> have you considered the possibility that it
> could have been a friendly submarine just 'keeping an eye on
> things'

I suppose that's a possibility (I don't know if the crew of the Wilhelmina were made privy to information about the specifics of the sub), but I wonder if the RAF would have come out to chase it off?

Then again, maybe, unknown to the ship's crew, they were being escorted and the sub wasn't chased off, but merely left once the RAF had arrived and could assume it's own escort.

On the other hand, if I'm not mistaken, I believe that there was at one time a directive from Doernitz that his subs were not to fire on clearly civilian ships (at least American and British - when Hitler felt there was still a chance that Britain would sue for peace). But I don't know if a ship fleeing from occupied territory would fall under the guidelines of the directive. (The directive, I think, was later rescinded after the Allies sank a German ship carrying wounded soldiers).

Thanks for this new aspect to the mystery. I'll keep in mind while I search for the answer.

Tony