KTB-7 U-45 (klh)
U-45 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hähl left Wilhelmshaven on 8 April 1940 with orders to patrol AN36 in support of the invasion of Norway. After completing our assigned mission, we headed north to intercept enemy ships in the North Sea. Once again, weather was a tougher adversary than the enemy.
Twice we managed to intercept a fast-moving task force and make hydrophone contact, but the sea state and fog prevented any visual sighting. Several times we went in close to the Scottish shoreline and did sink three small merchants while avoiding aircraft. Finally, the fog lifted and we were able to intercept a task force and fire a full spread of torpedoes at a cruiser at long range in heavy seas. All torpedoes missed, and the task force quickly sailed out of range. Another attempt to intercept a task force failed, resulting only in playing cat and mouse with a destroyer for half a day. We loosed our last two on-board torpedoes at the destroyer but both missed. Low on fuel, food, and with only one aft external torpedo, U-45 returned to Wilhelmshaven on 25 May 1940 with a tally of three merchants totaling 5000 tonnes. Kapitänleutnant Hähl, U-45 |
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OK! |
January, 1, 1944...
U802 has had many spectacular victories and close calls, but got the million dollar shot, a 7000m hole in one. Spotter Wellingtons called us out to a nearby river class destroyer escort, and he turned about to investigate our position. I had spanked a tribal class, a few patrols ago, and was still feeling pretty good about it, so I loaded the armor piercing rounds and went for it. One lucky hit, sank the DE from 7km, plunging fire into a powder magazine, much like Bismarck vs Hood. Still savoring the victory even now. (Similarly on those rare occasion when I am successful in using the deck gun to shoot down aircraft). U802 almost mid Atlantic, the morning, local time 11:59, January 6, 1944. En route to the Canadian East coast, the hunt continues... |
UKönig,
Congratulations on your astounding victory! :Kaleun_Cheers: Oh, by the way, BdU would like to discuss your pattern of reckless behavior with their very expensive boat. |
Started out on new first patrol... Sept'39
Attacked 3x by aircraft around Scotland. Got 2x sound contacts chased them to find out they're small trawlers - didn't bother with them. It's been three weeks since the trawlers and ... nothing, not even a sound contact, zulch. Placed myself in the convoy lanes and moved 3x, each time closer to Ireland north coast. I think I'll just go sail up Liverpool and sink the whole harbour :up::D Still got a half load of fuel, so I'll stick it out for another week or two. :arrgh!: |
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So, for how long and at what speed did you run the engine, until it malfunctioned? |
2nd Patrol 7. Flottille St Nazaire
Startet on 12th of April '41 to the second patrol. Here is the KTB:
German only, sorry Guys. https://games.a8m.de/ScreenShots/202...uswahl_001.png Downlad as a PDF: KTB-002. Paco. |
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VERY NICE!!! |
New boat type IXB
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As of Monday, 10 June 1940 - AG Weser, Deutsche Schiff und Maschinenbau, Bremen, Shipyard Standing by during the final stages of construction of U 112. |
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There's not much left that I'm not afraid to try these days. I mean, I don't like to engage fighter bombers because they're small, fast and dangerous. I don't like to engage B24s because they're large, fast, and dangerous. But PBYs and Short Sunderlands I invite like lambs to slaughter. If I get hit or destroyed by one of them, it's usually because I shot him down, and his flaming wreckage crashes down on top, no doubt the real way several U-boats went missing without a trace. I worked over a tribal class destroyer a few patrols ago, I think because I hit him from almost 8 km away, and blew off the B turret immediately. I landed a few more hits to the superstructure, taking out the port side oerlikon and motor launch, along with the forward funnel and his fire control/radar mast. Then they turned around and headed in my direction distance now 5km and closing. He fired one round from all his remaining cannons and we crash dived. Coming back to periscope depth, I saw they were confused, and demoralized. I waited a little bit until he quit the search, and started heading away. I popped back to the surface, remanned the deck gun, and continued firing. I hit the aft starboard depth charge caster, blowing it off, and put a few holes in the engine room. He ignored us totally and streamed away at a steady 21 knots. Even though he could go faster, I assumed I had done serious damage to his powerplant, but in the end, I let them get away, to receive a lashing from the Admiralty instead. |
KTB-8 U-45 (klh)
U-45 left Wilhelmshaven on 14 June 1940 with orders to harass shipping off the southeastern coast of England in grid AN84.
Shortly after arriving on station we intercepted a fast-moving whale factory ship followed closely by an ASW trawler. We attacked the whaler with two torpedoes and heard both hit the target but no explosion. Determined to not lose our quarry, we fired our remaining two forward tubes at the trawler hoping to sink it and surface to attack the whaler with the deck gun. At least one made contact, but it was also a dud. Before we could reload both ships moved out of range, apparently unaware of our presence. After trying unsuccessfully to intercept a reported task force, we moved in closer to the coast toward what we hoped would be a shipping lane. On 18 June U-45 intercepted a lone coastal freighter and sunk her with two torpedoes without surfacing so that the Allies would think it was the result of mines rather than a U-boat off their coast. The following day we were stalked for hours by three ASW vessels patrolling together, which we evaded. That evening a lone ASW trawler came into range, and we fired and hit her at close range. She still had power and maneuvering, and turned to ram us. Believing that we had 25 meters under our keel, we dove to avoid contact. However, the charts were incorrect and we struck bottom while at the same time we were hit from above. The damage was severe. My best watchman, a bootsman, was killed when equipment fell on him. Forward batteries, both periscopes, and hydrophones were destroyed. U-45 was blind and deaf. Severe flooding throughout the boat was the first priority to repair. Electric engines, aft batteries, diesel engines, forward tubes, and the compressor were severely damaged. We sat on the bottom for nearly two hours to make partial repairs, then limped away with only 15% battery power. After moving approximately 3 km, we surfaced to survey the damage and clear out the choking smoke. Not only did we discover that the deck and flak guns were destroyed, but we were also greeted by the same ASW trawler. Although she was burning and could not move, she began to fire on us. Having no way to return fire or make speed, we submerged once again to periscope depth and moved slowly away on our last bits of battery power until the cover of nightfall. Once we resurfaced we were able to complete repairs to diesels and make way for home. Nearing the coast we had to submerge again after being fired upon by a small ship which we did not identify. U-45 arrived in Wilhelmshaven on 21 June 1940 in need of major repairs. Our success was limited to only 2000 tonnes. Our failure included the loss of a fine bootsman. Kapitänleutnant Hähl, U-45 |
KTB03 U80 Klemz
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KTB-9 U-45 (klh)
After some very quick and questionable repairs, U-45 left Wilhelmshaven on 11 July 1940 with orders to again harass shipping off the southeastern coast of England in grid AN81.
Our crew was upbeat and welcomed our new bootsman, who hardly looked older than a schoolboy. Fortunately he was competent and quickly fit in to the routine. Shortly after arriving on station we were snagged in a deep fog. BdU reported a large convoy coming our way, and we put ourselves in a position to intercept. We manged to get into the middle of the convoy, but only spotted two ships. We fired all five torpedoes, but only one exploded, hitting a large freighter. She quickly melted into the fog. After reloading, we attempted to make contact again, but the convoy slipped away. The following day the weather cleared up, but that allowed us to be spotted and fired upon by a small torpedo boat. She was too quick to engage with our deck gun, and was scoring hits that were sure to do damage. Unable to fend her off, we dove to periscope depth in the shallow water and eventually made our escape. It was clear that she was not equipped with sonar. On 17 July we were again hiding in the shipping lanes, and found a lone coastal freighter that evening, approximately 2000 tonnes. She put up a fight, and took three torpedoes to put down. The following morning in the same area we detected a large tanker escorted by a torpedo boat. Unable to get close, we fired two spread of two torpedoes at 6.5 km. Three hit, and the tanker exploded and sunk with masts still above the waterline. As we evaded the escort, another merchant was detected by our hydrophones. We made visual contact and were preparing a firing solution as we saw German planes make an attack and sink her. With only two torpedoes remaining, the weather worsening, and a desire to complete repairs from our previous patrol, U-45 returned to Wilhelmshaven on 19 July 1940. Our score this patrol was nearly 12000 tonnes. Kapitänleutnant Hähl, U-45 |
KTB-10 U-45 (klh)
With orders to intercept shipping on the convoy route to the Mediterranean in grid CF99, U-45 and her crew departed Wilhelmshaven on 8 August 1940. We took the English Channel and between the fog and little luck, we avoided detection by the enemy.
En route to our assigned patrol, we intercepted a lone British merchant on the 15th and sunk her with the deck gun. A few days after arriving on station, we were alerted to a large convoy headed our way. We plotted an intercept course and were in position to attack in the dark early morning hours of 23 August. We fired a full spread of torpedoes, and managed to quickly reload and fire three more. We sunk three ships including a large merchant and two freighters. We surfaced as soon as possible and plotted and end run to meet the convoy again while also taking the time to bring on board our external eels. The convoy changed course during the day, but our hydrophone operator was able to maintain contact as we dove every two hours to check their position. We again were in position to ambush the convoy later that evening and fired our remaining torpedoes, sinking two more vessels. The large tanker exploded quickly and broke in two. A freighter took longer to sink, but we confirmed she was going down before we were forced to go deep and silent. We spent the next several hours avoiding depth charges with only minor damage. We surfaced in the early evening and plotted a course for home through the channel, hugging the coast of France. U-45 arrived in Wilhelmshaven on 29 August 1940 celebrating six sunk for a total of 34,000 tonnes. Kapitänleutnant Hähl, U-45 |
And after many weeks on patrol on an empty sea, we come across a few ships only to watch our torpedoes sail straight through them. :wah:
https://i.imgur.com/9di4jvN.jpg We're now down to our last two 'front' torpedoes so I decide to surface and bludgeon this ship (above) with shells. I was desperate to improve morale.. and I was desperate. https://i.imgur.com/ghEm7Uq.jpg So feeling somewhat inadequately satisfied we continue, having only two front, and 3 back torpedoes left... with nothing to show for it. My crew are looking at me funny.:hmmm: Change patrol pattern, there.. here... over there. Three days later a contact at long range. Chase this one at full speed.. You can feel the atmosphere in the sub. :ping: Pick this ship up in the distance (~23:00) and set about tracking it... the crew are like vultures in a frenzy. It's hard to make out, and at 02:00 I change course for the attack. I had the ship speed spot on as this first topredo hit the mark.. and the other torpedo just disappeared like the rest. https://i.imgur.com/eFWOYUv.jpg So at least one torpedo has worked.. and we set coursse for home, hoping to pick up single ships en route. Oct 1939 Sad to see it go down alone.:arrgh!: https://i.imgur.com/IZix3tO.jpg |
Vanjast,
First, what 1920x1080 Gui mod are you using? Second, was the sea state (weather) bad when you fired? A 3m depth on a torpedo will miss in heavy seas depending on what mods you are using (h.sie for example). |
U 112 Type IXB 1940/2020
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++++ Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years ago ... ++++ Monday, 1 July 1940 - Commissioning of U 112 in Bremen. Until Thursday, 18 July 1940 - Work-up's and Trials with the U.A.K. (Kpt.z.S.R. BRÄUTIGAM), the 2nd Training Division, Gotenhafen (Freg.Kpt. HARTMANN) and the 5th Training Flotilla, Stralsund (Kvt.Kpt. MOEHLE). Torpedo-Shooting Training was done with the new firing fuse Pi-G7H, which were introduced in June 1940, due to the "torpedo crisis" in April/May 1940. The Pi-G7H is basically, a Pi-1, which has been adapted according to the torpedoes captured from the English submarine HMS Seal (37 M) but without the magnetic fuse (MZ). So, only the contact fuse (AZ) can be used. The differentiation between the Ato and Eto pistol, is the same as with the Pi-1: Kopf/K-a = T-1/G7a/Ato; Kopf/K-b = T-2/G7e/Eto |
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On 4 torpedoes I'd shot were alternating Impact and Magnetic torps at 3m, so if the torps ran deep the magnetic should at least get the ship - no such luck. NYGM mod - one of the files is not the latest, not worried about changing that now. |
KTB04 U80 Klemz
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