history · 09 May 1941 · 83 years ago
German submarine U-110 and U-201 attacked Allied convoy OB-318, sinking 3 British freighters. U-201 was damaged by 99 depth charges but was able to return to her home port for repairs. U-110 was forced to surface by 10 depth charges from British corvette HMS Aubretia, then shelled by destroyers HMS Bulldog and HMS Broadway. The German crew thought the submarine had already been fatally damaged and sinking, and abandoned ship. Recognizing the opportunity to capture the ship, the commanding officer of HMS Bulldog quickly rescued many of the German crew and put them belowdecks so they could not observe (but submarine commander Lemp died in the water, possibly shot as he attempted to swim back to the submarine), and sent a boarding party to capture her. The capture was completed at 1245 hours, yielding an Enigma cipher machine and code book.
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