Editing German submarine U-552 (section)

===Second patrol===
''U-552'' began her second war patrol on 7 April 1941, when she left her new home port of St Nazaire for the North Atlantic. The ''U-552'' arrived in her assigned patrol area south-west of Iceland on 11 April.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hessler|first=Gunter|title=The U-Boat War in the Atlantic|publisher=HMSO Publications UK|year=1989|isbn=0117726036|pages=Diagram 10}}</ref> No targets were engaged until 26 April when at 18:09 GMT, the ''U-552'' was midway between Iceland and northern Scotland. Topp sighted “s''moke cloud bearing 10°T''” from a small “''patrol vessel size''” target. The target was followed “''at the limit of visibility''” while waiting for nightfall. At 00:10 (27 April), about 130 nautical miles SE of Iceland, the small vessel ''Commander Horton'' was attacked. The U-552 log  records “''Fishing trawler (patrol vessel) sunk with 82 shots of 8.8 cm and 102 shots MG C30.  No resistance.”''    ([https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/885.html ''Commander Horton''], 227 tones, 14 casualties).

Around 11:00 GMT on 27 April, the ''U-552'' was submerged and “''Propeller sounds heard bearing 200°T''”. Topp then commenced a surface pursuit of a large steamer. “''Estimate enemy speed 16 knots.  Am gaining only as a result of the zig zags.''” At 14:12, at grid position AL3236, the ''Beacon Grange'' was in the targeting range of 1000 meters. The submerged U-552 fired a fan of three torpedoes. All three torpedoes hit the ship. A few minutes later while the crew were launching lifeboats, the U-552 surfaced and “''ran in for a coup de grace”.''  A fourth torpedo was fired and the U-boat log records “''Hit aft 20 meters.'' … ''Steamer breaks completely in the center, deck awash, ends continue to float.”''     '''('''[https://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/887.html ''Beacon Grange''], 10,119 tones, 2 casualties)

During the afternoon of 28 April 1941, a historic battle was underway about 180 miles south of Iceland. A wolf pack “''Rudeltaktik''” of five U-boats had launched the war's first submerged daylight attack on a convoy. The submerged U-boats, which were spread out over a distance of about 10 miles, intercepted and attacked an east-bound convoy. The [[German submarine U-123 (1940)|''U-123'']] (Karl-Heinz Moehle), had spotted [[HX convoys|Convoy HX-121]] and called in [[German submarine U-65 (1939)|''U-65'']] (Joachim Hoppe), [[German submarine U-95 (1940)|''U-95'']] (Gerd Schreiber), [[German submarine U-96 (1940)|''U-96'']] (Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock), and ''U-552'' (Erich Topp) for the kill. ''U-552'' started things off at 14:15 GMT (60°06’N 20°18’W), when it torpedoed the British tanker [https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship896.html ''Capulet'']. Nine casualties resulted, and the tanker was abandoned, but did not sink. At 17:25, three more ships were sunk by ''U-96'' with one spread of three torpedoes: British tanker ''Oilfield'' (47 casualties, 8 survivors); Norwegian tanker ''Caledonia'' (12 casualties, 25 survivors); and British freighter ''Port Hardy'' (one casualty). ''U-65'' was sunk by [[HMS Douglas|HMS ''Douglas'']] in a depth-charge attack, and all 50 men in the crew perished.

After torpedoing the tanker ''Capulet'', ''U-552'' was depth charged in five separate attacks from destroyers [[HMS Maori (F24)|HMS ''Maori'']] and [[HMS Inglefield (D02)|HMS ''Inglefield'']], forcing the submarine to remain submerged for hours until the convoy was out of range. The ''U-552'' had been damaged and this would be a troubled day, with attacks from air and sea as it neared the convoy, swift dives, and gingerly resurfacing. After diving and hearing nothing at 01:45 on the 30th, Erich Topp realized that Convoy HX-121 must have changed course to the north. His convoy pursuit was broken off and his boat came to a southerly course. At 02:18 GMT, Topp sent a message to B.d.U. (Admiral Dönitz): “S''ank: “Beacon Grange”, a patrol vessel. From convoy tanker 8000 tons. Return Transit via North Channel.'' [My position] ''AM2477''.” In his log, Topp recorded “''Intention: As long as fuel allows, position in North Channel''.”

On 30 April, the surfaced ''U-552'' was about 150 nautical miles west of the North Channel entrance … and searching for targets. At 21:40 GMT, Topp sighted a ship, the troopship ''S.S. Nerissa'' approaching from the north-west. For almost 2 hours, Topp stalked the zigzagging ''Nerissa'' and adjusted his torpedo firing solution accordingly. Finally, Topp saw a phosphorescent glow on the sea and decided that 1,000 metres was as close as he should approach his target, and he fired a fan of three torpedoes. The ''U-552'' log records that one of the three torpedoes “''hit astern''” at 00:27 Berlin Time (GMT+2). About 6 minutes later, Topp closed in on the already stricken ship and fired a fourth torpedo as a ''coup de grace'' into ''Nerissa's'' aft starboard side while her crew and passengers were launching lifeboats. More than half of the 207 casualties were Canadians.     ([[SS Nerissa (1926)|''SS Nerissa'']], 5,583 tones, casualties 207)  

The ''U-552'' had four remaining torpedoes and she continued searching for merchant ships in transit towards the North Channel. Topp was not successful in engaging any additional targets and almost 48 hours after sinking the ''SS Nerissa'', the ''U-552'' commenced her homeward transit south. She arrived in St Nazaire on 6 May.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dziadyk|first=William|title=S.S. Nerissa, the Final Crossing|year=2019|isbn=9781704113821|pages=ch 4, 6 and 8|publisher=Independently Published }}</ref>  <ref>{{Cite web|title=U-boat Kriegstagebücher (KTB) logs|url=http://www.uboatarchive.net/|website=U-boat Archive}}</ref><ref name="Patrol2">{{cite web
 |url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_1270.html
 |title=Patrol info for U-552 (Second patrol)
 |last=Helgason
 |first=Guðmundur
 |website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
 |access-date=15 May 2010
}}</ref>