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| 2000 23rd Aug - 2400 26th Aug 1942 |
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| 2400 26th Aug - 2400 28th Aug 1942 |
It can be seen from the log that this photo must of been taken between 1015 - 1149 on the 28th August 1942. The officer in command always wore the white schirmmütze visor cap; Rüggeberg center.
Rüggeberg, Hoffman and Hartwig all crossed the Atlantic independently; the three boats positioning themselves off the coast off the Canadian coast in the final days of August 1942. The U-165 and 517 proceeded to penetrate into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Together these two boats sunk nine ships and damaged three others during their patrols. Hoffman and all his crew were killed when the U-165 after 52 days at sea were sunk by depth charges near Lorient France. Paul Hartwig was made a POW after his boat was sunk four days after leaving Lorient on his second patrol; during the 1970s he became a Vice-Admiral after joining the new post war Bundesmarine.
The Bay of Biscay later became known as the ''Valley of Death'' due to the high number of U-boat losses incurred when leaving and entering the submarine bases of occupied France; the most dangerous time for any U-boat. Consequently the u-boat service suffered some of the highest casualty rates of any of the armed services in WW2.
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| 2400 28th Aug - 1600 3rd Sept 1942 |
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| 1600 3rd Sept - 0800 5th Sept 1942 |
The following account of what happened is taken from the official US Navy Intelligence interegation report of survivors of the U-513 at the time of her sinking in 1943. Observing ships entering Conception Bay and anchoring off Bell Island, U-513 followed a 3000 ton freighter into the harbour of Wabana the night of 4th Sept 1942. She then dived and resting on the bottom in about 80 feet , spent the night in relative comfort. Next morning a target was selected, and two torpedoes were fired at an ore steamer estimated at 9000 tons. Apparently the torpedo ratings, in the excitement of firing their first live torpedoes, had forgotten to set the battery switch from ''Charge'' to ''Fire,'' because, as soon as they left the tubes, they sank quickly to the bottom. Before the next attack could be launched . U-513 broke surface briefly, but none of the look-outs on the anchored steamers saw her.
After this incident the boat again manoeuved into firing position and shot two torpedoes at the freighter she had selected as her first victim. This time the torpedoes hit , and the steamer was observed to sink. Immediately after the explosion all other ships made frantic efforts to either shift their position or get out of the harbour. Due to the shallow water U-513 could not move with her accustomed ease, and when another of the steamers , estimated at 7000 tons , swung around suddenly on her way out , U-513 was dealt a glancing blow on the conning tower forcing her into the mud of the shallow harbour. This action , however ,was no intentional ramming, and it is doubted whether the steamer was aware that she had scrapped against the hull of a U-boat. Recovering swiftly from the blow, U-513 fired two torpedoes from her stern tubes, sinking the steamer. She then followed , submerged, in the wake of the same 3000 ton steamer which she had followed in ; but. due to the disorder caused by the collision and the general excitement , tubes were not reloaded in time to attack the steamer acting as pilot for them and she therefore escaped.
The U-513 then went out to sea to repair her damaged conning tower, about two days later she made several trial dives , transferred four torpedoes from her upper deck containers , and was again ready to continue the patrol.
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| 0800 5th Sept - 2000 6th Sept 1942 |
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| Conning Tower with extensive damage |
