20.1.1945
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            Skl/K A                                                                                                  xxxxxxxxxxxxx  
                                                                                                    Tambach at Coburg (13a)  
                                                                                                  Tel. Coburg 3582.
     
     
 
               Herrn
                          Fregattenkapitän Brümmer - Patzig
 
                                                             P  i  l  l  a  u  .
 
 
Enclosed is a draft copy depicting the attack by "U-86" on the English steamer
 
"Llandovery Castle" on 27 June 1918, intended for the Naval Warfare Work.
 
The Navy's War Science Department asks you to state whether this wording
 
corresponds to your understanding or whether changes should be suggested.
 
     
                                                                              On behalf of  
     
     
     
                                                                              
     
     
     
     
     
Click the flag to view the above page from the original German KTB
     

 
  At about 120 nm SW of Ireland with breezy seas and good visibility, a large steamer without protection on an east to northeast course was in sight.  During the afternoon hours "U-86" held contact on the steamer at the limit of visibility and reached a position ahead in the evening.  At dusk around 9.30 PM as the boat was was already in the process of diving to start the attack, the lights steamer's lights were turned on,  According to the ship officers, the prescribed lighting of a hospital ship in the dark.  But it was still twilight and at that moment the steamer did not show the U-boat the broadside, but was seen by the boat from ahead in a sharp angle, so doubts about the meaning of the lights could arise.  The diving maneuver had to be carried out without hesitation if the U-boat was to remain unseen in any case. There was no time to look calmly at the picture of the ship with the binoculars from the conning tower of the submerged U-boat.  The further observation of the target and its particular light configuration through the periscope was, like any periscope observation limited to a few seconds, imperfect.  As an experienced U-boat Kommandant, the Kommandant of "U-86" knew the enemy had been using treacherous deceptions of many kinds since the deployment of the enemy's Q ships and U-boat traps had given the naval war such a harsh character.  The Kommandant of "U-86" was also aware that there was sufficient reason to suspect that the enemy hospital ships were being misused, in that they were being used not only to transport wounded and medical personnel, but also military personnel and material for warfare.+)
          The ship was now approaching quickly, the torpedo tubes were ready, and a decision had to be made immediately.  Mistrust prevailed and was decisive for the Kommandant. He fired two torpedoes, one of which hit.  Shortly after the torpedo hit, a second heavy detonation occurred inside the ship.  After 10 minutes it sank.
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  +) See memorandum from the German Government to the Governments of the Entente Powers [France, the United Kingdom, Russia, the United States, Italy, and Japan] of 29.1.17 and 29.3.17.