 1416 → BF 1177 → BF 1171
Source: https://www.uboatarchive.net/BDU/BDUKTB30251.htm
http://www.ubootarchiv.de/ubootwiki/index.php/1939
http://ktb.ubootwaffe.net/ (off-line)
Cheers. Raúl M
