ASS-Nummer: 23108 SLAVOL

[TW]

Area MEDITERRANEAN : March 26, 1942
Author: Eric Zimmerman

After studying KTB entries of U652 and U205, as well as the summary of warship attacks from ADM 199/1257, which occurred on this date, I really don't think there is any doubt at all that U652 (OL Georg-Werner Fraatz) sank the SLAVOL and that the U205 (KL Franz-Georg Reschke) attack was unsuccessful.  However, the two commanders seem to have done their best to cause confusion for historians studying their logs and missing or incomplete information from the British side has helped to continue the muddle.  The sequence of events was as follows: 

[TW]

http://www.historisches-marinearchiv.de/projekte/ass/ausgabe.php?where_value=4578

On March 25, 1942 the R.F.A. SLAVOL departed Alexandria loaded with fuel oil and bound for Tobruk.  Her escort consisted of HMS destroyer JAGUAR, Greek destroyer VASILISSA OLGA (invariably referred to as QUEEN OLGA in British documents) and the armed whaler HMS KLO. 

U652 initially locates this convoy by hydrophone and at 2330/25 surfaced and attempted to get into position for a sighting and attack.  This was accomplished in the early hours of the 26th and when U652 sighted the convoy she was ahead of it, at the time seeing three escorts in a line abreast sweeping towards her (there is evidence that this KTB has been adjusted to fit later facts as they became know).  The initial plan was to dive beneath these and get at the merchant ship which was behind.  However, a fortuitous zig zag by the escorts placed a “Jervis” class destroyer in a good attack position.  Fraatz (or more likely his IWO OL Adolf Graef) fired a full bow salvo at the destroyer at 0227/26 in CO9229 and was rewarded with two hits.  We know that the two hits were scored on HMS JAGUAR carrying the s/o of the force Lt-Cdr L.R.K. Tyrwhitt.  The forepart of the ship sank in a minute and the aft portion sank ablaze 3 minutes later.  Tyrwhitt was among the casualties.  The loss of the senior officer and perhaps the lack of understanding between Allies from different nations now threw the convoy into utter confusion. 

Both the VASILISSA OLGA and KLO continued on with SLAVOL for nearly 30 minutes before both turned back and the OLGA screened KLO while she recovered the JAGUAR survivors.  This left the SLAVOL continuing on towards Tobruk, but now totally unescorted.  It would be nearly two hours before the VASILISA OLGA attempted to regain her charge and by that time it was far too late. 

[TW]

http://www.historisches-marinearchiv.de/projekte/ass/ausgabe.php?where_value=4579

Having successfully broken up the convoy Fraatz notes in his log that he planned to pursue the merchant ship using dead reckoning and assuming she had continued on with her initial course and speed.  The vessel referred to here is of course the SLAVOL which at 0437 U652 intercepted exactly where it where it was anticipated.  At 0437 now in grid CO9214 and having reloaded his tubes the boat carried out another surface attack and fired two torpedoes at an unescorted merchant vessel estimated at 5000 tons.  The vessel was described as modern, with a thick funnel, 5 cargo hatches, a cruiser stern, mainmast set well back, space between funnel and bridge and very large space between funnel and mainmast, straight stem, low deck throughout.  (I've attached a picture of SLAVOL and you will note the vessel actually has quite a close resemblance to this despite the fact she was a tanker (as well I've read that during wartime the SLAVOLs mainmast was removed which would leave only the stern mast and account for Fraatz's description here).  One hit and although she settled she remained afloat; so a coup de grace was fired at 0453.  This hit and vessel blows up and sinks in a black explosion cloud.  The KTB also expresses that in the opinion of the IIWO it's probable the steamer was loaded with fuel, possibly in drums.  Throughout the log Fraatz refers to her as a freighter but there is really no doubt that the vessel sunk here was the SLAVOL.

[TW]

http://www.historisches-marinearchiv.de/projekte/ass/ausgabe.php?where_value=4580

OK turning to U205.  The details of action support that this boat did not make a successful attack.  0419 – CO9214 From this it's clear that U205 and U652 were operating in the same grid as this is exactly where Fraatz torpedoed the SLAVOL only 18 minutes later. In fact it seems likely that the initial shadows sighted which Reschke had the impression were on a westerly course were in fact the SLAVOL and U652.  The explosion noted as a torpedo hit while nothing was in sight must have been U652 torpedoing SLAVOL, although no exact time is noted it is definitely in that zone where U652 was attacking and sometime after 0419.  Shortly after this Reschke, whom obviously doesn't trust his own vision due to night blindness, sights two destroyers and a tanker now on an easterly course.  This creates some confusion because the boat had obviously been going west in what was described as a parallel course to the first shadows sighted.  At 0507 in CO9215 U205 sets up on these new targets and fires first a full salvo of bow torpedoes and then the stern torpedo at 0510 at the tanker estimated to be of 6-7000 tons, 3000 meters away and making 9 knots.  The boat then runs to the north.  The torpedoes all appear to have missed but then at 0516 there is a heavy explosion which was 6 minutes and 12 seconds after the stern torpedo was fired.  This is noted in the KTB to equate to the target being 5600 meters away and close to the maximum running range for the G7e torpedo. 

Considering that U652 had already sunk the SLAVOL and there is no other known casualty or explosion reported by Allied vessels it's likely the explosion heard was either an end of run detonation or possibly the SLAVOL blowing up following the coup de grace fired by U652 at 0453/26.   The U205 herself was unable to make any observations due to the misty horizon and based her claim entirely upon hearing an explosion and the fact that twenty minutes later as the mist cleared only the two destroyers could be observed.  The KTB then notes that the destroyers were now close and observed to be signaling each other. At 0531 in CO9215, with the destroyers having closed to less than 4000 meters, U205 crash dives going to A+90 meters depth.  Twenty minutes later (i.e. 0551 hours) she is overrun and attacked shortly after by a series of DCs.  The boat is heavily shaken but no damage.  Until 1100 hours the escorts are in close proximity to the boat but with few attacks and the attacking vessels often stopped and obviously searching.   The boat was able to escape with no damage.
(ref: U-boat Attack Logs – Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor – this contains the KTB of U652 translated into English for this period as well as expressing the opinion that U652 sank the SLAVOL).

Now plainly the U205 was credited with sinking the SLAVOL based on the fact that she claimed a tanker and what Allied information that is available on these incidents is rather muddled.  The Admiralty War Diary for March 1942 indicates that the JAGUAR was sunk at 0445/26th in 31.53N  26.16E and that the SLAVOL was sunk at 0615/26 in position 32.01N  25.53E.  The time given for the SLAVOL sinking is used to support the attack by U205 which attacked at 0510/26 and heard her hit 6 minutes later.  Assuming a one hour difference between British and German times kept, this would look likely for the attack by U205 but in fact these times recorded in the Admiralty War Diary bear no relation to the actual times both these vessels were torpedoed and in any case German and Allied time kept at this point was equivalent.  The 0445/26 for JAGUAR is the time of signal from HMS KLO in which she reported having recovered 5 officer and 41 men from the JAGUAR and that the search was continuing, eventually there would be 53 survivors.  The Germans intercepted this signal and the reference to it contained in the War Diary of FdU Italien where the patrol vessel (KLO) is coded as patrol vessel 2F.U.Z.  A similar situation exists for SLAVOL for which I've located no survivor report and for which there is no other reference to the exact times in which she was torpedoed.  All that is known for sure is that when VASILISSA OLGA finally reached the scene there were only the survivors remaining to be picked up.  Of note when destroyer reached the scene she made a good asdic contact in position 31.59N  25.59.5E (CO9216) which she attacked with a full pattern of 10 depth charges set to 150-385 feet at 0553/26 hours (ref ADM 199/1257).  Following this attack contact faded and after a hunt of 30 minutes the destroyer stopped and picked up one boatload of SLAVOL survivors.  She then hunted a further 15 minutes during which she dropped a single depth charge (to keep any nearby U/B at periscope depth) and then stopped to pick up a second boatload of the SLAVOL men.  Following this a further short search was made and then the destroyer departed the area to join the CRISTA.

The match here with the KTB of U205 is unmistakable.  The times and positions are near exact matches and as well the long periods of the escort lying stopped (while the OLGA was picking up survivors).  What the second destroyer reported in the KTB of U205 was is open to debate as there does not appear to have been any other destroyer in the region.  However, there were other vessels including one which reported a depth charge attack and may account for the subsequent hunting and attacks reported by U205.  Proceeding independently on a westerly course were the tug HMS BRIGAND, escorted by the South African A/S whaler SOUTHERN MAID.  The SOUTHERN MAID picked up and asdic contact at 0707/26 in 31.45N  25.52E (CO9242) and carried out two attacks with first one and then six depth charges at 0710 and 0720 hours.  The proximity of this position to U205 at the time is notable.  Whether she was actually the target or there was a submarine present is debatable but there is no doubt she was close enough to have heard the explosions and have detected the vessels on her hydrophones and this perhaps accounts for her believing herself to have been hunted until 1100 hours.  (ref ADM 199/1257)

There is one other group of Allied vessels in the region which might have played some part in the events as described by U205.  As noted in the report of the VASILLSA OLGA following the rescue of the SLAVOL survivors and the hunt for U205 she departed with orders to join the CRISTA.  This was the motor tanker CRISTA which had been torpedoed on March 17/42 by U83 (KL Hans-Werner Kraus).  The vessel had been abandoned but was later brought into the Gulf of Sollum and anchored north of Bardia.  She was taken under tow by the tug ST. MONANCE in the early morning of March 26th and set out for Alexandria where she would be repaired.  Her escort consisted of the A/S Whaler SOUTHERN ISLES and the MLs 1005 and 1069.  Again no destroyers but this tanker was eastbound at the time in question.  In fact the Admiralty War Diary puts this group in 31.56N  26.06E (CO9216) at 0800/26th.  Was this the eastbound tanker sighted and attacked by U205?  Impossible to say as there is no evidence she was attacked and the group was making 3 knots not 9, plus the other items at obvious odds with the U205 KTB.  However, there is no arguing that this group would have been very close to the position at the time of her attack at 0510. 

It may be impossible to reconcile exactly what U205 was observing through the morning of the 26th.  Some of these observations are certainly open debate but I think it can certainly be stated that she did not attack the SLAVOL which was in fact sunk by U652.  It can also be stated that the attack by QUEEN OLGA was directed at U205.  The attack by SOUTHERN MAID is less certain and may have been directed against a non-sub target but in any case U205 was in the area and probably was aware of the vessels and heard the depth charging.

As always, I'd love to hear any opinions that you have on this ...
All the best, Eric Zimmerman