Quote:
Really glad you're enjoying it. Have fun and good hunting! :arrgh!: |
Quote:
Quote:
|
U-65 IXB
Patrol No6
30 April 1940 U-65 left Wilhelmshaven to patrol gird AL21 It was heard that Kaleun Snestorm had serious troubles with those magnetic pistols , causing him the loss of tonnage during a convoy attack. At least he came home in one piece. 4 May 1940 Grid AN14 21:12 hours A harbour tugboat was sunk by 6 105mm rounds. The gun crew really loved the 105mm gun. They prefer it over the 88mm. 15 May 1940 Grid AK37 After 11 days of boredom a convoy was spotted. Course and speed were estimated by hydrophone readings and it looked like they were coming right in our path. 4 bow tubes were fired , visually aimed 3 torpedoes aimed at a Nelson class BB and one at a tanker All four torpedoes exploded on their targets Meanwhile U-65 had turned her stern at the convoy and both aft tubes were fired at the same targets 12:09 hours Tanker 03 sunk by 1 bow + 1 stern torpedo ship exploded 12:09 hours Nelson class BB - HMS Rodney - sunk by 3 bow and 1 stern torpedo U-65 came under DC attack which caused medium flooding but the LI and his crew did their magic and we survived. After patroling grid BB99 with no contacts , the LI noticed that our fuel was way below the anticipated level. We were losing fuel. It looked like that the DCs during the convoy attack had caused serious damage. The LI calculated our fuel and it was obvious that we couldn't make it home. I gave the order to radio BdU and the answer was to reach SS Belchen for repairs and refuel. 29 May 1940 Grid BC21 08:58 hours On the way to SS Belchen we found an enemy armed merchant - an infamous Q-ship. A bow G7a was enough to blow her out of the water 2 June 1940 08:08 hours U-65 found the SS Belchen in the icy waters of the North west Atlantic. Time to repair the fuel tank : 4 days 34 days at sea 4 ships sunk 47519 tons 90,75% hull integrity |
U-552, Patrol 1 ended
Leutnant z.s. Alfons Dietzmann
U-552, VIIC 11. Flotille, Bergen 5.12.1942 Back at port after my first mission as commander of U-552. During the month we patrolled AE69 not once did we even see an enemy ship. The morale of the crew is miserable. The PQ convoys must now be using another route. In port I heard that U-39 had a bad patrol too. They did see lots of action, but the torpedoes had depth keeping and impact pistol trouble. At least they sunk a ship. But other boats have had successful patrols: the best one must be U-65's sinking of HMS Rodney. Patrol observations. 1. AE69 on the 18th of November, 14:20 hours two Metox warnings. Dive to PD, no hydrophone contacts. My assumption is that the two radar beams must have come from a pair of radar equipped enemy planes. Nothing was seen though, no DC's or bombs heard. Another explanation could be that our Metox was just malfunctioning. 2. AE 69 on the 22nd of November, 23:55 hours a very strange sight. A convoy under Finnish flags. A patrol boat, a barge, a tanker and two merchants. The Finns are not at war with the United States, but Britain has declared war against them, so it was very surprising seeing them near the Faroe islands in British controlled area. Either the ships were trying to sneak across the Northern Atlantic to a country that is not at war with them or the English have decided to leave the Finns be - it is rumored that Churchill only declared war on them to please the Russians and altough the Royal Navy bombed the Finnish harbours at Petsamo and Kirkenes last year, there has not been any shooting between them since that incident. Dietzmann |
Oblt. z. s. Wolfgang Grimm
U-127, Type IXB Patrol 2: BE37, 1/19/1940 - 2/06/1940. Left Wilhelmshaven, clear skies and a hint of wind. 2 merchants were sunk in the North Sea on the 22nd. On the 23rd, another merchant was attacked. As we surfaced to finish her off, a destroyer arrived and fired a few shots. DD sunk with 1 torpedo. The 24th saw a great amount of activity. A lone merchant was sunk NW of Scapa Flow, early in the morning. At around midday, a convoy was sighted. Targets were picked: 3 larger merchants. Two hits, one torpedo failed to detonate. Escort attack was light. 62 depth charges dropped, with no damage. 2 merchants were sunk on the 25th. On the 26th, two convoys were encountered in the Sea of Hebrides. The first had two large merchants sunk. One sank immediately, with some of the stern visible above water. The second suffered engine failure, was abandoned by the convoy and finished off with the deck gun. The second convoy was warned of our presence and an escort was sent to the back to lie in wait for me. We were caught unaware, but sank the enemy with the deck gun, sustaining no damage. The spoiled approach meant waiting for the convoy to turn into a more favorable position. 4 merchants sunk. Remaining escorts quickly lost us. 2 more merchants sunk enroute to BE37. Another convoy was intercepted as we headed north again on the 31st. 1 merchant and a light cruiser sunk. At this point, we had no more torpedoes. 1 merchant sunk on the 2nd. A fourth convoy was intercepted on the 3rd in the North Hebrides. Collided with destroyer and depth charged 40 times. Very light structural damage. 2 more merchants sunk on the 3rd and 4th. No more deck gun shells. Pulled into Wilhelmshaven on the 6th. Aft torpedo tube doors were somewhat warped but were still functional. Total: 20 merchants, 3 warships (CL, DD, DE) sunk. 126,500 tons of shipping. |
Guys, how do you make these patrol reports?
As to me, I sank a second merchant ship in this bad storm and happily returned to base. Result - 2 sunk merchant ships for a total tonnage of 4800 tons, 5 spent torpedoes, a war badge for someone on the crew, 1000 renown points. :) This was my first patrol ever. |
Quote:
Quote:
As for writing patrol reports, I got the inspiration after reading the reports here in the thread and historical U-boat patrol reports in: http://www.uboatarchive.net/KTBList.htm I now have a paper notepad for quick notemaking beside my laptop, and my old laptop with a word processor open is waiting for a lull in the action. SH3 has times when you just wait for the convoy to get closer or the escorts get farther away and can’t really do anything but wait. At those times I tend to stay in TC x1 and write action reports about what has happened so far. I find this fun from a role playing perspective and I also think writing reports is starting to affect my situational awareness as well. I now spend a lot more time gathering information about the enemy and the situation, and more time thinking about how to make the attack safer and more successful. I think I get better at the game by taking the time to write a report about the patrol. |
Quote:
Can I ask something? I am on my second patrol - in fact I just started it. The weird thing is that: 1. I have to patrol the same grid (AN81). 2. The date is again Sep 1, 1939, although when I returned to base the date was Sep 9, 1939. 3. Great Britain is not an enemy. Yet, my statistics is there - 2 sunk ships, 600 points renown for a total of 1100 points, a medal. What is going on? How can I go back to Sep 9, 1939 - to normal time? |
U-65 IXB
Patrol No7
03 June 1940 After repairs were completed , U-65 was refeuled and rearmed ready for action. Following BdU instructions my IWO remained on the SS Belchen to meet with U-552 to be transfered to Bergen. My IIWO replaced him and we got another officer also. U-39 is still in port 20:10 hours U-65 left the company of the SS Belchen (The crew will miss the dinners on that ship) with orders to patrol AL22 08 June 1940 Grid AK27 Convoy attack in fine weather , calm seas no winds 4 bow tubes fired and U-65 started turning to bring the aft tubes in action 04:14 hours A large troop ship(24000grt) was hit by two bow torpedoes and sunk The whole convoy slowed down to 2Kts with the ships going into complete disarray going into every possible direction and the escorts didn't know what to do , a total mess U-65 dived to 100m and reloaded When we came to periscope depth the situation was the same All six tubes fired into the convoy again 06:09 hours Passenger/cargo sunk by 2 bow torpedoes (they were aimed at a fast passenger ship) 06:38 hours A tanker 06 was sunk by 1 stern shot after she was already hit by a bow torpedo in the first attack U-65 dived again at 100m and reloaded the 2 bow tubes Again we came at persiscope depth and fired both tubes each a tanker. Although both torpedoes exploded no other ship was sunk. U-65 dived at 150m and left the area undetected. This has never happened before. It was a very strange incident. 20 June 1940 Grid AN26 20:09 hours U-65 crash dived to avoid enemy aircraft 21 June 1940 Grid AN14 23:28 hours A coastal freighter was sunk by 1 bow torpedo. She was escorted by a motor torpedo boat 22 June 1940 Grid AN14 U-65 was still submerged when heavy screws were heard at bearing 165. U-65 turned her bow at the contact and three different warships were heard coming our way. Up scope: A Dido class CL an aux cruiser and an armed merchant cruiser with no escorts. Their speed was estimated to 15 kts All 4 bow tubes were readied and fired: 1 at the Dido 2 at the AMC and 1 at the aux cruiser. A lookout on the CL spotted the incoming torpedo and the cruisers started evasive actions. The Dido was hit aft but no damage was done as she continued on. The fishes aimed at the AMC either missed or were duds but the one that hit the aux cruiser left her dead in the water. By that time U-65 presented her stern to the aux cruiser and fired both aft torpedoes. 02:31 hours Auxiliary cruiser sunk by 1 bow + 2 stern torpedoes U-65 left undetected as the other two ships left the area 07:03 hours U-65 crash dived to avoid enemy ASW group of 4 DDs 24 June 1940 09:48 hours U-65 entered the port of Wilhelmshaven 22 days at sea 5 ships sunk 50574 tons No damages or casualties |
Good work, :up:
|
U-552, Patrol 2, the journey to the patrol grid
Leutnant z.s. Alfons Dietzmann
U-552, VIIC 11. Flotille, Bergen Orders: Patrol AM21 25.12.1942 Bergen 0211 Cloudy, 8-9 km, 7 m/s. Leaving Bergen under a watchful eye of a pair of BF109F's. The gramophone plays Christmas carols and I think that everybody's thoughts wander towards our families celebrating Christmas back home. We should really be concentrating on our mission. BdU's report warns that enemy air patrols cover all of our planned operation area now. Enemy warship patrols have been spotted more often east of Bergen. The report also mentions my old boat, U-65, which has returned to it's port safe and sound after a very successful patrol. 26.12.1942 Nordzee 1657 AF76 Cloudy, 8-9 km, 7 m/s. At 1609 a Metox warning. Dived and got a warship contact. At 1633 hours three destroyers and a light cruiser, probably of the Fiji class seen on periscope. Course estimated at 202 degrees, speed 13 knots. Too far to attack. KDB might have a malfunction, so we rely on GHG now. 28.12.1942 North of the Hebrides 1306 AM36 Cloudy, 8-9 km, 7 m/s. After a 15 hours chase at HF we arrive to an intercept point of a reported convoy, only to notice that the convoy has altered it's course and we can't find it. I was prepared for an attack in shallow waters, but I'm not going to start a search operation in shallow mined waters, that are covered with incessant air patrols and destroyer patrols. 29.12.1942 Nordmeer 1903 AM22 Clear, 8-9 km, 0 m/s. At 1528 a Metox warning. Nothing heard with the hydrophone and nothing seen with the observation periscope, so we surfaced again. At 1802 an airplane was sighted at a relative bearing of 199 degrees. Dived to periscope depth while observing the airplane with a periscope. Two heavy bombers sighted, may have been four-engined. I didn't order a crash dive, because I wanted to observe the enemy and they didn't look like they saw us or the periscope in the dark. The planes flew over to our approximate surface location, gathered some height and then dived towards the location. It was hard to see but I think they dropped a bomb or a depth charge. Nothing was heard exploding, though. The earlier radar warning might have been becoming from the planes. There seems to no airplane safe area between Iceland and Britain anymore. 30.12.1942 Nordmeer 0010 AM21 Clear, 8-9 km, 0 m/s. We have now arrived to our patrol grid. We are preparing for a little new year celebration, a nice meal, and a little shot of rum for everyone. The mood on the boat is good. I, however wonder to myself what the new year will be like for the U-boats of the Kriegsmarine. Dietzmann |
u-67 type IX-C part of operation drumbeat. at bc78 april 1942. target AC29 New York Coast. had really good weather with 0 wind until near Canadian coast. huge waves upto 10m high. submerged and doing 2kts at 50m.
|
U-336, a VIIB west of Ireland, July 1940.
Just saw a coastal freighter, escorted by an Armed Trawler. We had minor damages, and 1 torpedo left from an earlier disagreement with an Destroyer. Torpedo hit, but after 1 hour of playing Cat & Mouse with the Trawler, she was still afloat. The trawler got a few depth chargers too close for comfort, destroying the aft batteries. With a deep, annoyed sigh I ordered a Blow Ballast, and man the gun. 15 shots of the Good News towards the Trawler, 13 hit, she's going down! About 10 shots in return (Took er by suprise from the back) and lots of machine gun fire. An injury, some damage to the conning tower and a bit of leaking in the bow quarters. 2 shots of the Good news towards the Freighter. Time to head home and repair.....wait.....another coastal freighter... |
Quote:
(Your driving my favorite boat. She has a fan in me. Enjoy the ride.) Glad to see you have survived your own torpedo problems. A piece of (the real) U65's history (uboat.net): "13 Apr 1940 During the Norway invasion the brand-new U-65 attacked a group of British destroyers but his torpedoes failed and the destroyers attacked the boat causing some damages." I see you've taken some revenge. Well done, Hr Kaleunt! |
Quote:
|
U39 IX(A). Patrol 2.
Underway from Willy on 24.nov.39, bound for England's Southern Approaches.
Passed between Færøerne & The Shetlands without incident. 9.dec.39 BE35 0339: "Ship spotted!" Ship? Convoy! 0351: 3 G7Es are fired at 3 targets. 1 premature, and 2 impacts. Little Freighter sunk for 2.335 GRT. (Night surface attack). 0352: 1 G7A is fired for a hit, but no sinking. Convoy determined to be on a course of 359, making 6 knots. U39 goes to 100 meters, and remains undetected. 3 escorts are counted on hydrophone. BE32 0530: Surface. 0707: Submerge for predawn submerged attack. 0750: 3 G7Es fired at a T3 Tanker. Premature. Impact. "Miss" (Torpedo was seen to explode without effect). 0940: Surface. 1016: Dive for Destroyer. We remained undetected. 1029: Surface. 1230: 4 G7Es are fired at the T3 Tanker! Premature. Premature. Impact. "Miss" (Explosion was right behind #3's). New depth 100 meters. Follow in wake of convoy, and find no stragglers. 1816: 2 G7As are fired from the external stern tubes. Premature. "Miss", which was seen to explode on/or beside the target. With all torpedoes expended, U39 remains as shadower for the next 24 hours. Upon being relieved as shadower, U39 is ordered to BE61, where she is to act as weather boat for 48 hours. 27.dec.39 AN96 2025: A collision is narowly avoided with a friendly Destroyer. AN98 2230: Docked at Willy. Patrol results: 1 ship sunk for 2.335 GRT. U39's history to date: 2 war patrols completed. 2 ships sunk for 8.783 GRT. |
U-65 IXB the end
30 July 1940
Grid AN11 U-65 spotted an enemy task force consisting of HMS Nelson HMS Ark Royal 2 cruisers of the Southampton class and several DDs. During the initial approach a mistake in the engine room betrayed the position of the Uboot exactly at the point where torpedoes were to be launched. The DDs rushed to the position and U-65 came under heavy DC attack. The flooding was uncontrolable and the Uboot dived to 260m before imploding. All hands lost. New career U-103 IXB |
U-552, Patrol 2, patrolling
Leutnant z.s. Alfons Dietzmann
U-552, VIIC 11. Flotille, Bergen Orders: Patrol AM21 2.1.1943 1913 AM21 clear, 8-9 km, 0 m/s. To BdU: Boat status. The boat's pressure hull is badly damaged, most of the glass in our meters is shattered, but everything seems to be working. Twelve torpedoes stored internally. Two in external storage of which one is damaged and useless. I am continuing my mission. Patrol results. Today at 1900 hours a 500 BRT boat sunk by 88 mm and FlaK fire. Enemy sightings. 30.12.1942 0947 AM23 airplane, relative bearing 208. Dived. 1.1.1943 1733 AM21 Metox warning, watch crew reported airplane engine sounds and the hydrophone operator two warships on a southerly course. Dived. 2.1.1943 1005 AM21 airplane sighted and radar contact, relative bearing 17. Dived. 1635 AM21 Metox warning. Dived. A merchant heard on the hydrophone, nothing seen with the observation periscope. Surfaced, and was attacked almost immediately by a two-engined airplane, relative bearing 90, close range. Boat hit by gunfire and a bomb or a depth charge. Dived to A-40. Medium damage in almost every compartment and flooding. The boat was repaired by 1658. Situation assessment. Long chases after reported contacts are very difficult at the moment, because of the enemy's increased air activity. Crew worked efficiently in stopping the flooding, no panic occurred. However, the crewmen seem to be getting tired from the incessant airplane sightings. On a personal note as a former crew member of U-65 I want to send my condolences to the families of U-65. Dietzmann |
September 4, 1939 - 17:00 hrs
Sank a small coastal freighters a few hours ago. Miles away in our 6, destroyers are eagerly trying to find the responsible sub. Watch officer reports a ship bearing 300. After a bit of plotting we close in to find a Coal Tender. Don't want the fleet of destroyers behind the U-336 to know where it's going. We'll pass. September 6, 1939 - 0500 hrs. Just west of the Approaches. Message from BDU that a convoy with medium speed is headed....right for us at about 20km distance. Dove to 40m and awaited the convoy. Soundcontact! Contact..contact...contact..contact.. Atleast 6 hydrophone contacts, periscope depth confirms this, a large convoy, about 15-20 ships escorted by a cruiser and some destroyers. (And then came RL work.....I'm excited to wreak havoc on my first ever convoy!! Tips? ) |
Quote:
Keep your nose (or if need be, stern) pointed at the lead escort. Set up perpendicular to the convoy's course, when safely able to do so. Try to pick a fairly distant but valuable target, in the first row. Fire a 3 torpedo fan. Scope down (Don't stay for the show). Go deep at silent speed. Use 5 degree rudder to turn yourself toward a 45 degree escape from the convoy's track. (What the escorts do, may alter or delay this action.) Don't reload tubes until the enemy has been disengaged. |
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:42 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © 1995- 2024 Subsim®
"Subsim" is a registered trademark, all rights reserved.