Time after time some twist of fate had saved them. A certain amount of that luck was not luck at all but instead due to his ability to do the unexpected.
This successful man made most of his own luck. He had a thorough knowledge of almost every naval battle that had ever been fought. Walter had fought more battles in his own mind than probably any living man.
His crew thought him a lucky Captain and the U- 47 a lucky U boat. This was a hard combination to beat and it gave the crew the confidence to carry out some heroic feats. They were lucky.
Most of the shipping the U- 47 had sunk though was along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States.
The Americans were, early on, not using convoys. There Naval resources were stretched to thin, they had to many ships committed to the Pacific Ocean. The Americans had put most of there priorities in the Pacific.
Ships running along the Gulf stream were Occasionally Patrolled by Brave Coast Guard Boats and Crews. They fought hard but the boats were old and slow and they were to few. The crews had almost no know how in submarine warfare. They were trained in life saving not killing.
A few old British Corvettes from World War One were sent to help. Their crews were experienced, battle hardened and Old. Most had fought submarines in the Great War. Had the Americans Convoyed there shipping even these old boats may have destroyed many U boats.
Walter had gone to Berlin with Admiral Donet'z to convince the Furer that they would do well to stop the shipping at the Atlantic coast of America. They felt It was a was a waste of resources to attack shipping in the Mediterranean and out in the Atlantic. Vessels in these area's were all in convoy and well protected.
The German High Command seemed blind to this logic. All they could think of was protecting the South of Europe. Good Unterseaboots, Commanders and crews were wasted in battle with Navy vessels. It was the cargo vessels that brought the men, munitions and scarce fuel to Europe. These ships kept the allied war machine running on Gasoline and bunker oil for it's warships.
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