U124 IXB. Gone.
Underway from Lorient for CB16, again, on 2.okt.42.
Made our way across The Bay, and a good distance out to sea, without insident. Grid BE69. 9.okt.42. At 0332 a freighter is sighted, which turned out to be a Coastal Merchant running wide open at 9 knot in a NNEerly direction. Almost 4 hours later a single T1 torpedo is released from Tube 6, sinking the freighter for 2.016 GRT. This guy I felt bad about sinking. He foiled the first planned attack with a course change, and he's running that little ship of his for all she's worth. Had he a bigger and faster ship, I think he'd of survived the war. Grid BE58. 10.okt.42. At 0459 we recieved a radio dispatch to attempt interception of a Freetown - UK convoy. "Convoy. Grid BE86. NNE. 6 knots". BE59 would be our only hope of getting there first, and locating the convoy. It happenned at 1643, during a last ditch sound check. The lead escort was a Flower Class Corvette. We managed to keep our nose pointed at him while maintaining silent speed (just under 2 knots), at periscope depth. At completion of the cat (destroyer) and mouse (us) stress test, we were right in the center of the convoys track. Three T2 torpedoes were fired at a distant C2 Cargo, to give us time to avoid being run over by a merchant, and give us more time to evade. Two minutes later 2 impacts were heard. Escorts came from all directions. The boat was by that time at 100 meters, and pointed at a 45 degree angle toward the rear corner of the convoy. The weather was Calm & Clear, and the pinging began almost instantly. Distant at first, but eventualy quite "gripping". They must have gotten new equipment, as 100 meters was no longer cutting it. Down to 120 meters with a fast 90 degree turn for the other rear corner. No good. Depth charges rained down and ruined our day. Flooding in Forward Berthing was finaly brought under control, and other repairs followed. Deeper yet, as 120 meters was still insufficiant. Down to 147 meters, and that's when it happenned. Bang! Bang! Boom! . . . The forward torpedo compartment turned red, as did all hands therein. Very shortly after that, the world went black for the rest of us. All hands lost. 55 dead. No survivors. U124's final tally: 11 war patrols. 37 ships sunk for 234.602 GRT. |
Left Lorient and began to make our way to grid DS. A long journey so had the gramophone blasting out and TC at 512. A long journey and a boring one too...or so I thought.
Hit the top of Spain and ship sighted, there was a storm and it was dead of night...couldn't see a thing save for the little green triangle when those flippin waves weren't bashing against the ob telescope. Couldn't get a proper read so decided to follow on her heels and do constant checks. Then another ship appears on the screen...both about 2500 meters away, then a red line showing the escort. I followed for about 10 minutes real time right on the last ships heels, she is at a steady 0 degree bearing for all that time. I never fire at more than 1000 meters but the are running to fast for me to catch up submerged. Damn it I'll try. I fire 2 torps at the last ship and drop to 100 meters and turn to resume course as I know I will never hit them but you gotta try, right? 3 mins on the stopwatch pass and nothing, the second hand goes past the red line...nothing...ahh well it was worth a couple of torps just to see if I would get lucky. Then bang..fitrst hits, bang second hits...I couldn't believe it, dead of night no eye sighting to speak of, 1500 mtrs more than I have ever shot at and a hit...cool I turn back to see if I can track it and finish her off in the morning. The escort comes after me full speed. Depth charges, tracking me for what seems like an age...then joy....the little red sunken ship appears on the nav map. I drop to 130 and go silent. The escort tracks me again but has no luck. Back on course with a nice catch under my belt. Somebody is in for a medal when we get back to port that's for sure. A great start to patrol 6. |
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Yes my friend , this time I will be testing a secret weapon :IXC in January 1940! |
U-505 IXC update
Patrol 1.
January 1 1940 22:10 hours Left Wilhelmshaven ahead of schedule. Crew morale is very high. February 9 1940 03:12 hours Docked at SS Thalia Cadiz Spain. 14 enemy ships sunk 68396 tons 489 men lost All ammunition used up. Patrol 2 February 10 1940 10:56 hours Left Cadiz for Germany February 26 1940 04:15 hours Docked at Wilhelmshaven. 9 enemy ships sunk (1 corvette) 48472 tons 126 men lost 3 torpedoes remained. No problems with ensmy ASW forces. |
U-505 IXC update
Patrol No3
March 17 1940 07:37 U-505 left Wilhelmshaven with orders to patrol Grid DH37 March 20 1940 Grid AN45 03:04 hours Enemy small merchant spotted. Sunk by gunfire March 21 1940 Grid AN13 16:19 hours Enemy medium cargo spotted SUnk by gunfire 16:27 ALARM ememy planes bearing 176 closing fast. No time to dive. Engage the enemy planes (Swordfish) 16:29 Aircraft shot down 16:30 Aircraft shot down 16:31 Aircraft shot down Promotion and medals for the flak gunner March 22 1940 Grid AN13 19:00 Enemy warships show on hydrophone One destroyer an aux cruiser and an armed merchant cruiser bearing 85 heading north. No window to shoot. March 24 1940 Grid AM53 15:57 Enemy tugboat. Crew open fire with small arms Enemy vessel sunk with gunfire. No casualties. 17:03 Enemy medium merchant 30 sunk with gunfire. Ship was carrying aircrafts. March 25 1940 Grid AM55 07:00 intercept convoy after Bdu message 6 torpedoes fired 5 hits 07:37 medium merchant 15 sunk 07:38 heavy merchant 01 sunk Hydrophone detects enemy ships dead in the water while convoy moves away. No DC attack no pinging 10:38 Surfaced and gunned down enemy ship. Empire type freighter March 27 1940 Grid BF14 10:51 hours Enemy large cargo spotted. Sunk with gunfire March 29 1940 Grid BE99 20:53 hours Enemy small freighter sunk with 2 torpedoes in bad weather April 1 1940 Grid CG75 convoy attack Usual attack pattern followed : 6 TIs fired and started reloading aft tubes while moving away at 1 kt. 19:32 Enemy medium merchant 28 sunk 19:34 Enemy medium merchant 03 sunk 19:44 Enemy medium merchant 28 sunk No DC attack no pinging Fired both stern tubes again at a heavy merchant but failed to sink target ship (1 missed 1 dud) April 3 1940 Grid CG75 convoy attack Total failure since convoy changed course and avoided all 6 torpedoes. Escaped unharmed April 7 1940 Grid DJ11 09:23 hours enemy medium merchant 15 sunk with 4 torpedoes April 9 1940 Grid BE93 12:28 hours enemy medium merchant 04 sunk with torpedoes and gunfire April 17 1940 01:14 Docked at Wilhelmshaven under heavy rain. 14 enemy ships sunk 75730 tons 294 men killed 3 aircrafts shot down. |
U6 IIA. Patrol 1.
1.sep.39.
Left kiel at 0130 with orders to recon Grid AF87 (NW of Bergen). 3.sep.39. Radio message recieved to commence hostilities against England. 8.sep.39 On station. 18.sep.39 Docked at Kiel. In spite of investigating many contacts, no enemy shipping was encountered. |
BERGEN- 14FEB45
07:53 U2541 (Kptlt Eickmeyer) is back from patrol n°11. 21JAN45 20:47 U2541 leaves Bergen. Patrol zone: North atlantic 28JAN45 0:21 Lone british coastal tanker in AE79. 2 torpedoes fired, two impacts and fast sinking. MV Ellen M 1.471 tons 15:02 Radio report, task force heading west in the vicinity, weather awful, no visibility rain, fog and big waves. Try to intercept. 17:14 Sound contact , we are ahead of them and try to stay in front of them. Silent running periscop depth. 18:19 One of the greatest moment i have ever lived in SH3... Task force is coming right at us and sound contact is now very loud on my 0-5°. Suddenly the main sound in the task force starts to slip quickly at the hydrophon: 5° 10° 15°... This can means only one thing! He's very close now. We quickly put at 90° from his supposed course and prepare a full 6 torpedoes salvo (4 gnat and 2 T3). Few seconds later we fired our eels. 30 seconds later we heard 1,2,3,4,5 and eventually 6 impacts! ( I was not surprised for the acoustic torpedoes but the 2 T3 impacts were a big surprise, with no map contacts nothing appears on my map, it was all estimation via hydrophon...) We never know what we hit but it sank very fast. Escorts never detected us thanks to the storm outside. 2 days later BdU told us that we sank the USS Core, an american Bogue class aircraft carrier of 15.390 tons 01FEB45 13:44 AM27 As the storm is still raging we try to get close to the british isles. Encounter a medium convoy and send again a six torpedoes salvo. Two impacts on one ship. SS Philoctetes Ore Carrier 7.559 tons 04FEB45 Weather slightly improved so we headed west. 09:21 Radio report convoy heading west near our position. 17:44 Convoy sighted in AL37. Again we fired 6 torpedoes to it resulting in three impacts after 3min12 3min20 and 3min24 on the same ship followed by another impact after 4min30 17:48 SS Thaltybius Ore carrier 9.916 tons 17:51 SS Mormacmoon Large Cargo 7.297 tons Detected and depth charged for almost 2 hours. Leveled at -276m no damages no casualties. With two torpedoes left we started our way back to Bergen 06FEB45 21:12 Detected a damaged british tanker ( Uboot former attack??) Fired our two last torpedoes but both misfunctionned...Hydrophon operator clearly heard two impacts on the ship's hull without explosion... We reported its position and left the scene 07FEB45 08:15 Encountered a small british passenger cargo heading ESE. Reported its position too... 14FEB45 07:53 Docked at Bergen. Uboot damaged in the channel north of Bergen. HI 88%. Patrol results: 5 ships for 41.633 tons Total carreer: 27 ships for 161.216 tons ( 184 days at sea). After repairs, U2541 may go on its last war patrol as the war comes to an end... |
Quote:
Well done. |
U6 IIA. Patrol 2.
Underway from Kiel on 13.nov.39.
Assigned patrol grid AN47. Arived on station 22.nov.39 On 24.nov.39 a great deal of time and battery power, in addition to a high risk surface sprint in close proximity to enemy air bases, was spent preparing for an attack on a medium speed "merchant". The target turned out to be a trawler, which was out of reach.. 27.nov.39 After achieving no results in our assigned grid for five day, we elected to go farther north, and closer to the coast. In AN18 we conducted a daylight submerged attack on, and subsequently sunk, a Small Merchant for 2.343 GRT. Target was 24 miles offshore, on course 155, making 6 knots. Two T2 torpedos were expended. In AN44, after a long chase, we conducted a night surface attack upon, and sunk, a Coastal Merchant for 2.046 GRT. We again struck 25 miles offshore. A single T2 torpedo was fired at the target, which was on a course of 200 and making 9 knots. U6 could only manage 10½ knots throughout the chase. On 30.nov.39 the diesel reserves fell to 50%, and on 7.dec.39 they reached 25%. U6 docked at Kiel on 8.dec.39, at 0135, in Heavy Fog. Just south of Store Bælt a collision with a KM Destroyer was avoided at under 300 meters. (In this instance, having all warships manned by Elite Crews saved our tails.) Patrol results: 2 ships sunk for 4.389 GRT. U6's history to date: 2 war patrols. 2 ships sunk for 4.389 GRT. |
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U - 505 IXC update
Patrol No4
May 7 1940 04:37 U 505 laft Germany with orders to patrol Grid AN29. Before departure , vonHarris had received a sealed envelope with orders to open it only after direct order from BdU. May 13 1940 Grid AN14 15:16 Enemy coastal freighter sunk with 1 torpedo. Ship was already listing due to bad weather. May 15 1940 00:01 hours A message is received : Commander only OPEN Von Harris opened the sealed envelope and read: "Ignore all previous orders Proceed to Grid BB98 and attack convoys there" May 23 1940 Grid AE 47 11:27 hours Medium merchant 39 sunk with 2 torpedoes. She was escorted by an ASW trawler June 16 1940 Grid BB98 Convoy attack 6 torpedoes launched + 1 more stern 5 hits scored 04:50 Revenge class battleship sunk 04:51 Tanker 01 sunk 04:54 Converted whale factory ship sunk June 20 1940 Grid BB99 Convoy attack Usual procedure followed 6 torpedoes launched 3 hits scored 22:45 Large troop ship sunk Under DC attack for 3 hours Slight damages Dived to 160m and escaped at 1 kt. July 3 1940 Grid AJ59 08:53 Enemy coastal freighter sunk with 2 torpedoes July 4 1940 21:02 hours Docked at SS Belchen Ships sunk : 7 Tonnage : 82594 Men killed: 977 Requested new orders Orders came through: Continue as instructed. |
U-505 IXC update
Patrol No5
July 5 1940 23:04 hours U-505 left the SS Belchen to attack convoys at Grid BB98 July 14 1940 Grid BB98 Convoy attack Usual pattern of approach and attack 6 torpedoes fired 4 hits scored 10:05 Nelson class battleship sunk 10:07 Emprire type freighter sunk July 15 1940 Grid BB99 Convoy attack in bad weather 6 torpedoes fired 3 hits scored 15:24 Passenger ship SS Arandors Star sunk July 17 1940 Grid BB99 Convoy attack 6 torpedoes fired 4 hits scored No ship sunk two tankers damaged July 20 1940 Grid BB99 Convoy attack All torpedoes fired 4 hits scored 05:32 heavy merchant 01 sunk 05:40 heavy merchant 01 sunk July 24 1940 14:11 hours Returned to SS Belchen Ships sunk :5 Tonnage : 76052 Men killed : 893 Crew is tired after so many days at sea. Requsted orders and stated the situation. Orders came through: Attack convoys at BB98 - 99 and return to Germany |
U6 IIA. Patrol 3.
Assigned grid AN18 (Coastal grid south of Scapa Flow. More land than sea.)
Patrol dates: 2.feb.40 til 7.mar.40. 12 days lost to Heavy Fog. U6 waited out the storm in the central North Sea. Contacts this patrol: Sound: Warship close by, following our pre-dawn dive. Medium speed. Visual: Fishing boat. 9+ knots. Visual: Destroyer. Medium speed. Sound: Merchant. 10½ knots. Course 148. We chased him all night without ever getting a sighting. No ships sunk this patrol. U6's history to date: 3 war patrols. 2 ships sunk for 4.389 GRT. Commander to be transferred to a IXB. When the AI is good, these IIAs are no picnic. Realy lets one appreciate the bigger boats. Even if it's "only" to a IID. Just may start off with a IIA more often, but not always as I enjoy the IX(A)s so. |
U-505 IXC UPDATE
Patrol No6
July 25 1940 14:53 hours After rearming and refueling procedures have been completed U-505 sailed off form the SS Belchen to Grid BB98 August 1 1940 Grid BC44 Two unescorted enemy tankers spotted. Weather was very bad. Approached submerged and fired all 4 bow torps. 09:09 hours Tanker 16 sunk Fired both stern torpedoes to finish off the second target 09:20 hours Large tanker sunk August 6 1940 Grid BB92 Convoy attack in foggy weather 6 torpedoes fired 5 hits scored 07:12 hours Medium merchant 38 sunk 07:17 hours Medium merchant 04 sunk Damaged medium merchant 39 that survived August 16 1940 Grid BB92 Convoy attack in 15m/s winds but no rain. Day submerged attack 6 torpedoes fired 4 hits scored 08:05 Tanker 07 sunk (huge explosion) 08:05 Coastal freighter sunk 08:08 Tanker 07 sunk (exploded) 08:22 Large merchant sunk Relaoaded 2 bow tubes convoy still in sight. Escotrs in complete disarray dropping charges all over the ocean 09:10 fired two shots at ammunition ship Both hit but target survived! August 17 1940 : Decided to start return passage August 25 1940 Grid AK15 Two coastal freighters (!!) unescorted and unarmed. 05:24 Coastal freighter sunk with gunfire 05:28 Coastal freighter sunk with gunfire September 1 1940 00:01 hours The BdU has changed our base to Lorient France. September 5 1940 18:17 hours Docked at Lorient France. 10 ships sunk 61346 tons 319 men killed No damages to the boat. Enemy ASW increased in numbers and stregth. At least 5 escorts with each convoy. A 20-days refit and rest period to follow. |
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/9566/sh32.png
You can see my little U mark just beside the merchant I hit. I found a convoy and followed submerged all day and then rose at night to fire from the surface. One torp struck the prop and she stalled. 3 warships chased me for an age and I finally snuck under the merchant and lay there for over an hour real time, as I reckoned they wouldn't fire on their own just to get me. The boats didn't move off as I thought they would... and then the merchant began to sink, so I dropped to 180 and crept outta there, finally managing to steal away. The boat sank and I didn't get a credit for it, no little sunken ship sign...I was furious after all that time and evading...nothing to go down in my log. Damn. |
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