U under the command of Prien with 1st watch officer I. Johann-Friedrich Wessels left Kiel on 16 November Prien had identified the ship to be a London -class cruiser. Prien intended to launch a spread of three torpedoes, but only a single torpedo cleared the tube and detonated in the wake of the cruiser. When the periscope cleared the surface, Prien observed what he believed major damage to the stern of the cruiser, her starboard torpedo launchers dislodged and an aircraft tilted.
U surfaced and tried to pursue the cruiser but was driven off by depth charges dropped from the escort. The war diary of the Befehlshaber der U-Boote BdU on 17 December stated that even though a hit was observed the cruiser was not sunk. On 5 December , U spotted nine merchant vessels escorted by five destroyers. At , Prien fired one torpedo , U continued to attack Allied shipping in the Western Approaches, however eight out of twelve G7e U carried, failed to detonate either missing or malfunctioning.
The claims made by Prien are noted in the war diary of the BdU on 17 December Britta lost six men, a Belgian ship rescued Prien's fourth patrol started on 29 February from Kiel. On 1 March, U arrived in Heligoland for a four day stop. U returned to Wilhelmshaven again on 29 March, ending this patrol. Torpedo failures still afflicted the U-boat fleet but the number of sinkings rose in the first months of U-boat commanders, determined to enter the ranks of "aces" such as Prien, were prepared to take greater risks, most often attacking at night on the surface—the Admiralty noted that by February these reached 58 percent.
The German surface fleet could not fight a large-scale surface action against the British and win. Prien formed part of a group patrolling east of the Shetland Islands , Vagsfjord and Trondheim. U left Wilhelmhaven on its fifth patrol on 3 April, which ended on 26 April in Kiel.
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Prien's 1st watch officer was again Oberleutnant zur See Kraus. Prien succeeded in penetrating an Allied-held anchorage again at Vagsfjord fjord. Prien counted three large and three small transport ships, two cruisers, all slightly overlapping—he described it as a "wall of ships". He went over the torpedoes and firing control data personally before another four-missile salvo was fired.
The same result was observed. The torpedoes either missed, failed to detonate or struck rocks after running off course. While on manoeuvres to fire his stern torpedo on the surface, he ran aground damaging his starboard diesel engine as he attempted to break free. He could not wait for high tide to assist while within range of British guns, and daybreak, he noted, was only hours away. His crew eventually rocked the U-boat loose and U escaped. On the way home Prien intercepted the battleship Warspite on 19 April.
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He stalked her and fired two torpedoes with the same result—one exploded at the end of its run, alerting the escorts which counter attacked with depth charges. A convoy was sighted later, but Prien did not bother attacking; he had lost faith in his main weapons.
To all intents and purposes, the, U-boats were without a weapon. The commander-in-chief U-boats conceded of the U-boat operation, "I doubt whether men have ever had to rely on such a useless weapon. He ordered all but three submarines to port. The remaining trio were ordered to continue reconnaissance patrols. This patrol, again Kraus served as 1st watch officer, started and ended in Kiel and targeted the shipping routes in the North Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay west of the English Channel.
Prien was a Wolfpack leader and made the tactical decisions for this patrol line.
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The ship carried 8, tons of wheat and four aircraft. It was transporting hundreds of German and Italian internees to Canada. This made Prien's sixth war patrol the most successful U-boat operation to date. U remained in Kiel until 27 August when it sortied again. The 1st watch officer on Prien's seventh patrol was again Kraus. Upon the conclusion of the patrol, which had taken U into the North Atlantic west of the Hebrides , Prien was ordered to the U-boat base at Lorient , in occupied France where it arrived on 26 September They allowed German submarines to strike deeper into the Atlantic and spend much longer on patrol.
Prien accounted for the destruction of six ships plus a further vessel damaged.
Prien lost one man overboard during the patrol. He attacked and claimed four ships sunk after U led him to the scene. The signals from the 53—strong convoy were decoded on 30 August which gave the time, position and arrival times enabling the BdU to order Prien and a Wolfpack into action. The information led to the sinking of Ville de Mons in ten minutes. All but one of the crew were saved. The captain reported the sighting of three U-boats, two of which approached him and asked for his ship's identity. They were eventually rescued by an Allied merchant ship.
Prien formed part of a Wolfpack that attacked Convoy HX While the operation was a German success, Prien damaged only one ship with his only remaining torpedo. Six ships were sunk by other U-boats.
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Prien took U on its eighth war patrol on 14 October , the last with Kraus as 1st watch officer, patrolling the sea routes in the North Atlantic, from the North Channel to Rockall. Convoy HX 79 was spotted by U in the morning of the 19 October, just as its ship anti-submarine escort arrived. Only U failed to get into an attack position by evening.
Shirak is also believed to have been sunk by Prien and his crew in the battle. Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader 40 increased the tally to 12 ships sunk. He was the fifth member of the Wehrmacht and first of the Kriegsmarine to be so honored.
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After 34 days at sea, U returned to Lorient on 6 December. The ship finally sank after a single torpedo from Otto Kretschmer 's U On 20 February , U departed from Lorient on its tenth and final war patrol. He intercepted and repeatedly attacked convoy OB The solitary attacks sank two ships. Prien continued to pursue the convoy but did not succeed again. West of Ireland , Fw s sank seven ships from this convoy making it the most successful intervention of German aircraft in the Atlantic.
U went missing after intercepting Convoy OB on 7 March. His attack prompted a five hour chase from on 8 March. At Prien was caught on the surface and dived but could not escape the rapid depth charge attack from the escorts. Prien's death was kept secret until 23 May. The loss of the boat has to be assumed. To offset the negative impact his death might have on the German population, the message was hidden among the information about the tonnage sunk by U-boats.
According to one biographer, in contrast with Kretschmer, Prien was purportedly a strict disciplinarian who rarely allowed humanity to compromise or interfere with the running of his boat. His crew despised him for it. He harboured much bitterness because of his difficult beginning. He could be genial among fellow officers but his reputation among subordinates was low. Prien was portrayed by the German actor Dieter Eppler. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. See battles. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.
Retrieved 3 January Blair, Clay Random House. Claasen, Adam R. Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer []. Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. Fischer, Michael; Widmaier, Tobias, eds. Gilbert, Martin Churchill: A Life.