U-101 Left Wilhelmshaven on August 1, 1940. We've been transferred to Brest, France, but haven't stopped in for a visit yet. I decided to cruise through the Channel and see what we could find off the south tip of Ireland. We ran into a task force S/W of Plymouth. Four destroyers and two Swordfish down, and we broke out into the Atlantic.

August 13, 1940, and we've been out of position for every convoy reported. I haven't observed a single merchant on this voyage. I moved us to about 1000 km's N/W of Spain to investigate tanker traffic. Nothing here.

It's now August 16, 1940, we're about 1300 km's due west of Brest, France. Not a single merchant down. I'm almost down to 1/4 tank of diesel, the crew is getting tired and I still have eels on board. By far the most dismal tour of this year.

It's August, the sea has been calm and the weather nice. I guess we'll call this our pleasure cruise. I'm heading to Brest now for a good steak, a little schnapps and some French women. Hopefully our next voyage will be better!

2nd patrol
 

5 NOV 39
U-4
03:38
I should decorate our Master Chief for his weather prayer, the sea is smooth as glass with clear sky's!
I'm on the bridge. The sounds of "Deep purple" by Bea Wain drift up from the open hatch.
06:30
The morning sun is starting to rise aft of us. A friendly merchant tug follows along side our port side, within shouting distance. I match speed with them. I call down below for volunteers to the bridge. The gramophone is brought up from below and set by the megaphone.
With the volunteers gathered on deck, "Finnegans Wake" is played on the gramphone. We sing the lyrics of the song, in our best Irish tenor voices across the waves to the tug:

2nd patrol
 

U-4
9 NOV 39 18:03
On a routine sound check at 40 meters depth, Heller hears slow engine turns at 90 degrees, long distance.
Battle stations. Steer North.
18:06 Ship spotted. We slow to 1 knot. Turn to 140 degrees. Open bow caps. British flag identified.
18:16 Angle on the bow: 90 degrees. Fire! That slowed her down. Fire! Dud eel. Fire! That did it. Three eels to sink one small merchant. *sigh*
We surface. No survivors in the wreckage. We find a life ring, "Benjamin Hill", it reads. I check the manifest, 2042 tons. Sunk within seven kilometers from the Mount Kyle. I decide to remain in this area. Good hunting here.
We are down to one electric eel. 60% fuel remains.
Just one more merchant, boys, and we'll head for the barn.
10 NOV 39 09:55 Dawn. Sea calm. Conrad is on the machine gun. Tottenhagen & I are on the bridge. It looks like we will have another clear day. My thoughts are on that kid, Murphy, from the Mount Kyle. Hope they get back home okay.
I know the rules of war require me to stop and search these merchants.
Unfortunately, they don't listen to my request to stop, via the megaphone and keep going on as if nothing is wrong.
10:38 I climb down to the control room. I survey the compartments, quietly. Men sleeping in the petty officer's quarters and bow compartment.
10:45 I return to the bridge as the morning sun appears off our port side.
A half moon aft. Sea calm. I light a cigar.
It's mornings like this when I think of the times I went fishing with my Grandfather. We'd get up before daylight and quietly wait for the daylight in his metal row boat. He could always catch more fish than I. I'd spend my summers with him and my Grandmother, fishing almost every day.
I learned how to wait for the fish to bite, rather than always moving the boat to find them. In other words, if the fish were bitting, stay put.
I can be very content on the bridge, watching the waves, smoking a cigar, while the boat's routine goes on below me.
18:45 Ship spotted, bearing 20 degrees, long range.
Dive, periscope depth. Scope up. There she is! A big one!
With only one eel left, the best I can hope for is to slow her down and maybe lighten her deck cargo a bit with the machine gun.
18:55 Open bow caps. She's 1000 meters away. We slow to 1 knot.
British flag identified.
19:00 Fire! Surface. She has slowed to 6 knots. She begins to zig-zag, yet, at this slow speed she can't outrun us.
19:39 Using rudder controls I bring us along side her and machine gun her deck cargo. Fires start on her deck. Cargo explodes and flys in all directions. In the middle of all this an enemy plane arrives and drops a depth charge. We stay up and fight!
20:00 Out of ammunition. Quite a battle! I'd call it a draw.
No battle damge to us. No injuries among us either.
20:08 Status report to Bdu. No eels left, no shells, 60% fuel remains.
Well done, men. 1/2 bottle of Beck's for the officers and crew.
21:09 Message from Bdu: Return to base.
11 NOV 39 Daylight comes at 10:30 hrs. We dive and remain below all day until 20:50 hrs.
14 NOV 39 17:15 We enter the harbor of Wilhelmshaven with 10% fuel remaining. Ahead slow. All stop.
Now we dive into the foaming beer because U-4 is back at the pier!
Carl A. Lange Jr. sub-Lt.

3rd patrol
 

U-4
12 DEC 39 03:00
Ahead slow. Clear sky's. Calm sea. Carlewitz plots a course for AN16, our patrol area. Konrad Schmidt made rate of Radioman while we were ashore.
We set our steam eels for contact pistols, fast speed.
15 DEC 39
Half-way to our patrol area, I assign a man to the machine gun during the daylight hours, with orders to fire on approaching aircraft. More depth under us now. More wiggle room to work with.
17:57 A sound check at 30 meters reveals a contact, bearing 280 degrees, medium turns. Steer 19 degrees, surface, battle stations, ahead full. I climb to the bridge. Some daylight remains for us. I scan the horizon on our port side. There she is, a small merchant, doing 9 knots.
Steer 12 degrees.
18:12 Periscope depth is ordered. Slow speed, steer 342 degrees.
18:22 Let's get close to her. With some daylight left, I hope to identify the flag.
18:35 Open bow caps. British flag. Fire! Surface the boat.
She sinks slowly by the stern, giving her crew time to get into the life boat.
We steer towards the lifeboat. "Any injuries?" I ask them. "No" is the reply. "What is the name of your ship?" I ask. "Monty Python" is the reply.
I check the manifest, 2343 tons.
I radio a report of the sinking, with our position and the name of the ship to the British authorities.
18:45 I steer South, dive to 40 meters then steer NW towards our patrol area. We will try to stay under until I'm certain the crew of the life boat can no longer see us.
19:21 Sound contact, slow turns, long range, 57 degrees.
19:24 Sound contact moving right to left. We are 4 kilometers away from the life boat from the "Monty Python". I take a risk they may sight us and surface the boat. Let's see how much daylight we have up there, gentlemen.
19:30 Surface, ahead full, steer 313 degrees. A quarter moon lights the night.
19:49 There she is, a small one, heading SW.
19:53 Battle stations. In this light I'm going to have to get close to identify a flag. If in doubt, I'll hold fire.
19:56 Periscope depth, slow to one knot speed.
20:02 All stop. Here she comes, doing 7 knots, bearing 80 degrees, 2000 meters away. Open bow caps. I lock the scope on her.
20:14 Norwegian flag. Close bow caps, down scope, ahead slow, return to our plotted course, make your depth 40 meters.
20:25 Surface. I ask Radioman Creutz to put "Opus No. 1" by Tommy Dorsey on the gramophone. I climb to the bridge and light a cigar.
23:37 I climb down below to the control room. I ask the Radioman Schmidt to put "Woo - Woo", by Harry James on the gramophone. I dance a little jig. The two controlroom mates at the diving controls tap their toes to the music. Smiles all around.
A good day.
Carl A. Lange Jr. sub-Lt.

This is the KTB of the U-103 second patrol (Leutnant s. Z. Wilhelm Pinderschlast).
On march 1941, the BDU wanted the 2nd Flotilla to strike against the Liverpool-Gibraltar convoy line and the merchant traffic from England to the Mediterranean sea. The U-103 was one of the U-Boats assigned to this task.

07 march 1941
1121 : Leaving Lorient to patrol grid BE99. Special order : maintain radio silence until the patrol zone is reached.

08 march
2200 : grid BF42. Strong winds 13MPS direction 226 and high sea. We stay submerged until better weather conditions. Surfaced only for the batteries.

12 march
1120 : Patrol zone reached. No traffic encountered. Strong winds 15MPS direction 86 ans high sea. Patrol report and weather conditions transmitted to BDU.
1152 : Radio message from BDU “Transmit patrol report every three days only.”

13 march
0407 : Smoke on horizon.
0441 : Engaged and sunk british merchant ship “SS Lycaon” 1065GRT with two torpedoes.

15 march
1827 : No traffic. Winds 4MPS direction 10 and calm sea. Patrol report and weather conditions transmitted to BDU.

16 march
1529 : Smoke on horizon.
1645 : Engaged and sunk british cargo “SS Dumra” 2253GRT. Engaged with deckgun.

18 march
1531 : No traffic. Winds 15MPS direction 165 and high sea. Cloudly sky and no good conditions for hunting. Patrol and weather reports transmitted to BDU.

21 march
1602 : No traffic and bad weather. Heavy rain, winds 7MPS direction 5. Reports transmitted to BDU.

23 march
1412 : Hydrophone contact while submerged.
1714 : Engaged and damaged british merchant. Fired one torpedo. The weather conditions were too rough and we lost contact with the enemy ship after the first hit.
2034 : After hours of research, we were unable to find and maintain contact with enemy ship. Return to patrol course.

24 march :
1527 : No traffic. Bad weather for hunting. Strong winds 15MPS direction 166 and very high sea. Reports transmitted to BDU.

27 march
1933 : No traffic. We’re still caught in bad weather. Winds 15MPS direction 343 and high sea. Reports transmitted to BDU.


29 march
1728 : Smoke on the horizon.
1829 : Engaged and sunk british Empire cargo “SS Tahsina” 6783 GRT. Fired two torpedoes.

30 march
1647 : No traffic. Winds 9MPS direction 136. Patrol and weather reports transmitted to BDU.
1930 : Received transmission from BDU : “To U103 – Condor aircraft spotted a british cargo in your patrol zone BE99 heading north at slow speed. Try to intercept – BDU”.
1955 : Smoke on horizon.
2026 : Engaged and sunk british Granville cargo “SS Thistlegarth” 4707 GRT. Fired one torpedo.

2 april
1742 : No traffic and bad weather conditions. Strongs winds 15MPS direction 104, clouds and high seas. Reports transmitted to BDU.

5 april
1723 : No traffic. Winds 4MPS direction 168 and clear skies. Reports transmitted to BDU.

8 april
1551 : Still no traffic. One month at sea now. Bad weather and no visibility. Winds 15MSP direction 34. Patrol and weather reports to BDU.

11 april
1350 : No traffic and bad weather again. Heavy rain, winds 15MPS direction 356 and high sea. Reports transmitted to BDU.

12 april
2340 : Smoke on the horizon.

13 april
0044 : Engaged and sunk british cargo “SS Kelantan”2229GRT. Fired one torpedo.

14 april
1444 : No traffic. Winds 15MPS direction 134, clouds and high sea. Reports transmitted to BDU.

17 april
1414 : Still no traffic and bad weather. Strong winds 15MPS direction 281 and high sea. Reports transmitted to BDU.

20 april
1023 : Received radio transmission from BDU : “To U103 – New radio procedures : maintain total radio silence until next success or vital fuel/rations reports – BDU”

23 april
2035 : Smoke on the horizon.
2104 : Engaged and sunk british Empire cargo “SS Pacific Grove” 6785 GRT. Fired four torpedoes. Becoming short on torpedoes and rations. Reports transmitted to BDU.
2134 : Received radio transmission from BDU : “TO U123 – New orders : return to base and maintain radio silence like the last procedures. “
2200 : Leaving the patrol zone and heading to Lorient.

25 april
1640 : Grid BF49. Smoke on the horizon.
1703 : Engaged and sunk the greek merchant “SS Penlover” 2393 GRT. Engaged with deckgun.

27 april
1441 : Docked at Lorient. End of the patrol.
Days at sea : 52
Enemy merchant ships sunk : 7
Enemy merchant ships damaged : 1
Patrol GRT : 35764

Welcome back
 

LSH2015 First Campaign
 

---------------------- 93% Realism ----------------------
We need steady optics since we have no prisms.
Event camera enabled until I've some more practice.
Weapons Officer assistance for identification only.
------------------------------------------------------------

Received patrol orders after our shakedown cruise (Patrol 1) to maintain radio silence and patrol grid AM18 (Patrol 2 - 19390824 - 19390913).

We tracked a few surface vessels through our grid and conducted tracking / firing drills as I'm a bit out of practice.

19390903 - AM18 - After the outbreak of hostilities, we received word that a small convoy would be coming through our patrol grid. Found 4 ships, British flagged, sank 2 of them with torpedoes and 2 with the deck gun. They were not armed. All torpedoes found their marks and calm seas with our deck gun ended them. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

19390904 - AM25, AM1 - Found a few more single ships, also flagged british, ended 1 with a single torpedo shot, the other with the deck gun. No armed resistance.

19390912 - AN34 - Tracked a vessel, plotting an intercept course after receiving radio messages from B-Dienst. Sea state was pretty horrible with 10 knot winds and heavy rain and fog (approx 1km visibility). Used sonar and previous plotting to estimate a firing solution and get into position. Magically appearing out of the fog about 20 degrees before firing, we were able to put an eel into the hull. It went down quickly. Which was fortunate because we couldn't use the deck gun to finish.

After multiple unsuccessful attacks due to poor sea state and torpedo failures, we returned to Wilhelmshaven with a total of 42,977 in tonnage.

A great patrol but not without its disappointments.

With the sea state being so rough through many encounters, we had to rely on torpedoes. Relying on the torpedoes, and lining up great shots, only to have 6 torpedoes in our inventory fail, was very disappointing (we even had the torpedo depth set to smooth water). We also tracked an unarmed merchant in the Nord Meer, that we would have loved to add to our tonnage, but after getting close enough to identify the flag, spitting distance really since it was the middle of the night and the moon was on the other side of the ship, it turned out to be a Russian ship.

We were constantly harassed by Flugzeug during our return trip by day near Britain.

Looking forward to our next patrol.

On a side note:
- I try to be as patient as possible with the time compression and enjoy 'being at sea'. This patrol probably took 36+ hours of actual playtime, I cruise while I'm working from home sometimes, and try to run intercepts at near to realtime. The tension must be properly built. lol
- This is the first campaign I've run in years.
- I've considered tuning down the torpedo failures, but having them in keeps things interesting to say the least. And who can be a WWII submariner without knowing frustration.
- I considered installing the flags enlighten mod, but having to get close enough to spit at the Russians, while wondering if I could attack them or not, was extremely satisfying, especially when I realized that by getting on the other side of them to view the flag in the moonlight added an insane amount to the realism of the game.
- Manually tracking targets with map work, the RAOBF, and Angriffsheibe make the torpedo shots / kills all the more glorious.
- I recently added Ahnenerbe's hi res / widescreen mod and plan on trying it on the next patrol. Looks very promising in practice.
- I want to thank all the modders that make a good game when it was released, a great game even into modern times.

Mod list:
_LSH3-2015__FULLVERSION
_LSH3-2015_ATM-BlueWater-SunFix
_LSH3-2015_SLS_SpecialEffectsBig
_LSH3-2015__HistoricalMessages
_LSH3-2015__Patch_HSIE-V16B1
Thomsen's Sound Pack V3.2cg (I love the ambience even if the voice overs are repetitive and don't make sense in Deutsch)
Ahnenerbe WideGui 1920 x 1080 Final

* Now just to find some nice tracks for the gramophone.
Und jetzt brauche ich viele Bier! :up:

3 rd patrol
 

U-4
15 DEC 39
23:50 hrs., 2nd watch climbs to the bridge, Degen, Hansen, Rausch, Barsch and myself.
I ask Degen, "you like the selection of records I took along this time?"
"Yes sir," he replies.
"If only they didn't take as much room to store them," I say.
"Perhaps one day we can record music in a smaller media, Capt'n," he says.
"Yes, something the size of a book of matches", I say.
"Which records did you bring this time, Capt'n?, he says.

U-4
19 DEC 39
21:21 Surface the boat, ahead slow. Clear sky's. Heavy sea. Crescent moon. Two hour watches. I climb to the bridge. I raise my glasses to slowly scan 360 degrees.
Cold. Like hunting deer in the Black Forest back home. Up before dawn to sit quiet all day in the hunting blind. Search for any sign of movement in the woods.
A twig snaps to the left, a slow turn of my head and there he is!
An eight - point buck!
Here, the English are our prey. They come within range.
We pull the trigger.
To warm our hands on the bridge, a No. 10 tin can with cotton waste soaked with rubbing alcohol is set on fire.
22:50 Ship spotted. 82 degrees. Long range. Dive, periscope depth, speed 1 knot, steer 290 degrees.
22:56 All stop. Up scope. A tin can, doing 13 knots. Battle stations.
Rig for silent running.
23:02 She's at 50 degrees.
23:05 Secure from silent running. Open bow caps.
23:07 Fire! One minute later she goes down by the stern.
Ahead slow. Surface. Search the wreckage for survivors.
23:15 "Capt'n! I see men in the water!" one of our own shouts.
"Steer towards them", I say.
We fish out ten survivors from the tin can, all of them suffering from the cold. They're taken below, wrapped in blankets and seated near the electric heaters.
We radio BdU a patrol report.
23:36 Radio message from BdU: "Return to base".
Carlewitz plots a course for Wilhelmshaven.
I put Hartenstein in charge of our "guests". 38 men on board now.
24 DEC 39
Christmas Eve
A Christmas tree is assembled and decorated.
A shot of schnapps and 1/2 bottle of Becks beer for everyone,

Jan 1941. Stalking around Faxafloi Bay in the dark, a Town-class destroyer suddenly sailed from the gloom less than 300 meters ahead, heading right down my throat. The crew must have been super busy, because my tower was still above water when it passed maybe 10 meters off to port and kept on sailing towards Reykjavik.

I didn't even think to hit the screenshot button...

4th patrol
 

27 JAN 40
U-4
21:29 hrs Reports from other boats regarding dud eels. Jurgen Zinke made rate of Radioman while ashore. I request and receive permission to transfer to our original boat, U-4. Steam eels set to contact pistols, fast speed.
Ahead slow. Carlewitz plots a course to our patrol area AN73, shallow waters. *sigh* I don't sleep well in shallow waters. I'd rather have one hundred fathoms under our keel. I climb to the bridge. Clear sky's. Calm sea. Half moon.
I hear the sounds of "Ain't misbehavin'" by Fats Waller from the open hatch.
Our boat is now referred to, among the barracks, as the "Clown Car" after our last patrol ended with 38 men exiting when we docked. I squared it away with Donitz about taking prisoners. Having experienced P.O.W. status himself, he advised he was willing to "look the other way" as long as we acquired tonnage during our patrols.
28 JAN 40
0849 hrs I climb to the bridge this morning. The coast of the continent visible on our port. Barrier islands visible on our starboard.
These barrier islands remind me of the time, years ago, my brother & I travelled to Lake Superior in the States to visit Isle Royale. At the Eastern end of the island's Rock Harbor, we paddled my canoe Westward, between the island and barrier islands to the South. In every gap between those barrier islands, the waves from Lake Superior hit us. We discovered thimble berries the size of your thumb in a meadow there. A good memory.
29 JAN 40
2031 hrs. Ship sighted. Dive, make your depth 10 meters, steer 190 degrees, ahead 1/3. Battle stations. Very shallow waters here.
Our target makes a turn South. We steer 213 degrees. English flag.
2045 hrs. Fire! She goes down by the stern, very slowly. Men have time to get into a life boat. We approach them and ask, "Name of your ship"?
"Jenny Lynn", is the reply. I check the manifest, 2343 tons.
Close to shore, fair weather, provisioned well, they have a good chance.
"Return to plotted course", I order. Secure from battle stations.
0212 hrs. Ship spotted, heading right at us. Steer 200 degrees. Battle stations. We sail a while, then turn to make the T.
0217 hrs. All stop. Polish flag. Open bow caps.
0222 hrs. Fire! Dud. Secure from battle stations, make your depth 10 meters, ahead slow.
0229 hrs. Surface, return to plotted course.
30 JAN 40
0952 hrs. I climb to the bridge. Clear sky's. Calm sea. Cold. The morning sun rises at 210 degrees aft. I light a cigar. My thoughts turn towards that dud eel from last night. Zander is dissecting our eels this morning.
Noon daily position report sent to BdU: AN82
- note to self: leave "Dizzy Fingers", by Zez Confery in the barracks on next patrol because it was difficult to hear when it was played. -
Non-stop sound reports in this area. Merchants, warships and small craft.
1 FEB 40
2000 Sound report, warship, 60 degrees bearing, long range.
Dive, make your depth 10 meters, rig for silent running, steer 45 degrees.
I wear the headset of the sound man, Zenke, to follow the contact.
Let's see if we can turn fast enough to make the T. Scope up. Open bow caps. An armed trawler, doing 10 knots. Secure form silent running.
Battle stations. Almost there, AOB 84.
2313 Fire! Down scope. Dud. Rig for silent running. Speed 1 knot.
Return to plotted course.
2330 Secure from silent running, Surface. Recharge batteries. Two eels remain.
2 FEB 40
0840 hrs. Ship spotted, a big one, 41 degrees, long range.
Dive, make your depth 10 meters, speed 1 knot. Scope up. A c-2 cargo, bearing 85 degrees, doing 9 knots.
0926 All stop. British flag. Open bow caps.
0926 Fire 1! Connect 2. Open bow caps. Fire 2! Fires seen in front of the bridge. She slows to 4 knots and limps to her destination.
No eels remain. Carlewitz plots a course for home. I hand Cruetz at the radio, our patrol report with instructions to wait until noon to send it to BdU.
We hear a depth charge explosion near our last position.
Noon. Surface, ahead slow, patrol report sent to BdU, dive, make your depth 10 meters, speed 1 knot, return to plotted course.
1221 Radio message from BdU : return to base
For the next six days, we settle into a routine; dive at 0800 hrs., surface at Noon for the daily position report to Bdu, then dive and remain submerged until 2000 hrs. when we surface again.
We listen to the radio and the gramophone records. We play cards. We watch films in the bow compartment. During those times when we are on the surface, I climb to the bridge, light a cigar and watch the waves.
9 FEB 40
0127 hrs. We turn the corner and there they are, the lighthouses of Wilhelmshaven.
Ahead flank.
0153 Ahead slow.
0212 Speed 1 knot. All stop.
Home.
Carl A. Lange Jr. sub-Lt.
Our new Tower emblem is shown below.

Patrol 5
 

5th patrol start
U-4
8 MAR 4
1919 hrs. Ahead slow. Carlewitz plots a course to AN28, SE of Bergen, Norway. Deep water. Good. I'll sleep well.
Both diesel engines upgraded. Problems remain with dud eels.
Degen made rate of medic while we were ashore.
Before I climb to the bridge, a hand Creutz a phonograph record, with instructions to wait until I'm on the bridge to play it.
"Aye, aye, Capt'n", he says. I climb to the bridge. Clear sky's. Calm sea.
From the open hatch I hear a few guitar strums, then the voice of Gene Autry singing, "I'm back in the saddle again". I sing along...

5th patrol
 

5th patrol
U-4
16 MAR 40
0953 hrs. Sound contact, merchant, slow turns, closing, 73 degrees, long range. Steer 270 degrees. Speed 1 knot. Make your depth 26 meters.
I put the headphones on and hear slow turns, 290 degrees.
In this weather, I'll have to make one of those 400 meter, sudden, out-of-the-fog flag identifications. I turn to Zinke sitting next to me. "You called it right, she's coming at us", I say.
1031 hrs. She's heading aft of us. Steer 90 degrees.
1037 hrs. Surfaced, we maintain course and speed. I'm on the bridge with my glasses. Battle stations. I switch to the UZO, scanning the horizon. Heavy snow.
Suddenly, the huge bow of the merchant fills the lens of the UZO.
I shout "%$#@"!!! Sound collision! She glides past our bow, 50 meters away. I scan her rigging, British flag.
"Think she saw us, gentlemen? ", I ask. Ahead full. Steer North.
She zig zags . Steer 90 degrees. Too close for a shot. We may have to shoot blind in this fog. Using rudder controls we get into a T. I plot her general course, North, then steer to a point 500 meters away from her to make the T. Steer 90 degrees. She disappears in the fog. Steer 70 degrees. Open bow caps. Fire 1! Missed. Fire 2! Missed. As she appears from the fog, I see her stern, with enough room for an eel run to sting.
Open bow caps. Fire 3! She makes her zig zag turn right into a broadside shot. That did it. Fires on her deck. She sinks slow. Men climb into a lifeboat. Speed 1 knot. We drift alongside the burning merchant. Not too close, gentlemen, she may take us with her, if cargo explodes on her deck.
She goes down by the stern. We are close enough I can read the merchant's name on the bow, "Camille", 2343 tons.
We are 160 km from the Norway coast. We approach the life boat. All stop.
I call to the men in the life boat, "you lads stay right there, we have to dive the boat to get the engines running again. We'll be right back!"
Dive. Make your depth 20 meters. Ahead slow. Soon, the hum of the E-motors is heard.
Surface. Ahead 1 knot. Steer to the life boat. Thurmann throws a line to the life boat as it pulls along side us.
"Anyone hurt?" I ask. "No" is the reply.
"We are 160 Km from the coast, we will tow you there", I say.
A tow rope is lowered to the life boat.
Carlewitz plots a course to the coast of Norway, bearing 100 degrees.
Patrol report sent to BdU.
Just about 60 minutes, in real time, with that last incident.
Shoot from the hip. Just like John Wayne. Snap shots. Reckless waste of expensive, $5,000 mark torpedoes. It's what I live for.
1217 hrs. Radio message from BdU: "Return to base"
I'm in the controlroom, sitting on the chart chest. I ask the Chief, Totenhagen, "ever been to Bergen?" "No" is his reply.
'Let's go there", I say.
"But sir, you're playing stock, do you remember years ago, what we found in Scapa Flow, after running the gauntlet of tin cans?", he asks.
"Yes, I remember, an empty harbor.", I say.
"You got any urgent matters back home?" I ask him.
"No" is his reply.
"Good, let's tow the lads to Bergen, set them free, then we give the crew liberty", I say.
Word travels quickly aboard. Liberty in Bergen!
Carlewitz plots a course, weaving among the fjords to Bergen.
Frederichs, our No. 1, isn't happy. "What about BdU?", he asks.
I reply, "they ordered us to return to base. They didn't say how soon".
17 MAR 40
0920 hrs. We reach the coast of Norway.
Noon position report to BdU: AN24
1332 hrs. On the bridge, with my glasses, I see the shore 2 Km away.
Beautiful mountains.
1505 hrs. Wow! That's a huge mountain! 250 meters away!
1602 hrs. On the bridge, without glasses, I see the lights of the Bergen lighthouses in the fog dead ahead.
Almost there boys. Mind your manners in town.
Carlewitz asks, "How long can we stay here, Capt'n?"
"I'll ask the harbor master", I reply.
1620 hrs. We sail up cross-wise to the pier and throw out the anchor.
All stop. We'll use the life boat to reach shore. Quiet and peaceful here. The fishing must be good. I saw a couple of men fishing from the pier.
Not one ship in sight.
The crew from the Camille are taken aboard. Sausage & sauerkraut are served for supper.
The overhead speakers crackle:
"The harbor master gives us 48 hrs., we sail 19 MAR 40 at 1620 hrs., liberty gentlemen, play nice in town, End"
I remain aboard with a small crew. Hartenstein, wearing a sidearm, commands the life boat to shore. He's accompanied by an armed guard.
I'm not worried about problems with the crew from the Camille.
They're grateful to be ashore.
I'm certain the Tommies have a representative in Bergen to help the lads get back home, safe & sound.
I catch up on some sleep. Records play on the gramophone. 48 hours goes by fast. We drift a bit in the harbor, turning head-on in the current, yet, our anchor holds fast.
19 MAR 40
1500 hrs.
"Entire crew is accounted for, Capt'n", says our No. 1
"Very well", I reply. Dive, make your depth 5 meters, ahead slow, return to plotted course.
1520 hrs. Surface. Ahead slow. 70 % diesel remains.

6th patrol
 

6th patrol
We transfer to U-5.
Totenhagen made rate of watchman while we were ashore.
Officers Fredericks and Hartenstein were dismissed without replacements.
21 APR 40
1604 hrs.
Ahead slow. Carlewitz plots a course to our patrol area, AN21.
We maintain a routine of staying submerged during the daylight, except for surfacing at Noon for five minutes to ventilate the boat and send the daily position report to BdU.
I take a peek with the scope before we surface, since the time darkness arrives varies each day with the weather conditions.
The object of this routine is to avoid aircraft.
I climb to the bridge. Sunshine. Clear sky's. Calm sea.
I light a cigar.
From the open hatch, I hear John McCormack sing, "Star of the County Down".

6th patrol
 

U-5
1 MAY 40
AN21
0013 hrs.
From the open hatch to the bow compartment, I hear laughter.
They're playing a "Laurel & Hardy" film.
1140 hrs. We're at periscope depth. Sky scope up. A look around.
Down scope. Surface.
1147 hrs. Ventilate the boat. Ahead slow.
I climb to the bridge. Clear sky's. Medium sea.
1154 hrs. Boat ventilated. Dive. Make your depth 30 meters. Speed 1 knot.