July 1940, we've just completed our first patrol with our new type IXB U-65, we've left our faithful U-36 awaiting a new commander, i hope she serves her new crew as well as she did us.
We were sent to patrol AN79, not something to be undertaken lightly, however as we neared the english coast fortune smiled and the weather turned heavy, rain and heavy fog made us invisible, regular hydrophone checks allowed us to catch a T2 tanker in heavy weather but foolishly we used 6 torpedo's to send her under, 3 under her keel which slowed her but 2 more to finish and one dud :damn: still she went down after that, and shortly after we caught a V&W steaming at 12kts oblivious of what was out in the channel! fired two to be sure and got her with both ;) Then we crept into southampton and had our wicked way! a T1, a T3 A black swan sloop and a hunt 1 sat still. then an elco as it tried to harrass us (two deck gun rounds as the wind had dropped) we then swung round the harbour to find a nice fat PASSENGER LINER sat awaiting doom! 3 torps at close range and then we scarpered. she's blocking the harbour permanently now ;) took some damage in the rough seas on a subnet as we rode over it, but it was minimal and we continued home catching a small merchant on our way back to port. 9 ships sank for 42153GRT 4 of which were Navy vessels. all in all an excellent shakedown for our type IX. when we returned to base however i decided that our air cover would benefit from a dual mounting on the conning tower, the 3.7cm gun on the rear is just too slow for catching aircraft and not powerfull enough to damage anything else so we now have two platforms loaded with the latest Zweilings, twin 2cm guns each, our flak crew reckon they can down any allied plane that flies within 800m! Oblt z.s Bernhard Neumann. |
August 27, 1940, 16:02
Currently west of Scapa Flow at about 80 meters being mercilessly harassed by escorts. Looking at the damage screen I see so much yellow on my Type II "ducky" that I would swear Ringo is in the engine room. Stern planes damaged, batteries damaged, port and starboard diesels damaged, radio damaged, hydrophones damaged, all 3 torpedo tubes destroyed, both scopes damaged, radio antenna damaged and flak gun damaged. Got the flooding stopped an hour ago. Nailed an ore carrier, though!:) |
21st July 1943 - U-2548 - FU13
After nearly a month at sea, U-2548 penetrated St Helena for the second time (although defences were this time much improved), and sunk a large tanker and a troop ship. Now en route to a patrol area off the coast of Brazil. :up: |
U-65, 2nd flotilla
Patrol 8 out of wilhelmshaven July-aug 1940. 18.7.40 - We are assigned to patrol AM47 our first atlantik patrol in the larger boat and the crew are excited, we made our way out of wilhelmshaven without mishap and saw U-107 entering port with a stoved in bow, she must have taken a serious beating! 21.07.40 - 3 days without a single sighting, the weather in the north sea has been attrocious! finally however the wind died down and the rain stopped and we signed two small merchant vessals within 20 minutes of each other! we sent them both to the bottom using our deck gun, the second ship an SS Cap Tafelneh we watched go down, her crew got to the lifeboats but were all roaring drunk! it seems she was carrying wine and spirits, the chief had some of the men launch the dingy and recovered a few cases of red wine, a decent merlot of all things. cook says he'll be able to liven up our meal tonight. 23.07.40 - Destroyer sighted Alarm called. made to periscope depth and decided to take a shot against her, this missed however and she started a search pattern on us. dived to 100m and slipped away she stopped searching and moved on. 25.07.40 - made station at our patrol grid and plotted a search pattern, dived at regular intervals for hydrophone check but Viktor could hear nothing, i'd trust his ears if he said he'd heard a whale fart at 30km. 26.07.40 - decided to head back after a pointless search. no radio contacts and no visual contacts dispite weather being reasonable, or as reasonable as the atlantik gets. making for the north of ireland, i'm going to see if we can catch one of those fat convoys heading for liverpool. 27.07.40 - Radio contact! Convoy sighted AM42 heading for liverpool! we're making best speed after plotting an intercept course. 28.07.40 - 12:01, Almost ran over a C2 cargo SS Santa Isabel on our way to intercept the convoy, she took 12 rounds from our 10.5cm, the gunnery crew are getting much better! We have moved off at all ahead full to catch the convoy, we're goint to line ourselves up ahead of her. 28.07.40 - 22:30 AM53: Convoy sighted! single destroyer running in front, we crash dived to evade but needn't have worried, the speed she was going she wouldn't have heard a rampaging heard of elephants. set to periscope depth and moved into position on the second line, i think i can see a passenger liner! 28.07.40 - 23:58, the convoy appears to be of mixed origin, American and english ships, i've decided to go for the first ship in the second row, a british T2, she went down quickly! 29.07.40 - 00:04 the convoy is now making slow manouvres to counter us, but they are not aware we're amongst them. the V&W destroyer leading them has turned and is heading for their starboard side, i lined up a high speed Eel as she passed accross our bow and put one forward of her bridge. the convoy is now defenceless. 00:12 - sank the empire egret (C2) she went down like a stone 00:15 - slipped back inline amongst the zig-zagging ships and fired 3 Eels at a british T3 wallowing at the back of the formation, loaded with crude oil the fireball must have been seen on the mainland! 00:20 - Surfaced and slipped away at flank speed to reload, we are repositioning ourselves ahead of the convoy. 01:53 - Again slipped into the convoys ranks, they aren't aware of our presence, used our stern tubes to launch at a C2 then fired two from our bow tubes at another C2 in the next line, both were struck, however the second heaved at the last moment, her back broken and the second bow shot continued into the next line. 01:56 - mine gott in himmel...we've struck her, the SS Rangitane.. an american liner. Viktor said he heard large secondaries and she's listed quickly and will go under in moments... that torpedo was meant for the cargo vessel. we slipped away to reload our final bow torpedo having fired at another c2 cargo with two more and holing her. 02:50 - returned to the rear of the convoy, SS Flying Arrow we'd holed earlier was listing badly but was still afloat, we could see the hurricains on her top decks, they must NOT be allowed to enter port. we fired our final bow torpedo at her and she finally settled and sank. we're heading back to the pen, there are many lifeboats in the water and this close to land the british are surely going to head out in force soon, we stopped briefly to help a lifeboat which seemed swamped in the waves, it was loaded with irish and american citizens... 31.7.40 - rounded the scottish islands and spotted a small tanker, she took a few deck gun rounds and went up, loaded with gasoline... the mood of the men is joyous at our tally: 69695grt this is our best tonnage to date but i find it a bitter victory. 1.8.40 - C2 cargo vessel sighted and we made flank speed for them, however we started taking fire from our port rear quarter, a destroyer had somehow crept up on us, i ordered crash dive and we evaded. 3.8.40 - home at last, the men are happy and i'll let them go ashore and wash out the grime, 12 ships total sank and i need a drink. oblt.z.s. Berhard Neumann |
Just leaving Brest, December 1943 on our 42nd patrol. Unfortunately the RAF decided to send four bombers to give me a send off, and not a mile out of port the damage control team are working very hard. :shifty:
|
Another aircraft attacked me as I went through the minefields on the way out, and now I've got a British sub about 3km away.
:dead: |
vvv vvv vvv 027/20:15:06/29.5.1940 UUU45
Vic. 55°54N x 9°35W x stalking large konvoi ENE x Scored 6 hits 3 duds on 3 oilers and 3 cargos x Nul sunk x waiting to strike cripples x Wx: lt fog x wind 25kn/333° x sea 7 x Ajax sends |
vvv vvv vvv 028/22:30:01/29.5.1940 UUU45
Vic. 55:54N x 9:25W x scored hit and sank crippled cargo x beastly wx aided in sinking 2 oilers and 2 cargos x claim 5 successes on this konvoi x 4 aals remain x Lost contact x proceeding to AO x wx: no change x Ajax sends |
L.z.s ERHARD-OSKAR LÖW
U-522, Type IXC 04/08/43 Heavy air traffic was noted by Löw and his crew coming out of Lorient. Attacked by a Wellington and suffered severe hull damage to the rear of the boat. Diesel engines were out of commission for approximately two hours. The damage was repaired, Löw set out a southerly course to cross the atlantic. 06/08/43 Convoy intercepted in BE 92, several DD's and merchants. One ceramic ocean liner, one large merchant, several small merchants and RMS Empress of Britain. A salvo of torps were fired at RMS Empress of Britain. Only one torpedo hit her bow as she was aware of U-522's presence. Löw stays at periscope depth and is hit by the draught of a DD. Several depth charges cause flooding in the forward and aft torpedo rooms. Severe damage is taken to the radio and hydrophone rooms and 2 hands are killed by exploding bolts. Approximately an hour after the damage is sustained the crew hear bulkheads collapsing. RMS EoB has been sunk. It's lucky the bulkheads were heard collapsing as the hydrophone is completely destroyed. U-522 goes on a northerly course and escapes. It returns to base a day later. |
U-2548 finally sets of on her next war patrol, February 1944. Two weeks previous she had been caught in an allied bombing raid on Brest, and suffered major damage, delaying her voyage.
Indeed, the bombers ambush her again this time, but she escapes with minor damage, and decides to continue her patrol. She's heading for the American East Coast. :yeah: Once in deep water her crew will attempt to find out if the minor damage sustained has affected her ability to dive to great depths. |
U-553 - ET28
14.08.41 12:21 Convoy sighted! appears we're behind the convoy, excellent weather heavy but low lying fog, i can clearly see smoke stacks and only shadows of the ships, this weather should keep the enemy from spotting us. 12:59 - convoy is on a zig zag course thanks to our fellow U-boats, i am 3000m to their rear and have large silhouettes cutting accross our bows we're going to fire a full spread at 6° to see if we can't hit some of these beauties! 13:25 - Two hits! looks like a small freighter caught one in her screws and another ship. 13:33 - confirmed, medium tanker est 9000grt has gone down single hit to her port side. 13:40 - small freighter has gone down est 2000grt. 13:47 - alarm sounded, a flower class came out of the fog on our port side firing at us. i've set course to come around the side of the convoy but they're travelling at about 7 kts! 14:20 - depth charges by flower class but she's broken off and moved to lead the convoy, i have surfaced the boat 4000m from the nearest vessel the fog hides us well, we'll be in a position to fire another spread shortly. 14:31 - two torpedo's impacted against a large tanker in the centre of the formation, 3rd torpedo a dud, 4th missed the tanker but has continued and struck a whale factory ship in the next line!!! 14:51 - the large tanker has gone down, Whale factory is listing heavily but still making way. 17:08 - whale factory ship has gone down! she finally took on too much water and the crew have abandoned her! kept in contact with convoy and picked up a stragler, Empire type freighter moving in from behind. 18:00 sank the empire freighter with our last two bow torps convoy is moving on and two destroyers have shown up, we've headed to 120 at silent and are proceding north away from the convoy! On RTB total GRT was 40936. a very good patrol! :arrgh!: |
U-177, Type IXD2
Leutnant z. S. Kurt Neubauer Left at: March 10, 1943, 14:53 From: Lorient Mission Orders: Patrol grid GO58 Everything went fine when we left port, 2 days later we detected a radar signal @ Grid BF-19, due to the long time it would take me to dive to periscope depth decided to manually engage the Catalina aircraft taking it down in the first run. Periscope depth to check any sounds and heard a faint engine far away... decided to engage it. 50 minutes later at full ahead saw a DD, 2 Large Merchants & 1 Large Cargo cruising around, lucky enough I was in a good firing position, set torpedos and launched 1 to each merchant, all of them hit, after a while ships started to slowly sink until they went down after a 2nd round of torpedos, while I was trying to go away the DD picked us and started to attack us, destroying torpedo tubes 2 to 4, heavy damage on bow, destroyed our 3 flak guns and left the conning tower with serious damage. Had to aim with the hydrophone which miracously got no damage, took 3 torpedos to destroy the DD, after that ordered to blow ballast and head to port at full ahead, on our way we found another aircraft, altough I didn't identified it we crash dived since we had no weapons to defend against it, dropped 3 bombs but none hit altough they where really close to our already badly damaged bow, after a while he decided to leave us, then proceed in our way to port. Altough I had enough eels left I couldn't continue with just 1 torpedo tube functional and 53% hull integrity. Totale Tonnage was of: 31,107 tons |
Patrol Log of Endres, Heinz
2nd Flotilla out of Wilhelmshaven U-48 Type VIIB Patrol 2: 1939, August 20th Just finished a leisurely cruise through the English Channel on the way to BF18.:haha: Will wait in patrol grid for the next 12 days. 1939, August 21st 1650(1550 Local time) Reached Patrol grid. Will test boats, and crews capabilities tomorrow, August 22nd, at 600. 1939, August 22nd Practiced diving and crash diving. Stalked a French trawler for a couple hours. Then proceeded to do a depth test. Took the ship down to 190M, the crew looked scared and my CE warned that we were too deep. Blew ballasts and returned to the surface. 1939, September 3rd. Barely an hour after we get permission to attack English shipping we pick up a sonar contact heading towards the English channel. We surface and follow at flank speed. An hour later we come upon a medium tanker flying the British Flag. It is quickly brought down by our deck gun, and we receive our first kill . 3,360 tons :up: |
Captain Wolfgang Petersen's log December 1943
Our modified VIIC was patrolling near Island when we spotted several aircraft closing in from the NW. Crash dived and headed NW to look for an aircraft carrier. Yes, there was a task force with an escort carrier. We closed in silently, hoping to do some damage on the yanks but suddenly, CRAAASH... Damn iceberg... The crash alerted the escorts and we were heavy damaged. Had to blow ballast. Heavy flooding in the torpedo room and several wounded. Destroyed the enigma and all the documents before leaving the ship. U-81 is no more Heil H*****! (not) |
27th August 1939
U-27 left Wilhelmshaven at 05:00 and his heading towards deep water off Norway for some deep dive tests, and then onwards to her patrol grid. Weather is clear and seas calm. |
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:24 AM. |
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