SCHWIEGER AND HIS CREW SPENT A PEACEFUL NIGHT FAR out at sea. At five o’clock Friday morning, May 7, he ordered the submarine back to the surface and climbed into the conning tower. He shifted to diesel power and began charging the batteries below.
At intervals U-20 passed through mist and clarity. “From time to time, it clears up a little,” Schwieger wrote. These brief periods of clearing at first gave hope of better visibility to come, but soon all sunshine disappeared and the fog returned as dense as ever.
It was discouraging and affirmed Schwieger’s earlier decision not to proceed to Liverpool. He later recounted the story of that morning to his friend and fellow U-boat commander Max Valentiner. The heavy fog allowed “small chance of sinking anything,” Schwieger told him. “At the same time, a destroyer steaming through the fog might stumble over us before we knew anything about it.”
Schwieger wrote in his War Log, “Since the fog didn’t subside, decided already to begin the return trip now.”
He set a new course for home. As far as he was concerned, this patrol was over.