No Room For Mistakes

[James A Pratt III]

The book" No Room For Mistakes British and Allied Submarines in European Waters 1939-1940" by Geirr H Haarr mentions a number of occations when British and Allied submarines were attacked by German and Allied aircraft here are some incidents which are not covered elsewhere:

5 Sep 39 HMS/M Seahorse damaged by PO George Yorke in Anson K8845 233 Sqn which had to ditch because his the explosions of his own bombs damaged his wing tanks and he ran out of fuel. See FE (Fledgling Eagles)

20 May 40 the French Sub Achille was damaged in the North Sea by a Hudson of 233 sqn

4 May 40 HMS/M Seal was lightly damaged by a He115 of KuFlGr 706. The capture of this sub is mentioned in both FE and the Luftwaffe War Diaries

26 Jul 40 HMS/M Trident was missed by an Ar196 of the German Heavy cruiser Hipper flown by Ltn Frendenthal with Unt Unt Koch in the back seat. seeing air bubbles and an oil slick they claimed a sinking and were both awarded the Iron cross 1st class.

Jun 40 the Polish submarine Orzel went missing possible cause a mine. However, there is a remote chance it could have sunk by a Hudson from 224 Sqn on 3 Jun 40

16 Jun 40 2 Ar196s of the Battlecruiser Scharnhorst attacked a submarine most likely HMS/M Porpoise a few think it may have been the Dutch O13 which most likely sunk by a mine.

3 Jul 40 HMS/M Sealion was attacked and missed by a Do-18 of either 3/ KuFlGr 406 or 2/ KuFlGr 906 while attacking a convoy which also had 4 bf 109s of JG 77 flying overhead

5 Jul 40 HMS/M Shark was attacked and damaged by AR196 T3+LH flown by LtzS Gottschalk with Unt Manjok in back of 1/BordFlGr 196. The sub was so damaged that it when it surfaced it could not submerge again and it's rudder was jammed. Gottschalk flew back to base reloaded with bombs and attacked to sub again as did AR196 T3+DK flown by Ltn Eberhard Stelter with Unt Stamp in back. Gottschalk with his plane being damaged took off a third time in AR196 T3+KH and bombed the sub again. Meanwhile do18s of 2/KuFlGr 106 observed the sub from a distance. Then 4 Bf109s strafed the sub. Soon afterwards the Shark having run out of ammo surrendered. AR196 flown by Obltn Schreck with Obltn Junker in back code either T3+BH or T3+bra #0041 landed along side the sub but it left-hand float was leaking probably do the subs MG fire caused it to sink while Schreck and Junker boarded the sub. 4 German minesweeping trawlers showed up and rescued the men on board and the sub sank under tow.

I hope this is of some use or interest