The crew of U-126 took a brief shore leave while the kaleun went on holiday to Chicago.

I got 4 or 5 pics of the U-505 bow area when my battery died!!! :damn:

*sigh* Oh well, I'll post those anyway. Should be going back that way at the end of July. I'll get some great pics then.

Back at sea, patrolling Long Island Sound.

Report to follow.

U-83 VIIB
 

Patrol No3
15 November 1939
U-83 left Wilhelmshaven for her 3rd patrol for grid AN13

18 November 1939
Grid AN41
16:09 hours Merchant seen
16:15 hours Positive ship ID: Small trawler
16:27 hours Ship sunk with 2cm Flak
16:54 hours Aircraft spotted medium range engaged with flak gun
16:55 hours Avro Anson shot down

19 November 1939
Grid AN14
06:53 hours Warship spotted dived to PD
10:00 hours Surfaced
15:38 hours Aircraft spotted medium range engaged with flak gun
15:39 hours Avro Anson shot down

27 November 1939
Grid AM52
19:25 hours Merchant seen
19:35 hours Ship ID: Small merchant or freighter
19:44 hours Opened fire with the deck gun
19:45 hours Merchant returned fire - Qship
19:48 hours Ship sunk after 48 88mm rounds. The enemy fired 10 or 11 rounds all of them were way off aimed

30 November 1939
Grid AM52
05:24 hours Merchant seen
05:27 hours Ship ID: medium merchant 01 - dived to PD
05:41 hours TI fired at close range - impact - ship slowing down
05:42 hours Surfaced to finish the target with the deck gun
05:44 hours Ship sunk after 12 88mm rounds

14 December 1939
Grid AN11
19:39 hours Merchant seen
19:47 hours Positive ID : Coastal freighter - dived to PD
19:53 hours TI fired
19:54 hours Impact - ship seen sinking

15 December 1939
Grid AN11
05:02 hours Warship seen - dived to PD
05:03 nours Multiple warship sounds - TF approaching very fast
05:13 hours 4 TIs fired at HMS Hood at close range
05:14 hours 4 Impacts the HMS Hood went down after a series of explosions.
05:33 hours Pinging by the escorts diving to 100m DCs fell no damages.
05:54 hours Depth 100m no pinging no DCs
06:13 hours Depth 157m no pinging
12:00 hours Surface , the glory is ours.

16 December 1939
Grid AN14
16:01 hours Merchant seen
16:08 hours Positive ID: Sailing ship
16:29 hours Ship sunk by 2cm flak

19 December 1939
16:29 hours U-83 returned to port.
6 ships sunk
58371 tons
2 aircraft shot down
No casualties or damages

vonHarris left U-83 to the hands of his IWO and took command of the U-111 IXB U-boot
U-126 is in dry dock and the crew on leave.
No news of the other Kaleuns so far.

U-10, patrol 2
 

Ob.lt.z.s. Harry Wiebus
U-10, type IIA
2.Flotille, Kiel
5.10.1939

Back from a leave in Berlin. I very much prefer the sea and the battle to some lazy days doing pretty much nothing in Berlin - although seeing Ilse Werner singing in die Konzerthalle was quite something. What a beautiful voice and what a beautiful woman!

Sunk one Polish 2000 BRT freighter escaping from Poland on the 30th of September and a British 1800 BRT freighter heading towards Norway on the 2nd of October, grids AN35 and AN 61. Winds of 15 m/s but G7a's worked fine, ranges 650 and 800 meters, gyro angle 0, impact time AOB 90, depth 5 meters, MZ pistol, torpedo running speed 40 knots.

The hydrophone man swears that the Polish ship changed it's RPM's a few seconds before impact. It is possible that the bubble streams of the torpedoes were noticed, despite the heavy seas.

Lots of neutral ship traffic, no enemy air activity.

Our boats have wreaked havoc and the Royal Navy is in deep trouble. Especially U-83 has made an impression. Kaleun Vonharris was interviewed in Time after sinking two capital ships.

U37 IX(A). Patrol 1. Part 3.
 

Continued from our last report from AM49 on 13.sep.39

13.sep.39 - 20.sep.39
BF11 - BF12 - BF13
Numerouse contacts with ASW Patrols.
No merchant contacts in area to date.

20.sep.39
BF13
1610: Radio dispatch: "Convoy. BF15. W. 6 knots."
1611: Full Ahead for BF14.
1640: "Ship spotted! 354. Long range." Dive to evade Destroyer.
1656: Destroyer passed to port. Short range. Undetected.
1830: Surface and resume.

21.sep.39
BF14
0751: "Ship spotted! 315. Long range." Corvette.
Commence an end run, in hopes he is an escort.
0807: Contact report sent. "Convoy. BF145. 259. 6 knots."
0855: Turning bow on to lead escort. Destroyer.
0856: Diving for attack on convoy.
0913: U37 breeches surface, and has attracted the lead escort.
0914: New depth 99 meters.
0945: Convoy over head. DD was unable to locate us submerged. Wind 15 M/S.

KM 1. Contact report sent.
RN 1. Foiled torpedo attack. No merchants lost.

1120: Surface and commence end run.
1338: Lead DD sighted. Bow on, and dive for attack.
1420: Fire 2 (TII G7E). 4 meters depth. All magnetic pistols active.
1421: Fire 4 (TII G7E). 4 meters depth.
1422: Impact! 90 second run. Impact! 30 second run. New depth 100 meters.
1422 - 1423: 2 Small Merchants sunk for 4.681 GRT.
4+ escorts. 1+ Destroyer. 1+ Corvette. 1+ Trawler.

KM 3. RN 1.

1728: Status report sent:
3 Freighters sunk for 7.024 GRT.
6 of 12 torpedoes remaining.

2102: Save & Exit.

Long Island Sound?! You're crazy!

Stay safe.

Yes,go,go

1 February 1943

From: BdU

To: All U-boats

Subject: U-126

After an impressive patrol of the American east coast and Greater Antilles, racking up 12 kills and approximately 55,000 tons of shipping, on 27 January, U-126 reported contact with a convoy northwest of Puerto Rico, and was maneuvering for an attack.

BdU has had no contact with U-126 since that time.

Report all contacts with U-126 since 27 January.

End

Kaleun's Note:

While loading external torpedos, we had a run-in with a PBY off the coast of Virginia and took some damage. Evidently, it was worse than I thought.

While diving, after an unsuccessful attack on the above mentioned convoy, (three torpedos missed at under 2000 meters :damn:), U-126 had a catastrophic hull failure at 105 meters.

There was the sound of glass breaking, I gave the order to raise to 40 meters, more glass, then... MISSION SUMMARY.

It was pretty boring, actually. The air traffic kept us at 2 knots at PD, even at night. No commercial traffic to speak of.

Did manage to sink a Fletcher class which stumbled into our lair! :yeah:

U-10, patrol 3
 

Ob.lt.z.s. Harry Wiebus
U-10, "die Elster", type IIA
2.Flotille, Kiel
15.11.1939

Patrol report 25.10.-3.11.1939.

Patrolled grid AN59. Spotted two 4000 - 5000 BRT freighters, heard one more and sighted one armed trawler. No airplane sightings. Three G7a torpedoes shot surfaced at a freighter, gyro angle 35, depth 7 meters, MZ pistol, range 500 - 800 meters. One missed, two early detonations. The weather was stormy, wind 22 m/s, heavy rain. Hydrophone bearings were not reliable. Collided with an armed trawler, escaped submerging for a few minutes and then running away surfaced, contact lost soon in low visibility.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/6...medtrawler.png

Two internal G7a's could not be loaded because of the high winds and the fact that our patrol grid was too shallow to dive to 30 meters for a reload. Returned to base with a very low moral and then we hear U-126 has been lost. Our boat's pressure hull was badly damaged in the collision and took almost two weeks to repair. I let the men paint a magpie on the conning tower. We need all the luck we can get.

Wiebus

U-93 "Steigendes Pferd"
 

24.12.1942 Visibility 9km, no clouds, wind 1 m/s, early morning, 150km West from Scapa Flow.

-"Sooooomwheeeeere oooover the raaainbow..."- Johann surely has strong lungs, but his voice is far from perfect. He doesn't have an ear for music too. Since he has no idea how bad he is in singing, we have serious situation here. Unfortunately, he likes to sing very much. Anyway... I can't think about Johann's passion for music, because after very tensed night we gain contact with convoy. I'm terribly tired, but like most part of the crew I'm in good mood. It's just like in happy times, hunting Tommys. Let's start from events from last night.

Yesterday evening, we gather information about large convoy travelling along NE British coast, heading Scapa Flow, 5kt. I suspected, that they're not going to finish their journey in Scapa. Rather I expect them to sneak through the pass between South Ronaldsay - Swona - Hoy islands, and Stroma island.
This knowledge gave me the opportunity to intercept the convoy. All I need is to find myself on the West side of the pass just before convoy came there. To do this I need to sail around north side of Orkney: North Ronaldsay, Sanday, Westray and West side of Orkney Mainland. I ordered "flank ached" and we start our adventure. Very soon North Ronaldsay island came into visibility range. I was very curious in differences between 09.39 and 12.42 here. How strong is the defence? In '39 I was able to infiltrate the harbour of Scapa Flow (not sinking any ships), but now? I was too scared to sail between Orkneys and Scotland. Maybe my fear is unjustifiable? I'm about to leave the bridge when Metox gives us radar signal warning. Two contacts bearing 350 and holding. Are they closing or sailing away? I grab binoculars, and so is the watch. After 5 minutes it looks like our contacts are moving into same direction as we are. I decide to stay surface, otherwise I can forget about catching convoy. They seem to keep their heading, but that's not all the troubles. Very soon we get another Metox warning. This contact seems to sail in opposite direction, but for from our starboard, but with the next contact we don't have so much luck. They seem to run straight on us. In this situation, and with hostile activity on starboard we have no choice:
-Johann, we need to get closer to the land.
-If we do this we may won't be able to dive
-I take that risk, change course.
And again, minutes full of tension, when we observe Destroyers sailing on maximum range of visibility. We spend all the night circling around, many times surrounded by radar signals from every direction. All in purpose of reaching targeted waypoint on time. There's almost morning, and we're 15 km from suspected convoy route, when we receive multiple radar signals from expected direction. Is this our convoy?
-Dive to periscope depth- I need to confirm this, and after a minute I have confirmation of convoy presence. -Surface the boat!
We came just in time, and honestly I can't imagine how could I wait for convoy here with all these boats around. Thankfully there's the free way to go to the West. No radar signals from this direction.

-Two planes, direction 240! Alaaaaaarm! Dive! Dive! Dive! Sound of alarm breaks my meditations. We were travelling quite fast, so boat hides herself under the surface of water very fast.
We're reaching 24m when large KABOOOM! shakes my boat! Firstly I thought about hitting a ground so I ordered to stop the engines, Kaboom! and boat shakes again. That's surely not the ground. I memorize that the see here has far more than 25m deep. So that are DC's! From planes!
-Hull slightly damage, minor leakages, no serious damage to the boat- CE calms me down, I start to like this guy. After training he become valuable part of the crew.
-What's the situation on our larboard hydro?
-They keep their course, seem that convoy escort isn't wiling to chase us.
-Keep 25m depth, we're staying submerged for 30 minutes, both engines 200rpm chief!

30 minutes of peace. Now I have time to go back to events from last night...

to be continued...

Patrol #3,Rpt1, From R.Hessler U-65 (IXB)
 

10th January,1941
Word from Lorient harbour-master was passed to Kln Hessler that his boat (U65) is now ready to be victualed and loaded ready for patrol, following major repairs and a re-fit to the pressure hull. Hessler had the Lorient admin staff write to his crew to summon them for duty as of January 15th, ready for departing at some stage during the following 24 hours.

15th Jan 1941
Crew of U65 begin to arrive in Lorient, as harbour staff continue to load on food, torpedoes and gun ammunition. The pace of his improved in the afternoon five-fold once the crew realised what was going on and jumped in to assist.

15/1/1941 8pm
By dinner-time U65 is provisioned, loaded and ready to depart for sea. All of the staff from U65 have arrived bar, two "ratings" one of which we are informed won't be returning. Dinner is taken by the whole crew in the mess-hall before they all formally board U65, the ratings prefering to spend the night sleeping in thier quarters with other officers and staff
sleeping on shore, appart from Hessler, who occupies his bunk within U65.

16/1/1941 5am
All of the staff are up and about, and the formal pagentry begins. As the band plays, Hessler formally issues his first commands and orders the engines started, which start first time. Engine is put into gear and propulsion test succesful, the lines are slipped and finally, for the first time in months U65 slips from her berth and is steered for sea.

16/1/1941 6:30am
West of the Island of Lorient another two U-boats are sighted returning, a VII/C and a IX/B

16/1/1941 6:30pm
A quiet day thus far with calm seas and winds and no contacts to speak of.
Various hydrophone sweeps turned up no sounds at all.

16/1/1941 11pm
another hdyrophone sweep is made with the vessel at 13m depth (periscope depth). As the sweep is clear, Kaluen Hessler orders all non essential personnel to rest and "light's out" is ordered.

17/1/1941 8am
Back underway again, and now we are about a day's motoring away from our designated patrol grid. Our last hydrophone sweep turned up nothing but marine life & various kinds of fish, which were obviously feeding, due to some surface disturbances detected by our soundman, which made for some very interesting listening. As we surfaced, and re-started running on
diesels, we could actually see what was going on - obviously a big fish or mammal was feeding down there, but it stayed submerged.

17/1/1941 1pm
Lunch is taken whilst performing another hydrophone sweep. Shortly after lunch an intelligence radio message comes in sighting two merchant vessel's line astern. the position is marked on the map and an estimate means they are around 30km away from us at present - we can get to thier area in acouple of hours!

17/1/1941 3pm
We are in hydrophone contact with the enemy - they are still some distance off, but thier fiegnt distinct propulsion sounds are audiable on a hydrophone sweep.

17/1/1941 4pm
The Kaluen is having a lye down when he hears a muffled "ship spotted" cry from the bridge, followed by "Kapitan, report to the bridge!"request....Kaluen hessler arises from his bunk and climbs the ladder to see what the comotion is about - sure enough there are two sets of smoke trails, indicating there are two vessels out there. our speed is already
"ahead flank" and we should be in firing position soon.

[/FONT]

U-111 IXB
 

19 January 1940
vonHarris was just ready to put U-111 to sea when his radioman came on the turm with the news.
U-126 had been lost with all hands. A sad event but is there a war with no casualties? Great men of U-126: Your death will not be unavenged!
U-93 was on the process of attacking a convoy.Good luck
U-37 had succesfully attacked a convoy sinking two merchants
U-10 on the other hand was unlucky and suffered serious damages after a collision with an enemy armed trawler.
U-65 was already at sea ready for action.

23:38 hours U-111 left port

10 February 1940
After almost a month of doing nothing but drills we finally had some action
Grid CG94
21:03 hours Sound contact two merchants - A storm was raging on the surface
21:31 hours 4 TIs fired , 2 at each target
21:32 hours 4 impacts but no sinking sounds
22:15 hours following the sound signatures of the merchants - no sinking sounds
22:29 hours Surface in the storm , fired 1 TI , impact.
22:35 hours Ships lost in the fog. 5 torpedoes wasted!

24 February 1940
Grid AM52
11:43 hours Sound contact merchant approaching
11:50 hours contact still closing
12:02 hours Positive ID : Tramp steamer
12:23 hours 1 TI (stern) fired at close range - impact - ship sunk in seconds

29 February 1940
Grid AM02
01:40 hours Moving to intercept convoy
02:12 hours Sound contact with convoy - 4 escorts and a big warship within the columns of the convoy
02:25 hours Positive ID : Revenge class BB in a perfect position.
02:38 hours 3 TI (bow) fired at close range - 2 impacts - 1 TI (bow) fired all at the battleship
02:39 hours Impact
02:41 hours 1 TI (stern) at a small merchant
02:42 hours 1 TI (stern) at a tramp steamer - sinking sounds
02:43 hours Impact - sinking sounds - diving to 100m undetected
06:32 hours Surfaced , no damages

7 March 1940
Grid AM32
09:09 hours Warship seen - diving to PD
09:21 hours Positive ID : 1 DD 1 AUx cruiser 1 Armed Merchant Cruiser
09:28 hours 2 TI (bow) fired at the Aux cruiser
09:29 hours Impacts - ship sunk in seconds - AMC started evasive actions
09:30 hours 2 TI (bow) fired at the AMC
09:31 hours Impact - ship cut in half
11:00 hours Surface
11:10 hours ALARM - AIRCRAFT - CRASH DIVE
21:37 hours Surface

11 March 1940
01:14 hours U-111 docked at port
53 days at sea
5 ships sunk
63063 tons
no damages - casualties

http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/7948/patrolmap.jpg



We took revenge for U-126.
vonHarris had been promoted to Kapitanleutnant and received the Knight's Cross
Promotions and medals for the crew as well plus a 25 days leave to rest and visit their families.

U37 IX(A). Patrol 1. Part 4.
 

Continued from last report, from BF14, 0n 21.sep.39, at 2102


22.sep.39
BF15
1643: "Ship spotted! 035. Long range."
1644: Coastal Merchant. New course 114 (Bow on).
1649: Man the deck gun.
1654: Target, IDed as english, and evading inspection.
1657: Warning shot fired across the bow.
1658: Target turning away, and continueing evasive maneuvering.
1659: Open fire with deck gun.
1700: Fire tube 2. Impact! Target sunk. BF1533. New depth 50 meters.

2302: Status report sent: BF1611. 4 sunk. 5 torpedoes remaining.

23.sep.39
BF13
0231: "Ship spotted! 358. Long range." Dive for Destroyer.
0233: Multiple sound contacts. Convoy!
0234: Clear & Calm. ½ moon. Total depth 130 meters. Night submerged.
0315: Fire 3 (TI G7A) at T2 Tanker - Long range.
0317: Fire 2 (TII G7E) at Small Merchant - Short range. 2 impacts!
0319: Small Merchant sunk for 2.340 GRT.
0324: Active ASDIC at 214. Short range.
0326: Passing 60 meters.
0329: Passing 70 meters. More ASDIC heard.
0337: 3 warships now searching. Undetected.
0443: Surface! Cargo ship and Corvette visible.
0444: Tube 2 to be reloaded during end run. No reloads for tube 3.

BF129
0619: Depth under keel 102 meters.
0629: Dive for attack. Total depth 99 meters.
0704: Sunrise.
0711: Fire 1, 2, 4 (TII G7E) at T2 Tanker - Long range. New depth 87 meters.
0715: No hits!
0747: Rear escort concluded port to port passage at short range. Undetected.

1114: Status report sent: 5 sunk. 0 torpedoes remaining.
1138: BDU to U37: Return to base.

BF12
1303: A L A R M ! Crash dive for A/C.

28.sep.39
AE93 (NW of Færøerne)
2129: A L A R M ! Crash dive for A/C.
2245: Surface. Ahead Standard (11 knots).

3.okt.39
AN98
1930: Docked at Willy.

Patrol results:
5 merchants sunk for 11.414 GRT.
12 of 12 torpedoes expended.
Crew & Hull Integrity 100%.

You and the crew, seems to be in the form now,but BdU expect more GRT!

U-10, patrol 4
 

Ob.lt.z.s. Harry Wiebus
U-10, "die Elster", type IIA
2.Flotille, Kiel
5.12.1939

Patrol report 23.11.-5.12.1939.
Patrolled grid AN21. Three destroyer sightings in the grid, no merchants. A single 1800 BRT coastal freighter was sunk in grid AN28. A night surface attack made against a convoy with two destroyers as escorts in grid AN41. Very dark night, wind 6 m/s, cloudy. The escorts did not see us at an approximate distance of 2700 meters. Three G7a's launched at very distant ships. One hit after a run of five minutes and 20 seconds, indicating a run of 5 kilometers. No ship sunk, however. The merchant and the convoy were between Aberdeen and Glasgow. Possibly there is a route between those ports.

June 22nd 1941

From Bdu to U-125 IXB

Get your boat up to Northern Russia and sink there commie ships.


I'm on it. :salute:

Just be sure and dress warm! :03:

U-111 IXB
 

Patrol No5
11 April 1940
Wilhemshaven, U-111 was ready to leave port. U-10 was coming in after a short patrol with a single pennant flying on her scope and U-37 returned as well with 5 pennants and some 11K tons. U-125 had left for the Northen Atlantic and those cold seas.
08:28 hours U-111 departed for grid AN84(!)

15 April 1940
Grid AN84
12:04 hours Moving to intercept convoy after BdU message
Grid AN76
12:56 hours Sound contact with convoy - foggy weather - low visibility
13:44 hours 1 TI(bow) fired
13:45 hours 1 TI(bow) fired
13:46 hours Impact
13:47 hours Sinking sounds - not confirmed visualy
15:25 hours Surface , BdU confirmed the sinking of a coastal freighter

24 April 1940
Grid AM52
07:53 hours Moving to intercept convoy after BdU message
09:13 hours Visual contact with convoy
09:27 hours 1 TI (bow) fired
09:29 hours Impact - 1 TI (bow) fired
09:30 hours 1 TI (bow) fired - impact
09:32 hours Impact - sinking sounds - small freighter sunk
09:35 hours 1 TI (stern) fired - impact
09:37 hours Sinking sounds - Black swan class sunk - not the intented target
09:41 hours 1 TI (stern) fired
09:43 hours Diving to 100m - impact - sinking sounds - S class submarine unintended, the torpedo was aimed at a medium cargo
09:53 hours Depth 65m - pinging
09:55 hours Depth 70m - DCs Damages - flodding in the whole forward part of the boat
09:59 hours Depth 208m - diving uncontralable
10:01 hours Depth 246m - hull still holds but descending couldn't be stopped
10:03 hours Depth 265m - hull still in one piece - flooding stopped

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/7093/depth260m.jpg

Various leaks were still active

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/4...ommandroom.jpg


10:06 hours Depth 245m - flooding stopped - silent running - hull still holding
10:08 hours DCs exploding
10:16 hours DCs exploding
10:23 hours DCs exploding
10:27 hours Depth 229m - silent running - maintain depth
11:10 hours Sound contacts indicated that the convoy and its escorts were moving away - raising to PD
11:58 hours Up scope - heavy merchant 01 spotted DIW
12:26 hours Surfaced - aft baterries - radio antenna destroyed
12:27 hours Opened fire with the deck gun
12:28 hours Ship sunk after 16 105mm rounds

18:05 hours Warship spotted - diving to PD
18:08 hours Multiple sound contacts - convoy coming close
18:34 hours Leading escort spotted our scope and turned. Her course and speed should place her some 350m behind our stern
18:36 hours 2 TIs (stern) fired - impact
18:38 hours sinking sounds - Black swan sunk
18:56 hours 2 TIs (bow) fired
18:57 hours Impacts
19:02 hours 2 TIs (bow) fired
19:03 hours Diving to 70m - impacts
20:07 hours PD - upscope - 2 ships DIW
21:00 hours Surface since battery capacity was limited
21:01 hours Opened fired with the deck gun
21:03 hours Empire type freighter sunk
21:04 hours Opened fire against the other target
21:10 hours Heavy merchant 01 sunk - 56 105mm rounds used for both ships

30 April 1940
04:43 hours
U-111 returned to port.
8 ships sunk
32465 tons
no casualties
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/7948/patrolmap.jpg

vonHarris wrote a letter to AG Weser in Bremen thanking them for building such a strong U-boot.
It turned out the small freighter sunk at 09:32 on 24 April 1940 was a Q-ship.
vonHarris received the Oak leaves for his Knight's Cross and medals plus promotions were given to the repair crew. The LI received the German cross in gold.

U37 IX(A). Patrol 2. Part 1.
 

28.nov.39
AN98
1000: Underway from Wilhelmshaven.
Orders: Proceed to SW of England (BE39).
Long range boats assembled in the area are to proceed to the W of Gibralter.
U37 will be in the position of SOPA, and will act accordingly.
(SOPA = Senior Officer Present Afloat).

U83 left about 2 weeks before us, and was last heard from in AM52.
U11 was last heard from in AN21.

Traveled at most economical speed northward, along the Norge.
Upon turning westward, went to Ahead Standard (10 - 11 knots) until the danger area, around Færøerne, had been passed. No incidents on this passing.

Arived in BE39, and began the southward trek at most economical speed.

14.dec.39
BE96 (W of NW Spain)
Medium Fog. Wind 9 M/S.
0400: One of our number found a convoy.
Radio dispatch: "Convoy. BE92. S. 5 knots."

Proceeded at Ahead Flank, for a short distance, to the BE95 border.
Upon reaching BE95 slowed for a cautiouse search consisting of 50 minute dashes, followed by 10 minute hydrophone checks.

1100: New depth 20 meters. Hydrophone reports 2 warships with a wide gap.
1101: Multiple merchant contacts reported.
1102: New course 270. Periscope depth.
1107: New course 265 (Based on constant bearing of lead escort).
1108: Escort moving away at 351. Escort closing at 111. All contacts Long Range.
1118: 4+ warship sound contacts counted.
1120: Merchant reported at Medium Range.
1128: Fire 2 (TII G7E).
1129: Fire 4 (TII G7E). Both targets are Small Merchants.
1129: New depth 100 meters. 5 degrees Right Rudder.
1130: 1 premature detonation. 1 impact. Small Merchant sunk for 2.341 GRT.
1230: U37 remained undetected.

U11 still last heard from in AN21.
U83 last heard from in AN11.
(on this date in your careers).

1852: Save & Exit (Well astern of the convoy).

U-10 (IIA, "die Elster"), patrol 3, report 1
 

Ob.Lt.z.s. Harry Wiebus
2. Flotille, Kiel
Orders: Patrol grid AN47

25.12.1939 Kiel
The morale of some of the crewmen seems to be a bit low right now. Perhaps it would be better not to start patrols on Christmas day, unless the situation absolutely dictates it. We are taking a course on Danish territorial waters, to avoid any British mines. When past Denmark, I am planning on turning to a westerly course, trying to intercept any enemy traffic coming from the direction of Oslo and Sweden.

27.12.1939 AN35
At 0045 hours a 2000 BRT passenger freighter sighted, under 120 passenger seats. Westerly course, speed slow. Our surfaced approach was not noticed until we shot a warning shot with the 20 mm Flak gun, but the ship didn't stop. Opened fire at 1200 meters, first at the bridge and deck to suppress any light weapons fire, then engine room and cargo and any weak points to slow the ship down. The idea was to slow the ship and then make a safer torpedo shot. However, the ship carried something on the deck that caught fire and started small explosions. By 0111 hours the ship's fuel reserves caught fire and the ship sunk. 500 20 mm rounds used, another 500 rounds left. Excellent shooting by Lt.z.s. Hanschmann and Stabsbootsmann Müller.

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/100...000flak500.png

31.12.1939 AN47
At 0020 hours Stabsoberbootsmann Böhm reported a radio message located 36 kilometers NNE. At 0301 another 2000 BRT passenger freighter sighted. I decided to attack the ship in spite of gale force winds. Surface attack was just possible, submerged the ship would have been extremely hard to track. The visibility was medium. Ships course 196 degrees was established by keeping a constant bearing, speed 6 knots had to be calculated on paper, because the fixed wire method could not be used reliably (in the extremely heavy winter storm waves the ship looked at times like it didn't make any forward motion). Rohr 1 and Rohr 2 were launched, aimed at bow and stern masts. MZ pistol, depth 5 meters, range 980 meters, gyro angle 0, impact time AOB 90 degrees. Torpedo speed 40 knots, running time estimated at 46 seconds. For some reason the first torpedo didn't hit. The second torpedo hit perfectly aimed after a run of 48 seconds. The fact that the first torpedo missed is very strange, considering the second hit so well. Perhaps the depth keeping failed in heavy seas or the pistol failed to detonate. By 0516 Rohr 3 was launched at the ship that stood dead in water. MZ pistol, depth 5 meters, hit the keel of the ship after a run of 50 seconds. The ship exploded two minutes later. May this be our new year gift for BdU and may 1940 be lucky to the Kriegsmarine!

Luck - and skill - certainly has been on U-111's side. They sunk a Black Swan and an S-class submarine accidentally, then survived a dive to a depth of 265 meters! Incredible. We haven't yet dived deeper than 50 meters. U-37, from Wilhelmshaven as well, has been very succesful as well. It's hard for us Kiel based short range submarines to compete with those long range boats. I'm hoping for a chance for a bigger boat, but as for now, those boats are only given to the best commanders. I am continuing patrol with two G7a's left, and hoping for a chance to show what my crew can accomplish.

Wiebus