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Patrol 21
U-123, 2nd Flotilla Left at: April 25, 1941, 20:16 From: Lorient Mission Orders: Patrol grid ET13 All quiet during our journey to the patrolgrid. We spotted 2 small convoys but both were ships from neutral countries only. A tempting sight, we kept our torpedoes inside however. After lingering around our patrol area for a few days the officer on watchduty spotted a merchant. We plotted an intercept and went down to periscope depth. It was a fat one, aimed 4 torpedoes at her, 3 hit almost evenly spread out. She went down quickly. 4.5.41. 1523 Ceramic-type Ocean Liner, 14595 tons Continued the patrol and spotted another lonely merchant. Went down with 2 torpodoes. 5.5.41. 0331 Tramp Steamer, 1964 tons Spotted a small convoy and decided to hit what I can. Fired all my remaining torpedoes and sank the following. Some smaller merchants were left and 1 or 2 escorts but I managed to get away before they closed. 10.5.41. 0610 ASW Trawler, 1100 tons 0618 Medium Cargo, 4958 tons 0635 Large Merchant, 10417 tons 0701 Small Tanker, 2078 tons I was out of torpedoes and decided to rendezvous with our supplyship in the South-Atlantic, the Python. 16.5.41. 0756 Patrol results Crew losses: 0 Ships sunk: 6 Aircraft destroyed: 0 Patrol tonnage: 35112 tons Patrol 22 U-123, 2nd Flotilla Left at: June 5, 1941, 07:47 From: Python Left python and set a course north. After the unsuccesfull patrol of the West-African coast the decision was made to recon and if possible raid St. Helena. The approach went smoothly, hydrophones picked up two patrolling craft but these were easily evaded by running silent. Once inside the harbor I fired all tubes and dived to 150m (only the innermost of St. Helena's harbor is shallow. The rest is 1000+ m. Perfect for an attack. Will advise BdU to inspect this harbor more often). Reloaded and fired at the remaining vessels. Results were not bad: 7.6.41. 1628 Grid FU 28 Ship sunk! Fiji class, 10725 tons 1631 Grid FU 28 Ship sunk! Southampton class, 10725 tons 1640 Grid FU 28 Ship sunk! ASW Trawler, 1100 tons 1645 Grid FU 28 Ship sunk! ASW Trawler, 1100 tons 1645 Grid FU 28 Ship sunk! Tramp Steamer, 1992 tons 1738 Grid FU 28 Ship sunk! Small Tanker, 2053 tons Upon exiting the harbor I struck a mine and had heavy flooding. Integrity was not damaged much (obviously, look @ pic :) ) but we lost some key equipment. We went down like a brick from 20m to 243m before flooding was under control and we leveled out. Will buy the repair crew an extra round for saving the boat and everyone on it. Pic taken at deepest point : http://i52.tinypic.com/2v0erzn.jpg |
@BigK
243 m is cutting it pretty close!:) Did you have to blow the ballast? |
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U39 IX(A). Patrol 7.
Departed Lorient 11.feb.41, for JA38.
26.feb.41 to 29.feb41 AJ38 On station. 7.mar.41 to 8.mar.41 BC43, BC27, BC24, BC25, BC22, AJ89, AJ97 Convoy battle. Convoy on course 041, making 7 knots. 6 approaches (3 of which failed). 3 ships sunk for 23.773 GRT. One aircraft alarm in BF54. Docked at Lorient on 25.mar.41, and awaited the damaged U103 until 17.apr.41. Fine dining is in order this time out. Congrats to U65 for her daring penetration of The Irish Sea. U552 on her successes in spite of extremely difficult and dangerouse times, and conditions. U336 on sinking HMS Nelson. U39's history to date: 7 war patrols. 18 ships sunk for 97.431 GRT. Note: Had a nice long and detailed report, which got lost by the server. Thus the shortened version above. |
Pat2,Rpt1, From R.Hessler U-65 (IXB)
21/10/41 - 3am
Depart :Lorient, france Orders: Patrol Grid ref: AM53 21/10-3:35am O.O.W (officer of watch) reports sighting of VIIB class u-boat at long range. Unsure at present whether these are any of those who are known to us. 22/10 4:45am (BF21) Radio message recieved: INTEL reports enemy task force in grid AM53! U-65's aprox position is 90km NW of longships light, UK in grid BF21 - unable to action message - O.O.W issues instructions to continue with current course/speed and to dive in two hours for hydro-check. 22/10 6:00am (AM97) contact report recieved via map only - merchant some 25km to our NE. Spd x4 (ahead full) ordered and pursuit commenced. 22/10 7:15am (AM97) Distant contact identified as fishing trawler! U-65 returns to set course. 22/10: 9:00am WARSHIP SPOTTED! - Distant sighting confirmed to be "Motor torpedo boat" dive to P/D Other comments; We hear both u-39 and our classmate in U-103 are safely moored in Lorient. However U-103 is badly damaged and hefty repairs are needed. U-552 continues to hunt convoy's and finally u-123 is aparently badly damaged after a harbour raid and is crawling for her life back to port - hope they make it. :-? All on U-65 expresses thier thanks in being made welcome to the party, and the continued support shown from other Kaluens! :salute: |
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U-103 IXB
Patrol No10
FInally U-39 returned to Lorient. I was starting to worry that something bad had happened. U-552 has also retuned home safely. U-65 is out at her first war patrol. After a daring raid in the South Atlantic U-123 is in need of assistance After the neccesary repairs were done U-103 was ready to set sail. Orders were to patrol grid DH26 23 June 1941 07:24 hours. U-103 left Lorient. Kaleun Snestorm was on the conning tower of U-39 and waved us goodbye. I think I heard him shouting "Sink them all" 27 June 1941 Grid CG27 03:55 hours Medium merchant 01 sunk by 28 105mm rounds. I can't stop the deck gun but it is very risky, 3 July 1941 Grid DH58 16:24 hours. While on the surface , we saw an American Great lakes freighter bearing 349 doing 9 kts at long range. 10 July 1941 Grid EK74 08:39 hours Heading south 11 July 1941 Grid ET16 07:18 hours. Hydrophone and visual contact with small convoy after BdU message. 4 merchants + 1 escort calm seas 07:20 hours 4 bow torpedoes fired : 2 at an ore carrier 2 at a large merchant Dowm scope 07:24 hours 3 explosions heard Up scope : The ore carrier is on fire listing heavily but the large merchant seems un harmed. 08:57 hours Sinking noises. Up scope Nothing seen. Later the BdU informed us of the sinking of an enemy ore carrier 19 July 1941 Grid EJ39 08:07 hours Dead calm seas , reloading of external torpedeos 0m/s winds 10 August 1941 Grid BE17 08:20 hours Medium merchant 01 sighted. Dived for submerged torpedo attack 08:32 hours Ship sunk by 2 stern torpedoes 16:45 hours Tanker 16 spotted probably unarmed. Moving in for deck gun attack 16:51 hours Tanker was sunk by 34 105mm rounds Grid BE39 23:38 hours Tramp steamer spotted. Dived for submerged torpedo attack 23:44 hours Ship sunk by 1 bow torpedo 13 August 1941 Grid BF17 20:33 hours Hydrophone contact with enemy convoy. Bad weather helped us to penetrate the destroyer screen and attack from within the convoy 21:18 hours Passenger/cargo sunk by 1 stern torpedo 21:20 hours Medium merchant 02 sunk by 2 bow torpedoes 21:21 hours PING ... PING .... some escort was looking for us and he was close. No visual contact with the escort. 21:23 hours Converted whale factory ship hit by 2 bow torpedoes 21:26 hours PING.... PING.... wasserbomben. U-103 was rocked heavily and took some damage but now we were used to such conditions 22:05 hours U-103 was at 125m running silent and away. Distant pinging and DCs exploding. 14 August 1941 Grid BF17 02:27 hours. Still submerged hydrophone picked up a merchant closing. Moved to PD. 03:32 hours Up scope no visual contact but clear sounds on the hydrophone 2 bow torpedoes fired 03:33 hours 2 explosions and a star shell seen 03:34 hours 2 bow tubes fired but either missed or were duds 03:45 hours visual contact medium merchant 06 dead in the water bearing 005 range 350m Tube 1 reloaded and fired. Ship sunk in a ball of fire. 16 August 1941 00:41 hours In heavy rain and darkness U-103 docked at Lorient 55 days at sea 8 ships sunk 44365 tons No casualties 88% hull integrity |
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A real shame this issue is so prevalent... :damn: |
U-552, patrol 5, report 1
Leutnant. z.s. Alfons Dietzmann
U-552, VIIC 11. Flotille, Bergen Orders: Patrol CG11 1.6.1943 1724 AN24 cloudy, 8 – 9 km, 6 m/s. Leaving Bergen. The morale of the crewmen seems to be a bit shaky. Bad news from every front and now even in the U-boat front. Rumours say that tens of boats were lost last month. There are new boats and promising crews and commanders coming to replace them, like Hessler's U-65, but it doesn't look too good right now. Thankfully U-39 has returned safely and U-103 wreaked havoc on a convoy and U-123 in a harbor raid. U-123 almost got destroyed by a mine, but they managed to repair the boat, and in a depth of 245 meters! Now those guys should send the steel workers who built that type IXB a bottle of champagne as a thank you for excellent work! BdU’s new orders tell us that we should fight aircraft on the surface if we would lose a contact with a convoy by submerging, or if there is any doubt we can’t dive to 80 meters before the airplanes are on us. He promises four-barrelled Flak guns, homing torpedoes and a new type of radar are becoming available soon. But we don’t have any of these now and our patrolling grid and the route to it is covered by airplanes and destroyer's that will know where we are, before we have any idea of their presence. 3.6.1943 0913 AF78 clear, 15 – 16 km, 15 m/s. Two one-engined airplanes sighted coming straight at us, bearing 160, range 5 – 6 km. Shooting with all guns from long range. Crash dive and hard turn towards the enemy. At 0916 hours airplane engines heard clearly inside the boat, then two explosions. One farther away, one close enough to shake the boat. No damage, but we did have slight trouble getting the boat to respond to controls. 2225 AF78 cloudy, 8 – 9 km, 15 m/s. Two small freighters sighted. Course 70, speed 5 knots. Our radar worked so badly, that in the end the course was estimated by sighting bearings. Submerged in perfect position. Impact pistols used because of the rough seas. Depth 3 meters. A 2000 BRT steamer sunk by 2347 with a TIII G7e and a 2000 BRT freighter sunk by 2353 with a TIII G7e. 10 torpedoes left. We don't carry external torpedoes anymore, because BdU thinks the external carriages have leaked during depth charge explosions, causing uncontrollable flooding. http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7312/sh3a.png 4.6.1943 0507 AF78 clear, 15 – 16 km, 7 m/s. Metox warning. Dived, nothing heard. Continuing towards our grid. Dietzmann |
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U39 IX(A). Patrol 8. Part 1.
20.maj.41
BF61 1825: Underway from Lorient, for FF58 (SE of Freetown). Sunrise 0440. Sunset 1940. Calm & Clear. 23.maj.41 BF81 (N of Spain's NW corner). 1200: Save & Exit. Cleared Biscay's shallows, and a reasonable distance farther, surfaced at Standard by night, and submerged at 2 knots by day. With only 5 hours of darkness per night, the danger area was cleared in only 2 nights, after which speed was dropped to One Third Ahead (6 - 7 knots) both day and night. No encounters to date. |
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U-505 IXC continue from U-103 IXB
20 August 1941
vonHarris was called to the flottila HQ. He was given command of the brand new U-505 IXC U boot. His IWO took over U-103 with a new crew since vonHarris requested the whole crew to be trnasfered to U-505 On his new Uboot vonHarris ordered the 3.7cm flak to be removed as it was useless. An Alberich sonar coating was installed to hide U-505 from the enemy's ASDIC Patrol 11 15 September 1941 23;28 hours U-505 left Lorient for grid DT54 23 September 1941 Grid DH62 12:12 hours Coastal freighter seen 12:22 hours Ship sunk by 27 105mm rounds 28 September 1941 Grid DT54 00:42 hours Reached patrol grid 01 October 1941 Grid DT89 U-505 headed south for Kapverden and Freetown 05 October 1941 Grid ET28 16:59 hours Sound contact with enemy convoy while submerged 17:24 hours Enemy pinging but no attack. The coating might be working 17:27 hours 2 bow torpedo fired. More pinging. The escorts are closing in/ 17:28 hours Explosion from torpedo heard. It must have hit something before its target. Black swan frigate sunk. DC attacks 18:05 hours Down at 127m running silent 18:49 hours Depth 160 m running silent. Escaped 22:00 hours. Surfaced , 0m/s winds, moving in external torpedoes 08 October 1941 Grid ET37 15:26 hours Moving in to intercept enemy convoy after BdU message 16:16 hours Sound contact made 17:24 hours 2 bow + 2 stern torpedoes fired 17:25 hours Large cargo hit twice medium merchant 06 hit twice 17:26 hours 1 bow torpedo fired 17:27 hours 1 bow torpedo fired on the large cargo 17:28 hours Large cargo hit for third time 18:08 hours Depth 73m running silent no pinging 18:20 hours Sinking sounds Medium merchant 06 sunk 21:40 hours Surfaced 7m/s winds no rain 22:11 hours Aircraft attacked spotted at medium range, Enganged with 20mm flak gun 22:14 hours Shot down PBY Catalina with RAF markings. 12 October 1941 Grid ET25 21:37 hours Lone destroyer spotted Dived at PD preparing a stern shot attack 21:46 hours 1 stern torpedo fired 21:48 hours A&B class destroyer sunk 14 October 1941 Grid ET29 01:37 hours Lone destroyer spotted Dived at PD preparing a stern shot attack 01:38 hours 2 stern shots fired 01:40 hours 1 explosion seen and a star shell was fired 01:44 hours L class AA destroyer sunk. vonHarris decided to leave the area for the safety of U-505 01 November 1941 Grid CG82 03:32 hours Medum merchant 02 spotted. Preparing for night surface attack 03:33 hours 2 bow torpedoes fired 03:35 hours 2 hits , ship is left DIW 03:37 hours 1 bow torpedo fired 03:38 hours Ship sunk. 02 November 1941 Grid DJ21 13;38 hours Aircraft spotted , crash dived 03 November 1941 Grid CG89 18:08 hours Moving to intercept convoy 18:33 hours Sound contact gained 19:40 hours 2 bow torpedoes fired 19:41 hours Turbine tanker hit twice 1 stern + 1 bow torpedoes fired 19:42 hours 1 bow torpedo fired Sinking sounds : Turbine tanker and medium merchant 02 sunk 22:29 hours Surfaced and spotted two ships falling back, No sign of the rest of the convoy 22:54 hours Start shelling medium merchant 06 22:57 hours Ship sunk by 28 105mm rounds 23:12 hours Start shellinr medium merchant 01 23:15 hours Ship sunk by 14 105mm rounds 04 November 1941 Grid CG82 16:37 hours Medium merchant 02 sunk by 3 bow torpedoes and 18 105mm rounds. Took a hit from a 3in shell. Major damages in the forward deck , gun crew killed. U-505 was unable to dive. This is the end of deck gun attacks, 17:00 hours Fought off PBY Catalina 07 November 1941 01:07 hours. U-505 returned to Lorient. No pennants this time as we had 3 deaths. The Alberich sonar coating was helpful. It should be installed on all Ubooten if possible. U-39 and U-552 are out there plunging torpedoes in enemy ships. No further news of U-65 yet 11 ships sunk 47626 tons 1 aircraft shot down 3 dead men |
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