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Melonfish 07-21-09 05:12 AM

Well Bernhard Neumann and the crew of U-36 have just completed their 3rd patrol! A nifty little jaunt out in the north atlantic.

The crew Seem happier now we're gaining tonnage, our virgin patrol we had to turn back just out of wilhelmshaven sound, her overhall after shakedown missed a cracked piston in the port diesel engine. the decision to head back to port was hard on the men... (actually clearing a bug)

Our second patrol saw us sweep the north of scotland catching some lone C2 cargo ships then on our way back snook into Hartleypool Harbour and showed the english that their ships aren't safe even in dock! 44767gmt for that patrol! including a sitting duck of an armed trawler, how that english pig churchill thinks he'll ever win the war in the atlantic is beyond me.
it took us quite a while to round up the lords after the party back at base i'll tell you!

we've just returned home from AL63 driving rain and fog hampered our efforts but we still managed to send some lone merchants to the bottom and took out a C3 (SS president jefferson) laden with textiles with a single shot to her midriff. broke her back and she went underwith all but 6 hands.
however this is nothing compared to the many times recounted tale of our first downed Hurricane! our very own 2cm ace Erich Eckermann couragiously faced a fusilade of fire to score a direct hit on an attacking fighter. she spiralled in off our starboard side not even having chance to drop her deadly bombs! :rock: for this action BDU have awarded Bootsman Eckermann the Iron Cross 2nd class.

again the party after returning home was one to behold! patrol tonnage 24363gmt

to date we stand 6000 gmt more then that big shot Gunther Prien in U-48! our next patrol awaits :D

TigerShark808 07-21-09 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbuna (Post 1137710)
The initial patrol is intended to act as a shakedown.....you were given an additional 1000 renown to compensate for sinking the two neutrals (everything is neutral in August 39).


I see:)

That would explain why after sinking these two ships I was fired ON by those ships echoed at port. :)

PavelKirilovich 07-22-09 01:01 AM

The crew of U-198 was assembled at 05h30 for final muster before boarding and preparing to get underway. Kapitanleutnant Gerhard Schaal conferred with his officers at 05h50, fifteen minutes before scheduled cast off.

Briefing:
U-198 will depart Lorient at 06h05 3 June 1943 to patrol grid GP35 at commander's discretion. Be advised that U-448 will be on station at DF67-13 beginning 5 June 1943 and will remain on station until late April 1943 (estimated). Should U-198's patrol run over into September of 1943, the boat should be prepared for a possible rebasing order.

Entry I.
3 June 1943. 09h35. BF61-42
Cleared the harbour at 07h00. Encountered two U-Flak patrolling and exchanged pleasantries. Expect good weather and a fine patrol. The plan is to attack Norfolk and move south, eventually engaging targets in South American ports before moving to assigned patrol grid. Crew morale high, they expect another highly successful patrol. Officers particularly optimistic.

Entry II.
7 June 1943. 15h45. BE68-46
Radio report received, indicating large convoy to U-198's immediate north bearing 180 steaming fast. U-198 will attempt an intercept. Weather has become rough.

Entry III.
7 June 1943. 16h20. BE68-53
Contact made with convoy and contact report transmitted to BdU. Convoy includes Southampton class light cruiser. Making a submerged approach to attempt a pass on this target, will fire stern tubes at troopship prior to diving away from convoy.

Entry IV.
7 June 1943. 16h48. BE68-52
Between the periscope and the hydrophones, it is estimated that there are twenty vessels in this convoy. All vessels flying the Red Ensign. Convoy heading 180, speed 13 knots.

Entry V.
7 June 1943. 18h05. BE68-51
Convoy moving too fast to be intercepted. Contact lost. Range never less than 6800 metres, too far for an eto shot, ato shot impractical. Returning to planned route.

DaveU186 07-22-09 06:55 AM

On our first patrol in the med. Managed to pick up a large cargo being escorted by a J&K Classes NW of Alexandria, popped the escort with a homing torp, and finished off the cargo with two more. Cargo didn't seem to notice it's escort had been sunk and continued on the same course. :rotfl:

The next morning sunk a passenger/cargo in the same area.

Couple of days later, near Malta, we find a large merchant escorted by a patrol boat, and manage to get two torps onto the merchant from 4km, which starts to sink. Patrol boat detected us though, but just as he was closing on our position, he was rather nicely bombed by a couple of luftwafe aircraft.

That's more like it from the fly boys. :rock:

Melonfish 07-22-09 08:21 AM

Kapitans log, Feb 12th 1940,

Again we have fruitlessly patrolled our north atlantic grid not a convoy to be seen and not a single report.
we were hampered by the RAF accross the coast of scotland, the weather has been still and bright with the sea almost glasslike and at night a full moon shone to give us away... however we did catch some lone freighters and a large cargo carrier. we also sent a trawler to the bottom with a single deck gun round well placed by our excellent crew.

On our return leg i made the decision to check out the lock Ewe shipping lanes as we had caught one or two coastal merchants coming out of that area. all we found however was bad weather and destroyers! heavy fog driving rain and almost zero visibility. This actually allowed us to slip into the port. however, forewarned by the weather service all but a solitary T2 tanker had left for the open sea...
we sent her to the bottom and started the quiet trek out. no less then 5 destroyers could be heard probing the sound but with the cover of the weather we have managed to sneak out again.

i've set a northerly course round scotland again i hope to catch some ships heading off the nordic shipping lanes, diesel oil is still plentiful dispite some earlier speed runs but we're down to 3 bow and 2 stern torpedo's, if the weather eases we can perhaps use the deck gun.
Spirits remain high dispite the lack of convoys, we are denying the enemy their vital supplies with every ship we sink be it 85 tonnes or 3000.
kptlt B Neumann.

:|\\

Flippo84 07-22-09 12:43 PM

U-47 (VIIB) Patrol 5

Kaptains log, November 24th 1940


Right after leaving the bay of biscaya I receved a contact report of a convoy leaving britain in West direction at about 8 Knots.

Plotted an interception course immediatly. I expected to meet with the convoy after a five hour travel at 9 Knots.

Propeller sounds were reported after reaching the meeting point about an hour before the convoy traveled in.

I send my IWO up to give a weather report. Result was disappointing. After leaving france in good conditions, there is heavy fog, wind at 15 m/s and heavy rain now.
http://www.bilder-upload.eu/show.php...E799KcY74T.jpghttp://www.bilder-hochladen.net/file...mbs/78rm-6.jpg
http://www.bilder-hochladen.net/file...mbs/78rm-6.jpghttp://www.bilder-hochladen.net/files/thumbs/78rm-6.jpg

Decided to shadow the convoy at about 10 km range and wait for better weather.

Started an attack on the convoy in the first night after consulting my weapons officer and IWO. Layed on the estimated convoy course with decks awash at 90°. The lead destroyer passed the boat's bow at 100 m. The watch crew was stunned in fear of death. Not yet guys. It passed without opening fire. Launched tube I and V. both torpedos hit and we recognized sinking sounds after diving away from the escorts. Of course they had no chance to find us in this storm.

Surfaced again after 1 1/2 hours. We decided to stay away from the convoy till the weather is better. If the destroyer had opend fire at a range of 100m, I would not be able write this here.

Nearly five days passed by now. It seems like this is the heavyest atlantic storm I've seen so far. No signs of better weather.
http://www.bilder-upload.eu/show.php...wl0sA7q76N.jpg
http://www.bilder-hochladen.net/files/thumbs/78rm-7.jpg

The crew can't hold on for a long time. All we need is better weather.

http://www.bilder-hochladen.net/files/thumbs/78rm-8.jpg
http://www.bilder-upload.eu/show.php...j0734CGO2k.jpg

RoaldLarsen 07-22-09 05:13 PM

We last encountered KptLt. Yngve Yung in command of U-196 on October 27, 1944, about 1000km NW of the Azores. He had an undamaged type IXC2, 85% of his diesel, 19 torpedos, and nearly all of his deck gun ammo left but was running short of 20mm shells.

Early in the morning of October 31, U-196 was almost run over by a hunter-killer group. There were several tense minutes as Yung maneuvred his boat to avoid being detected.

Two days later Yung encountered two merchants, only two hours apart, and sunk them both. Shortly after this date, the wind speed rose to 15m/s. It did not go lower than 12m/s for the rest of the patrol.

On November 21, about 150km south of St. John's, Newfoundland, U-196 was surprised by what appeared to be an armed Canadian merchant ship, which materialised out of a fog bank 2km away. Before U-196 could dive, the Canadians scored several hits with their 4" deck gun, causing heavy damage to the u-boat. After crash diving, evading and repairing the damage, Yung tracked the suspicious ship by hydrophone, set up an interecept course, and made a successful submerged attack.

Despite the damage, Yung decided to continue the patrol. The next day a convoy was detected by hydrophone, but by the time its course was determined, the convoy had moved ahead of U-196's position. Yung decided to overtake in a flanking move on the surface. As U-196 was bearing abreast of the convoy, a sharp-eyed lookout spotted an escort charging at them from the port quarter. Yung ordered a dive to periscope depth and readied the boat's sole accoustic homing torpedo. It was fired at a range of about 1500m, and a minute later the Buckley class DE exploded. Hydrophones picked up another escort approaching, so Yung went deep and snuck away from the convoy. After the escort had finished searching and rejoined the convoy, Yung again surfaced and attempted an end-around, but a radar contact was detected, and again U-196 had to go deep. By the time the hunters had given up, the convoy had gotten too close to the shallow waters of the Grand Banks, so Yung reluctantly gave up the pursuit and headed back to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, with the intent of reaching his assigned patrol area off Sept Iles, Quebec.

Yung sank two lone ships about 100-150 km west of Sydney, but had to continually dodge air patrols and patrolling warships. By the end of November U-196 was past the patrols at the entrance of the Gulf and had reached a postion north of Cape Breton. At this point the weather had deteriorated to a foul gale. The only ships encountered were fishing vessels and other small craft too stupid to stay in harbour. Yung watched two of them fall victim to the heavy seas.

By mid-December U-196 had taken up station off Sept Isles, but the only contacts were with air patrols. No merchant traffic was coming down the St. Lawrence River. Yung gave up the position, and the crew of U-196 celebrated their last Christmas of the war by completing the circumnavigation of Anticosti Island. Yung took U-196 out of the Gulf through the Strait of Belle Isle and set course for the gap between Iceland and the Faeroes.

Along the way, U-196 encountered and sank four more ships, using up the remainder of the available torpedos in the process. There were still two torpedos in aft above-deck stowage but the seas were too rough to transfer them below.

Much of the return journey was done surfaced, at speed, in heavy fog. U-196 safely made port in Bergen on January 24 1945 after a patrol that lasted 129 days. Yung had fired 24 torpedos. All had hit their target. He sank 15 merchants and an American escort, and shot down an embarrassing number of aircraft.

PavelKirilovich 07-22-09 08:54 PM

KptLt. Gerhard Schaal and the crew of U-198 congratulate KptLt. Yngve Yung and the crew of U-196 on their highly successful patrol off the Canadian coast, made all the more impressive as U-198's own experiences in that area have been decidedly stressful with near-constant destroyer, frigate, and air attacks consistently coming far too close for comfort.

-- --

Entry VI
10 June 1943. 04h30.
Word received from BdU that a major effort by the Allies is underway in the Mediterranean. Large task forces have been sighted West-South-West of Pantelleria and Lampedusa. All boats at sea belonging to 29 Flotilla have been ordered to operate in this area.

Entry VII
12 June 1943. 00h31. BD98.
Message received from BdU concerning operations in the Mediterranean. Lampedusa and Pantelleria have fallen. All available boats belonging to 29. Flotille are to hunt in the Sicily Channel. U-198 wishes them the best of luck.

Entry VIII
12 June 1943. 02h00. BD97-37.
Encountered a lone Liberty cargo vessel steaming Eastwards. Moved to intercept. Target first located at 8700 metres by watch crew. Not detected by RADAR despite ideal conditions for the set. Both the Kaleun and RADAR operator are exceedingly frustrated by the set's uselessness. Submerged attack planned.

Entry IX
12 June 1943. 03h20. BD97-46.
Due to the use of electric torpedoes the attack was a failure. The launch was made from a position well within the weapon's effective engagement envelope, however despite the great care taken to assume a position from which the torpedoes would be effective, the target was not destroyed. It is possible but hugely unlikely that a mistake in aiming was made - according to the hydrophone operator on duty at the time, it sounded as if the engines simply ran out of electric power for whatever reason, causing the torpedoes to fall short of the target. Battery malfunction is being blamed for this loss. Attack aborted in order to conserve fuel and ammunition. Crew morale now shaken by the news of Allied advances in the Mediterranean and by the failure of the two torpedoes fired at the Liberty Cargo.

Entry X
14 June 1943. 20h10. CD32-44.
Visual contact made with a tramp steamer of unknown nationality - presumed to be American - heading 090 at an estimated six knots. Will only engage if it so happens that the low value target moves wtihin easy deckgun range.

Entry XI
14 June 1943. 20h30. CD32-44.
SHortly after the last log entry the tramp steamer began engaging U-198 with a 4-6" naval rifle fitted aft of the superstructure. This fire was returned expertly by Matrosengefreiters Juergen Schmeisser, Eduward Geffe, and Artur Endrass. Thirty rounds of 10.5cm ammunition were expended on this target, with a total of three misses - exceptional shooting, particularly given that the deck gun crew were exposed to incoming fire and U-198 was taking evasive action at high speed. After the third round impacted, the target began burning fiercely. Following rounds caused numerous secondary explosions. U-198 suffered light damage when the merchant marine gunners were able to hit the boat twice, both times on the conning tower. An attempted ramming was evaded through the expert seamanship displayed by all concerned personnel aboard U-198. The LI recommends the boat not dive below 190 metres. The enemy continued to return our fire until their gun was blown clear by a direct hit from our own weapon. Crew morale restored to high levels after this success. Matrosengrefreiters Geffe and Endrass recommended for Iron Class 1K. Bravo zulu to all hands. U-198 continues on her course to attack Norfolk harbour.

Melonfish 07-23-09 05:37 AM

Kapitans log U-36 April 1940.

The crew are resting after another successfull patrol, our 5th in fact which went well dispite being ordered to patrol just west of wilhelmshaven...
unable to resist temptation however and getting but a single C3 Cargo ship in 5 days we decided to once again raid hartleypool. the allies would not expect a second raid in under 3 months! and i was right. they were caught unawares.
the weather in the north atlantic has been terrible this april, however it actually managed to ease off when we got into the harbour.
we had just sank a c2 sat on the dock when my watch officer called out a scary sight, coming into the harbour at full steam was an armed trawler!

fortunatly our deck gun crew were ready and waiting, and put their drills to good use dispite the rain and fog, our first round took the trawlers main weapon out of action! and the crew then placed several well aimed shots into her hull and she sank shortly after sighting. we suffered some light damage on the forward bow from her 2cm guns and at the time i believed she had damaged our forward reserve torpedo, the weather did not allow us to inspect this properly and upon returning to port found it to actually be in tact.

we finished the other ships held on the docks and submerged ready for our exit when my hydrophone operator reported a warship contact heading straight for the mouth of the harbour. at first i guessed another armed trawler but when she finally came into view she was a V&W destroyer...

as soon as she entered the harbour she was pinging with her asdic, but her turning circle was too wide and she could not lay over the top of us as i had manouvered us by the north sea wall.
i decided to leave the harbour quickly but in doing so we lined up a perfect shot from our stern tubes as the destroyer was trying to reverse course. i loosed the shot from 380m with magnetic settings.

It detonated under her forward ammunition bunker destroying the ship instantly, a sour victory as i'm sure many of her crew were lost...
being in the harbour many men had already escaped or the other ships were practically unmanned so the loss of life was little compared to that at open sea. still this is two less warships in the british navy.

total tonnage to date 169000grt.
we begin our 6th patrol in earnest in 4 nights, BDU have also seen fit to promote me to Oberlutenant Zur See for my actions, just one more step to kapitan lieutenant!

Oblt Z. S Berhard Neumann.

Pohl 07-24-09 02:58 AM

I can't complain, 2 days after leaving port found a Large Convoy


A couple of Large Merchants, Ore Carriers, Whale Factories, some Medium Cargo, 2 Corvettes......and 1 Battleship
http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t...n/9e63ff41.jpg


Had a great time hunting them :P but I run out of eels very fast, HMS Rodney took at least 5 eels to sink :nope: , after escaping the lone Escort trying to DC me, I found this and almost crashed against it
http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t...n/ae969222.jpg


Then we set route to home port at full ahead, I didn't want any surprise on my way back, my men where happy when we started to see port ahead of us, going to spend some time with the family before our next patrol.
http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t...n/10b9d2c2.jpg


http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t...n/5c03dc2d.jpg

Earned 2250 Renown for this patrol and I got promoted to Oberleutnant z. S.

DaveU186 07-24-09 08:24 AM

U-2548 has just returned following its first patrol out of Bergen, October 1942. Encountered a large convoy in the BF area with a number of large ships....and a bogue class. :yeah:

Managed to sink two large merchants and, after taking out her propellers, came back when the convoy had moved on to sink the carrier.

Returned home with 47k of shipping to our name.

lynard 07-25-09 10:07 PM

Successful Patrol 8 for U46. Picked up 2 tankers and large cargo for 80,000. Did my usual trick and used up all torpedoes before reaching assigned patrol grid. Sure enough a large convoy came through and all we could do was wave as they steamed passed.:salute:
Left Brest August 1940 on Patrol 9. Bdu reported large eastbound convoy NW of our position. We have been shadowing ahead of the convoy for nearly 2 days. Weather is atrocious, rain, big seas and heavy fog. We scooted too far ahead last night and lost contact. They might have changed course to the SE as we are now getting close to the coast.
We have another convoy to the NE of us, so hopefully might have a chance at one of these if the weather improves.
I would love to know what my bridge crew get up to when I'm not there. As soon as I go up, they jump, grab their binocs and make out they have been hard at it. :stare:

RoaldLarsen 07-25-09 10:49 PM

Lt.zS. Friedrich Niecke, commanding type VIIC U-987 of 11th Flotilla operating out of Bergen, returned on 1944DEC15 from a 36 day patrol between the Shetlands and the Faeroes during which not a single merchant contact was detected. There was an average of more than one warship contact per day in the patrol area, but, being equipped with only a single accoustic torpedo, U987 did not engage.

DaveU186 07-26-09 04:55 AM

November 1942, and the captain of U-2548, en route back to her base in Bergen after a successful patrol off the American East coast, is increasingly depressed by the number of distress messages from other u-boats complaining of attacks from Allied aircraft.

PavelKirilovich 07-27-09 10:26 PM

Entry XII
22 June 1943. 01h10. CB54-94.
U-198 advised that Charlotte Schliemann has taken position in South Indian Ocean until approximately mid-February 1944.

Entry XIII
23 June 1943. 17h10. CA69-15.
Encontered an armed and radar equipped blimp, apparently tasked with ASW duties. Dove to twenty metres to evade. These are too slow to be dangerous to a U-boat unless the boat cannot dive for any reason.

Entry XIV
24 June 1943. 20h45. CA82-48.
Another ASW blimp, first detected on the RWR and then by the watch crew. As it is inadvisable to attempt to engage one given their likely armament, U-198 dove away once more. These blimp's value may be in forcing U-boats to submerged for extended periods while vectoring in other ASW assets such as taskforces/patrolgroups.

Entry XV
26 June 1943. 07h30. CA72-94.
Norfolk harbour is lightly guarded and hosting many valuable targets. U-198 intends to engage two petroleum carriers/tankers, an escort carrier, and four destroyers as well as a single destroyer escort. One torpedo per target save for the carrier and the tankers, whcih may require two each. To enable the boat to work safely, the escort vessels will be the initial targets.

Entry XVI
26 June 1943. 07h40. CA72-94.
Two destroyers sunk for two torpedoes. Both the Somers and Clemson class display an alarming tendency to break apart amidships when struck by magnetic-fused pistols running 1.0 metres below their known draught.

Entry XVII
26 June 1943. 08h45. CA72-94.
Destroyer Escort, Evarts class, sunk with one torpedo. One torpedo was also sufficient for the Fletcher class destroyer. Next target is the escort carrier, then the tankers. Will likely forgo the final destroyer, it is tied alongside a quay and may be protected by antitorpedo netting.

Entry XVIII
26 June 1943. 09h00. CA72-94.
Bogue escort carrier sunk using two torpedoes fired from the stern tubes. No secondary explosions, thus far the raid into Norfolk has been met with considerable success.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j8...trolEntry8.jpg

Entry XIX
26 June 1943. 09h55. CA72-94.
Both tankers engaged with two torpedoes each. The modern tanker sank rapidly while the large tanker remained afloat for some time. U-198 is now exfiltrating.

Entry XX
26 June 1943. 17h15. CA73-43.
While exfiltrating from Norfolk harbour, U-198 was detected by a radar system which vectored patrol boats on to U-198's position. As U-198 was in the process of airing out and bringing torpedoes below, an immediate crash dive could not be executed. Use of the Flakvierling installed aft of the turm did little to discourage the attacking PT boats and U-198 suffered some damage but no casualties. After all personnel and the torpedo transfer gear were safely belowdecks U-198 crash dove in shallow water, managing to level off before hitting the bottom. After a short submerged run, U-198 made contact with a destroyer, which manifested itself in the form of a sudden hydrophone contact followed immediately by intensive pinging from the contact and a depth charge attack.

U-198 was able to evade this attack thanks to kobold decoys and hard turning. Another pass was made; U-198 stepped to the outside of this via a rapid turn across the destroyer's turn. At this point the hydrophones operator indicated that engine noise from the target had ceased. The current theory is that the destroyer skipper attempted to switch into reverse gearings and the engine room crew failed to stop the engines before doing so. U-198 was able to unmask the stern tubes and engage the now stationary destroyer. The first torpedo's magnetic pistol failed to fuse; the second torpedo was set to run at 1.5m and impacted the target amidships, causing it to sink very rapidly on an even keel. U-198 surfaced 1.5km from the site of this action and made good her escape.

Entry XXI
26 June 1943. 19h00. CA73-46.
Boat forced to dive again due to numerous radar signals detected by RWR. Will make a prolonged submerged run before resurfacing.

Entry XXII
27 June 1943. 05h05. CA76-75.
Dove to periscope depth due to RWR warning of search radars. Shortly afterwards, hydrophone operator warned of five warship contacts moving parallel to our course. Used attack periscope to identify contacts; four destroyers of varying classes and a fleet carrier, Essex class. As conditions were favourable, one torpedo was fired, set to intercept at medium speed, run depth ten metres. Torpedo prematurely detonated several minutes later. Taskforce accelerated to twenty-four knots, U-198 sprinting along behind at seven knots, hoping for another torpedo opportunity.

Entry XXIII
27 June 1943. 06h25. CA76-85.
Contact with American carrier taskforce lost. U-198 was inevitably outrun. Last sighted heading 160 at twenty-four knots from CA76-84.

Entry XXIV
27 June 1943. 12h02. CA79-78.
BdU informs all boats that the U-boat base at La Spezia is no longer available for operations. It seems the Mediterranean theatre is becoming very hazardous for Kriegsmarine assets. Shortly thereafter another destroyer was spotted, Clemson-class, paralleling the boat's course. It seems operations in the Caribbean will be more heavily contested than anticipated.

Pohl 07-28-09 03:49 AM

BdU gave us a special mission, according to some information Scapa Flow had 2 Battleships stationed in her port.
And BINGO!, HMS Hood was there..then around 10 km to west of her I found HMS Nelson.

Game crashed so I had to restart :nope: but...it was all the same except I raided Scapa at night not in the day
http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t...n/4bba9537.png
Hood going down


Took me 2 eels to sink Nelson while Hood took me 7-8 and at least 3 of them bounced against her hull and found 1 Auxiliary Cruiser which only took me 1 eel to sink.

http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t...n/90b3a9e8.png
Nelson throwing flares

http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t...n/eaa723b2.png
More flares

http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t...n/4a6ff08c.png
The fireworks visible from the bridge, I had little risk of being caught since it was night and I tried to load my remaining torpedos into the u-boat, but I only was able to load 2 before Destroyers found me and started to shot at me, in less than 1 minute my hull was down to 58%.

http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t...n/5ea9a0db.jpg

100k tons in 1 patrol.....not bad :arrgh!:

DaveU186 07-29-09 07:57 AM

December 1942 and U-2548 has just attacked a large convoy in BE62. Middle of the day and clear weather, but a bold approach was made at flank speed, and it payed off as two coastal freighters, a hunt class, a small merchant and a large tanker were all sunk.

Could have been better though, there were some beasts in the convoy, including two unidentified passenger liners.

Currently at 248 meters getting a right pounding from the beloved Royal Navy. :x

Flippo84 07-29-09 08:02 AM

7th May, 1942

Oberleutnant z. S. Heinz Theis left St. Nazaire on his 4th patrol. U-436 just arrived in the north atlantic, being transfered from Salamis. After surviving the passage of Gibraltar, things start to get quite though now.

11.5.1942
---------

Spotted two single merchants. A small one of 1.800 BRT and a medium one of 2.800 BRT.

Hit the medium merchant with a single torpedo, no sinking. Startet to attack with the deck gun at night. Faced the two armed merchants at high speed and zig-zag course at 4 Km range. While trying to finish off the medium merchant, got hit on the foredeck. Result: 1 man hurt, one dead. Crash dived.

Resumed attack two hours later. Sunk both with gunnery. No casualitys.

19.5.1942
---------

Encountered a convoy after reaching patrol area in CF34. While trying to attack the outer lines an escort catched me on the surface and opend fire. Boat was hit again while crash diving. Destroyer catched me again with ASDIC. Evaded depth carges and went deep and silent.

Resurfaced two hours later and decided to pursuit the convoy. Put me on top of it during daytime, waited for sunset.

Second attack run was startet at 23:00 (20.05). The crew needs results. Decided to attack the front at PD. Silent running twoards the lead and side escort resulted in no detection. Fired two torpedos. Passenger ship (7.500 BRT) sunk immediatly. After resurfacing the second target, a empire freighter of 6700 was spotted left behind by the convoy. Engine was destroyed. Finished him with a second torpedo. Rushed away on the surface to avoid the returning destroyer.

The crew needs a break from attacking and the atlantic storm now. Ordered 30m at 3 KN for 8 hours.

24.05.1942
----------

Worring about man, who was hurt by the merchant gunnery. The boat has suffered moderate damge too. Mainly there are three options: 1. Head back to St. Nazaire; 2. Go to Vigo and supply the wounded guy; 3. carry on.

Decided to go to Vigo, don't want him to die just for some tonnage.

25.05.1942
----------

While crusing to Vigo, a small convoy was spotted. Sunk a large freighter with one torpedo. Evaded undetected.

02.06.1942
----------

Large convoy reported in range. Decided to attack.

Managed to slip through lead and side escort again. Hit a large tanker and a liberty freighter with one torpedo each. Clear noise of explosion and sinking was recognized while going to deep. The eel directly took out the 8.300 BRT tanker. Left a bolt and changed course while going down to 160m.

Fail. Escorts picked me up on ASDIC on my way down. Two of them started to chase me. Left another bold, course change of 40°. Don't panic. Had to go to ahead flank after the first attacking destroyer left some dc's above me. Explosions very near. Silent running again. The other one listend to my evasion. Again they knew where I was. Same prucedure...

1 1/2 hours later they broke off the attack and rejoined the convoy. Stood submerged till sunrise. Surfaced and had to repair the conning tower. Some dc's were too close.

IWO reported a ship - the liberty freigther. It suffered heavy damage and wasn't able to keep up with the convoy.

Already decided to go back to St. Naziare instead of Vigo, because after the dc's added even more damage to the boat, the LI recommend not to dive below 160m - unsafe while being hunted by a destroyer in good acustic conditions.

In consequence there was no need to save the torpedos anymore by attacking with the deck gun and risk to get another, maybe critical, hit or to have more casualitys. Finished off the liberty freighter and set course to St. Nazaire at 10 Kn.

meduza 07-29-09 02:17 PM

It's May 2nd 1945, and we left Trondheim for our last patrol. Wish me luck. :D

lynard 07-29-09 10:00 PM

What a disappointment that was. For nearly 4 days we shadowed convoy 1 into big seas rain and fog, ducking under every hour or so to keep track with sonar. Lost them once but managed to regain contact.
Getting too close to the coast so had to break off. Not taking a great deal of notice of the sonar reports, ordered the boat surfaced for a run back towards the other convoy. Next minute out of the fog comes a destroyer with all guns blazing. :o
Flank speed, a bit of damage, but managed to lose him in the crappy weather. I'm looking astern waiting for the D to come out of the fog when from a lookout "ship spotted". Turned round for a look and Oh S#it!
A T3 tanker right across the bow. Managed to miss him somehow but nearly got ourselves run down by a large cargo.
Crash dived for our second change of underpants today.
We are now, very cautiously, heading back to convoy 2 hoping for a break in the weather.

Good luck to you and your crew meduza. Your next posts will make interesting reading.


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