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III.  THIRD AND LAST PATROL OF "U 340"
U 340 left St. Nazaire at 1815 on 17th October 1943, escorted by three small minesweepers. Orders had been received to proceed to Toulon and operate in the Mediterranean, and it was known that four other U-Boats, commanded by Boehme ("U 450"), Brunning ("U 642"), Hornkohl ("U 566"), and Carlsen ("U 732") (see C.B. 04051 (92)) were leaving Brest and La Pallice at about the same time with the same orders. Prisoners thought that only "U 450" succeeded in forcing the Straits of Gibraltar.

Included in "U 340's" complement were 15 new ratings who had been drafted to the boat shortly before sailing. "U 340" also had a number of dockyard workers on board, who were to take part in practice dives and return to St. Nazaire with the escort. At 0100 on 18th October, the U-Boat dived for the first time, reaching a depth of 190 metres (623 ft.) and trials were carried out for four hours.

Heavy seas made the transfer of the dockyard workers to the escort vessels impossible, and the U-Boat had to turn back to St. Nazaire. The workers were finally transferred at about 1400 near the harbour entrance, and the U-Boat left immediately without the escort as the route was considered clear.

The U-Boat submerged at the 50 fathom line at about 1800 and did not surface again until shortly before dawn the next day. During the passage to the Gibraltar area, the routine was to submerge at dawn and to remain below the surface for about 14 hours. They surfaced after nightfall and dived again after about two or three hours, surfacing again about three hours before dawn. The average depth when submerged was 60 metres (197 ft.). Surface speed was about 10 knots and submerged speed about 4 knots. (N.I.D. Note.  More recent prisoners have stated that U-Boats normally proceed submerged at 2-1/2 to 3 knots when on passage through the Bay of Biscay.  This seems more probable than 4 knots.)

The course followed was a straight line from St. Nazaire to Cape Finisterre and then due south to a point off the African coast in the latitude of Madeira. Prisoners were certain that the U-Boat was never nearer than 4 miles from the Spanish and Portuguese west coast.

It was the Commanding Officer's policy to avoid action before reaching the Mediterranean, and the time on the surface was cut to the absolute minimum to prevent detection that might disclose that any U-Boats were proceeding towards Gibraltar and the Mediterranean. Only twice during the passage to the Gibraltar area was the U-Boat compelled to dive as a result of receiving an aircraft contact on the G.S.R.

Two of the new-type "Naxos" G.S.R. aerials were carried, but both of these were broken before reaching the Gibraltar area, and "U 340" had to rely on her "Wanz" set, which does not receive contacts on the 8-12 cm. wavelengths for which the "Naxos" is said to be designed. Some survivors attributed the ultimate loss of the vessel to this mishap.

"U 340" proceeded from the African coast on a direct course to Gibraltar. Night surfacing was reduced even further, seldom exceeding a total of three hours per night. This part of the passage took four days, and they were attacked by searchlight aircraft on the two nights preceding the passage of the Straits.

The first attack took place during the night of 30th/31st October, when a searchlight aircraft dropped three bombs astern of the U-Boat, causing no damage. The U-Boat crash-dived to 60 metres (197 ft.) immediately. (N.I.D. Note.  At 2203 on 30th October, Wellington W of 179 Squadron, patrolling off the north-west coast of Spanish Morocco, obtained a Radar contact at a range of 6 miles.  The aircraft turned and homed on to the contact, losing height to 50 ft., and at just under half a mile the Leigh light was switched on, illuminating first the wake and then a fully surfaced U-Boat slightly to port of the aircraft position 35° 33' N., 6° 37' W.