Patrol 1 completed
8 OCT 39
U-4 09:08 hrs The lighthouses of Wilhelmshaven welcome us home from our 1st patrol. Heavy fog stayed with us from the 2nd of October until today. Our only use to Bdu was to deliver weather reports. I worry these daily radio transmissions to Bdu at Noon, to report our position, will one day be our undoing. This Commander is a student of the Wolfgang Luth school of maintaining good order among a crew of young lads. Contests. Hollywood films in the bow compartment. Newspaper. Hook & line cod fishing off the aft quarters, using planer boards and cannon ball - type sinkers. The boys like fresh fish. 'Men, the London fog was our enemy on this patrol. Chin up. Mind your manners in town. End." Carl Lange Jr. Lt. j.g. |
Christmas day, 1939
Put to sea in late November with secret orders to rush an agent to Cadiz through the channel! (Flotilla orders) before refuelling at the COrriantes and patrolling the entrance to the straights of Gibraltar. Put down 5 ships on the way to execute orders for about 20,000 GRT. Refuelled at the COrriantes and scored another couple of torps (dice roll resupply of 3) - returned to patrol outside Gibraltar by the 21st Dec. In just 4 days sunk 7 ships for over 40,000 GRT! Down to 2 torpedoes and out of deck gun ammo, making for Germany, presently N/E of Lisbon! New Personal best on a single patrol! |
2nd patrol
5 NOV 39
U-4 0240 hrs Dieter Hessler made rate of radioman while the boat was re-fitted for sea. A machine gun was mounted on the bridge. A half moon and clear sky mark our departure on our second patrol Ahead slow. Plot course to AN26. Set torpedoes to contact pistols. Harbor cleared. Ahead 1/3. With the hope of clear skys following us on this patrol, I've asked Father Zinke, a Master Chief and ordained priest for a fair weather prayer. We'll see soon how well he stands with the All Mighty. I hand a record to the radioman. "Anchors aweigh" by the U.S. Navy band plays on the overhead speakers. Lt. j.g. Carl Lange Jr. |
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5 October 1942 Good storm as I shake today in grid CA 29, with ten meter waves :cool:
Report LI:Momentane tiefe 10 meters http://www.nariba.com/forum/images/s...on_mrgreen.gifhttp://www.nariba.com/forum/images/s...on_mrgreen.gif |
Currently doing patrol no1 with a new skipper after I recently resumed playing after 4yrs of absence. (last played 2011 with my best skipper R. Hessler scoring in excess of 130,000GRT sunk during the course of 8 patrol nefore being finally sunk!)
I started a patrol over xmas and bagged 4x large merchants for aprox 44,000grt, however upon completing my patrol, a software glitch between my copy of SH3 commander and the game meant the game created a new save showing my skipper as dead,(SH3 commander showed him as being lost at sea during patrol 1) despite reaching base safely.. So I've restarted a new career...AGAIN! Anyways, we're about a week of game time in, having been gifted a patrol grid of BE63 (not too far west of St Nazaire!!) we are now just of the north of Ireland having found a lone Medium merchant, we sunk her with thre definate hits and one premature detonation from my second shot, I suspect caused by torpedo no1 explosion on target. The merchant sunk quickly after no4 definately found its mark and we are now heading slightly north seeking more targets. Weather is good for January with a light breeze and partly cloudy skies. |
U-45, Feb 1940, on patrol in North Sea. Dropped in to Norway en-route to look for any possibles.
Neutral tanker spotted, reported, let go (ahhhh! frustration), weather now horrible. Heavy rain, Heavy fog, huge seas - only surfacing long enough to charge batteries then slip under again. At this rate I should hit AM11 in about 12 months time...... |
U 123,11 Januar 1942
Today, during charge the battery at night, near Beaufort, suddenly come upon us two minesweepers and one Clemson We hang around a little on the carousel in the shallows along the shore, and suddenly it occurred to me that if I stay underwater position in these shallow waters that will be the end, so I decided, after another attack with depth charges and subsequent brief lull, blowing ballast and full move under the cover of darkness, headed for the ocean .... Well, we ate one another projectile, but saved skin :) |
5 Years Later
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So now I've started a 1940 career, and other than letting a Revenge class get away after two torpedoes to the side on my second patrol, everything's going much better. |
BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!! http://i.imgur.com/6NnyXT8.gif
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My first commander Heinrich Höppner was commander of u-23 since beginning of war and in February 1940 was recalled back to Kiel after 4 patrols to command 5th Flotilla...
He survived the war and died peacefully surrounded by his family on 3th June 2000. |
U-802 has been on enforced down time, but hopefully soon we will be back to sea, and to glory. I miss my subsim...
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Attack!Hunt!Sink everyting ... :salute:
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Lt. Werner Krautsch (Uber geman name, thankyou sh3 cmdr!) on his first patrol out of Lorient,
Jan 19th 1941 The patrol started in a lively fashion with a convoy attack sinking two ships for an estimated 4,000 GRT each. Something strange happened though, when running decks awash in the night a Corvette seemed to appear out of the fog, always seeking close as if it knew where to look.... inevitably it opened fire on one of it's passes and we dove to evade but not before taking a hit. Thankfully nothing serious from the glorified tugboat though he proved tenacious enough a hunter - holding us down for well over 8 hours! The stern torpedo room took on a little water before the Chief brought it under control before it got bad. In the morning the convoy had passed us by and we were able to surface and inspect the damage. The shell had passed just under us and penetrated the keel rather than the pressure hull, though it's detonation blew out the starboard prop seals, hence the leak. He assures me he'll have it fix and the prop turning again in a day or so, providing there's no further damage. A lucky escape! |
It's June 12 1941, currently been at sea for just shy of a month and have been cleaning house on the merchants heading into the Liverpool/Bristol ports from the southwest. Grid square patrol was done weeks ago so now I'm trying to lighten my payload before heading back to Lorient.
5 C type cargos at the bottom, out of fore eels, full compliment of aft torps, all but 30-35 HE 88's still on board. Weather has taken a turn for the worse, going to zig-zag the shipping lane for a day or two and see if it'll clear for deck gun shenanigans. This is my first patrol with SH3 commander and so far I really like a lot of the features. Think I'll give it a few more patrols and start a new career with maybe GWX as well. The vanilla is losing its luster a bit :D This is the first "true" subsim I've ever played and I have to say it's really a lot of fun. Even though it really is a lot of waiting around lol |
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: "Whack fol the da O, dance to your partner Welt the floor, your trotters shake Wasn't it the truth I told you? Lot's of fun at Finnegans wake!" The tug's crew cheers. Smiles all around. "Good song, Capt'n", my 1st says. "Circle of life, gentlemen", I say. The tug stays with us for four hours, then turns South. The sun sets. The sea remains calm. I enjoy a cigar while on the bridge. This evening's schedule calls for a propaganda film to be shown in the bow compartment. The film projector and screen of canvas are assembled, the off-duty watch is seated. The film rolls; goose-stepping grunts on parade. Half-way into the film, the sound narrative stops and the English song "The Lambeth Walk" takes it's place. Jackboots stepping to the tune of "The Lambeth Walk". Ever laugh so hard your jaws ache? Her Goebbles would not be happy. 9 NOV 39 We reach our patrol area , AN26, on Her Donitz's chess board. We turn North. We are surprised by am Englishman bearing gifts of depth charges from above. I assign Sauer to the machine gun aft, Totenhagen and I stay on the bridge. "Come back again, Tommy, we will stand and fight!" 09:36 Ship spotted. A small freighter. Dive, periscope depth, get close for observation. "Its an English flag, gentlemen, battle stations!", I say. Set up solution, open bow caps, fire! The merchant's crew get into a life boat. They probably have a wireless set in the lifeboat. I radio the British authorities anyway concerning the sinking position just to make sure the lads get back home again. The merchant slowly sinks by the stern. We approach the life boat. 'What's the name of your ship?", I shout to them. "The Mount Kyle!" is the reply. "What's your name, sailor?", I ask. "Murphy, Electrician's mate, 2nd class, from Newfoundland." he says. "Tell me, Murphy, what was it like to grow up in Newfoundland?", I ask. "Well, only the rich kids packed meat sandwiches in their lunch pails for school. Us poor kids packed lobster sandwiches!" I find the Mount Kyle in the manifest, 2343 tons. We dive, return to course and do not surface again until we are ten kilometers away from the life boat. Carl A. Lange Jr. sub-Lt. |
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 |
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