Transfer of U 113 (IXC) to Training Flotilla
 

Started a new career in August 2019, to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years ago ...



Tuesday, 29 April 1941: - Bremen - AG Weser, Deutsche Schiff und Maschinenbau

Transfer of boat and crew to U.A.K. and 2nd Training Division (U.L.D.), Gotenhafen.

Training of boat and crew of U 113 (IXC)
 

Started a new career and in Lorient awaiting my 12th patrol. 184,875 in tonnage along with a successful attack on Reykjavik. Even starting to get the hang of attacking convoys, although fairly limited successes. Might get 1 or 2 prizes before I get depth charged for an hour. Speaking of depth charged...I survived one where I was only in 60 meters of water. I was literally 1 meter from the bottom duck, dodge, and diving my way out of it. I think my hull was at 66% after that fiasco.

Which year did this happen?

Training of boat and crew of U 113 (IXC)
 

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...


Sunday, 18 May 1941: - U.A.K. and 2nd Training Division (U.L.D.), Gotenhafen -

Work-up's and Trials with the U.A.K. (Kpt.z.S.R. BRÄUTIGAM), the 2nd Training Division, Gotenhafen (Freg.Kpt. HARTMANN).

Beginning of Operation "Rheinübung":
Breakthrough of KMS Bismarck and Prinz Eugen into the North Atlantic to conduct merchant warfare.

Training of boat and crew of U 113 (IXC)
 

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...


Tuesday, 20 May 1941: - U.A.K. and 2nd Training Division (U.L.D.), Gotenhafen -

Work-up's and Trials with the U.A.K. (Kpt.z.S.R. BRÄUTIGAM), the 2nd Training Division, Gotenhafen (Freg.Kpt. HARTMANN).

Operation "Rheinübung":
KMS Bismarck and Prinz Eugen are deteced by Swedish Naval and Airforces in the Kattegat - the British Admirality will gain knowledge of this through informal channels the following day.

Beginning of Operation "Merkur", the invasion of Crete by German Airborne and Mountain Troops.

Training of boat and crew of U 113 (IXC)
 

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...


Saturday, 24 May 1941: - U.A.K. and 2nd Training Division (U.L.D.), Gotenhafen -

Work-up's and Trials with the U.A.K. (Kpt.z.S.R. BRÄUTIGAM), the 2nd Training Division, Gotenhafen (Freg.Kpt. HARTMANN).

Operation "Rheinübung":
Battle of the Denmark Strait between KMS Bismarck & Prinz Eugen and HMS Hood and Prince of Wales. HMS Hood is sunk by Bismarck at 0601h, at about 63° 22' North, 32° 17' West. Out of a crew of 1,418 men, only three survived. Prince of Wales withdraws from the battle due to heavy damage. Bismarck and Prinz Eugen do not pursue but head south.

Operation "Merkur" (Mercury):
On Wednesday, 21 May 1941, German troops have taken the strategically important Hill 107 and Maleme airfield.
An Axis convoy of around 20 caïques, escorted by the Italian torpedo boat Lupo, tried to land German reinforcements near Maleme. Force D under Rear-Admiral Irvine Glennie, with three light cruisers and four destroyers, intercepted the convoy before midnight; the convoy turned back with the loss of more than half of its boats, despite Lupo's defence.
On 22/23 May 1941, another Axis landing attempt is repelled by Force C (three cruisers and four destroyers, commanded by Rear Admiral Edward Leigh Stuart King) but is taking heavy losses from the German Luftwaffe, as is Force A1 commanded by Rear Admiral H B Rawlings.
Fighting against fresh German troops, that are being flown in by the Luftwaffe, the Allies retreat southward and on May 24, after air attacks on Allied positions in Kastelli/Heraklion, the 95th Gebirgs Pioneer Battalion advanced on the town. These air attacks enable the escape of German paratroopers captured on 20 May; the escapees killed or captured several New Zealand officers assigned to lead the 1st Greek Regiment. Fighting with the remnants of the 1st Greek Regiment will continue in the Kastelli area until 26 May, hampering German efforts to land reinforcements at Heraklion.

Hermann Schicke, Kptlt, Knight's Cross

U-53, type VIIB
7th Flot.

01Sep39-01Apr40

5 patrols

28(24 cargo/4 warship) ships sunk

154,080 tons

Alfred Hagen, Oblt, Knight's Cross

U-53, Type VIIB
7th Flot.

01May40-12Mar41

6 patrols

21(19 cargo/2 warship) ships sunk

125,831 tons

Hans-Horst Welte, Oblt, German Cross

U-53, Type VIIB
U-332, Type VIIC

01Apr41-

5 patrols

13(13 cargo) ships sunk

67,115 tons

05Apr42 Oblt. Welte and U-332 currently on 6th patrol to grid CB41

Training of boat and crew of U 113 (IXC)
 

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...


Tuesday, 27 May 1941: - U.A.K. and 2nd Training Division (U.L.D.), Gotenhafen -

Work-up's and Trials with the U.A.K. (Kpt.z.S.R. BRÄUTIGAM), the 2nd Training Division, Gotenhafen (Freg.Kpt. HARTMANN).

Operation "Rheinübung":
After being immobilized by Swordfish torpedo bombers from HMS Arc Royal, KMS Bismarck is sunk by the British H Force and elements of the Home Fleet at 1039 hours in the approximate position of 48° 09' North, 16° 07'. Prinz Eugen escapes to Brest.

Out of a crew of more than 2,200 officers, non-commissioned officers and men, around 800 sailors manage to abandon the Bismarck before she sinks. The rest of the crew, many of them still alive, sink with the battleship.

An hour later, the Dorsetshire pick up 86 sailors and the Maori another 25. The temperature of the water is 13° C. The British do not recover more men because they claim there are U-boats in the area.

Towards 2000 hours, U74 (Kapitänleutnant Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat) rescues three more sailors. They are Herbert Manthey, Otto Höntzsch and Georg Herzog.

Meanwhile, the Spanish heavy cruiser Canarias (Captain Benigno González-Aller) has left the port of El Ferrol at 1140 on 27 May in an attempt to rescue some survivors from the Bismarck.

Operation "Merkur":
On 26 May, in the face of the stalled German advance, senior Wehrmacht officers had requested Mussolini to send Italian Army units to Crete in order to help the German forces fighting there. On the afternoon of 27 May, an Italian convoy departs from Rhodes with the intention of landing a brigade from the 50th Infantry Division "Regina", supported by 13 L3/35 light tanks. The escort is made up of the destroyer "Francesco Crispi", the torpedo-boats "Lira", "Lince", and "Libra", two MAS motor torpedo boats, while the amphibious force is comprised of four fishing vessels, two steamships, one river boat, two reefer ships, three tugs and three tankers. The Italian commander in the "Dodecanese" had volunteered the services of his men as early as 21 May, but the request had to pass through German channels to Hermann Göring, who finally authorized the move when it became clear that the German effort was not moving ahead as quickly as planned. The Italians will land 3,000 men of the division and their equipment at Sitia on 28 May at 17:20h and advanced west mostly unopposed, rendezvousing with the Germans at Ierapetra.

During the night of 26/27 May, a detachment of some 800 men from No. 7 and No. 50/52 Commandos, as part of Layforce, landed at Souda Bay (Colonel Robert Laycock). Laycock had tried to land the force on 25 May, but had turned back due to bad weather. Although armed mainly with only rifles and a small number of machine guns, they were to carry out rearguard actions in order to buy the garrison enough time to carry out an evacuation.

Troops of the German 141st Mountain Regiment block a section of the road between Souda and Chania. On the morning of 27 May, the New Zealand 28th (Māori) Battalion, the Australian 2/7th Battalion and the Australian 2/8th Battalion clear the road by a bayonet charge (the "Battle of 42nd Street").

Command in London decides the cause is hopeless after General Wavell informs the Prime Minister at 0842h, 27 May, that the battle is lost, and orderes an evacuation. Freyberg concurrently orderes his troops to withdraw to the south coast to be evacuated. 2 hours later, KMS Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic.

The Calm Before the Storm
 

Previously, the crew of U-55 was attached to the 21. Ausbildungsflottille based in Neustadt where over a period of two months they underwent rigorous sea trials and workups in navigation, naval artillery, flak artillery, and torpedoes. The final test at the end of those two months was a simulated convoy battle where U-55 "engaged enemy escorts and merchants" in the Baltic Sea, approximately 42.61 nautical miles ENE of Neustadt. These escorts and merchants were actually decommissioned warships and merchants from the Reichsmarine that were to be used as target ships. Over a period of eight hours, the crew of U-55 sank almost every ship in the convoy and exceeded all requirements and expectations in her sea trials. The crew was granted for combat operations and was subsequently attached to U-Flotilla Wegener based in Kiel.

Then on July 31, 1939 the commanding officer received his orders which read:
COMPLETE EXERCISES AND ORDERS RECEIVED OVER RADIO TRANSMISSION FROM UNIT HEADQUARTERS. YOUR STARTING GRID IS AL36
The commanding officer (Leutnant Erich Wegner) quickly arranged provisions and ordnance with the help of his Bosun, Bootsman Franz Muller.

The U-55 slipped from its moorings at Kiel on August 1, 1939 at exactly 08:15. The first patrol of the prodigy boat and its captain had officially begun.

Laden with anxiety and a mild sense of excitement, the crew watched from behind them as the naval base slowly slipped from view and the vast ocean gradually surrounded them.

YESSS!!! :yeah:

GREAT JOB !!! :up:

Training of boat and crew of U 113 (IXC)
 

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...


Wednesday, 28 May 1941: - U.A.K. and 2nd Training Division (U.L.D.), Gotenhafen -

Work-up's and Trials with the U.A.K. (Kpt.z.S.R. BRÄUTIGAM), the 2nd Training Division, Gotenhafen (Freg.Kpt. HARTMANN).

Operation "Rheinübung":
The German weather observation ship Sachsenwald (Leutnant zur See Wilhelm Schütte) finds two more survivors of the Bismarck, Otto Maus and Walter Lorenzen.

Operation "Merkur":
The Germans push the British, Commonwealth and Greek forces steadily southward, using aerial and artillery bombardment, followed by waves of motorcycle and mountain troops (the rocky terrain making it difficult to employ tanks). The garrisons at Souda and Beritania gradually fall back along the road to Vitsilokoumos, north of Sfakia.

From 28 May – 1 June, Allied troops will be embarked for Egypt, most being lifted from Sfakia on the south coast, where about 6,000 troops will be rescued on the night of 29/30 May. However, the force will attacked by Luftwaffe dive bombers on the voyage back and will suffer many losses. About 4,000 men will be withdrawn from Heraklion during the night of 28/29 May. During the next night 1,500 soldiers will be taken away by four destroyers and during the night of 31 May /1 June another 4,000 men will be evacuated. In all, about 18,600 men of the 32,000 British troops on the island will be evacuated; 12,000 British and Dominion troops and thousands of Greeks will still be on Crete when the island will come under German control on 1 June.

Thanks! :salute::subsim:

Training of boat and crew of U 113 (IXC)
 

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...


Friday, 30 May 1941: - U.A.K. and 2nd Training Division (U.L.D.), Gotenhafen -

Work-up's and Trials with the U.A.K. (Kpt.z.S.R. BRÄUTIGAM), the 2nd Training Division, Gotenhafen (Freg.Kpt. HARTMANN).

Operation "Rheinübung":
After a brief meeting with the German weather observation ship Sachsenwald (Leutnant zur See Wilhelm Schütte), the Spanish heavy cruiser Canarias (Captain Benigno González-Aller) finds two dead bodies floating in the sea which were pulled up aboard. These were Walter Gaszczak and Heinrich Neuschwander.

At 1000h on the next day, Saturday, 31st May, they will be given a naval burial service and their bodies will be committed to the deep.

In the end, out of a crew of more than 2,200 officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the Bismarck, only 115 will have survived.

Cmdr: The Bismarck is gone! Why did Lütjens not pursue the already damaged HMS Prince of Wales and head back to Norway?