Duikboot - Nummer 19512: U5, 11.04.1940

[BE Corijn]

Hi All,

Looking at the movements of British submarines, Platon and myself consider it very likely that the target was HMS Seal but we are of course open for suggestions.


I have added the following to the page of HMS Seal on uboat.net.


Quote; ' It was most likely HMS Seal (Lt.Cdr. R.P. Lonsdale, RN) which was a target of a torpedo attack (one torpedo being fired) by the German submarine U-5 at 0528B/11 in Grid AN 3466 which is centred in position 57°45'N, 05°48'E.

There is no mention of an attack on her in the patrol report of HMS Seal (which is not very detailed), and no logbook is available for this period. Yet looking at the movements of British submarines she seems to be the most likely target. It is not uncommon for attacks to go by unobserved.

At 2100A/10, according to her patrol report, HMS Seal left the area she was in at that time which was somewhere near 57°00'N, 06°00'E, or perhaps a little further south, for the Skudesnesfjord near Stavanger. She arrived off the Skudesnesfjord around 2200A/11. For this she was to proceed on a north-west course which was also the course of the target attacked by U-5.

In the KTB the Commanding Officer of U-5 first described the target as large which would fit very well with HMS Seal. Later the Commanding Officer of U-5 though the target to be a British U-class submarine given the fact that he could not see a deck gun. HMS Seal did have a deck gun though but it was surrounded by a casing making it part of the conning tower and thus easy to overlook. At the time of the attack it was still dark making it of course difficult to identify the target. '


We are aware of the fact that HMS Ursula (a U-class British submarine) was also in the general area. At 0425A/11 she was in position 57°02.5'N, 05°00'E which is about 50 miles off the centre of Grid AN 3466. This submarine also reported nothing at the time of the attack.



Kind regards,
Brian Corijn

[ARANTALES]

Dear Brian, dear Platon,

Thank you for having identified the target of U5's torpedo attack as very likely HMS SEAL. Great job, and thanks for sharing!!    
DUIKBOOT (the master database) was updated.

In the margin. This attack by U5 is one more where one has 'a choice' for the position of the attack, choice depending on the German source consulted.
- After the attack, the KTB of U5 mentions a radio message having been send off (11/04/40, 0725) to warn for an enemy submarine in AN3446 (grid center 5745n-0436e).
- The Wegekarte in the KTB gives U5 in AN3440 (grid center 5745n-0424e) at the time of the attack.
- The torpedo firing report gives AN3466 (grid center 5745n-0548e) as the attack position.

Met vriendelijke groeten,
Walter