Thank you, again, for a correction, Nom Anor. Of course, U 47, type U 43. You don't do a sideline in book proof-reading, do you?

Here's another faulty memory: Wasn't there a dramatic story of a number of u-boats from the Mediterranean deciding to go back home to Germany near the end of the war rather than scuttle their boats and then rushing the straits at Gibraltar where the Royal Navy was waiting in numbers. Where did I read that?

With regard to your two questions, perhaps it was a matter of parts that couldn't be locally manufactured and waiting in vain for replacements. Easy to fix if only one had the right bits.

So, question 3 might be: How did the commanders and men of the scuttled boats get home if they didn't go with other (cramped) u-boats. Train through Austria-Hungary? By October, the Hapsburg front was collapsing on all sides. Not a good time to travel.

Best wishes
Chris