The Patrols
Patrol 07 - 26.08.1940-25.09.1940
26.08.1940 U-47 departs dock at Kiel.
02.09.1940 Steam passenger/cargo ship Ville de Mons (Belgium, 7,430 grt), attacked by torpedo, sunk. Time of first attack, 1635 hours. Location 58°20N/12°00W.
04.09.1940 Steam freighter Titan (United Kingdom, 9,034 grt), part of convoy OA-207 UK-Sydney, attacked by torpedo, sunk. Time of first attack, 0128 hours. Location 58°14N/15°50W. Prien also includes in his estimates a freighter of 4,000grt.
05.09.1940 Matrosen-Stabsobergefreiter Heinrich Mantyk is swept overboard whilst manning the deck gun. He is U-47's only loss during combat.
07.09.1940 Steam freighter Neptunian (United Kingdom, 5,155 grt), part of convoy SC-2, attacked by torpedo, sunk. Time of first attack, 0404 hours. Location 58°27N/17°17W. The Neptunian is one of three vessels to be sunk in quick succession by U-47 as part of an attack alongside U-65.
07.09.1940 Steam freighter José de Larrinaga (United Kingdom, 5,303 grt), part of convoy SC-2, attacked by torpedo, sunk. Time of first attack, 0515 hours. Location 58°30N/16°10W.
07.09.1940 Steam freighter D/S Gro (Norway, 4,211 grt), part of convoy SC-2, attacked by torpedo, sunk. Time of first attack, 0533 hours. Location 58°30N/16°10W.
09.09.1940 Steam freighter Possidon (Greece, 3,840 grt), part of convoy SC-2, attacked by torpedo, sunk. Time of first attack, 0024 hours. Location 56°43N/09°16W.
21.09.1940 Convoy HX-72 en route from Halifax/New York to Liverpool, sighted by U-47 acting as weather boat. U-47 joined in attack by U-29, U-32, U-43, U-46, U-48, U-65, U-99 and U-100. Steam freighter Elmbank (United Kingdom, 5,156 grt), part of convoy HX-72, attacked by torpedo and deck gunfire, damaged. Time of first attack, approx. 1500 hours. Location 55°20N/22°30W. With U-47 out of torpedoes, the Elmbank was finally sunk by gunfire from U-99, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer.
25.09.1940 U-47 returns to dock at Lorient, France. (The process of transferring the 7th U-Flottille from Kiel to its new administration home in St. Nazaire began in September 1940. It was not until June 1941 that this move was completed. Until then, St. Nazaire did not have the support and storage facilities needed by U-boats and their crews. U 47 was based at Lorient, which had been used as a U-boat base since July 1940.)
Total days at sea: 31
Enemy vessels sunk: 6
Total tonnage: 34,973 grt.
Total days in port: 20
