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Treacle1604 09-25-15 09:39 PM

Patrol 1
 
U-31
2/9/1939

Set out from Wilhelmshaven heading to AM23 along Norwegian coast, sighting 2 neutral ships, weather conditions perfect. Reached north of Scotland sighting small trawler 98 tons at AN12 sunk by deck gun followed by coastal freight 1871 tons grid AN13.

Sighted 2 destroyers with what appeared to be a large battleship far off in the distance... submerged and waited for the all clear.

Weather has turned choppy as we reached patrol grid, no contacts during 24hours, headed south to patrol SC convoy route, patrolled for 3 days in search pattern making a couple of contacts in rough seas.... unable to pursue effectively.

Decide to hunt east coast UK hoping for calmer seas.
Intercept ship north of Scotland 4000 ton ship, but due to either dud torpedoes or incorrect target solution, failed to connect with 4 torps (3rd & 4th fired in sheer frustration to score some tonnage)..... gave up pursuit.

Made way down the coast heading for Blyth harbour looking for cheap targets, heavy rain at night allowed me to get 3.5km from dockside, submerged and waited for weather to clear, which never did rain persisted so fired in the dark at stationary targets somehow registering on hydrophones including a warship spotted 600m to our starboard.... Impact with magnetic on warship but failed to sink even after another hit.

Made way further down coast further offshore intercepting small freighter and scoring direct hit with last torpedo, followed for 90 mins failed to sink unable to use deck gun due to bad weather.

Spent 4 days waiting for deck gun weather and finally admitted defeat, heading home.

Returned: 12/10/1939

Abysmal patrol, better look next time!

Treacle1604 09-27-15 07:52 PM

Patrol 2
 
U-31 VIIB

Just made my longest shot of 7900 mts during early hours of the morning, released 2 fish, time till impact 9:09 minutes one....... 4 minutes into the torpedo run lights were observed on ship, 1 hit and turned out to be neutral for 5000 tons! Still im happy with the shot using the RAOB attack discs :smug:

Treacle1604 09-28-15 04:09 PM

Patrol 2
 
U-31, VIIB U-Flotilla Saltzwedel
Left at: October 21, 1939, 19:12 From: Wilhelmshaven
Mission Orders: Patrol grid AN13

Ship sunk!|Grid AN 59|Coastal Freighter, 1869 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid AN 58|Coastal Freighter, 1870 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid AN 52|Pelagic Trawler, 888 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid AN 52|Coastal Tanker, 961 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid AN 52|Passenger/Cargo, 1870 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid AN 47|Medium Cargo, 5076 tons
Neutral ship incident caused by morning light obscuring visibility of ships lights at long range, no action taken by BDU.
Ship sunk!|Grid AN 13|Granville-type Freighter, 4710 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid AN 13|Large Merchant, 10200 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid AM 36|Large Merchant, 10201 tons

Patrol results|Crew losses: 0|Ships sunk: 9|Aircraft destroyed: 0|Patrol tonnage: 37645 tons

Patrol went without any major event.
Good weather throughout patrol until return passage through north sea.
Six 8.8 cm deck gun rounds remaining 0 bow torpedoes 3 stern remaining.
Promotion to Oberleutnant z.s.
3 crew promotions + U-Boat war medals and one iron cross 2nd class to be issued out.

Returned November 9th 1939

Treacle1604 09-30-15 11:35 AM

Patrol 3
 
U-31, U-Flotilla Saltzwedel
Left at: November 23, 1939, 00:10 From: Wilhelmshaven
Mission Orders: Patrol grid BF47

Ship sunk!|Grid AM 1|Large Merchant, 10863 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid AM 42|Small Freighter, 2220 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid BF 47|Coastal Freighter, 1872 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid BF 47|Large Merchant, 10864 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid BE 39|Medium Tanker, 7286 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid AM 1|Medium Cargo, 4476 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid AN 56|Small Merchant, 1844 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid AN 56|Small Freighter, 2221 tons
Ship sunk!|Grid AN 47|Passenger/Cargo, 2439 tons

2 Stern Torpedoes remaining and 2 8.8 cm shells

Patrol results|Crew losses: 0|Ships sunk: 9|Aircraft destroyed: 0|Patrol tonnage: 44085 tons

Returned: 1/22/1940

KingOfNothing22 10-01-15 06:12 AM

U-53
 
 
04/05/1940
04:47 - Kiel Canal - Departed Kiel at 04:21 and beginning course through the Kiel Canal. Boat has been fitted with new AFA 27 MAK 800 batteries. Cruising at 7kn, weather is clear with a slight north-easterly breeze.

15:56 - Exiting canal. Orders are to proceed to AM29. Weather partially cloudy with light fog.

05/05/1940
07:37 - AN93 - Received new orders to proceed to AF81 to assist in Norwegian campaign. Heading 303°, speed 7kn. Weather currently clear with light fog, moderate northerly breeze, sea 2.

06/05/1940
15:25 - AN34 - No incidents to report. Heading 321°, speed 8kn. Heavy rain and fog, poor visibility. strong north-easterly breeze. Sea 4.

18:27 - AN34 - Experiencing significant engine problems, unable to achieve more than 8kn. Unable to repair at sea - permission granted to return to Kiel for repairs.

07/05/1940
01:44 - AN34 - New orders received to put into Stavanger for repairs.

20:46 - Docked at Stavanger.

08/05/1940
05:51 - Left Stavanger at 05:48 with engine repairs completed. Proceeding to AF81 as previously ordered. Weather is clear with a light northerly breeze. Sea 2.

08/05/1940
10:26 - AF8787 - No incidents to report. Course 332°, 7 knots. Weather partially cloudy with strong gales. Sea 7.

21:57 - AF8449 - Sighted 3 enemy destroyers off port bow travelling SSW. Diving to evade, plan to surface at 00:00 if they pass without incident.

10/05/1940
01:08 - AF84 - Surfaced at 01:05 after destroyers turned about and passed travelling in the opposite direction. Forced to alter course to 004°.

04:58 - AF8178 - Arrived in patrol area, starting search pattern. Course 026°, speed 8kn. Weather unchanged.

11/05/1940
10:03 - AF8133 - No incidents to report. Course 319°, speed 8kn. No change in weather, sea remains 7.

12/05/1940
10:14 - AF8126 - No incidents. Course 346°, speed 9kn. Weather is partially cloudy, strong southerly breeze. Sea 5.

13/05/1940
14:44 - AF8119 - Received new orders to proceed to AF77. Course 251°, speed 9kn. Weather clear. strong breeze, direction SSE. Sea 4.

14/05/1940
10:34 - AF7615 - No incidents to report. Course 251°, speed 7kn. Light breeze, north-easterly. Sea 4.

15/05/1940
12:53 - AF7736 - Arrived in patrol area. Commencing search pattern.

16/05/1940
13:08 - AF7784 - Nothing to report. Course 331°, speed 7kn. Strong gusts, direction WNW. Light fog. Sea 4.

17/05/1940
02:47 - AF7772 - New orders to proceed to AM36. Course 213°, speed 7kn. Weather unchanged.

18/05/1940
13:22 - AM3624 - Patrolling assigned grid. Heading 265°, speed 6kn. Weather partially cloudy, light fog. Strong west-north-westerly gales. Sea 5.

19/05/1940
07:15 - AM3655 - Reported enemy convoy travelling WSW between Scotland and the Hebrides. Due to proximity to land and shallow waters, have taken the decision to attempt to intercept it by moving west around the Hebrides. Expecting to find it in AM53 in around 22-24 hours. Course 295°, speed 14kn. No change in weather. Sea 6.

20/05/1940
07:27 - AM5327 - Sighted lone destroyer travelling SSE.

07:48 - Destroyer turned towards us. Dived to periscope depth and identified it as a Tribal class. Fired two T2 torpedoes from 2,500m scoring one hit believed to be on bow. Sank within minutes for 1,850GRT. Continuing E to search for the convoy.

12:31 - Have entered AM61. No sign of convoy so far, believe it to be heading SSE between Ireland and Britain. Weather is now extremely poor - heavy rain and fog. Strong northerly gales. Sea 6.

13:22 - Sighted large merchant travelling ESE at close range. Dived to periscope depth and attacked with five T1 torpedoes within 500-700m, scoring four hits. Sunk for 8,631GRT. Abandoning hunt for convoy due to weather and suspected course. Course 285°, speed 8kn. Seven torpedoes remaining - 4 fore torpedoes, 3 aft.

21:39 - Dived for the night to save fuel. Detecting multiple sound contacts but weather is too poor to attempt attacks. Course 286°. Heading towards AM52, planning to surface at 06:00.


UKönig 10-05-15 02:49 PM

The story begins with our intrepid underwater heroes in probably the most dire of all states as they've ever been in.

Our 14th patrol had been cut short for reasons of severe battle damage...

A faulty repair on the port-side rudder had caused some steering problems, making the helmsmen work harder to stay on course.

As a result of that, we stumbled across a moderately guarded small convoy. Two corvettes and two Hunt I destroyers, with 1 Clemson class destroyer on sweep patrol (must have been the training fleet!). Also, a few of the cargo ships were sailing in differing directions, and kept falling out of line.
Puzzled, I had my radio officer check into the surface frequency. His english language skills are above average, and through him we were able to learn that the Clemson's Asdic was not working. Plus one for me, I thought. Also that some of the ships had suffered damage on the trip over in a bad NA storm, and that was why they kept steering in funny directions, it wasn't intentional.
Another plus one for me.
The first shot hit a corvette coming up the port flank. Had to wait for the calm to return before turning my attention to the convoy. Two shots on a troop ship, 1 on a small merchant and one on a tanker. All hits, although there was some time passed between the sinking of the small merch and the sinking of the tanker. I got to play with the escorts in the meantime, but their general inexperience and faulty equipment kept us from serious harm. Through our radio officer, we learned the name of our feared underwater weapon. They called it "the hedgehog" I thought "porcupine", either way...
We sank the second corvette with our tube 6 loaded seeker, as he was making an attack run on our bold canister, it ran up and blew the rudder and props off, causing it to slowly but deliberately tilt downwards....
The shame of the attack was the Clemson (which also took a torpedo from us) managed to score several close calls. Not enough to bust the pressure hull, but enough to destroy our port rudder and jam our diveplanes. Not too serious yet, as long as we don't need to change depth.
One of the two remaining Hunt destroyers came up to assist, further seeding the area with charges. A lucky hit near to the forward end damaged the outer bow caps on all four tubes, the worst was that the shockwave blew all four inner doors off the tubes, thus letting in a steady flow of water...
Damage control parties getting to work trying to repair 4 bow tubes as water gushes in, it's almost impossible, but somehow they work. U-802 has now more ballast forward of the control room, with water, men and tools, but this kind of damage must be repaired... I check the manometer, depth now 90m and still descending. All ahead slow, in fact, forget that order, all ahead 1 knot. Bad situation captain. Another depth charge near to the boat causing a severe pitching. The battery bilge is open for damage control in a previous attack. I had the forward bulkhead between the crew/torpedo section closed to contain the flooding, but the water is starting to advance anyway.
Then another explosion causes the lights to flicker and the boat to pitch hard to the right. I look through the control room hatch (still open) into the officer's section, in time to see my framed photograph of me with the Admiral, at my Knight's cross award ceremony, fall off the hook and hit the floor, where the glass shatters, spilling my photo out, and down into the battery bilge, where the escaped acids from some of the damaged cells quickly go to work, destroying a fond memory.
"There, you see! This is why I can't have nice things!" I blurt out to the surprise of the control room crew.
"Sir?" "New depth 120m". Still at one knot, crew working forward have repaired the battery and power is flowing better now, but the crew hatch is still sealed and we (presume) that they are still working on fixing the inner tube hatches. The downward tilt is about 35 degrees and we are now at 150m and still descending. Soon, the creaking in the beams, sort of like satan's fingernails down a blackboard...sets all our teeth on edge...
Blow ballast!, get us back up. The hydroplanes are out of action, too much water and other ballast forward, one knot and getting deeper, the emergency lights click on after a few minutes of darkness...water, running, dripping, splishing, splashing... we are so screwed.
Blow ballast!!
"I am blowing sir, look!" The compressed air gauge is running down at a frightening rate and it doesn't seem to be having the smallest effect...
"Both engines full speed, reverse" I order the engineer, in what I hoped was a calm sounding voice.
"Both engines full speed, reverse" He quickly, too quickly, repeats.
"Continue blowing ballast but watch our depth, we are only going to get one shot at this".
Very soon the bow compartment is clear, the crew has managed to restore all four inner caps and the water is being drained into the bilge for pumping out. Now that the are not needed forward, I order excess crew around to redistribute the balance.
To calm myself, I close my eyes and try to picture what it looks like outside the boat. Put myself in tune with the machine and the water to feel if my tactic is having any effect. No doubt the crew probably thought I was panicking, but whatever, I could sense it! We are rising! I open my eyes and see the depth guage now says "80m" "75"..."70"..."65"...
Whoa, better slow down, I don't want to breach the surface ass first!
We managed to get away from the convoy, with hardly any escorts left, the two Hunt destroyers had more important work than killing a U boat. They could hear the underwater calamity and probably assumed it was the pressure, crushing our hull.
Unfortunately, with our damaged hydroplanes we could not get above 89 meters. I had slowed our ascent, but we sank back down into the deeps again before I could level off. We managed to do so about 80-odd meters, but without functioning dive planes, and about as much compressed air as to blow out a candle, we were stuck. Then came our second stroke of brilliance. I had all the crew pile into the aft sections to over come our trim through sheer manpower alone. Gradually, by 1 meter per minute, we managed to ever slowly inch our way back to the surface, and to fresh air.
U-802 made it back to the world above, but our patrol was over. With no dive planes and a left rudder destroyed, our boat was helpless. We could only make left hand turns by differential thrust. By underpowering the port engine and over powering the the starboard one, along with the remaining rudder hard over, was the way we turned back to base. Stuck on the surface.
Lucky was the U-802 when it showed up in Lorient about 8 days later, along the way having shot down no less than 18 short sunderlands.
Put yourself in that situation, no diving, can barely turn, AA ammo running low, airplanes all over...
Somehow, through it all, the pressure hull maintained integrity, it was our exterior surfaces that took the kicking.
Patrol 15 begins in Feb. of 1944...

Andrakis 10-08-15 11:13 AM

U-45 is now U-101, as the Kriegsmarine decided the Kaleun was deserving of a new boat. We now sail in an IX(B), one of Germany's newer wondrous submarine technologies. The Kaleun requested the enlarged conning tower to hold two flak guns. Not realizing it at the time, this was quite a prescient choice.
The new boat was ready in late October, 1941.


U-101 was commanded to sail to a region a few zones West of the straight of Gibraltar. She sailed there without incident, aside from a few Spanish ships traversing the area. When the patrol zone was reached, the navigation pattern was drawn up and U-101 set to it, intermittently diving for hydrophone listens for long distance contacts. Nothing. Drills commenced to alleviate boredom and confirm the seaworthiness of the U-101. Diving felt a bit slower, but the additional 6 torpedoes in the external bays are sure to come in handy.

The Kaleun radioed HQ in a request to find more favorable waters. HQ confirmed and directed U-101 closer to the strait. We set patrols in the deeper waters that fed into the Strait, taking care to stay away from the dangerous bottleneck that the actual Strait is. We have seen a lot of traffic feeding into the strait in prior months and hoped it would be the same. There would be plenty.

Initial contacts were a few unescorted merchants, plodding along with seemingly little regard for submarines. The first, an MX10b(?), went to the bottom quickly and without struggle. The second, a medium merchant, also ate its fish without an argument. However, the crew was able to send a distress call and the first of many run ins with the RAF occurred within 20 minutes of sinking. Fortunately, the RAF encounter was a pair of Hurricanes who only strafed the tower with their machine guns on their initial pass. Before they could turn and reorient themselves, the crash dive had taken U-101 deep enough to avoid reproach. Bombs were heard on the surface, too far to make a difference. Perhaps the pilots were rookies, or perhaps they had hoped to deal with any flak gunners in their initial pass, but the decision to hold their bombs saved the U-101 a great deal of trouble. :doh:

The hurricanes would prove to be only the first of a number of sorties during the next few days. The boat performed admirably, with crash dives taking the boat out of danger each time. Kingfishers, hurricanes, catalinas - all were seen during the patrol, and fortunately, avoided.

A few days later, a contact report flagged an enemy convoy coming out of the straight with an easy intercept to boot! U-101 was moved into position at periscope depth and waited. *Warship, bearing 87! Closing!" was the report from the man on the hydrophone. Then, other reports, at least 20 merchants. The Kaleun waited a bit longer, then extended the periscope to take a look in the wee morning hours. A large convoy was poised to trail in front of her forward tubes, with the destroyer escort zigzagging along in front.

The boat was silent except for sounds of the ocean around us and the statistics being communicated to the weapons officer. Two salvos were prepped, one for an ore carrier, and one for a far off empire freighter. When they were plotted, both salves were fired with minimal spreads. Once the fish had swum, the U-101 promptly turned 180 degrees to fire her rear tubes and then make her escape. The initial salvos now struck home, causing the convoy to begin its haphazard zigzagging. Two electric eels in the rear were fitted with magnetic contacts, shallow drag, and sent on a course towards to nearest merchant (MX10?) as it turned to face towards the U-101. My hope was that the proximity detonation caused by the magnetic pistons would be useful in near misses that ran along the hull of a boat. Once those eels had left, we crash dove to 180m and began our slow, silent exit. Another explosion sounded, followed by secondary explosions. Then the pings started. U-101 jockeyed with two destroyers for the following hour, with hard 90 degree turns when the boats passed overhead, then returning to slow moving and gentle turns. A few charges were enough to shake the ship, but no external damage was done and eventually we slipped away.

Following these successes (and few torpedoes), the U-101 decided to return home. We made for the Spanish coast and then sailed back to Lorient, hoping that the RAF patrols would lack areas to launch from in the neutral country. Our maneuver at least showed a correlation between these things, as the air attacks dropped off significantly and a safe voyage brought us home.

*One of the magnetic torpedoes had managed a hit on what appeared to be a munitions carrier, as the merchant broke apart quickly and violently. The ore carrier had eaten two eels and began to sink. The salvo intended for the empire freighter had been cut off by a smaller boat in an earlier convoy line! One of these torpedos went off, the other was unaccounted for (dud/miss?) *

UKönig 10-08-15 01:19 PM

I am going to keep this short, this time, except to say that Patrols 15 and 16 were both duds.

The term "Auf Knieschreiben und brustwarzen zurück kriechen" is becoming all to familiar.

We suspect that the diesels were not properly repaired when we were drydocked in Lorient. The boys and I are suspecting French sabotage.

In any case, we have requested and been approved for transfer to the 11th flotilla out of Bergen, Norway, where patrol #17 begins. U-802 is becoming the bad luck boat. No more crew being killed, not since patrol 3 or 4, just, an inability to reach the operational area before serious battle damage (often scored through a lucky hit), has forced us back to base for repairs.

Maybe the change of scenery will do us good...

Aktungbby 10-08-15 02:21 PM

FEB/40: Barking the Outer Hebrides en route to Wilhelmshaven via N. ZEE. BdU advised heavy enemy traffic in Channel so opt for safe route home; Air-cover is moderate; bagged last freighter out of Liverpool 6000 tons; Total: 7 sunk/ 46,000 tons-all at night- 3-surface 4-submerged. Problems with duds- three eels left 2 eto/1 ato. Used deck gun on second sinking after rear tube eel was dud-70 rounds expended. No repairs or damage.:Kaleun_Binocular:

KingOfNothing22 10-09-15 11:43 AM

U-53
 
 
21/05/1940
10:14 - AM52 - No improvement in conditions. Course 284°, speed 8kn.

22/05/1940
10:03 - AM52 - No incidents to report. Weather overcast with fog. Minor improvement in visibility. Severe north-westerly gales. Sea 7. Course 158°, speed 7kn.

11:53 - AM52 - Alarm and deep-dive test. Reactions were satisfactory, boat submerged in 32 seconds. Boat held together at 180m.

23/05/1940
10:22 - AM52 - Received orders to AM43. Also received information that the use of magnetic pistols is to be suspended indefinitely. Will only use impact pistols from here-on-in. Course 275°, speed 8kn. Weather has worsened - heavy rain and fog, south-easterly gales.

24/05/1940
09:32 - AM43 - Arrived in patrol area. No improvement in weather. Course 305°, speed 7kn.

25/05/1940
11:02 - AM43 - No incidents to report. No improvement in weather. Course 339°, speed 8kn.

26/05/1940
10:35 - AM43 - Nothing to report. Winds have eased. Sea 5. Course 144°, speed 9kn.

27/05/1940
11:17 - AM43 - No incidents. No change in weather. Course 321°, speed 7kn.

15:24 - Bad weather has passed. Clear skies, very light fog. Still. Sea 2. Course 209°, speed 8kn.

28/05/1940
AM4351 - Received new orders to return to AM34. Course 048°, speed 8kn. No change in weather.

29/05/1940
06:55 - AM2676 - Received report of convoy in AM02. Predict it to be travelling through AM53. Moving to intercept. Course 142°, speed 17kn. No change in weather.

15:16 - AM0263 - Sighted enemy vessel at around 14:50. Identified it as a Flower class corvette. Dived to avoid, passed without incident. Continuing to AM53.

19:24 - AM5327 - Arrived in area of suspected convoy route. Loitering on the surface for signs of activity. Also have reports of a task force heading into the area.

30/05/1940
04:40 - AM39 - Convoy has slipped through the net. Task forces are known to use the area between Scotland and the Hebrides. Have decided to wait in deep waters in this area to see if it passes through. Course 079°, speed 10kn. No change in weather conditions.

10:12 - AM39 - Conducted hydrophone check - still no sign of the task force.

15:23 - AM39 - Forced to dive after being spotted by an enemy corvette. Attempted to fire a single T1 torpedo as it was moving head on, failed to hit. Task force passed by as corvette and other escorts carried out depth charge attacks around us, though none were close. Surfaced 30 minutes after contacts broke off and headed NE. Submerged for a total of 3.5 hours. Returning on course to AM34. Course 243°, speed 8kn. No change in weather.

31/05/1940
10:58 - AM34 - Arrived in assigned grid. Weather is poor - heavy rain. Moderate northerly winds, sea 5. Course 019°, speed 8kn.

01/06/1940
11:14 - AM34 - No incidents. Weather has deteriorated - strong north-westerly gales, sea 6. Course 175°, speed 8kn.

02/06/1940
06:56 - AM34 - New orders - patrol area is now extended north to include AM32. Course 307°, speed 8kn. No change in weather.

15:36 - AM32 - Fuel down to below 50%. Course 037°, speed 8kn. No change in weather.

22:01 - AM32 - Storm has passed. Weather is clear with moderate south-westerly winds, sea 4. Course 042°, speed 9kn.

03/06/1940
10:30 - AM3263 - Nothing to report. No change in weather. Course 011°, speed 9kn.

04/06/1940
03:05 - AM3431 - Received report of a task force in AM64. Estimated destinations to be either Loch Ewe or Scapa Flow. Attempting to intercept in AM36. Course 128°, speed 8kn.

05/06/1940
11:28 - AM36 - No sign of task force as of yet. Continuing search. Course 092°, speed 8kn. Weather is clear with strong north-westerly gusts. Sea 6.

06/06/1940
03:29 - AM36 - Assuming the task force has docked at Loch Ewe. Abandoning search.

07/06/1940
11:36 - AM3251 - No incidents. Weather clear with a light north-north-westerly breeze, sea 3.

08/06/1940
10:52 - AM34 - Nothing to report. Weather is cloudy with southerly gusts, sea 5. Course 011°, speed 8kn.

09/06/1940
11:15 - AM32 - No incidents. Heavy rain and southerly gusts. Sea remains 5. Course 116°, speed 8kn.

10/06/1940
19:23 - AM3443 - Received report of task force in AM38 moving NE. Moving to AM36 to attempt to intercept. Course 137°, speed 11kn.

11/06/1940
05:17 - AM36 - Aircraft alarm. Dived to evade.

08:33 - AM36 - Spotted and attacked a large cargo vessel. Conducted a submerged attack firing three TI torpedoes using impact pistols from 1,200m. One torpedo failed after around 300m, two hit. Sunk after 20 minutes for 6,555GRT. No fore torpedoes remaining, commencing home passage.

12/06/1940
20:16 - AF77 - Nothing to report. Heavy rain with easterly gales, sea 7. Course 060°, speed 8kn.

13/06/1940
18:50 - AF76 - No incidents. Course 090°, speed 9kn. Weather has improved - clear skies with a light southerly breeze.

14/06/1940
18:38 - AN23 - No incidents. No change in weather. Course 158°, speed 8kn.

15/06/1940
11:52 - AN34 - Diesel reserves down to below 25%. Sea 3. Course 140°, speed 10kn.

16/06/1940
20:48 - AN96 - Back in German waters. Entering Kiel Canal around midnight.

17/06/1940
09:33 - Arrived in Kiel. Patrol officially ended.

Patrol results:

Total ships sunk: 3
Total tonnage: 17,036
Total aircraft shot down: 0
Days at sea: 45

Karl-Heinz 10-09-15 07:32 PM

Really enjoying the game. Had a couple of crew either offed by partisans or arrested for drunkenness. Just an incredibly immersive game. I still haven't gone to manual torpedo calculations, but fun just the same. Currently sniping a large convoy in a IXB.

KingOfNothing22 10-13-15 06:15 AM

U-53
 
It's a long one!

 
30/09/1940
07:00 - AN96 - Departed Kiel at 22:41 and have just navigated Kiel Canal. Proceeding to the North Sea. Weather is partially cloudy with a slight north-easterly breeze. Heading 265°, speed 10kn.

31/07/1940
10:00 - AN91 - Entering the North Sea, no incidents as of yet. Orders are to proceed to AM19. Strong westerly gales, sea 6. Course 319°, speed 7kn.

01/08/1940
07:00 - AN3453 - No incidents to report. No changes in weather. Course 317°, speed 7kn.

14:10 - AN31 - Conducted alarm drill and deep-dive test. Boat was submerged in under 30 seconds and held out at 180m. Weather unchanged, course and speed remain unchanged.

02/08/1940
11:00 - AN2353 - Strong southerly gales. Sea 7. Heading 330°, speed 7kn.

03/08/1940
07:10 - AF7688 - No incidents. Weather partially cloudy with moderate north-westerly winds. Sea 6. Course 287°, speed 8kn.

04/08/1940
07:00 - AF7573 - Weather is clear with strong south-westerly gales, sea 7. Course 247°, speed 8kn.

05/08/1940
09:00 - AN11 - Weather is poor. Heavy rain, strong west-north-westerly gusts, sea 7. Visibility is nil. Heading and speed unchanged.

06/08/1940
07:30 - AM34 - No change in weather. No change in heading and speed.

07/08/1940
05:24 - AM26 - Spotted a large trawler. Unable to attack due to weather conditions. Visibility is down to 1km. Continuing to patrol area. Course 249°, speed 6kn.

08/08/1940
09:35 - AM18 - No changes in weather. Heading 250°, speed 9kn.

09/08/1940
18:20 - AM19 - Patrol area reached, adopting a ladder search pattern. Weather is still atrocious. Course 270°, speed 8kn.

10/08/1940
07:00 - AM19 - Continuing patrol in assigned area, no change in weather. Course 091°, speed 6kn.

11/08/1940
07:05 - AM19 - No incidents. Rain has stopped, west-north-westerly gales. Sea 7. Course 271°, speed 7kn.

12/08/1940
07:00 - AM19 - Cloudy, moderate southerly winds. Sea 5. Course 270°, speed 9kn.

13:25 - Received report of convoy in AL36 travelling north-east at 10kn. Moving to intercept - heading 012°, speed 16kn. No change in weather.

13/08/1940
05:46 - AM13 - Should be within range of the convoy, no visual or sound contacts as of yet. Course 298°, speed 12kn. Weather unchanged.

06:52 - Weather has improved. Partially cloudy, light north-north-westerly breeze. Sea 3. Course unchanged, speed 7kn.

14/08/1940
08:40 - AM1353 - No success in finding convoy, no further reports received. Abandoning hunt. Orders to proceed to AM17. Heading 211°, speed 7kn. Weather clear and still. Sea 2.

15/08/1940
07:05 - AM1775 - Reached new patrol area. No incidents. Partially cloudy, light north-easterly breeze. Sea 4. Course 029°, speed 7kn.

16/08/1940
04:02 - AM1756 - New orders from BdU to proceed to grid AM51. Weather clear and still, sea 2. Course 117°, speed 8kn.

23:55 - AM43 - Sighted ship, identified it as a neutral hospital ship travelling west. Continuing on course to AM51.

17/08/1940
03:45 - AM4326 - Spotted and attacked a large merchant. Conducted a submerged attack firing two T1 torpedoes with magnetic pistols from 1,100m. One hit, one miss - fired a third T1 from 950m also using magnetic pistol. Hit causing it to sink for 8,379GRT. Lifeboats observed. Continuing to AM51.

08:13 - Arrived in AM5111. No change in weather. Course 124°, speed 7kn. 11 torpedoes remaining.

18/08/1940
06:47 - AM5197 - Picked up a radio signal 25km away from our current position. Moving to intercept. Course 134°, speed 14kn.

07:59 - AM54 - Sighted vessel, identified it as a cargo/passenger type. Approached at full speed before slowing to engage with deck gun. Sank for 2,234GRT. Lifeboats observed drifting east.

19/08/1940
07:00 - AM5115 - Weather clear, light westerly breeze. Sea 2. Course 061°, speed 7kn.

23:56 - Picked up another radio signal around 100km south-east of us, believed to be travelling east-north-east. Moving to attempt to intercept.

20/08/1940
06:09 - AM52 - Spotted 2 vessels whilst intercepting the radio signal. Intended target was cargo/passenger type travelling east-north-east. Second was a coastal freighter travelling west. Attacked the first with deck gun. After several hits below the waterline, turned to attack the second also with the deck gun. The second sank quickly for 1,869GRT. Turned back to the first which was now stationary but not sinking. Dived and fired one aft T1 torpedo from 500m causing it to sink for 2,226GRT. No lifeboats from either boat. Returning to AM51.

21/08/1940
06:50 - AM5154 - Report of convoy in grid AM0213 travelling south-east at 8kn. Moving to intercept, expect contact in around 10 hours. Course 080°, speed 17kn.

10:17 - AM5139 - Spotted lone ship off starboard beam. Initially planned on letting it pass in favour of continuing towards the convoy but it was moving towards us - decision taken to move in and attack with deck gun. Due to convoy speed and distance intercepting should still be possible.

10:48 - Identified vessel as tramp steamer. Sunk for 2,109GRT. Continuing on intercept course, heading 076°, 17kn.

14:50 - Spotted escort ship. Diving to periscope depth to observe and carry out hydrophone check.

19:39 - Slipped into convoy at silent speed at around 18:10. Torpedoed and sank two medium tankers for 8,888GRT each, both hit with two T1 torpedoes. Attempted a fifth shot on a large merchant but torpedo failed to explode, possibly due to ship zig-zagging. Forced to dive deeper as escorts closed in, took minor damage to forward deck from a depth charge. Turned about during one attack which appeared to throw off the escorts as all further attacks occurred well aft of us. Escorts turned away at around 19:00 at speed. Surfaced at 19:35, carrying out deck repairs and reloading torpedoes. 3 fore torpedoes left, will shadow the convoy and attempt a night attack.

22/08/1940
00:54 - AM53 - Deflected off course by a destroyer. Currently unable to locate convoy.

05:14 - Sighted convoy. Moving in to attack.

08:14 - Sighted by escorts while moving into position. Fired a salvo of three fore torpedoes into the convoy. No hits, convoy has dispersed. Depth charged for two hours, no damage taken. One aft torpedo remaining. Informed BdU of intentions to return to Kiel.

10:13 - Message from BdU - "Return to Kiel denied. Proceed to BF54 and await further orders." - Heading 275°, speed 7kn. Weather clear with light fog. Light north-easterly breeze. Sea 3.

23/08/1940
17:01 - AM5457 - No incidents. No change in weather. Course 249°, 7kn.

24/08/1940
09:22 - AM4994 - Course 195°, speed 7kn. Diesel fuel reserves down to below 50%.

25/08/1940
07:30 - AM7687 - Sea 6. Course 170°, speed 5kn.

19:01 - AM7988 - Sighted Granville type freighter. Fired aft torpedo from 460m at shallow depth then surfaced and finished with deck gun for 4,754GRT. Continuing on course, sea now 4.

26/08/1940
08:12 - BE3656 - Weather partially cloudy. Light southerly breeze. Sea 4. Heading 171°, speed 7kn. BdU order us to continue to BF54 despite having no torpedoes.

27/08/1940
07:40 - BF1795 - Heading 110°, 7kn.

28/08/1940
07:18 - BF43 - Weather overcast, sea 5. Course 110°, speed 6kn.

09:49 - New orders to proceed to BF64, further orders will be given on arrival.

29/08/1940
07:53 - BF54 - Course 097°, 6kn.

30/08/1940
08:15 - BF64 - Reached assigned grid. Awaiting further orders. Heading 022°, 6kn.

31/08/1940
08:00 - BF64 - No new orders received. Sent another request to put in to a port. Course 270°, speed 6kn.

01/09/1940
00:39 - BF64 - Received orders to put into St. Nazaire and informed this is now our home base. Heading 067°, speed 12kn.

07:15 - Docked at St. Nazaire. Patrol ended.

Patrol results:

Total ships sunk: 8
Total tonnage: 39,346
Total aircraft shot down: 0
Days at sea: 35

Promoted to Oberleutnant zur See
Awarded Iron Cross Second Class, U-Boat Badge and U-Boat Front Clasp

KingOfNothing22 10-15-15 11:17 AM

U-53
 
Short and sweet...

 
09/09/1940
17:17 - BF65 - Escorts have just turned away 18km from St. Nazaire, departed at 16:08. Weather is overcast with a light northerly breeze, sea 3. Our orders are to make our way to BF15. BdU are advising we zig-zag out due to enemy submarine and air activity in the area. Mean course 245°, speed 7kn.

10/09/1940
13:00 - BF64 - Still zig-zagging. Mean course unchanged, 7kn.

11/09/1940
00:15 - BF58 - Have changed course to 287°. Weather partially cloudy with strong westerly winds, sea 5. Speed 6kn.

12/09/1940
14:02 - BF46/BF43 - Sea now 6. 264°, 7kn.

13/09/1940
15:00 - BF1769 - Weather is clear, sea 6, north-north-westerly gales. Heading 024°, 6kn.

18:59 - BF1817 - Report of convoy in BF16 travelling west, speed 8kn. Moving to attempt to intercept - course 049°, 10kn.

14/09/1940
03:56 - BF15 - Spotted convoy at around 01:45. Dived and moved into position. Known to have two other boats - U-64 and U-104 - in contact with same convoy. Observed flashes on the horizon at around 02:10. U-104 had been caught on the surface and was being engaged by escorts, lost contact with them. U-64 forced to turn away by other escorts who were now astern of the convoy. Took advantage of this and moved inside the convoy. Fired all 5 of our torpedoes in quick succession - 2 each fired at ore carriers and aft torpedo fired at a medium cargo. All but 1 fore torpedo hit their targets. First ore carrier was damaged, second listed to 45° and then sunk for 8,817GRT, medium cargo sank almost immediately for 5,382GRT. Managed to sneak out astern of the convoy while escorts attempted to locate us to no avail. Torpedoes have been reloaded, surfaced and now shadowing convoy. Have broken off contact from U-64.

17:02 - BF17 - Made second attack on convoy. Fired at two more ore carriers - the first was undamaged after torpedoes exploded prematurely. Second was hit by both torpedoes and sank for 8,819GRT. Escorts attempted to depth charge us, managed to escape unharmed. Fore tubes reloaded with 2 remaining, plus one fore and aft external reserves. Will attempt to reload these when well away from the convoy. Attempting to leapfrog convoy and make one more night attack. Course 180°, 9kn. Weather clear, north-north-westerly gales, sea 6.

15/09/1940
02:15 - BF41 - Loaded external reserves. Overtook convoy and then attacked a large merchant with remaining fore torpedoes. Two hits, sunk for 8,588GRT. Headed east to avoid escorts and managed to locate a straggler. Identified as a tramp steamer, sunk with aft torpedo for 1,958GRT. Staying down at 30m, planning to surface at dawn. Course 047°, 2kn.

16/09/1940
09:00 - BF15 - Back in patrol area. No change in weather. 027°, 7kn.

12:44 - Have decided to return to St. Nazaire having used all but one torpedo. Course 160°, speed 6kn.

17/09/1940
17:50 - BF54 - 112°, 10kn. Weather is clear, light north-westerly breeze, sea 3.

18/09/1940
BF6455 - 087°, speed 10kn.

19:42 - Arrived in St. Nazaire. End of patrol.

Patrol results:

Total ships sunk: 5
Total tonnage: 33,564
Total aircraft shot down: 0
Days at sea: 10

Awarded Iron Cross First Class
Transferred to U-221

Hambone307 10-16-15 01:14 AM

June 5, 1942

Two days into the first partrol of U-465.

We set sail from Norway on the 4th, orders to patrol the Iceland-England gap. Shortly after arriving in our AO, we got a report of a large convoy heading south towards Scapa Flow. We changed course to intercept; Estimated intercept is 15:45 Hrs.

Approximately 3000m off the predicted course, we went to periscope depth and waited. After waiting about an hour, our sonarman notified us of approaching sound contacts. He identified multiple merchants and a few escorts at which point I directed our weapons officer to raise attack scope. I scanned the horizon and saw approximately 20 plumes of smoke from the merchants, the nearest of which appeared to be aflame. I saw the lead escort, a V&W class on a course of about 180 that would take it past us at an estimated 6000m. Once the lead escort passed, I chose my targets and set up for an attack. The first target was to be a large merchant, calculated to be at a range of 4500m on a course of 170. Due to moderate seas, we set depth of our two loaded Type 1s to 4m, pistols set for impact. Tube doors were opened and two torps were let loose set for minimum spread.

The second target was identified as a medium merchant. We set one TIII for impact detonation at a depth of 4m and let it loose.

The third target was a second V&W class at approximately 2500m tracking 185. Our last bow tube containing a TIII was set for magnetic detonation, depth 3m and let loose; timed so it should detonate at the same time as the first two torps.

All torpedoes were running hot, straight, and normal according to our sonarman and stopwatches were set as we set course to 270, depth 40m so we could withdraw to shadow the convoy and reload bow tubes.

After five minutes, the boat fell completely silent. The only noise coming from the heavy breathing of the crew in anticipation of the telltale *thud* from the torpedoes detonating. Time slowed down as we hit the eight minute mark. My weapons officer leaned over to me and said "they should have hit by now". I told him to wait and that our watches could be off. After ten minutes, we still heard nothing. At that point, our sonarman called me back to his station. "Sir, screws increasing in speed, I think they saw the torpedos." I cursed under my breath and told him to monitor the escorts.

After fifteen minutes we heard the telltale thud of the torpedos detonating. But it didn't sound like it should have. There was no secondary explosions, nor screeching of metal. Our torpedos completely missed and the thud we heard was them detonating after running out of fuel. Everyone looked at one another, some of them cursing the torpedoes, others questioning if they did anything wrong while setting up the torpedos for attack. Before we could start assessing what went wrong, we heard the telltale *ping* of the escort's sonar. I ordered our depth 90m and hoped that the escorts would not find us.

After 5 agonizing minutes, we heard one of the escorts hit home. We were being pinged and our sonarman told us that he was approaching fast. We changed course to 300 in hopes that, if he was setting up for a run, he would miss. We heard the escort go right over us and heard the *plop* of charges being dropped. "hold fast men!" I said, "These will be close!" And boy, were they close. The first charge detonated off our port side, rocking the boat violently. Valves burst open from the pressure and the lights flickered. The second charge burst off of our starboard side, shattering lights and throwing everyone off of their feet. We heard the third charge bounce off of the top of our boat and roll down the side. "My god this is it" my helmsman muttered. The third charge never went off and we breathed a sigh of relief.

While the escort was setting up for another run, I called for a damage report, and change of course to 195, hoping to keep us in the escorts baffles. The damage report came back and was better than I expected. We had minor damage to the fore batteries; leaking water was shorting out one of the banks, and my electricians were fast at work to fix it. The Bow torpedo tube seals were leaking as well and were being worked on. My sonarman quietly called out "two more escorts closing fast!" "Hold on boys, this is going to be a rough ride" I said to my crew. The two escorts crossed over us and dropped their charges.

These had to be experienced crews, because those two runs almost did us in. My navigator was thrown up against a bulkhead, knocking him out cold, several other crew members were also severely injured. Damage reports came in from all over our boat. Port electric engine was out of action, our diesels were knocked off of their mounts, port and starboard driveshaft seals were leaking badly, aft battery bank was knocked out and was leaking acid, aft dive planes were jammed, flooding reported in bow torpedo room and crew quarters, aft battery room and engine room. Two of our torpedos were knocked loose from their storage and crushed the legs of one of my torpedo men. We started to lose depth control and began to sink.

As my crew worked feverishly to control the flooding and regain depth control, I watched the depth gauge plummet. 100m, 125m, 180m, 200m; It seemed as if this would be the end. Creaking and groaning of steel began to fill the air as we hit 230m. I ordered to blow ballast. Our boat kept sinking. "Blow ballast!" I shouted again. We kept filling the tanks with air until the pressure gauge was in the red. After what seemed like an eternity, we started to rise after hitting 300m. I told our sonarman to find those escorts. Amazingly, our hydrophone was still working and he reported that the escorts were moving away, back towards the convoy! We managed to slow our ascent and leveled off at 50m, waiting for the convoy to move out of range, hoping that all three escorts went with them.

I ordered periscope depth, and we hobbled our way there only to find that both attack and observations scopes were flooded. I took the gamble and ordered to surface. The horizon was clear and we began to assess the external damage. Our boat looked like a VW in a hailstorm with all of the crumpled metal. Our deck gun was hanging off of it's mount and our AA gun was gone. We managed to get the batteries working enough for some slow maneuvering and signaled an SOS. After 20 hours of working to restore what systems remained to operational status, we were met by U-451 and were towed back to home waters.

Upon arrival at base, the dock crews stared in awe of the damage we sustained and were seen muttering among themselves and pointing. Our boat was scrapped and I was summoned to the admirals quarters for the whipping of a lifetime.

*Moral of the story, this game can really be cruel for a new crew and always leaves me coming back for more! Nothing is better than a game that provides great suspense and the ability for the player to use his/her imagination!

Aktungbby 10-16-15 08:23 AM

Encounter'd six vessel convoy/w 3 escorts-all destroyers. Sank four incl one tanker. Two dud eels. Just off continental shelf of NW Ireland. Heavy Sunderland air-cover and destroyer escorts are alert. Shifting to S. of Ireland through Irish Sea West of Isle of Man for reported convoy traffic. Six eels left. No damage.

KingOfNothing22 10-18-15 09:02 AM

U-221
 
Happy times indeed! Our first patrol in a new VIIC.

 
18/10/1940
13:34 - BF65 - Departed St. Nazaire at 12:15. Escort ship has just turned about. Boat has been loaded with 14 T1 torpedoes, 220 88mm shells for our deck gun and 1,000 20mm rounds for our single flak gun. The boat has also been fitted with MAK 800 batteries and a KDB hydrophone. I suppose we'll see if the stories of its extreme vulnerability are true. Course 245° travelling at cruising speed. Weather is good - partially cloudy with light fog. Gentle north-easterly breeze, sea 3.

19/10/1940
09:00 - BF5579 - 280°.

12:35 - BF5498 - Conducted an alarm drill and deep-dive test. Crew performed well but boat took just over 30 seconds to get under. Then took her down to just below 180m without incident, all valves and seals held.

14:15 - BF5486 - Carried out a second alarm drill. This time the crew reacted much quicker and the boat was down in 27 seconds.

20/10/1940
01:40 - BF4529 - 280°.

23:28 - BF41 - Radioman picked up a radio signal in BE69, moving in to intercept.

21/10/1940
04:54 - BF4443 - Located vessel and identified it as a British cargo/passenger steamer. Attacked it with our deck gun, sinking her for 2,399GRT. Spotted a lifeboat in the water. 190 88mm shells remaining. Returned on course to BE61, 292°.

11:47 - Radioman has detected another radio signal, this time in BE68. Making our way to investigate.

19:25 - BE6678 - Spotted two ships - a large merchant and coastal freighter. Submerged and attacked from 1,500m firing 4 fore torpedoes. Aimed 3 at the large merchant and the 4th at the coastal freighter. All but one found their target. The large merchant began sinking quickly for 11,865GRT and the coastal freighter soon followed for 1,869GRT. Numerous lifeboats and survivors in the water. Surfaced and continued heading to patrol area. 314°.

22/10/1940
09:20 - BE6219 - 313°.

12:26 - BE6135 - Arrived in patrol area, 270°.

23/10/1940
09:00 - BE6173 - West-south-westerly gales, sea 6. 180°.

24/10/1940
09:04 - BE6155 - 270°.

15:50 - BE6118 - Spotted a cargo/passenger type travelling alone. Submerged and got into position, fired one aft torpedo hitting the bow. Shadowed her for an hour before firing a second which failed to detonate. Surprisingly, and to our frustration, the ship has not slowed despite the damage taken. Not wanting to risk wasting more torpedoes and not being able to use our deck gun due to weather conditions we've been forced to let her go.

25/10/1940
10:00 - BE6152 - 090°.

26/10/1940
08:56 - BE6176 - 269°. Sea is 7.

16:10 - BE61 - Report of a convoy in BE62 travelling north. Joining in the hunt despite poor sea conditions. Travelling 029° at HF.

27/10/1940
00:31 - BE38 - Sighted convoy off our starboard beam. Moving into attack under the cover of darkness.

02:12 - Successfully attacked convoy! Picked out two large cargo vessels as our targets. Fired a salvo of 2 at each from 5,000m, 0.5° spread. The first was not hit after both torpedoes failed. The second was hit by both torpedoes taking massive damage to her port quarter and beam. Dived and continued closing in while reloading last 2 remaining fore torpedoes. Fired them at the other large cargo from 1,700m this time both hitting her port beam. Sunk respectively for 8,254GRT and 8,253GRT. Dived to 50m aware of escorts searching frantically for us. Waited while travelling at KF. No attacks made on us, possibly due to rough weather making it more difficult to locate us. Slipped out to the east and waited for contacts to fade. Surfaced at 02:10. Have decided to commence return passage having only 2 aft torpedoes left. Travelling 117° at LF.

10:16 - BE38 - Report of another large convoy in BE63 travelling west-south-west at 8kn. Decided to attempt to locate it in spite of weather and only having limited aft torpedoes.

28/10/1940
10:53 - BE65 - No contact with convoy. Doubling back for around 75km before continuing on return passage.

15:20 - BE65 - Detected single freighter while carrying out a hydrophone check. Intercepted and successfully attacked. Granville-type freighter, sunk with 1 torpedo for 4,708GRT. Commencing return passage.

29/10/1940
11:08 - BF44 - 094°. Sea still 7.

30/10/1940
08:55 - BF46 - 094°. Overcast with east-south-easterly winds. Sea 6.

31/10/1940
09:25 - BF55 - 097°.

01/11/1940
07:17 - BF65 - 20km off St. Nazaire. Awaiting arrival of escort ship before heading into port.

09:48 - Put in to port. End of patrol.

Patrol results:

Total ships sunk: 6
Total tonnage: 37,348
Total aircraft shot down: 0
Days at sea: 15

Awarded German Cross.


UKönig 10-18-15 02:57 PM

U 802 encountered an American task force consisting of 1 'casablanca' escort carrier and 4 'buckley' destroyer escorts, just south of Iceland.

Two DE broke off from the carrier to intercept U 802 and with 2 lucky shots, we sunk both.

Broke the surface to take up pursuit, and one of the remaining DE picked us up on radar and turned back to engage. Quickly dove to PD again and fired a shot from tube 3, which missed. But the escort made a fatal mistake as he was passing on our port side which put him directly in line with our only seeking torpedo. 3 escorts down. Tubes being frantically reloaded. Surfaced again to take up pursuit. The 4th and final DE turned to engage. Dove to PD for the 3rd time in 15 minutes (starting to feel like a dolphin here), and when the moment was right, let him have it. No escorts remain.

Surfaced again to deal with the carrier. Torpedo loaders out on deck trying to get our fish from the external lockers. Hanging back a bit from the carrier, working out what his next move will be. Got into range and managed to score a hit, but only on the portside prop. As soon as we hit him, he cranked up the speed to about 14 knots on the remaining shaft. Played porpoise with the carrier for a few minutes. He scored a few hits on our boat with his aft mounted cannon which discouraged us from surface pursuit. But when he turned into the wind and launched his fighters, we decided at that point to abandon the chase as it had become far too dangerous. In the end, we (wisely, bitterly) let him go.

U 802 now has some serious leaks owing to damage of the pressure hull. Deep diving is out of the question, and our further combat worthiness is in some doubt. We are currently approaching the convoy lanes off of Newfoundland, but with battle damage and few torpedoes, the decision to return to base is looking more attractive by the hour.

The hunt continues (but not for long, methinks)...

Aktungbby 10-18-15 03:22 PM

South East of Greenland. Beaconing convoy to alert 'rake" of U-boots further east to close in. Large Halifax convoy with at least six escorts incl two destroyers appear very alert. The Need to communicate position not helping my 'Itchy neck sydrome'! Convoy commander must be new or inept; several merchantmen and tankers are straggling, failing to keep formation and are easy targets. Seas are heavy; I will have to approach submerged to avoid eels broaching and steady the cross hairs, I am at port rear of convoy on base of course 80. New VIIC handling well: minor engine repair.:salute: Visibility is low under 4,000 meters. Rake is slim following previous wolfpack operations; only 3 boots on station; one is reportedly Kretschmer; so hope for success-I can 'play up' under the master's eye perhaps; When cleared by BdU of beacon-duty, will try to head the convoy an commence eel launchs. Those two destroyers are worrisome.

KingOfNothing22 10-19-15 08:45 AM

U-221
 
A close call...

 
20/11/1940
02:10 - Departed from St. Nazaire on our 5th patrol. Travelling 245° at cruising speed. Standard loadout - 14 T1 torpedoes, 220 88mm shells and 1,000 20mm rounds. Our mission orders are to proceed to AM34, just north of the Scottish coast. Expecting plenty of aircraft and warships rather than convoys, we will see in time. Weather is clear with a slight north-easterly breeze, sea 2.

21/11/1940
09:18 - BF4633 - 277°. Sea 3.

22/11/1940
06:11 - BF1769 - Detected a radio signal 24km away. Moving to intercept.

07:13 - Sighted vessel. Got in close at periscope depth to attack only to ascertain it is a neutral vessel. Calling off our attack, much to the disappointment of the crew. Returning on course but staying down for the time being as to not give away our presence. 304°.

23/11/1940
00:52 - BF1148 - Radioman has detected another signal this time in BF17, believed to be heading NNW. Doubling back to intercept.

10:48 - Made contact with two vessels in BF14 - a coastal freighter followed by a medium cargo. Attacked simultaneously from around 1,000m. Fired one at the freighter and two at the medium cargo all set for magnetic pistols. All hit exploding under the keel of each ship as intended but the desired effect of breaking their backs was not achieved. Freighter still sank quickly for 1,870GRT. The medium cargo took almost an hour longer to sink after we also engaged with the deck gun. Sank for 3,861GRT. Lifeboats observed amongst surface debris. Returning to course, 340°.

24/11/1940
00:27 - AM8775 - Attacked a tramp steamer with our deck gun and sunk for 1,957GRT. 170 shells remaining. Heading 000°.

04:59 - AM9743 - Attacked coastal freighter with deck gun and sunk for 1,871GRT. 355°.

25/11/1940
13:57 - AM5133 - 030°

26/11/1940
09:01 - AM3571 - 053°

13:49 - AM3522 - Detected a signal 60km west of us. Moving to intercept, 245°.

18:17 - AM2666 - Located a pelagic trawler and attacked with deck gun. Sunk for 888GRT. Continuing to AM34 - 055°.

27/11/1940
09:10 - AM3335 - Heavy rain and heavy fog. ESE winds, sea 4. Visibility is extremely poor. 057°.

28/11/1940
12:06 - AM3445 - Been in patrol area for around 24 hours. No change in weather. 090°.

29/11/1940
11:43 - AM3473 - 090°.

16:42 - AM3488 - Task force in AM38 travelling ENE. Will move in to intercept.

23:32 - AM36 - Unable to locate task force, returning to AM34. Conditions still poor.

30/11/1940
21:25 - AM34 - Report of convoy leaving Scapa Flow and moving west. Moving to intercept. 139° at HF.

01/12/1940
05:11 - AN1541 - Located convoy and launched attack at around 03:20. Attacked 5 ships all at close range, sinking 4 - 2 Granville type freighters for 4,707/4,708GRT, 1 small freighter for 2,255GRT and 1 medium cargo for 4,801GRT. Small freighter spotted us and opened fire with small arms, took minor damage. Dived as destroyer was closing. Depth charged taking serious damage. Forward batteries completely destroyed with severe forward deck damage. We were already close to the bottom (a mere 89m down) when flooding caused us to fall to the bottom. No crew injuries. Able to carry out sufficient repairs and get us off the seabed by blowing the ballast. Continued at limited speed while destroyer continued attempting attacks, eventually losing it. Surfaced as soon as possible and now heading back to St. Nazaire.

02/12/1940
09:48 - AM2492 - 266°.

03/12/1940
09:08 - AM2784 - 232°.

04/12/1940
09:53 - AM4927 - 188°.

05/12/1940
09:00 - AM7951 - 180°.

06/12/1940
12:15 - BE6353 - 120°.

07/12/1940
09:47 - BF4552 - 098°. Overcast, sea 5.

08/12/1940
09:37 - BF5489 - 098°, sea 6.

09/12/1940
09:24 - BF6461 - 072°.

13:04 - Docked at St. Nazaire, end of patrol.

Patrol results:

Total ships sunk: 9
Total tonnage: 26,918
Total aircraft shot down: 0
Days at sea: 20

Awarded the Knight's Cross

KingOfNothing22 10-22-15 07:06 AM

5th March, 1941 - 21:03 - BF 6462
My first command and wartime patrol. U-221, a new Type VIIC boat. Thankfully my crew is made up of mostly experienced men, some of whom have several patrols under their belts. We left St. Nazaire at 18:30. Ideal as it means we have the cover of darkness to help us get out. We're zigzagging all the same - there's been a lot of Tommy submarine activity lately, especially up near Lorient. We're going at full speed while we clear the shallow waters and after that we'll cruise at around 10 knots. Our mean course is 235°. Our orders are to go to AL95 - apparently it's an area where several merchant and convoy routes either merge or cross paths, so we should get plenty of traffic. Weather is clear, visibility is good. Winds 2 NE, sea 1.

8th March, 1941 - 18:30 - BE 6372
We've just received word of a convoy in BE 39, about 130km away from us, heading ENE at 7 knots. Mettin, our navigator, has plotted an intercept course that should get us in range in around 10 hours. If all goes well we'll arrive just ahead of them with them off our port side. Now heading 052° at G.F.

9th March, 1941 - 02:38 - BF 1747
The closer we get to our intercept point the worse the weather seems to become. Winds 5-6 W, sea 6, very heavy swell. Our speed is reduced and our visibility is somewhat reduced by the spray. Attacking is going to be a lot harder if we find them, especially with torpedoes apparently running deep as it is.

07:09 - BF 1479
We did it, we sank our first ship! A large tanker for a juicy 13,752GRT. We were lucky and managed to intercept the convoy right where we wanted while it was still dark, allowing us to slip the front and starboard escorts with relative ease. We dived and managed to work our way into the middle of the convoy. After sighting the tanker we picked it as our target and moved into an attack position. All four bow tubes flooded and ready, though I only planned on firing two at her. We fired our first two from 950m, bow angle of 090°. Perfect positioning, in theory. Both of them appeared to hit but we couldn't observe any damage to her. I took the decision to fire our remaining two, the angle 100° or so. They both hit her too. The third hit exploded under her keel, breaking her back and splitting her in half - what a sight! We then turned our attention to potential targets aft of us. Our initial target was going to be a nice, fat ore carrier but the convoy had started to zigzag and we calculated her range to be 2,220m. Not a chance. I had to settle for a small merchant instead. Fired our stern torpedo from 700m, bow angle 080°. We waited well over a minute... Nothing. "Time's up. Did it miss?! Surely not at this range!" quipped my 2 WO. Torpedo failure perhaps? The calculations should have been right. Maybe it failed to explode, or it ran too deep as so many have been reported to do. "Nothing we can do now." I said, before ordering we dive to 40m and turn to 270°. The escorts had finally woken up and were beginning to hunt for us. Not fully awake, it would seem, as after an hour of them circling we heard them turn away and move back towards the convoy. We're currently reloading our torpedoes but as the convoy is in shallower waters and zigzagging I've decided not to press any further attack. Surfacing in around an hour if there are no further incidents.

We were able to get a photo through the periscope of our unsuspecting victim while moving into position.
http://i.imgur.com/iRb8qSs.png


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