Yeah, Jimbuna told us that any 'Unidentified' damage. (ie not to the diesels or the control room) goes to the radio room.
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Btw, made it saftely to Lorient under the cover of heavy storm - had one close call with a DD but crash dived to avoid. Patrol 10 has started off more successful!:arrgh!: |
U-34 Sept. 4th 1939 22:34 - patrol 1 - inside Scapa Flow
To pass Scapa on the way to the assigned patrol area without even trying.....difficult! Inside Scapa in the afternoon - lousy weather... Switched between submerged to detect eventual ASW vessels and fast sprints on the surface to get properly into the bay. Sunk a V&W on the way in - approx. 15:15. Lay still to let him pass ahead of us. Needed two torps, though - the first one didn't work on impact, the other one, a T1 on magnetic, worked. Then, 15 minutes later we were bounced by another V&W on the surface. Before we could get under the hull was riddled in its whole length. While the repair crews were working frenetically this stupid V&W lines up nicely in front of our rear tube. A T1 on magnetic did the trick. These seem to work OK for us at short distances in calm seas. At the same time another signal was picked up by our sonar guy. Another destroyer approaching us straight ahead - A J&K. We see him 6-700 meters away. At minimum distance he gets a T1 at magnetic at a very shallow angle - almost a miss. Two destroyers nicely lined up behind each other: We set a North-Easterly course and suddenly the weather cleared. What do we see! Three Tribals nicely lined up at anchor. Down again! The Tribals are now history but we needed 6 torps to finish them off. What to do now? It is dark, we are proceeding decks awash at minimum speed and ahead of us is another two V&W's at anchor.....We only have 4 torps left, two ea. fore and aft.....Any suggestions? Should we clear out? Is there anything of value in the inner harbour except two tankers.....Both flak guns are destroyed....aft torpedo officer's den is unavailable which means longer loading times for the rear tube. Who said anything about temptation..?....sneaking in....22:59 |
Proceed back to base for repair....the welfare of your boat and crew are priority, especially over a couple of escorts.
You may come across something bigger to expend your remaining eels on during your return trip. |
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U-34 Sept. 5th. 1939 01:15Thank you for your concern....:up:.....It seems there is a troop transport, a modern and a small tanker in there, too..... |
I've just returned from the toughest patrol of my current carreer. I've been shot at, strafed, bombed, depthcharged an rammed. I even hit the bottom.
We left La Spezia, and sailed into a storm when we passed western tip of Sicily. We were unaware that we are on the collision course with small enemy convoy, until one of the escorts started to fire. We quickly dived and managed to get away. Not without damage. Once we escaped, we followed the convoy. Soon the rain stoped and we could see two big liners, escorted by two destroyers. One of the ships was 44,000t RMS Aquitania. :arrgh!: When we got into position to attack, the convoy changed course, and I saw the huge bow of Aquitania going at us. There was not enough time to evade, and we got rammed. As she was getting away, we managed to fire a full salvo into her stern, but no torpedo hit. In all that confusion we were detected, and barely got away alive, but with considerable damage. Later we could see both liners burning and sinking. The Luftwaffe. We continue with the patrol and few days later found two unescorted merchants. We got one, the other one was sunk by Luftwaffe. Some days later, we stalked a small convoy. It turned out to be Italian and we surfaced to say hello. Then came the RAF. We couldn't desert our allies, so we joined the fight .The planes didn't bother with us, and concentrated their fire on merchants. After a while two planes were down (one credited to us), and third got away with plumes of smoke trailing it. Despite our effort, both merchants were sunk. During the whole patrol, we were under constant air attacks, day and night. Most of the time we were submerged, but as soon we got up for some fresh air, the planes would come and bomb us. After one such attack I decided we had enough. I plotted my course back home, going near the African coast, hoping to minimize the danger. Then, during one night, we were surprised by a plane, and we were hit hard. The boat was taking on water, and sinking fast, out of control. Fortunately, we were not in deep waters, and we slammed into the bottom. Otherwise, that would have been the end of us. With damage repaired, we were crawling home, tail tucked between our legs. We were between Sicily and African coast when the SO reported a contact. A small convoy. It was night when we approached it, but her silhouette was clearly outlined against the horizon: RMS Mauretania, Aquitania's sister ship, followed by a smaller liner and escorted by two destroyers. I opted for a long range shot, to give my cripled boat more chance for escpe. We fired 3 torpedoes at the Mauretania, and one at other ship, from 4,5km. Soon we heard three explosions and the sounds of bulkheads collapsing. :woot: The fourth torpedo didn't find its target, but neither did the escorts. We escaped undetected, and continued our voyage home, during which we sank another ship, a small coastal freigter. During the 13 days of the patrol, we sank 3 ships for 52,000t and downed one Hudson plane. Hull integrity 37% |
Currently heading into the Black Sea for some fun, sunk 6 ships with my deck gun, among them where 3 Black Swans :arrgh!: meaning that im out of deck gun ammo so I have to either use the AA guns or use torpedos
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Willie Werner's first kill
Well after almost a week of waiting in the area for war to commence against the Brits we just had our first kill in GWX3G about an hour ago.
After adding more shipping co ordinates for future patrols it seems AN14 is a hive of activity,with merchants passing regularly up and down in this area. Anyway,at 07:09 on 3rd Sept we picked up a distant sound contact bearing 160,passing behind us somewhere.We headed out in the direction of the sound and set up for a submerged attack at 1000m.Weather was very calm,with only a medium fog.After getting in position our prey was bang on time and passed our crosshairs at 08:25.The vessel was a measly Small Freighter chugging along at just 4kts.I aimed for his bow,and what followed was a textbook shot,slamming into his bow forcing him into a steep 20-30deg tilt into the sea,yet he managed to remain afloat and limped along at 2kts.This poor bugger needed a final shot,and we decided to track parallel to him at a range between 600-700m.I decided to aim for a spot just behind our 1st impact area,to increase the already major flooding.We slowly increased speed to 4kts and took careful aim,and when he came into our 280 I waited until his broadside started to turn towards us and fired when almost all of his side faced us.I delivered his inevitable death with another textbook shot,and he instantly exploded and went to the bottom bow first in under 2 min. Quite a costly engagement for such a small ship,at only 2.229 tonnes.Suffice to say,we are in a IIA with only an AA gun in place of the deck gun,in which case I would have ordered the DG to finish him off :nope: We returned to our previous spot roughly in the centre of all the recent activity,and currently await our next meal. All in all,not a bad night,giving us more vital experience in GWX3 with 2 perfect shots,even though they were at close range (my longest shot in training so far is 4000m),our spirits are high nonetheless. :salute: |
Four torp spread fired; four ships sunk!
I approached a convoy yesterday which I felt sure was more tightly packed than anything I've seen before. It was so dense that there seemed to be little point in aiming for specific ships. I figured I just had to aim at the middle of the convoy and fire, and I'd be bound to hit something. I used my map plot of the convoy's course to determine the AOB and approximate range to the centre of the convoy (I already knew their speed). I then used my scope to measure the angle between the front of the convoy and the back of it. From my position (2.5km from the centre) the convoy was 25 degrees "wide". I set a four-torp spread with a spread angle of 15 degrees, fired at the middle of the convoy, and started to dive. The torps were all TIII's.
Four direct hits, hehe! :smug: I had to wait for the ships to sink and appear in my log book before I knew what I'd actually sunk. :rotfl: There's been plenty of times when I managed to sink four ships with four torps fired individually, but four from a single salvo is a first for me! :|\\ |
LOL
I wish there are more convoys like this... |
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U-34 Nov. 23 rd 1939 11:23 - Patrol 2 http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...meFreshAir.jpgLeft Wilhelmshafen at the 15th with assigned patrol area outside Firth of Forth/Rosyth. A very easy patrol so far except a surface encounter with an ASW trawler. Mostly small merchants, though. Most of them have been sunk with the DG. Have experienced some duds. Proceeded North along the East coast - is now getting some fresh air between The Orkneys and Shetlands. http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...rol2/SoFar.jpgOnly 3 aft torpedoes left.....100 % HI.....all DG ammo used..... U-34 Nov. 24th 1939 10:00 - Patrol 2 http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...astTorpedo.jpgGave this large merchant our last torpedo - a T1 on magnetic. Worked admirably but it refuses to sink, heading for Aberdeen with a steady 4 knots. We have followed it since last evening - hate to let it go..... http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...wnByTheBow.jpg10:16 |
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U-34 Dec. 8th. 1939 08:33 - mid-Channel - patrol 3
Departed Wilhelmshafen Dec. 5th 1939 16:56 for grid BF17. Decided to pass through the Channel. After having passed the Narrows sunk a French tramp steamer with DG. Later same night a French large merchant. Used a TI on magnetic and a TII on impact. Both worked. As it steamed on we surfaced and finished it with DG...... http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...geVictim-1.jpg Continued on westerly course. 08:20 received report on enemy Task Force just West of us on a ENE course. Turned North to intercept. Soon could be observed 3 Southamptons with escorts. Went down.... http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...sOnPortBow.jpg The sonar signals indicate a stronger signal behind the Southamptons. Could it be a capital ship...? http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...uthamptons.jpg http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...uthamptons.jpg So, should we stay low or go for it. 75 meters below the keel.....almost full complement of torps.... 15 minutes later.... The Southamptons got away! They were going too fast and weaving too much. A TI was launched but we were not able to register either hit or miss as we got busy with the escorts. We went flank submerged to get nearer the Southamptons so we were bound to be discovered...... .....a calculated risk.......:hmmm:..... .....for the escorts.......:woot:.... http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...ubleCenter.jpg |
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