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PART V - U.358 |
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I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS |
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| (i) General | ||
| U.358, a 500-ton U-Boat commanded by Kapitänleutnant Rolf MANKE, was sunk on 1st March, 1944, by ships of Escort Group 1 in position 45°47'N. 23°17'W. She was sunk on her fifth patrol. During the course of her history she claimed the sinking of four merchant vessels totalling 20,500 tons, and one destroyer. | ||
| (ii) Complement | ||
Of the complement of fifty officers and men, only one, an Able Seaman, survived the sinking. The Commanding Officer, Rolf MANKE of the 1935 term, was heartily disliked by the survivor, who said the men considered him unnecessarily strict. He was formerly an Air Force officer, and later served as C.O. for training in U 575, commanded by Klt. Ernst HEYDEMANN. The two Watchkeeping Officers, Oberleutnant z.S. OPPENS and Leutnant z.S. HEINZ, as well as the Engineer Officer, Lt. (Ing.) WIEBE, were all lower deck promotions. A fifth officer, Oberleutnant JACOBY, was aboard on the last patrol as C.O. under instruction. (N.I.D. Note. This may be Horst JACOBY of the April, 1937, term.) |
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II. FIFTH AND LAST PATROL OF U.358 |
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| (i) U.358 Sails | ||
| U.358 sailed from St. Nazaire early in the afternoon of 14th February, 1944, on her fifth and last patrol. She was accompanied by three other U-Boats, U 575 and two other unidentified boats. U.575 was carrying out trials and returned to base after a short period. The remaining three boats proceeded to their operational areas. They were escorted as far as the 100 fathom line by a number of M-class minesweepers. | ||
| (ii) The Patrol | ||
| U.358 proceeded through the Bay of Biscay submerged most of the time. There were no aircraft alerts and, up to the time of the sinking, no events of any significance took place. | ||
III. SINKING OF U.358 |
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| (i) First Attack | ||
| U.358 was surprised and attacked on 29th February, 1944. She was proceeding at a depth of about 30 m. (98.4 ft.) while minor repairs were being carried out in the control room. The sole survivor had been relieved from watch at 0600 and was lying in his bunk in the forward torpedo room. He suddenly became aware of screw noises. He realized that there was so much hammering in the control room that the hydrophone operator couldn't hear them. Shortly thereafter, however, a report came from the listening room that there were three destroyers in the vicinity, bearing red 150, green 100, and dead ahead. Noise of asdic could be heard and MANKE gave the order to go deeper. Immediately following this, the first pattern of depth charges fell, extinguishing the lights and forcing the boat to a depth of 200 m. (656 ft.). (N.I.D. Note. At 0507 on 29th February, 1944, H.M.S. "GARLIES" of E.G.1 obtained contact at 1,600 yards. H.M.S. "AFFLECK" carried out a hedgehog attack at 0550.) | ||
| (ii) Subsequent Attacks | ||
| Throughout most of the subsequent attacks, the U-Boat remained at a depth of between 180 and 200 metres (590 and 656 feet). Pattern after pattern fell around the U-Boat. Eventually she became heavy by the stern and those men not on duty were ordered forward in an attempt to retain trim. At first the spirits of the crew were high because no serious damage was sustained and they believed that their attackers would soon expend all their depth charges. As depth charges continued to fall with regularity and accuracy, their hopes of escape began to wane. (N.I.D. Note. Between 0550 and 1732 on 29th February, the ships of E.G.1 carried out fifteen depth charge attacks.) | ||
| During the night of 29th February/1st March, U.358 managed to elude her pursuers for a brief period and took advantage of the situation by surfacing to ventilate. Soon, however, she was detected by the destroyers and was forced to dive again. (N.I.D. Note. After the attack at 1732 on 29th February, it was decided to cease firing for the night and to hold contact until foul air caused the U-Boat to surface. Contact was maintained throughout the night without hitch and at dawn the attack was resumed.) | ||
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| The attack was resumed and after some hours, the air in the U-Boat became extremely foul. Potash cartridges relieved the discomfort only temporarily and when the supply of these was exhausted, oxygen and compressed air was released into the boat. The survivor said that it was fortunate that the men had been forbidden the use of tobacco for a few days before the sinking because of some petty offense. Otherwise, they would not have been able to hold out as long as they did. | ||
| Because of the foul air and the state of exhaustion of his men MANKE finally decided to surface and attempt to fight it out. Upon reaching the surface, a destroyer was seen, distant about 400 yards. The angling gear was quickly adjusted and a T.5 (Gnat) torpedo fired from Tube V. The torpedo hit amidships and broke the destroyer in two. (N.I.D. Note. At 1920 "GOULD" had just left the echo on her port quarter and "AFFLECK" had regained it on her port beam when suddenly instead of one transmission in five being heard, crackling results were obtained. At this moment, "GOULD" was torpedoed in the after motor room on her port side. She broke in half, the stern breaking away and sinking rapidly in position 45°46'N., 23°10'W. The S.O.E.G.1 believed that an ordinary torpedo had been used.) | ||
| After this incident, the other destroyers opened fire and scored many hits. The prisoner spoke with awe of the 40 mm. gunfire which he observed to be especially deadly. MANKE gave the order to abandon ship and went on the bridge with a white cloth in his hand, intending to surrender. Before he could do so, he was wounded and fell to the deck. About thirty minutes after she had surfaced, the U-Boat was sunk. (N.I.D. Note. The U-Boat's conning tower was sighted 1,500 yards on "AFFLECK's" port beam and she turned towards, dropping one depth charge as an anti-gnat precaution. She then pursued the U-Boat, opening fire with oerlikons. She fired twice with her starboard throwers, both times scoring perfect shots. A dirty white flag was then noticed flying from the U-Boat's bridge. At about 1950 in position 45°47'N., 23°17'W., the U-Boat sank bows first.) | ||
APPENDIX "A" |
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BUILDING AND WORKING UP OF U.358 |
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| U.358 was commissioned at the Flensburger Schiffsbau, Flensburg on 15th August, 1942. Officers at the time were Kapitänleutnant MANKE, C.O., Leutnant zur See ULBER, First Lieutenant (N.I.D. Note. Probably Max ULBER of the December, 1939, term) Leutnant zur See HOSS, Second Watchkeeping Officer and Leutnant (Ing.) WIEBE, Engineer Officer. | ||
APPENDIX "B" |
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PREVIOUS PATROLS OF U.358 |
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| (i) First Patrol | ||
| U.358 sailed from Kiel about 12th January, 1943, on her first patrol. She operated South of Greenland. On about 21st January a freighter of 3,500 tons was sunk from a convoy. From other sources it is believed that U.358 was operating in a pack known as "Gruppe Haudegen" at this time. At dawn a few days later a new 12,500 ton tanker sailing independently was sighted. A spread of four torpedoes was fired but the speed of the vessel had been miscalculated and all missed. The U-Boat then proceeded surfaced, at full speed, and took station ahead of the tanker. She submerged to periscope depth and fired two more torpedoes both of which hit, setting the tanker on fire. She burned for a long time and the U-Boat surfaced while the crew gathered on deck to watch the sight and to take snapshots. The sinking was later broadcast by DOENITZ himself who said that it had taken place southeast of Greenland and that the tanker had been loaded with 18,000 tons of oil. (N.I.D. Note. Possibly the Norwegian tanker NORTIND, a straggler from HX 223. This tanker was missing and presumed lost by enemy action in approximate position 59°00'N., 39°00'W., on 25th January, 1943.) | ||
| The patrol lasted 54 days and ended at St. Nazaire where the U-Boat was attached to the 7th Flotilla. While in port preparing for her next patrol the upper deck containers were removed. | ||
| (ii) Second Patrol | ||
| The second patrol took place during May and June, 1943, and lasted 24 days. The U-Boat again operated in the North Atlantic and claimed sinking two ships from a convoy. One was described as being 8,000 tons and one of 6,500 tons. The U-Boat was operating in a group at the time. She was herself attacked and a diving tank was damaged by depth-charges. | ||
| As a result of this attack she was forced to cut short her patrol and return to St. Nazaire. ULBER left the boat at the end of this patrol and Olt. OPPENS became First Lieutenant. | ||
| (iii) Third Patrol | ||
| The third patrol of U.358 was her longest. She sailed from St. Nazaire in July, 1943, and operated for twelve weeks off the west coast of Africa. No shipping was attacked on this patrol but the U-Boat claimed to have shot down a Sunderland aircraft. Survivors were rescued by another U-Boat. | ||
| (iv) Fourth Patrol | ||
| This patrol lasted about seven weeks. The U-Boat operated in the North Atlantic, remained submerged much of the time and scored no success. She refuelled from a supply U-Boat. The patrol ended in St. Nazaire in December, 1943. While nearing that port a mine exploded near the U-Boat without inflicting any damage. | ||
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APPENDIX "C" |
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NOMINAL ROLL OF U.358 |
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(i) Survivors: |
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