:haha:
We tried our chances into Liverpool. We got as far as viewing the Birkenhead coastline before ASW Trawlers began to get a fix on our position. Pleased with a bit of sight seeing, we saw a Granville Type Freighter off the coast of Wales. It took about 10 shots with the deck gun and it was the best fireworks display i've seen in SH3. Then it hit me, imagine sailors on that ship, as it blew its own bulkheads apart. It reminded me how terrible war is, and how relentless and unforgiving it can be, albeit this was virtual. I did go over to the life rafts and drop supplies and directions, I felt that bad :oops:. Lest we forget. |
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13th October 1942
33 days at sea Returning to base after successful operations in the N.Atlantic. Recent events 10th October Caught by surprise by single bomber,slight cloud,good vis,wind 15,in an area previously thought to be out of Icelandic range,evidently not.Crash dived just in time as bomber opened fire with MGs,no damage.Bombs were dropped,but we were already into our dive. Allied Air Zones now extended to 2000km. All torpedoes expended. Expect to arrive in S.Naz. around 24th-25th October (including 3-4 day delay in the Bay of Biscay). Patrol Tonnage - 1.S.Merchant (British) - approx 3.000t 1 T3 (American) - approx 11.000t 1 Troop Transport (American) - approx 9000t 1 C3 (British) - Just over 5.000t Total - 28.000t |
North of england. looking for ships... (unsucessfuly.):shifty:
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13th October 1942
08:40 While heading SSE through BD26 onto our final leg east for home a Light Cruiser was spotted on the Western horizon,heading our way :o . He must have picked us up on radar as no radio transmissions of any kind were made in that area,in fact I maintain radio silence as much as possible on my patrols,unless in emergencies etc.I suspect he may have been attached to a local convoy passing in the area or may have been alerted by our recent sinking of a C3 nearby,but cannot be sure. This is the first time I have actively been detected by a lone warship,without them having no prior reason to know we were there. I immediately ordered an emergency dive as I saw him increasing speed in our direction,and when we were under made a sharp turn in his direction,in an attempt to undercut his DC (we could'nt be certain if he did in fact carry any DCs) run,which of course didnt come,in fact we werent even pinged at all :smug: We carried on at 100m/4kts until I decided to surface after about 1.5hrs submerged.There were no visual or sound contact in the area.We made it. I couldnt tell what type of cruiser it was from the head on view,but a quick glance at the rec.manual identified him as a probable Fiji Class of about 10,000t.I would have loved a shot at him,if only we had some spare torpedoes :nope: That is all for tonight's action for me,see you tomorrow :up: |
January 15, 1940
U-141 (IID) Just returned from Patrol 5. Sank four ships but was only given credit for three? :wah::damn:. Eight days at sea. Total tonage 9,744. Jan |
And BDU is really Pissed
Looks like I'm off to the Briar Patch when I get home. On my third patrol of my fiest GWX3 career; it is late Oct 39. So Ijust completed my assigned patrol area, north of England, heading south to see if there are any jucy pickins near the western entrance to the channel. Lo and behold the watch spots a jucy large merchant heading NE towards NW england just noth of Ireland. Hot damn says I lets gitter done, and off we go at high speed to get ahead of her. She is traveling at 10Kns so I'm not sparing the horses.
I drew my anticipated course of the ship and placed myself at a 90 degree approach to it with a 90 deg starboard AOB. I submerged rubbing my hands with glee. Heh heh this sucker is going down. Sonar reports the contact, I have him follow the contact----WTF his course has change and he is on a line of travel that will place him 5000 meters to my stern. No problemo, quick u-turn, flank speed still 90 degree approach but with a port AOB - change AOB entry, keep closing the distance. Alright looks like a good setup. Range 3200 m. AOB port 85 deg. Target large Granville freighter. Fire tube one. Off she goes. I decided that because this was the longest shot That I have attempted, I was going to use only one torp. and dawn was fast approaching and I was approaching shallower water. KAAABOOOM hit right under the stack, freighter slows to a stop with black smoke billowing out of the stern cargo areas. Quick surface and give the "Koop de grass" using the deck gun. Five rounds and down she goes. Submerge return to course and head out of the area, celebrating wildly every one slapping backs and cheering. Turns out it was a neutral ship. Upon reflection the course change of the target changed its course from towards NW England to Londonderry. I just hope I can sink enough real targets to make up for this fau paux. I'd better go back and reread the posts and cautions to make sure of your targer before you punch the button OH Well |
I'm was just northwest of casablanca on my third float. It was pitch black out, all I could see was my reflection in the screen. At first i thought something was wrong. Then I picked up a single contact, just about in front of me but long range. i used the uzo to get bearings and began to close. The single contact turned into two, then three, then a nice little 16 ship convoy, four deep by four abreast. "Nice" i thought seeing just a single destroyer escort plugging along ahead of the pack.
I was reloading my externals when I thought i had better get going and plot a coarse. i figured come up from behind, since I pride my self with the rear shots i make. I looked at the map to double check everything and noticed the ship in the center of the convoy had a much smaller signature than the others. I figured t must be a tug or something. I don't click on the ships with out looking at them first, I keep that rule just to keep it real, sort of. So there I am sailing on an intercept coarse, when I finnaly get close enough to get a good look at everything. Useing my UZO still i pan across the group heading away from me. I'm just a look'n away when this big dark spot fills my view, "What!" That tug boat ends up being a Battleship!! "CHANGE OF PLANS!!" I ended up being able to get a perfectt shot right between it's props with three fish, then turned to fire one at a Qship that made me all of a sudden. While lined up with the Qship a modern tanker passed square behind me and got one from my bow tube. I'll admitt that was luck, nothing more. Each actually went down. Then I got the message the BB was going under. All this BEFORE the DD even got to me, so I just laid there waiting for him to begin his run on me. He was withing the 800 range when i fired, so I thought he would turn out of theway like normal, SOOO.... trying something different I extended My periscope all the way up to see f he would spot it and try to run me over. They have done this before, but I had never gotten a shot off before, AND IT WORKED. So within about a half hour I sank a battleship,tanker,sneaky merchant, and a destroyer. This left me two more torpedoes and since there were no escorts around I surfaced, sank an armed SCR with the two remaining torps, then two large merchants with my deck gun. Finished off two more small merchants that got hit by friendly fire durring the SCR's little shooting game. All this for little less than more than 78,000 tons in one mission. One of my records so far, i don't know if this was the place to tell that long story, but man that tug boat paid off. |
Reading that :rotfl:---> monkeynads <--- :rotfl:you were lucky,to not have been fired upon once during the whole engagement.Maybe your proximity to the convoy sort of shielded you somewhat,preventing the BB and DD from wanting to attack so close to their convoy :hmmm:
Nice one mate. |
Continued from my previous entry...(sorry about some of the useless information here,it keeps me busy.Its just a copy of my exact notes I make in game on paper) ;)
13th Oct 1942 Day 33 08:56 After our earlier sighting of the light cruiser I came to PD after 1.5hrs submerged.LC was nowhere to be seen,no sound signature either. Surfaced. 21:45 Dark now.Weather no change. 3100km from S.Naz,about 7-9 days away. Lowered speed to 8kts,fuel dwindling at this rate,below 25%. 14th Oct Day 34 07:00 Light time.Nothing more to note. 15th Day 35. No change. 05:38 BD66.On our final leg east towards France.Approx 2700km from base,9 days away. 18:00 After a long spell of clear weather,it finally broke. Clouds heavy,medium rain,Fog heavy,wind 15 south westerly.Decided to make regular dives during darkness in these conditions,as will be unable to see incoming threats,of any kind,plus unable to use radar in these seas,rendered blind. 21:00 Dived 50m,speed slow,attempt to ride out storm. 16th Day 36.Surface when light,more visibility during daylight. 07:00 Surfaced.10 hrs submerged. No change. 17th Day 37. Nothing more. 07:00 Surfaced,10hrs sm. 11:00 Recharge time +4hrs. 13:00 Changed speed to 9kts,seems we have slightly more reserves than previously thought.Making about 8kts in this sea. 21:00 BE54.Approx 2000km to go. From here on will attempt a run on the surface at night,as such conditions may also affect the enemy's capabilities,except for their radar of course,but I am hoping our detector will pick up their signals giving us time to dive in advance. 18th Day 38 No change. 07:00 Uneventful night.Will repeat from here on out.Standard anti aircraft measures to be implemented as soon as we enter the British AZ. 19th Day 39 BE64 We have now entered the British Air Zone (BAZ),and now comes the dreaded Biscay Gauntlet :nope: Emergency stations by everyone.Lets hope this storm lasts and shields us from the relentless air attacks.A brief moment is shared by everyone now,leaving him with his own thoughts for a few minutes.Report is sent in to HQ notifying them of our position and that we are almost home.It has been many weeks since they last heard from us,they may be thinking the worst. Patrol Tonnage 28.116t End of report. |
U-53, AM 51, January 16 1940. Calm sea state all the way through this patrol.
Cruised around, picking lone merchants off with the deck gun, doing my best impersonation of a floating Tiger tank. Jan 14, get radio report of convoy NE heading at 8 knots. Intercept it changing course heading SE. After 1 daytime and 2 night time attacks, sank 1 Ore Carrier,1 Ammo ship, 1 Granville freighter and 1 Southampton Cruiser. Total tonnage for patrol thus far is 72,000 tons. Only light damage sustained to the deck gun so far. No aircraft sighted in this area. Time is 0200. Time enough for 1, maybe two more attacks on the convoy. It has slowed to 5 knots. |
Playing GWX 3 at 90% realism incl manual targetting. It's Apr of '40 and after completing my assigned patrol SW of Norway I decided to stick my head into Scapa Flow at night and see if I could find anything interesting. Since I wasn't expecting to find much (as usual), I decided I'd take on some of the patrolling DDs. I sank both a Tribal and a V&W with one eel each. I then proceeded into Scapa Flow on the surface with decks awash and to my surprise I saw the silhouette of an Illustrious class carrier. As I rubbed my hands with glee, I also saw a BC to the NE. Going for the bigger tonnage, I headed for him and let loose all four bow tubes at 3000m with shallow setting to get over his torpedo nets. I then came up to full speed and headed east for the narrow channels. There were three torpedo impacts and I was notified that the BC is going down and my log told me I've sunk HMS Hood. History is rewritten. I had to dive when star shells were fired, revealing my position to shore batteries. Once the star shells faded, I resurfaced and continued east past through the three wrecks and out into the North Sea. I escaped alive and covered with glory. Damn, that felt good.
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Continued from my earlier report ;)
19th Oct 1942 BE65 11:49 Distant merchant sound contact,heading roughly NE.Unable to attack in rough seas with all torpedoes expended.Attempting to intercept in order to radio position of contact to HQ. 12:00 Contact bearing 25 degrees,moving slow.Vis. I estimate between 300 and 500m :nope: 12:09 Vis. too poor,making hardly any ground on the contact who seems to be getting no closer.Breaking off due to very low fuel and poor chances of spotting target.Remaining on the surface in order to ride with the storm :arrgh!: two hours have elapsed since original contact was made,absolutely futile to re-attempt an interception in these conditions. 15:27 Radar signals detected in our area,crash dived to 100m.Unable at the moment to tell what or where the signals were from.Will surface in 1-2 hrs. Quick sound check confirms a DD is in our area at a bearing of 80 degrees,and closing. 16:30 1 hr elapsed sm.No sounds in the area,DD has passed us by,preparing to surface. 20:45 BE65 Weather,no change. Approx 1300km to go,about 3 days at this rate. ETA- 22nd-23rd Oct. 20th Day 40 No sightings of anything. Weather,no change. 21st Nothing,no change. 22nd BF54 No change. Approx 500km to go. 23rd Day 43 BF64 176km away,11hrs. Safe to assume we are now in safe waters.Storm did in fact shield us all the way across the bay of biscay as hoped,not one aircraft sighted anywhere. ETA- 11:00-12:00 04:55 Passing 'Noir something' island west of France. Report sent in of our imminent arrival. Vis.reduced to about 300m,can just make out the glare of the lighthouses ahead. 11:07 Arrived in port. Tonnage 1 S.Merchant (British) 1 T3 (American) 1 Troop Transport (American) 1 C3 (British) 7 Hurricane fighter planes Total 28.116t Damage/casualties 2 watchmen dead from machine gun fire in an air attack at the beginning of the patrol.Service was held at sea and they were committed to the depths with heavy hearts.Families being notified. No damage to U-Boat Renown 1736.28 Total remown 2509.50 Medals I recieved the Iron Cross 1st class and a U-boat Badge :salute: Promotions Diesels Officer to be promoted to C.S.W.O.He worked like a bloody trojan on this patrol!. Quals I sent for a WO to have extensive training in operating all manner of radio equipment aboard a U-Boat.His dedicated post will now free up our sonar man,as switching between jobs earlier was becoming time consuming and reducing our efficiency.I suspect shifting priority towards radio equipment/radar etc at this time becoming ever more important,as allied radar is slowly becoming more consistent at sea and the increased air attacks were devastating. |
Just finished four weeks in November 1939, patrolling outside the Firth of Forth and picking off assorted unescorted small fry. Only a few slow surface patrols and almost no air patrols! Doesn't seem possible, even in 1939. Also three weeks without a breath of wind, which seems even less possible.
Back in Wilhelmshaven, boasting of the easy cruise, I dropped the phrase "happy times" and it seems to be catching on. Next up is the mid-Atlantic, so I expect a very different experience this time around. |
Good luck Coyote :up:
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Captain Hans Klarholz
U-94 , VIIC Based at S.Naz. 4th war patrol 25th October 1942 Patrol Notes Preparing to patrol grid AL35.Looks like we are going to be operating on the same convoy lane as our last patrol,yet we are nearer to both Britain and Iceland this time,and that means high alert :nope: There may also be opportunities against Russian shipping if we cannot attack the American shipping.Damn Ruskies,i've been itching for a fight with them!. If we have trouble against these convoys then we can always drop south onto the merchant lane down there.We will make all endeavours to attack during the day as much as possible due to our proximity to local air bases,giving us much more time to evade then,than would be possible at night. Air Strength Expected to be very high,due to local air bases nearby.We had a close call by just one bomber coming out of Iceland last time,and we were on what we thought were the fringes of their coverage!. Naval Strength Moderate to high.Strength of previous convoy was very high,and we could expect assistance coming directly from Britain this time.Last time we were further to the west and in the 'air gap'. Equipment Notes Just finished fitting Alberich and Bold cannisters to the boat.We were being pinged at 200m and at 3kts last time,and its evident the allies have increased their ASW quite a bit.The bold cannisters have never been used by us before,and we hope to find good use for them on this patrol.For emergencies only,such as when unable to escape multiple Asdic pings,or prolonged pursuits lasting for more than about 1 hr. Torpedo Layout Main Fore 4 ETorps.For 1st daylight attack on expected convoy.Ranges not to exceed about 2000m from perimeter. Fore Reserves 4 GasTorps.For subsequent night attack against same convoy.Ranges not to exceed about 1000m from perimeter. 2 Falkes.Reserved for any opportunities against major warships,LCs,BBs,etc. External 3 spare GasTorps.Simply to bolster Fore Reserves. Main Aft 1 Falke.For emergencies only. |
U-49, VIIB
December, 1939 Patrol. Was assigned to patrol off the NW coast of Spain. On the way south, I was making an arc to follow the the outside of the continental shelf. Don't ask why, it just felt right. And it worked. In BE17, I got a radio report of a convoy heading SW at 8 knts, in BE17!! I was literally a stone's throw away. I was quite excited, as this was my first convoy in the game. I cut my teeth in the stock version with a IIA, and only moved into the Atlantic in a VII once I got GWX. Anyway, not really knowing what to do from personal experience, I quickly moved ahead to get into position, went to 20 meters, and waited. Turns out the convoy track was a little more south than expected, but that worked out, as the lead escort cleared me by about 1500m without me having to move. My sonarman was only reporting 2 warships, and what I counted as 21 merchants contacts. Feeling brazen, once the DD was past me, I went to periscope depth and took a peek. This being my first convoy, it was a sight to behold. And what is this?! I notice the very distinct shape of a Nelson-class BB in the middle! I know our standing orders are to ignore warships and go after merchants, but I couldn't help but feel giddy. I'll get those merchants next time around, I tell myself. I'm now cursing my inexperienced torpedo loadout choices, as I have only one electric loaded in the fore tubes. I decide to attempt 4 magnetic shots - I'll fire the electric at an angle at the tanker following the BB, and then spread the 3 steamers set to run at 12m at the BB at 90 degrees. I didn't have to wait long for the pieces to move into place. Fired the electric, periscope down a couple meters, quickly switch to TDC and set to fire all 4 tubes (one is empty, of course), and run fast at 12m. Back to periscope, center on the middle of the three forward batteries, and Los! Then, as I was told to do by the boys back at BdU, er, subsim forums, I lower periscope, move to ahead slow, alter course to exit the rear of the convoy, and begin a slow dive. It was hard not to stay and watch, but I needed to consider the crew's safety. As we slowly dive, we wait for the results. Boom! Boom! BOOM! All three pistols work on the Nelson! Ruhig, maenner! We wait for the torp hitting the tanker...nothing. Oh well, three hits on the beast! And of course, the fun begins. I slip past the last line of ships, making my way down to 150m. Both escorts are in pursuit, though one doesn't stick around too long. 2 DC runs happened as I was still diving. I'm VERY inexperienced at evading destroyers, so I wasn't sure what I was doing. At one pt I tried to go to full and alter course as soon as the destoyer passed by and I was in the baffles, but he quickly reacquired me. Anyway, after the 2nd DC run, we get the "she's going down" message! More cheers, followed by the chief scolding them. I hope the convoy picked up the abandoning crew. Now we really need to ditch this DD. We reach 150m. Then 160m. Another DC run occurs, though it doesn't sound like any got close. I can't seem to shake the guy, but he can't seem to get any closer. We just need to wait it out, I guess. Anyway, after running the last 3+ hours at 1x, it was getting to be quite late IRL, and unfortunately, I had no option but to pause it and make the escape later. Wow, long post. My apologies! And sorry for the unfinished story, I just needed to get it out! Now, back to the work I should be doing... |
From: U-765
To: Bdu BF4121 24 Nov 1940 Intercepted large heavily escorted british convoy heading due west. 4 eels expended. Empire and Large merchant sank for a total of 17000 tons. Current depth: 179m I am now successfully slipping through the cracks in the screen. We live to fight another day. :salute: Nothing Follows |
U-589 is currently patrolling the med area around Sicily in Dec. 1941. Can't move anywhere without bumping into friendly Italian or Albanian Convoys (with cargo's that have 'Kreigsmarine' clearly written on them...nice touch GWX!)
Last night, I almost bumped into a rather large, unlit, and completely unescorted Troop Ship sailing away from Malta... the puddle of drool coming from my mouth as I watched her through the scope make my socks wet...until I saw the Italian Flag in the darkness. :-? The med has lots of traffic, but smaller conveys. Now and then, we come across a single small merchant/cargo escorted by one or two enemy DD's. Tonnage is much lower in the med, but I'm used to it. Duing our last patrol we manageed to sink 2 light cruisers (out of a trail of four)...and thats about as big as we're going to get for a while. Goerings Flyboys are like mosquito's around here, they turn up at almost every attack I make in the daylight, without being informed! Makes for great fireworks and distraction while we slip closer and finish them off. A few days ago, as we were passing Malta for the western approaches, (during a spectacular sunset) we observed a flaming trail in the sky for several minutes, before realising it was a hurricane in a spot of bother. He paid no heed to us and turned back to Malta. Someone's givin them hell, I thought... This was before we had run into two other AI VIIC's in the same waters. Three's a crowd, but then again...there's safety in numbers! We recently expended four eels with 1 miss and three duds at a juicy looking empire freighter. :damn: Things arn't that safe though, because, I'm now returning home with one eel left and a good man dead, all over a few seconds delay after sighting an aircraft. We were approaching a solitary spanish sloop, seemingly dead in the water, (Not a breath of wind, so no wonder she's not moving... well done again GWX!) in the hope of bartering for some *liquid refreshment*. Aircraft was reported and I wanted to make sure it wasn't one of ours, as we have been diving needlessly a lot in the previous hours, so I told the AA to hold off for a min. A sudden rake of MG fire and he's screaming for a medic as we dive for cover. :down: Will we ever learn? Surfaced right beside the spanish sloop after an hour, giving her crew the fright of her life. After exchanging pleasantries in broken spanish, we discovered they were tee-totalers. :stare: |
U-5 2030 23JUN 40
Successful attack on a convoy in AL8532, shot 2 torpedos to a Fiji class, one explosion, 1 torpedo to one ore carrier, hit; 1 torpedo to a large merchant, hit and huge explosion. Turnend and shot stern tubes to the ore carrier, another hit, and to the fiji class. Convoy light protected. After one hour underwater, surfaced and reloading tubes; waiting for the night to attack again. |
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