Hello

Some days it is probably best just not to get out of bed. Thank you to Oliver for correcting my two errors and apologies to everyone else for making them. I am at a loss to explain the lapse except that I was trying quickly - too quickly, obviously - to help Nom Anor with an answer.

First, U 47, Erich Gerth, sailed out of Cattaro Bay accompanied by U 35 on 10 August 1918. Gerth never commanded U 35. I misread my quite clear notes of last year's transcription of U 47's KTB. The details of this short unsuccessful war voyage for Gerth are as described by me and by Oliver in this thread.

Second, U 35 was never interned in Spain after the evacuation of the Adriatic bases, but made it home. I took the information for this part of the reply from Wilson and Kemp, Mediterranean Submarines, p. 186, where it states that U 35 opted for internment. No excuse! The u-boat that did opt for internment was UC 74 at Barcelona when it ran out of fuel.

None of this takes away from the poor long-standing state of maintenance in the Adriatic and its effect on all of the boats, including U 35. This quote may be useful: Vizeamiral Andreas Michelsen explained that not much was done at Pola and even less at Cattaro. ‘[This was] negligence for which they paid dearly. The German submarines had need of big repair works and [not having them] reduced the gains in the theatre of operations that the Mediterranean offered and which could have been so profitable.’ (Laurens, Histoire de la Guerre Sous-Marine Allemande), p. 367. At one stage only five u-boats were operational, while twenty-eight were in the dockyard or undergoing maintenance.

Best wishes
Chris