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U-552, career ended
Ob.lt z.s. Helmut Unger to report immediately to Kiel for reassignment to training duties.
Relinquish command of U-552 to your exec. L. Buchheim Kapt.z.s., Kommandant |
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Truth is I recognize the symptoms all too well. It all starts with an eminently practical reason, (such as remembering who's who), and the next thing you know you've got an all new game within a game. :doh: It's all good though. Adds depth and all that. So hey, why not enjoy? :) |
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U-50 VIIB
Patrol No5
26 February 1940 17:06 hours U-50 left the safety of Wilhelmshaven for the dangerous waters of the North Atlantic 29 February 1940 Grid AN56 07:08 hours Coastal freighter sunk by 37 88mm rounds 12 March 1940 Grid AD83 A radio message informed us of the beginning of the Norwegian campaign. Our current position disallowed us any participation. Patrol continued as normal 15 March 1940 Grid AD83 Convoy attack with exellent results. U-50 managed to penetrate the destroyer screen and attacked within the convoy columns, This was NOT a by the book attack. All tubes fore and aft were fired at close range. 00:53 hours Tanker 02 sunk by 1 bow torpedo. Ship exploded 00:53 hours Medium cargo sunk by 1 bow torpedo. Ship exploded 01:15 hours Small merchant sunk by 1 stern torpedo 01:37 hours Ore carrier sunk by 1 bow torpedo One more tanker was damaged but escaped 20 March 1940 Grid AD59 Convoy attack. This time is was done from outside the destroyer screen. All tubes fore and aft were fired. I shouldn't have fired the aft torpedo. It was a waste of ammo. 15:52 hours Motor tanker sunk by 2 bow torpedoes. Ship exploded 15:53 hours Granville type freighter sunk by 1 bow torpedo A large merchant was probally hit and the other torpedoes missed 29 March 1940 Grid AN14 06:12 hours A&B class DD sunk by 1 bow torpedo. Ship cut in half. 30 March 1940 Grid AN61 14:18 hours Q-ship sunk by 1 bow torpedo. The fish missed the aiming point midships and struck the target aft. Fortunately the flooding was enough to bring her down. No torpedoes left 31 March 1940 22:54 hours U-50 docked at home port 35 days at sea 9 ships sunk 41415 tons No damages or casualties von Harris and all his crew were transferred to U-65 IXB type boat |
U-552, patrol 1
Leutnant. z.s. Alfons Dietzmann
U-552, VIIC 11. Flotille, Bergen Orders: Patrol AE69 1.11.1942 03:43 AN24 cloudy, visibility 8 - 9 km, wind 7 m/s. I’ve just taken command of U-552 after it’s former commander was dismissed to training duty, after completing only four patrols. The crewmen speculate that BdU wasn’t happy about his decision to return to base for repairs after getting some very minor damage to the boat. Our patrol grid is NNE of the Faroe islands. The area is covered by enemy air patrols. I have ordered the navigator to lay a course that takes us to our patrol grid out of reach of enemy air for as long as is possible. Onboard we have two of the brand new and top secret TI FAT I G7a torpedoes. I have strict orders to only use them at night time – the enemy must not become aware of the fact that these torpedoes can change their course after the initial run. 13.11.1942 14:45 AE69 clear, visibility 8 – 9 km, wind 9 m/s. At 13:34 hours an unidentified airplane sighted at a relative bearing of 247, long range. Crash dive at AK and a hard turn towards the plane. No sounds of depth charges or bombs heard on the hydrophone. Now running surfaced again. 14.11.1942 07:53 AE69 clear, visibility 8 – 9 km, wind 9 m/s. At 07:42 hours warship screws heard on the hydrophone. Contact lost at 07:52 hours, before the enemy’s course could be estimated accurately. Probably two warships on a westerly course, making at least 20 knots or more. 15.11.1942 14:43 AE69 clear, visibility 8 – 9 km, wind 9 m/s. The radio tells us the Russians are attacking in Stalingrad, the British in El Alamein and the Americans have landed in North Africa. Wehrmacht in trouble everywhere, I guess – and here are we leisurely cruising in this glorious sunshine, not one cloud in the sky, everything as peaceful as anything can be, listening Vera Bergmann and Rudi Godden singing Kleine Mama on the gramophone. What a great song - and not at all a bad deal for us U-boat men, making our contribution to the war effort in this way! |
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Sorry to hear of the corruption of your previouse carreer. |
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Salute, Hr Kaleun. |
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Good to see your reports again. |
I am doing my first patrol in a Type IIA boat in North Sea, it is September 1939.
I sank a merchant ship in a terrible storm - clouds, fog, wind, rough sea + heavy rain. I used the hydrophone to find the ship - I guess I am getting better. :) I now chase another small merchant in the same weather conditions- I shot one torpedo but it missed (bad angle) and now I am waiting for my other 2 torpedoes to reload. It takes a loooong time... So far so good since this is my first real patrol of this game. |
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Thanks! :) Well, basically the strategy is rather simple - the hydrophone is my best friend in such low visibility. Once you figure out where the ship is, just move in that direction and with a bit of luck you will be able to spot it and quite possibly sink it. :) It's a game of listening and some geometry incl. the map.
I am really excited. I've been playing the game for about 10 days now and not every day, still learning it for the most part and now everything starts to fall in place and it does pay off! :sunny: |
U39 IX(A). Patrol 1.
The real U39:
"Sunk 14 Sept, 1939 north-west of Ireland, in position 58.32N, 11.49W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Faulknor, HMS Foxhound and HMS Firedrake. 44 survivors (no casualties). 14 Sep 1939. U-39 was the first U-boat sunk in the war, after an unsuccessful attack against the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (premature magnetic-pistol torpedo explosions)." Picked this boat because of my torpedo loadout, and settings, decision. Not using the 20-20 hindsight available, I expected torpedo problems, and got my share of them. With the exception of tube 3 (G7A), all bow torpedoes are G7E. Owing to the external stern tubes, both stern torpedoes are G7As. That's a big plus! Instead of using my stardard "3 meters impact" setting (which works very well), I've opted to leave the magnetic pistol of all torpedoes functional, and use the primary depth setting of 4 meters. Why? Because, nobody initialy knew that the torpedoes were faulty. So, I disallowed myself from fixing a problem that was unknown at the time. P A T R O L 1 : U39 pulled out of Willy on 1.sep.39 with orders to make for waters west of England's Western Approaches, and await further instructions. 9.sep.39 AN11 At 1454 loud explosion is heard in the distance, by watchstanders on the bridge. A hydrofhone check reveals the sound of a sinking ship. That evening the Radioman discloses that Kaleun VONHARRIS, in U50, has sent a Ship Sunk Report from the area. We never did see him, or anything else, in the grid. 10.sep.39 AM333 (90 miles south of Færøerne. 150 miles NW of Loch Ewe.) 0648: A L A R M ! Aircraft. 12.sep.39 AM26 (225 miles WNW of Loch Ewe.) 0721: A L A R M ! Aircraft. 14.sep.39 AM29 1014: "Ship sighted". Corvette at Long Range. U39 goes to 15 meters, followed by periscope depth. The corvette didn't seem to have noticed us, but our hydrophone operator noticed his convoy! Convoy couse and speed were eventualy estimated at 102 making 6 knots. First attack went well. 3 G7Es fired for 2 impacts. C2 sunk for 6.448 GRT. All 4 of the attacks that followed failed, primarily due to premature explosions enmass. The G7As did better at reaching the target, but were seen to explode with no apparent effect. This at least confirmed that the torpedoes were, in fact, aimed properly. Very, very frustrating. U39 docked at Willy on 29sep.39, 5 days behind U50. Patrol results: 1 ship sunk for 6.448 GRT. 12 of 12 torpedoes expended. At the end of debriefing, BDU said the torpedo situation would be looked into. (Does anybody know what date the order to disable magnetic pistols came out?) |
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Enjoy, but be warned, it's addictive. |
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In GWX BdU sends you a radio order about using only impact at an appropriate time, if I remember correctly. Dönitz's The Conduct of the War at Sea mentions the torpedo failures and subsequent tests in many places but fails to give an exact date. In BdU's war diary March 1941 http://www.uboatarchive.net/BDUKTB30285.htm the torpedo problem is widely discussed. This link (go to page 52 - 53) discusses the torpedo problem with more exact dates. http://books.google.fi/books?id=eFZb...page&q&f=false According to the book, the date was 23.5.1940. Hope this helps :DL |
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