Hello Jan-Olof,

Thank you for your comments. The attack on U 62 on 29 July was carried out by another submarine, HMS SEALION, which fired 3 torpedoes at 2049 and 3 more at 2054 and then opened fire with her 3" gun, firing 2 rounds before U 62 submerged (Position: 58°27 N/04°24 E which is quite near AN 3175).
The war diary of U 62 shows that she sighted a submarine at 0330/29 in Qu 2912, she avoided it by running to the west on the surface. I do not think this submarine was THAMES as it was too far north, it was probably HMS TRITON. At 2233 (German time) she sighted a periscope and then two torpedo wakes which missed her by about 100 meters to port and starboard. At 2250 a large submarine surfaced at about 2500 meters and opened fire and U 62 dived to escape. The time may not coincide exactly but this was not uncommon during the excitement of the moment and I have no doubt this refers to SEALION's attack.
Returning to the THAMES, the counter-attack by the escort of GNEISENAU was ineffective and it is very doubtful that THAMES was lost as a result of it. This is why the general concensus is that she was mined on her return trip. Of course we may never know the exact cause.

Best regards,

Platon