A pivotal moment in the war on the Eastern Front, Germany suffered some 400,000 casualties, but the battle was also a significant disaster for Romanian, Hungarian and Italian troops. Axis forces at Stalingrad had collapsed the final organised resistance ending on 2 February when Generaloberst Karl Strecker surrendered to Soviet forces. While Schmidt-Weichert had been at sea, the face of the war on Russian soil had irrevocably changed. Low on fuel – and after failing with a three torpedo shot on a steamer – the boat reached Constanta at 10.39 a.m. The boat was damaged by eight depth charges from a Soviet minesweeper on 27 December, the starboard deck railing destroyed, stuffing box around the RDF antennae damaged and leaking, deck planking warped and hull slightly dented. U9 sailed once more on 19 December, escorted from harbour by Räumboot R35, but again experiencing frustrating failure. Sinking merchant tonnage off the central east coast can only bring very slight relief to the Caucasus front, I therefore consider that the U-boats should be transferred back to the area off the harbours of Poti and Batum, if only in the hope of to some extent tying down enemy naval activity, A situation report to this effect has been sent to Group South, U9 has been ordered to proceed at once to the operational area off Poti, to remain there until her return to base, and to attack large merchant vessels and warships from torpedo boat upwards. Convoys proceeding to the Crimea must therefore avoid the coast and constantly vary their route … In view of the present general situation and of Russian opportunities for interfering with our supplies, U-boat operations against warships continue to be the main task.
Russian submarines operating close inshore prove the greatest menace to convoys. As a result the main convoy traffic has now been switched from Constanta and the Danube to Sevastopol and Kerch.The available escort forces will be fully occupied. The Führer’s order for more supplies to be sent to Army Group A via the Crimea and the halting of shipping to Nikolaiev have created a new situation. It was another barren patrol, U24 returning to Constanta after twenty-two days at sea and one unsuccessful Soviet air attack: Strong phosphorescence in the water was proving problematic for the U-boat at night, the shiny wake betraying the small craft’s presence. However, the Soviet fleet movements were completed by 5 December and Schöler prowled further north. He had already attempted to torpedo a Soviet destroyer but missed as the ship zigzagged. By the beginning of December, intelligence reports indicated the return of large units of the Soviet fleet to Poti and Batum and Schöler immediately headed for the harbour approaches to lay in wait. Five days from harbour, at 12.15 p.m., Schöler’s boat was shelled by three salvoes of Turkish coastal artillery while sailing eastwards seven nautical miles offshore, forcing the boat underwater to safety. U24 put to sea once more on 24 November, her new skipper ObltzS Clemens Schöler. A single steamer estimated at 1,500 tons was missed by torpedo shot and ultimately, the twenty-one-day patrol achieved nothing except the successful photographing of Poti harbour – U9 returning after fuel ran low.įinding minimal Soviet targets, the U-boats were ordered to extend their patrol area north to Pitsunda Point, opening the hunt for merchant shipping. The patrol was relatively uneventful with only weak Soviet naval units found at sea and avoided by diving. on 11 November, bound for the same operational area that U24 had occupied. Schmidt-Weichert took the Iron-Cross boat from harbour at 7 a.m. The boat sported a large Iron Cross on either side of the conning tower – created by Lüth’s crew in remembrance of Otto Weddigen’s U9 from the last war, Weddigen Germany’s first U-boat ace. U9 had sailed against Britain and France during 1940 under the command of Wolfgang Lüth, destined to become one of the most highly decorated U-boat captains of the war. Meanwhile, Kaptlt Hans-Joachim Schmidt-Weichert’s U9 was nearing operational readiness, departure for her first patrol delayed until Petersen’s return to allow evaluation of his experience with the enemy and torpedo failures.
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