German Submarine U-27 (1936) - Service History

Service History

U-27 had a very short career, conducting only one war patrol and sinking only two enemy vessels before she herself was sunk. She left Wilhelmshaven on her first war patrol on 23 August 1939. For a period of 24 days, she traveled down the coast of Germany and neutral Belgium and the Netherlands, through the English Channel and out into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland. Here, the boat sank two British trawlers, totaling 624 tons. The first attack took place at 2:55 on 13 September, 21 nautical miles (39 km) northwest of Tory Island, when the trawler Davara was shelled by U-27's deck gun. Following the sinking of the Davara, her captain and 11 other crew members were picked up by the steam merchant ship Willowpool. The second vessel to be sunk was the trawler Rudyard Kipling. The attack took place at 3:53 on 16 September, 100 nautical miles (190 km) west of the west coast of neutral Ireland, with the ship being sunk by scuttling charges from U-27. Following the sinking of the Rudyard Kipling, the submarine picked up the crew of the trawler who were then given food and warm clothes. Eight hours later, Rudyard Kipling's crew were allowed to re-enter their lifeboats to row the remaining 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) to Ireland.