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Jimbuna 08-30-15 05:43 AM

Welcome to SubSim Shipcap :sunny:

Shipcap 08-30-15 07:33 AM

... to continue to patrol ///


13 SEPTEMBER 1939
AN65
2:04 - speed : 0 kts, weather : good, engines are off, course - N
http://s22.postimg.org/3ubz3pt81/sh3..._56_21_627.jpg

2:08 - radio intercept.
::: Operation carried out at position BF1828. No fuel problems. 6 torpedoes. BF2573 / From : U-26
2:36 - radio intercept.
::: Have stopped to take on survivors from the S.S. Blairlo gie. - S.S. American Shipper / From : Open Freq
4:57 - radio intercept.
::: SSS... Being fired at by German submarine 49/20N, 14/20W S.S.Neptunia / From : Open Freq
8:08 - weather doesn't change, the ship is monitoring coastal waters... speed - 0 kts
8:26 - norwegian merchant ship sailed past / course - SW
http://s9.postimg.org/j6629gb5b/sh3_..._03_08_116.jpg

20:58 - one more norwegian is going misses des. / course - S
http://s16.postimg.org/v4nkiwewl/sh3..._07_10_979.jpghttp://s21.postimg.org/xwpe8fo9z/sh3..._07_16_994.jpg
22:03 - the ship started moving, speed - 17 kts, course - west

14 SEPTEMBER 1939
AN64
03:12 - radio intercept.
::: SSS... 56/34N, 15/21W - S.S. Fanad Head / From : Open Freq
03:19 - radio intercept.
::: Attacked by aircraft and enemy submarine. Aborting channel route. BF3336 / From : U-35
05:16 - radio intercept.
::: Attacked by 3 destroyers. Severe damage. Forced to surface. Sinking. Abandoning boat. / From : U-39
14:19 - weather is clear, speed - 18 kts, course - S
15:51 - horizon is clear, no contacts

15 SEPTEMBER 1939
AN81
00:32 - radio intercept.
::: Have picked up 37 men in the water from S.S. Cheyenne 50/20N, 13/30W S.S. Ida Bakke / From : Open Freq
05:22 - speed 17 kts, course - E, entering the square AN82 of patrol
AN82
08:41 - radio intercept.
::: SSS... S.S. City of Paris / From : Open Freq

In the period of such reports, a team of the ship there is opinion and rumors among the sailors and officers, that you submariners - ministering is not really something to the devil of the deep sea? From all of these interceptions begins a wild vasoconstriction in the head, fear and shaking, to be in the Atlantic, sunk by German submarine - it looks like a punishment from hell. Ohhgg, ohh chills go through the body...

On the sea - calm, sailors talk about their fate, close fly gull. Sunsets and sunrises, the sound of waves, is already a little more than a week. How long will we afloat ... time will tell.

12:11 - speed 18 kts, course - S, on the radar two glow / course - WS,
12:12 - speed 28 kts, course - WS,
http://s4.postimg.org/iokprh2st/sh3_..._34_52_458.jpghttp://s11.postimg.org/5ga58nphv/sh3..._34_49_658.jpg
12:14 - a group of two british destroyers at the exit of the Strait of the English Channel - opened fire
http://s21.postimg.org/rnxoj5i1z/sh3..._34_08_592.jpg
12:15 - sending report to the command of the fleet : to join the battle with the destroyers a few miles from the coast of Norway
12:16 - full alert / alarm
12:17 - the beginning of a rapprochement with enemy ships, evasive action to the right
http://s2.postimg.org/qijevixpl/sh3_..._37_09_355.jpghttp://s14.postimg.org/gl4j4vxg1/sh3..._38_52_844.jpg
12:19 - the first of the ships received critical damage below the waterline armor-piercing shells
12:18 - avoidance maneuver to the left
12:19 - heavy shelling from the second destroyer, two penetration in the citadel, died 9 people
12:19 - one of the enemy ships sinking, visual trim on the nose
12:19 - silhouette of an enemy ship ship goes down
12:20 - on our ship fire in the aft
12:20 - HE-shells hit the engine room, a small fuel leak
12:20 - the whole repair crew died
12:21 - 3 people killed by the shot to 4th turret
12:22 - failure of the right engine
12:22 - radar is damaged, the integrity of the citadel of 62%, multiple penetration in the hull, 12 people had died in a shootout at close range
http://s2.postimg.org/6xrk6w9wp/sh3_..._43_07_013.jpghttp://s7.postimg.org/4zbw9j857/sh3_..._43_48_294.jpghttp://s12.postimg.org/swoghgrcd/sh3..._45_13_840.jpghttp://s12.postimg.org/nmjhq673h/sh3..._46_33_166.jpg
12:25 - rudders are destroyed, ship can't maneuver, fire extinguished
12:26 - we immobilized
12:28 - report sent :
2 destroyers sunk
the whole repair crew died
suffered serious damage
small fuel leak
rudders destroyed
the right engine is broken
3rd and 4th guns have serious damage / damaged

---

ship in a stationary position
damaged citadel / 6 Cellar ammunition vulnerable
send help ...
forward to help ...
AN82


http://s21.postimg.org/fs41sd9k7/sh3..._53_48_616.jpg

AN82
12:29 - speed 0 kts, course - W :lost:
/ - / Report sent

Karl-Heinz 08-30-15 06:01 PM

Update on Kapitänleutnant Walter Frönlich, now commanding a type VIIC out of Lorient, 2nd Flotilla. Leading ace of aces as of August, 1940 with 215,495 GRT sunk (49 merchants and one destroyer) after 11 war patrols. Holder of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. I still have yet to have any casualties to men or boat, but things have gotten dicey recently.

The biggest ship I have sunk is a British T3 tanker 19024 GRT.

The lads are enjoying their leave in France, as this patrol was when we transferred from Wilhelmshaven to Lorient. I trust the French women will treat them gently, as they are very tired from our last patrol :()1:

Andrakis 08-31-15 11:02 AM

U-45 has had moderate success since her last update. Two more patrols have occurred.

The first patrol sent U-45 of the West of Gibraltar, quite a trek to reach the area. In the interest of brevity, fuel range, and sheer boredom, I braved the Channel again. The weather was good and I waited until nightfall to push through the Strait of Dover at flank. Ships were spotted at long range and the boat was put at periscope depth a few times. Nothing else came of it. Once in the channel, U-45 surfaced once again, making quick pace to reach the open Atlantic. U-45 came across a large merchant on its own during her channel run and quickly put her out of action with the deck gun. The deck gunners were incredibly accurate, triggering what I suspect were munitions being shipped to various enemies of Germany. The merchant sank quickly. The other occurrence of note in the Channel was the siting of a friendly VII patrolling the channel on her own. Pleasantries were exchanged via radio and U-45 was on her way.

Once we pushed out of the channel, open ocean laid in front of us. Quickly, however, an enemy convoy was spotted and U-45 was in a favorable position to set up an attack. It seems as though it is easier to find enemy boats when I'm not trying! U-45 set up for an attack and waited - I decided I would be a bit brazen and set up inside the convoys path. We waited, and waited. The hydrophone contacts were all about us and the attack scope was raised. I prioritized targets and made my selections. An S-Class enemy submarine plodded alongside the convoy and at a nearly perfect bearing, a Southhampton class cruiser! I had to make these fish count. Two torpedos were ranged for the cruiser, one for the S-Class, and another for the largest merchant I could see. The rear tube found a small merchant as a target as well. All tubes were fired and crash dive orders were immediately given, the boat being turned to align parallel with the convoys path. My intent was that during the dive and chaos, hunting my submarine would be much harder with all the civilians panicking up above.

4 torpedo impacts were heard. Apparently, the rear torpedo had failed to detonate on its target as there was no explosion at the specified time. We hid at 140m, engines off, silent running and we waited. Charges were heard splashing in the water, but the explosions sounded like far off thunder, rather than Odin hammering on the hull. The charges soon faded and, after two hours, we began to slowly slink away, changing our bearing to the opposite of the convoy's heading.

We surfaced a short while later, noting an abandoned and slowly sinking merchant ship bobbing nearby. With some deck gun encouragement, she sank as well. We could only assume, at that point, the other two ships that we heard sinking were the S-Class and the Southhampton cruiser.

This convoy attack netted U-45 approximately 22,000 tons, with 12,000 being warships. This is, to date, my largest warship kill. I'd love to snag something bigger soon though! :arrgh!:

U-45 continued to the area around Gibraltar and patrolled here, with minimal sinkings. She then met up with the Thalia and refitted, and set back out for another patrol...

Aktungbby 08-31-15 11:18 AM

Welcome back
 
Andrakis! after six years:salute:

Andrakis 08-31-15 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aktungbby (Post 2340858)
Andrakis! after six years:salute:

It's funny how after years, this game can just pull me back in. Quite a remarkable game in that respect.

UKönig 08-31-15 02:41 PM

June, 1943.
Patrol #10
U 802 has been at sea for about two, just edging into three weeks. So far, not a single contact has been sighted. Bad weather has been following us around almost ever since we left port. Our patrol zone, AM11, puts us back into the upper reaches of the North Atlantic. This is the work that the type VII is cut out for, not the IX. Somebody slipped up. Again. I want to go back to the tropics, maybe even South Afrika. Enough of this "Pferdenscheiße".
Oh well at least we have the RAF to keep us company. They hound us so often that I can barely squeeze more than 75% power in the batteries before I am forced to dive. And I discovered how much I hate the dive time on the type IX. It's like driving a bus. Seriously I am almost ready to trade my boat in for the VII if they keep sticking us in the NA. We had a few close calls with depth charges and it's easy to see why so many IXs' got destroyed by aircraft.
We made it to our patrol zone, still didn't find anything that floats on water, and left the area to go exploring. Advised BdU of our (not) findings and asked permission to go "free-hunting". "Permission granted U-802, steer into the southern reaches of Iceland, but DO NOT approach Reykjavik."
Did as instructed and still did not find any ships near enough to intercept. The bad weather and constant air attack continues to hound U-802 and we are making progress only painfully slowly. U-802 has passed through the AD grid on its way south towards the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Maybe we will run into a convoy bound for Iceland and then England, and finally get a chance to "let slip some dogs of war" as we are still fully loaded.
The hunt continues...

Shipcap 08-31-15 07:43 PM

... to continue to patrol ///

Аfter battle with squadron, we were waiting for luck, drifted at ran of our fate. Those who were to survive on the destroyer - wondered if they could see tomorrow... what would be an hour or a day ?
We were carried over from the speed of 1-1.5 kts to the east, the morale of the team falls under the pressure of fear. On the third day in the sky showed two black points, ship-crew froze in fear, thinking that they see their friends and the ship on which they stand - the last time in his life.
Planes circled at high altitude, but the battle with the ship did not start. They hid behind the clouds and flew to the Netherlands. 18 hours later, 19th September 1939 on the horizon, we saw the silhouette of 4 ships - coming from the northeast. They approached slowly, at a rate of about 7-8 kts. So, when they came to us for a sufficient distance for the scrutiny of the flags, we realized that this is ours / german ships.
When the first ship (the largest) closed in to the left side, the sailors began negotiations that finds ships like ours - only asks too many questions. What brings you here?
The conversation started up the theme that BDU ordered to nearest air base - raise reconnaissance aircrafts and start looking in these areas, and transmit the coordinates of any findings on the south-west of the Norwegian coast. By appointment for your repair and assistance we got from the port "Den Helder".

http://s21.postimg.org/6tiavt1d3/sh3..._37_26_819.jpghttp://s24.postimg.org/ukg8y5t1h/sh3..._37_22_782.jpghttp://s9.postimg.org/o5i0i1ekf/sh3_..._36_12_426.jpghttp://s28.postimg.org/m1uggdpd9/sh3..._35_45_119.jpghttp://s8.postimg.org/yc965l15h/sh3_..._36_46_887.jpg


Entrenched on both sides of the ship, repairers prepared to fix parts of the destroyer.
To the ship was transferred new repair-team... sweat and blood, 11 hours later (all night) - with divers help, cranes and winches, in the morning we finished our repair task.

http://s2.postimg.org/une5cas8p/sh3_..._43_30_500.jpghttp://s24.postimg.org/gsosz8l6t/sh3..._43_47_866.jpghttp://s15.postimg.org/k1t9mfh57/sh3..._44_11_032.jpghttp://s12.postimg.org/am1wmrqel/sh3..._44_22_865.jpghttp://s22.postimg.org/h303aocxd/sh3..._44_44_911.jpghttp://s1.postimg.org/nefqj3pdr/sh3_..._45_56_135.jpghttp://s11.postimg.org/nqy2jhb6r/sh3..._46_04_733.jpghttp://s11.postimg.org/y4zcw3cv7/sh3..._46_47_600.jpg

After all this, crews of all ships drank a little schnapps, was given the command to test all the systems and engines started.

20 SEPTEMBER 1939

AN82

06:51
Destroyer continue patrol, course - N, weather - exellent.

AN56

19:22
Changing course - SE, weather - overcast
19:24
Radio intercept.
::: Immediately return to Wilhelmshaven, submarines: U-34, U-31, U-57, U-45., and destroyer "Grim" for the receipt of new orders and redevelopment activities.
According to leave the areas of patrol and return to port. / From : BDU


19:28
We have change our course to base.

22 SEPTEMBER 1939
00:13
Docked at Wilhelmshaven. Patrol is over.

CozzaAu 09-02-15 11:48 PM

getting my first hit using manual data input and no weapons officer.

such a thrill. getting the speed, working out its track then setting the torpedo's dials to all that and then setting a path for me to get a 90 degree shot on it at 500 meters distance, i don't know a good distance. i head between 400m to 1 kilometers, But who cares, I hit just behind the C2 smoke stack and it was dead in the water. so easy to maneuver the boat and get a second shot to finish it.
get the type 1 torpedo ready, the c2 has no movement, so screw it if I make bubbles, his not going anywhere. Fire!

Must of been a dud, didn't explode. fire the second type 1. Hit, pretty much in the same place my 1st torpedo hit.

All in all, that was about 30 minutes of excitement. I was so caught up i didnt even notice i was still on TC1 during the maneuver to get my second shot.

Karl-Heinz 09-03-15 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CozzaAu (Post 2341572)
getting my first hit using manual data input and no weapons officer.

such a thrill. getting the speed, working out its track then setting the torpedo's dials to all that and then setting a path for me to get a 90 degree shot on it at 500 meters distance, i don't know a good distance. i head between 400m to 1 kilometers, ....

All in all, that was about 30 minutes of excitement. I was so caught up i didnt even notice i was still on TC1 during the maneuver to get my second shot.

After my career is over, I am going to train up on manual torpedo firing. I had the same experience as far as TC when I was attacking a large convoy - played for a few hours at TC1 (until I was getting safely away)

30 SEP 1940 1225
AM19 B-dienst report: large enemy convoy in AM19 about 16km east of me heading E 7kts; continuing course W to intercept
1228 AM19 Submerged to 25m; picked up numerous contacts on hydrophones to west heading east (3) warships; (16) merchants; ordered battle stations **American ships in this convoy**
1331 Fired two bow torpedoes at C2 cargo range 750m; fired two bow torpedoes at C2 cargo range 1200m; first torpedo impacts and detonates on 750m C2; second torpedo either missed or was dud
1333 Both torpedoes impact and detonate C2 1200m; ship explodes and sinks - verified kill British C2 cargo ship 6545 GRT
1344 Fired bow torpedo at medium freighter range 1000m
1345 Torpedo impacts and detonates, splitting freighter in half - verified kill British medium freighter 4791 GRT
1352 Fired last bow torpedo at large tramp steamer 1700m
1354 Torpedo impacts and detonates on large tramp steamer; maneuvering away from convoy for now deep and silent depth 60m (three stern torpedoes left, including one external)
1358 ASDIC pinging!!; warship off to port moving closer!!
1401 warship moving away; continuing to slink off to west (opposite direction from convoy)
1402 ASDIC again; warship closing on me from port - all stop!!!
1404 warship moving away again; ahead slow
1407 warship closing; all stop
1409 warship moving away; ahead slow
1410 warship bearing off to my stern, moving fast - may have given up hunt
1414 nearest warship well off to stern moving fast and away...phew
1600 Secured from silent running; periscope depth after losing sound contacts; surfacing

Karl-Heinz 09-05-15 09:52 AM

***SECRET***

From: Vizeadmiral Karl Dönitz
To: Führer Adolf Hitler, Großadmiral Erich Raeder
Date: 07 NOV 1940
Subject: Loss of U-51 (Walter Frönlich, Kapitänleutnant)

Herren:

With great sorrow and regret, I must report to you that U-51 and all hands, including Knights Cross (with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds) holder Kapitänleutnant Walter Frönlich, is missing and presumed lost.

U-51's last transmission to BdU was a normal status report at 1631 on 31 OCT 1940 in the Atlantic between the Azores and Portugal. Shortly thereafter, B-dienst reported a large convoy in the vicinity of U-51, which we assume U-51 intercepted and attacked. A B-dienst intercept recorded at around 1900 31 OCT 1940 stated that two merchant ships in this convoy were reported sunk. We must believe that those two ships were sunk by U-51, as no other U-Boots were in the area. Later, another intercept indicated that the Royal Navy was highly confident they had sunk a U-Boot.

With your permission, we will notify the officers' and crew's next-of-kin, but for now, we recommend that this news be kept secret from the public and the Kriegsmarine due to the impact of losing the greatest U-Boot captain we have had in this campaign so far.

Including the two ships reported sunk in the B-dienst intercept, and two more reported by U-51 during this patrol prior to its loss, Frönlich was responsible for the sinking of approximately 288K tons of enemy shipping during 13 war patrols. This is a staggering measure of his success, as the next most successful captain, Otto Kretschmer, has sunk 194K tons. As you can see, this is a loss of monumental proportions to the Bootwaffe, the Kriegsmarine and to the Reich.

We will await your response as to notifying the families of the lost.

/s/ Dönitz

***SECRET***

UKönig 09-06-15 12:50 AM

The Kapitän and crew of U-802 raise a glass in honor of the loss of U-51.

Your black bordered picture on the wall of the Officer's club has been hung and we see that there is room still for a few more...

That said, U-802 has returned from patrol #10 with 74,000 tons from an SC convoy coming from Halifax. We expended all our ammo sinking mostly tankers, and, too bad about that troop ship that was consumed in a giant fireball, that's going to make someone very angry. Prior to the convoy we ran across, two fast tankers trying to make a dash across to Iceland were picked up as a sound contact. We moved to intercept and fired 4 bow torpedoes, two each. One of each pair failed somehow and we damaged both rather than sinking them outright. Swam past them both and fired tubes five and six, one each. Both hit. Still not sinking. I expected to see a fireball at this point but, nothing. Not carrying fuel this time I guess. Oh well, tankers out of action are tankers not carrying fuel. Loaded five and six, but swung around to use the now loaded forward tubes. One more each and we claim our first 20,000 tons. A day or so later, while charging the batteries, a J-class destroyer picks us up on his radar and moves in to have a look. Dive to periscope depth and raise the scope. Dropped a decoy to pull his attention and fired tube six. Lucky shot, but hit and sunk. One aft torp left.
Stumbled across the SC convoy a few days later and by this time its now July. Almost one month on patrol. Two pattern runners in tubes 1 and 4. Fired them both and scored lucky hits on both. One for the troop ship and one for a T3 tanker. Escorts seem to be mostly American and not used to it yet. I took total advantage of this and destroyed a good portion of the fleet. This was a massive convoy, 7 lines wide and 6 more deep, with a lot of valuable cargo. A few more runs like this and the battle of the Atlantic will be over...
Standing by for patrol #11.

Karl-Heinz 09-10-15 06:49 AM

I started a new campaign, again in August, 1939, and then went to get qualified on a IXB after a few patrols in the IIA. SH3C kindly alerted me prior to my first war patrol in the IXB that I had been assigned to training duty - LOL. So, I began a campaign in a IXB in August, 1940, from Lorient.

The IXB is a bus compared to the II or VII - but fun so far.

UKönig 09-12-15 08:53 PM

U 802 is in the middle of patrol #11. 54,000 tons put away so far and we are all out of deck gun ammunition. Still have a reasonable amount of AA shells but we are down to whatever is left in the tubes. 5 and 6 are loaded, 2 and 4 are loaded, and what sucks about it so far is that 4 and 6 have seekers. I haven't found any worthy targets to use them on. :/\\!!

I am continuing to patrol until I find something decent to fire them on. The hard part is, we've taken what can best be described as a 'generous' amount of damage. Our systems are in pretty good shape, but the hull has taken a pounding. I dare not take her too deeply any more, she doesn't like to be squeezed...

UKönig 09-13-15 01:23 PM

Patrol #11 is complete with 54,000 tons. I found a liberty class merchant trying to make a break for it. Bad weather and heavy fog makes the attack difficult. Got close (1.6km) on the surface and fired my fwd seeking torpedo. Hit, not sunk. Don't feel like chasing him down. Let him get away and returned to base with my tonnage score as it is.

Upgraded the boat to include "turm 3" and the quad cannon on the lower AA deck. And went for the snorkel as well, as I can see already I am going to be using it a lot.

Patrol #12 starts on Sept. 27th 1943, destination, AM52.
Our new AA suite has claimed 3 Sunderlands so far, and we sank a destroyer with our stern loaded seeker. The Tribal class out on patrol started heading away from us after I had fired it, so we surfaced to get picked up on radar. That didn't work as well so we fired a few AP shells at him, and that got his attention. We took some return fire, causing some minor damage and hull integrity loss, and he started running for us. We dove and turned back to him, nose to nose, so that our seeker would have a chance to catch up as it was now chasing the destroyer properly. The Tribal class slowed a little to pick us up in his sonar net, and as he was increasing speed to drop the charges, our seeker came up and nabbed him. Scratch one destroyer. Not happy about the hull damage, but, them's the breaks I guess.
About 2 days later, still not at AM52, we dove for bad weather and caught the sounds of a distant convoy. Am heading southwards now to intercept...
U-802, out.

Andrakis 09-14-15 07:45 AM

1 Attachment(s)
U-45 has had a few more successful patrols under her belt since last reported. While there were not many noteworthy sinkings, a convoy approach yielded a wonderful volley and line of explosions.

U-45 was patrolling a few areas outside of the entrance to the English channel, hoping for some sort of action. It had been a boring few days, with no ships or planes spotted. It was near dusk when the Kaleun gave the order to go to periscope depth for another of the periodic hydrophone listens.

Finally, success! A convoy no less! It was closing as well, what luck. U-45 waited to track the hydrophone contacts further, and began to adjust position. A quick peek from the periscope showed we had pulled into position on the starboard side of the convoy. There were quite a few large vessels as well as an enemy submarine (a prime target!) lining the rear row of the convoy. The boat was positioned facing the convoy so the torpedoes would strike as perpendicular to the hulls as possible. The weapons officer calculated firing solutions and the torpedoes were let loose. Two at a large merchant, one at a medium, and one at the S-class. We hoped that at least two of the ships would be successfully damaged. As the final fish left its tube, we swung the boat around and fired the rear torpedo, hoping for a hit in the chaos that would soon envelope the convoy. I pensively watched through the attack periscope, as if my will would guide the torpedoes to their targets. My watchful eye was soon rewarded as the large merchant, then enemy submarine, and finally, the medium merchant all took hits. The large merchant burst into flames, likely carrying oil or petrol to the UK. The S-class shuddered under the excessive force applied to its hull and began to slip beneath the waves. The most exciting hit, however, was the medium merchant, who was carrying ammunition or some sort of explosives, as she became a huge fireball and began to break apart.

(It was at this point I decided the cheater cam would make a great screenshot, so I went and nabbed one. You can see the large merchant burning brightly the furthest back, a small secondary explosion from where the medium merchant was, and the S-class in the foreground.)

U-45 then decided that it was time to leave. Crash dive orders were given, the boat ran silent, and slowly moved away as the escorts searched in vain. There's a certain security blanket feeling when you know the depth is 1000+ meters and the only thing limiting you is the strength of the hull. :)

Two more patrols and nothing quite so extraordinary. Lone ships were sunk with our deck guns or torpedoes, depending on the proximity to shore and weather.

UKönig 09-23-15 12:36 PM

U 802 had to be towed back to port...

We had suffered severe damage from patrol #12.
First to go was our brand new AA suite. A lucky DC hit from a destroyer caught us when we were only 20m down, and in one shot, crippled the quad mount and our wing AA guns. Grr...
Good thing I had the snorkel installed...
We sank 4 warships and 4 cargo ships (2 of them tankers) in the convoy we caught up with, including one corvette crewed by newbies. Our decoy confused them as they were going to make an attack run, and for some reason, they stopped dead. I used this interval to increase our range to 500m, and let him have a stern shot at 0 angle. Boom.
We managed to disengage from the convoy action and resume our patrol, but it seemed that from then on, every single encounter caused more damage to add up. By early October, we had completed our assigned patrol and since we had only a few torpedoes left, I decided to simply return to our base in Lorient. On the return trip, even more damage was taken. About 24 hours from base, with the battery running low I raised the snorkel to begin the charging process when a sneaky Sunderland spotted the mast. One good hit from him disabled both diesel engines, Grr...(again).
We got away on only 1 knot forward speed, (to save what little bit of battery power we had left) and had to wait for sunset before surfacing. We sent a distress call and were picked up by some friendly German minesweepers and were towed the rest of the way back to base, where we spent almost 8 weeks undergoing significant repairs to our battered boat.
Patrol #13 begins with me holding a serious grudge against coastal command...

Andrakis 09-23-15 02:17 PM

Eight weeks! Sounds like a vacation for your crew! :)

UKönig 09-23-15 03:11 PM

Pretty much.
Every crewman who did not have a trade that was required to assist in repairs would have the time off (in rotation of course), and all those with technical skills would be kept nearby for that purpose. Such is war.

KingOfNothing22 09-25-15 08:14 PM

U-105 Final Patrol
 
28/12/1940
20:31 - Departed Lorient at 19:17. Escorts have just begun return passage. Currently zig-zagging into open waters due to the threat from enemy submarines. Mean course 230°, current heading 169°, speed 10kn. Weather partially cloudy with light fog. Moderate northerly breeze. Sea 3.

29/12/1940
12:00 - BF5528 - No incidents to report. Heading 253°, speed 8kn. Weather unchanged.

30/12/1940
12:06 - BF4626 - No incidents. Heading 281°, speed 8kn. No change in weather.

31/12/1940
12:04 - BF4191 - Nothing to report. Heading 280°, speed 7kn. Still no change in weather.

19:48 - BF4147 - Received report of enemy vessel in BF44 heading NE. Moving to intercept.

01/01/1941
04:24 - No sign of vessel after lengthy search. Returning to original course. Heading 288°, speed 8kn.

02/01/1941
00:23 - BE6347 - Engaged and sunk coastal freighter with deck gun at around 500m for 1,869GRT. Lifeboat observed drifting NE. Continuing on course.

16:04 - BE3797 - Report received of large convoy in BE38 travelling NW, speed 8kn. Moving to intercept.

03/01/1941
03:50 - BE37 - Sighted and attacked convoy. Sank 1 ore carrier for 7,815GRT before submerging and attacking 2 L class AA destroyers sinking both for 1,690GRT each. Dived to evade third escort and was depth charged. Heavy damage sustained. Managed to carry out some repairs but further attacks and damage forced us to surface and surrender.

Patrol results:
U-105 scuttled with 48 men lost.
Remaining crew surrendered.
Ships sunk: 4
Total tonnage: 13,064

Career totals:
Ships sunk: 17
Total tonnage: 54282


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