U-593 DECK LOG

THE FOLLOWING SELECTED FIVE DAY (5) ACCOUNT, SEPTEMBER 20-25,1943 WAS TAKEN FROM THE DECK LOG OF U-BOAT 593 BY ROBERT REED, SON OF EVERETT REED. THE ENTIRE DECK LOG HISTORY OF U-BOAT 593 IS ON MICROFILM (TAPE T-1022, 3395) AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND. I HAVE ONE ENTIRE MICROFILM COPY IN MY POSSESSION.

THREE OF THE FIVE DAY ACCOUNT IS ACCURATE WHEREAS TWO DAYS (TO INCLUDE THE LAST DAY) IS LESS ACCURATE. THIS WAS DUE TO THE TYPEWRITER RIBBON USED TO TYPE THE ORIGINAL DECK LOG BEING FEINT AND THE WRITER BEING AN NON- GERMAN SPEAKING PERSON.

THE GERMAN TRANSLATION WAS TURNED OVER TO LINGUEX INC, BETHESDA, MD, WHO PRODUCED THE FINAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION PRODUCT.

ROBERT REED

[Translator's Notes: The times are left in military (24-hour) format; 00:00 is midnight. Some abbreviations and the meaning of the word "aphrodites"* could not be ascertained.]

*"aphrodites" is mostly like a name for the BOLD canister. One of the devices that submerged U-Boats employed to evade attackers was the "BOLD". This was a canister filled with a compound that gave off large quantities of gas when mixed with seawater. To underwater locating devices the resulting bubble cloud could resemble a submerged submarine. A BOLD canister was designed to stay at a certain depth, so unless the sound operator of the searching vessel was especially skilled it was often difficult to distinguish from a sub. - Jim Reed

Time	Location/Weather	Events
9/20/43	Gulf of Salerno
04:51	CJ 6794	Diving
08:00	CJ 6877	B.V. through power change after taking a bearing of the land: 1200, 17 nautical miles. Therefore, we are not located, as intended, in the Bay of Salerno but 3 nautical miles south of Pt. Licesa.
12:00	CJ 6797	Day's run: 26 nautical miles 10 nautical miles total 36 nautical miles A cruiser of the "Dido" class is passing in the west heading north, turns off after 10,000 m.
14:05	CJ 6795	A coast guard vessel is patrolling from west to east in the area south of the Salerno Bay and passes at a distance of 1500 m. Not worth it.
19:21	CJ 9139	The coast guard vessel passes once more in the north at a distance of 1500 m.
29:14	CJ 9139 NW 0-1, quiet sea, almost cloudless, moderate visibility.	Surfacing. In the southwest, 6 landing craft heading north. [We] are evading.
26:19	CJ 9139	A coast guard vessel approaching from the west. [We] are evading it below the coast. [We are] planning to charge the battery below the coast and then advance into the Bay.
20:30	CJ 9132	Several shadows in the northwest.[We] evade toward the east.
22:06	CJ 9132	While attempting to penetrate into the Bay, (we are] encountering again several shadows, some coast guard, some landing craft. Attempts at evasion toward the east as well as to the west are without success because we are repeatedly forced away.
23:16	CJ 9139	Diving because the moon will rise in half an hour and because it is impossible to penetrate toward the north due to the abundance of vessels.
09/21/43	Golf of Salerno	Surfacing
04:42	CJ 9139  No wind, smooth sea, a few stratus veils, bright moonlight, good visibility.	In the north, there are again several shadows standing in front of the Bay like fence, which we cannot pass.
05:09	CJ 9136	Submerging.
08:34	CJ 9132	A convoy with 13 steamers and an advance destroyer can be recognized with the periscope. Because the lateral distance is a bit too far, we run against it for 15 minutes with G.F. This brings our boat just between the columns to a good firing position. The first steamer of the Bb convoy passes 150 m behind the stern. Advance destroyer travels with S [? sonar?] device. Our boat is not detected despite its high noise level.
09/21/43	Golf of Salerno
09:10	CJ 9132	[Firing] double torpedoes from tubes I and III and double torpedoes from tubes II and IV on two freighters, 6000 GRT each, bow left, travelling in a column, position 90, enemy speed 9 nautical miles, distance 1500 m, depth 7, Pi 2, dispersion angle 3.8° . A detonation after 16 seconds (1490). Effect could not be observed because another steamer is moving in between.The two torpedoes from the second tubes I and III are falling un-aimed in the moment of switchover although the firing lever had not been set. A subsequent examination revealed a built-in switch fault in the firing mechanism. The same fault caused the missed shots of the llth sortie that were erroneously attributed at that time to an operational error of the T.W.L. Testing during combat missions has only been possible since the spark extinguisher was installed during the last dockyard repairs. The fault has cost our boat 20,000 GRT of sunk tonnage.
09:14		[Firing] torpedo from tube V on a 6000 GRT freighter in the Bb. convoy. Bow right, position B6, enemy speed 9 nautical miles, distance 1000 m, depth 7 Pi 2. Detonation after 65 seconds (1000 m). The steamer veers out of formation toward Bb, sags aft somewhat lower and remains at the spot. Meanwhile, several steamers are passing by front and aft in good firing positions. If only we had more tubes.
09:23	CJ 9132	The convoy has passed, 2 destroyers are approaching with S-devices. Changing to 2 A+20 m and following the convoy course with G.F. for 15 minutes, then turning toward land. Our boat remains undetected.
09:47		A strong detonation above water, probably from the steamer we hit.
10:25	CJ 9132	At periscope level. At the shooting location is a stopped steamer, sagging somewhat aft. 5 destroyers around it, some with S devices. The other vessel must have sunk.
12:00	CJ 9139	Day's run 16 total 56 nautical miles
12:15		American mine sweeper of the type "Avecet" with salvage equipment passing in the direction toward the damaged steamer. Planning coup de grace when the salvage attempts to tow it.
9/21/43	Golf of Salerno
14:10 Qu	CJ 9139	2 destroyers with locating equipment arrive in our direct proximity, stop and localize Going to 2A+20 because they apparently noticed something.
16:00 Qu	CJ 9139	The destroyers are moving off. On periscope level. In the north, a group of small vessels can be seen moving away, between them several destroyers. One is approaching from 1500 at position 0 and turns off at 500 m. The steamer is no longer visible. Possibly it is being towed by the smaller vessels or it sank. Because of the unfavorable water surface, nothing can be clearly seen.
20:12 QU	CJ 9132  [illegible] moderate visibility	Surfacing. Planning to move southeast below land for recharging. Locator starts at 170 cm.
21:50		Bearing is fixed at latitude 3.
21:00		At the same time, the shadow of a destroyer can be recognized at the stern. Moving off with A.K.
21:12		A second device on the same frequency with a different pitch can be heard. The devices alternate. The destroyer is slowly approaching. Alarm. Going to 2A+ 20 m. Turning starboard at the same time.
21:15 Qu.	CJ 9214	The destroyers move past aft and throw imprecise waves. No sonar. Machine noises fading gradually toward the east. Surfacing.
23:03 Qu	CJ 9219	Starting aphrodites. Pinpointing location resumes.
23:20 Qu	CJ 9214	A searchlight lights up starboard aft and misty searches on the water. Our boat is not detected. It is possible that it responded to the aphrodites.
9/22/43	Golf of Salerno
02:30 Qu	CJ 9136  quiet sea, stratus, moonlight, horizon partly	Surfacing. Localizing sounds weaker.
04:46	CJ 9123	Diving.
08:00 Qu	CJ 9123
12:00 Qu	CJ 9123	Day's run 21 [handwritten text incomprehensible.]
9/22/43	Golf of Salerno
16:00 Qu	CJ 9123
20:19	CJ 1931	Surfacing. Searching for 176 nautical miles with low ??.
20:46		Locating. We suddenly test. In addition, a second device like yesterday. Starting 3 aphrodites with a distance of 5 minutes and changing course.
21:00 Qu	CJ 6794	Locating are ?? ?? success. Possibly in the north and northwest ?? Constant search lights in the sky that apparently change the night into day in the area of Salerno and Capri. Also constant shooting and detonations. Passing northward. 4 lighted hospital ships on a western course. Submerging.
??		?? parachutes on Capri changing the night into day. Also constant shooting and detonations in the north. Passing 4 lighted hospital ships on a western course.
9/23/43	Golf of Salerno
00:00 QU	CJ 6794
04:40	CJ 6794  S 2 sea 1, stratus, veiled moonlight, good visibility
05:05		Diving
10:40 Qu	CJ 6795	6 landing craft and a coast guard vessel pass with southern course at a distance of 6000 m. Another coast guard vessel is patrolling to and from in the east. All no worthwhile targets. Day's run: 26 =35 9.5 Landing craft in groups of 6-12 and some convoy boats are passing by several times during the day.
16:00 Qu	CJ 6795
20:23 Qu	CJ 6794	Surfacing. The destroyer locator is again audible.
	1 Sea, Stratus clouds, misty	Searching. Starting two aphrodites. Not detected.
21:43 Qu	CJ 6786	FT 2165/23 ?? 21:0916 o'clock ??
	CJ 9132	J2 A tug boat with 2 - 6000GRT. Freighter from northern convoy. Probably one sunk, one towed in. Heavy sea ?? location ?? hospital ships -Kelbing
21:49 Qu	CJ 6786	Navigation suddenly fixed with latitude 3-4. Diving. No
9/24/93	Golf of Salerno
00:00 Qu	CJ 6786
04:34 Qu	CJ 6786  No wind, smooth sea, 9/16 stratus, moonlight, good visibility, light surf	Surfacing
05:12 Qu	CJ 6794	Submerging.
08:00 Qu	CJ 6794  no wind, leaden sea	Frequent groups of landing craft and individual convoy ships [sighted] during the day. [But] nothing can be done on this leaden sea.
12:00 Qu	CJ 6794	Day's run 22 10 = 32
15:22		Received F. 1603/24 To Kelbling: Heard from B service that a steamer was sunk and another destroyed by fire on the 21st in the area of Salerno. Both steamers were of the type "war emergency." The first steamer was of the Empire series, the name of the second was "William G. Gerhard." Both types are approximately 7000 GRT. F.d.U. These must have been ours, how pleasant!
16:00 Qu	CJ 6794
21:15 Qu	CJ 6794  No wind,  6/10 stratus, moderate visibility	Surfacing. Traveling at a distance of 3000 m in front of a hospital ship leaving port in an attempt to give the locators a hard time.
22:35 Qu	CJ 6786	Destroyer sonar becomes fixed and louder. Submerging.
9/25/43	Golf of Salerno
00:00	CJ 6794
04:38 Qu	CJ 6794  SO 1 calm sea, 3/10 stratus, moonlight, moderate to good visibility	Surfacing.
05:02 Qu	CJ 6794	Submerging.
08:00 Qu	CJ 6794
11:10 Qu	CJ 6794	In the south and in the west a destroyer each is patrolling. The southern one is moving into a good firing position.
11:40 Qu	CJ 6794	Triple torpedo from tubes I, III, IV. quiet sea 0 Position right 79. Enemy speed 10 nautical miles, distance 1500 m, dispersion 3.5, depth 4 Pi 2. A hit after 96 seconds (1500 m). Shortly thereafter, a narrow smoke column about 40 m high is standing over the water, then nothing but some crinkled sheet metal is left of the destroyer. The metal also sinks a few seconds. The second destroyer turns toward us and approaches at high speed. [We] are submerging and turning to the northwest toward Capri. Two coast guard vessels also approach and search without sonar and off and on wildly [three incomprehensible words] that are too far distant.
12:00		Day's run: _18.5 14 = 32.5
16:00		Turning northwest and recharging batteries near Capri. Started sonar immediately after surfacing with destroyer aphrodites. Sonar sound slowly fading.[illegible]. Moving again toward the center of the Bay.
21:06		Submerging.

 Based on my father's account, the Skill was returning to port from patrol and another minesweeper was heading out to sea to relieve the Skill. Apparently U-593 mistook the minesweepers for destroyers.

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