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I too like running VII(A)s & IX(A)s in early war. The Med, eh? Was curiouse, and gave it a try once. Found it to be dull, with no place to go. I think you're going to get bored in there, but it's worth experiencing at least once. |
U159 IXC. Patrol 6. still.
25.maj.44
0600 Grid BE64 Been crawling toward Lorient since our last report 10.apr.44 (FS35). Enemy aircraft have kept our surface time lower than desired, and as a result the patrol has been overly long, and underly productive. Fuel fell below 25% long ago. Course is 090. Will turn northeastward upon entering the shallows of lower BF55. |
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First time I've heard anyone asking for more radio messages during a patrol... :hmmm: :O: |
my first war cruise
Lieutenant z. s. Yiannis
After 15 day at sea where crosscheck my crew my UB and my abilities i start my first real patrol Patrol No2 Type VIIB Home port Wilhelmshaven August 21 hours 19:25 Orders to patrol:Grid BF17 Weather: Clouds partial,Precipitations none,Fog light wind speed 4 meters per second direction 0 good hunting Play Grey Wolves 3.0 realism 85% |
Leutnant z.s.Yiannis
Patrol No 2 Day 11 at sea September 1 hours:19.16 Weather: Clouds Overcast,Precipitations none,Fog medium wind speed 15 meters per second direction 202 The war began.... I finished my patrol in Grid BF17 Now looking forward for juice ships Good hunting |
U93 (type VIIC) Zweite Flotilla, Lorient, Kapitänleutnant Kermit the Frog melde gehorsam.
26 patrols "full real" each one. (GWX+OLC+Manos Optics) Longest patrol - 46 days on U47 (type VIIB) Most successful patrol - 19th (15.09.'40-21.10.'40) 15 ships for 108929BRT, 10th (24.02.'40-07.02.'40) 4 ships for 97957BRT, HMS Glasgow, Revenge, and Hood sank. 12 Oct 1941 We're leaving Lorient. I used to do this by night, but the choice is not mine. Luckily we have our Bf-109 escort, but they cannot save us from British subs trying to hunt us down, as soon as we start our journey... So, we're running as fast as our little boat can, and going submerged right after leaving harbour. Ah... Another jurney. Now 25m under surface, when my boat is safe, I'm looking into my logbook. Last patrol was very tired for the crew. Hunting down a convoy in storm was hard, but convoy escort also has it's own troubles, and because of them I managed to find a blind spot in defence. I used this knowledge well. One pass, one torpedo, one ship. Old school. I was constantly repeating this trick, until I assumed, that there's no ship worth of torpedo, and there's still three of them left. I break the contact with the convoy remainings, and sail away to find adventure. I choose Gibraltar as my hunting area, but before I came there, and made a contact with a big convoy. In heavy storm, rain, with 500m visibility I went submerged to periscope depth, and send whale factory ship, and one empire type freighter to the bottom of the ocean. Because of very bad weather I didn't chase the convoy and decided to continue my trip to Gibraltar with the last torpedo on board. The sea was unbelievably calm, with gentle, warm wind. I let my crew to smoke... And then, we saw her. She wasn't a very big ship, but the way she was travelling. Easy, without zigzaging manoeuvres 8 kt, HDG 90. I went submerged to periscope depth and came close. I put my eel just before last mast, she fought well, but without a chance... [IMG]http://www.fotosik.org/images/30442702840286907249.jpg[/IMG] Times seems to become harder and harder. Through all the 41 year we're suffering heavy losses. First Kretschmer, Schepke, Prien than Endrass. We lost all the mighty Dönitz aces. Then we lost Bismarck. Patrols becomes more and more dangerous... I remember my first meeting with Brits radar. They almost sunk us! Usually, it's easy to know when you're discovered. Guns, lots of light, etc... But this time was different. I looked around and I saw her. This shiny new corvette running at full speed straight towards us in silence, 1~1,2 km from us. We barely managed to dive... I can't remember more terrifying adventure in my life. Next try, and again, he discovered us. Finely we assumed that his radar is able to detect us in range ca. 3km. My thoughts are broke by a cook. -"Sir? I've prepared a coffe while we were on surface. Would you like sir?"- I closed a book. We'll see... |
Patrol 5
-------------- Nov 10th, 1939 Attempting to raid Cherbourg at night, see how this goes... It's too early to die:damn: |
U159 IXC. Patrol 6 complete.
1.jun.44
BF61 - Lorient. Docked at 0500, after 5 months at sea. Since our last report, of 25.maj.44: 27.maj.44 - BE66 (SSW of Ireland, NNW of Spain) At 1116 sound reports a medium speed warship closing. U519 goes from 50 meters to periscope depth at Standard. At 1235 an accuistuc torpedo is fired from tube 3. River Class Destroyer Escort. Course 348, making 12 knots. Wrong! Miss. At 1822 (just prior to evening's surface time) a medium speed merchant is reported by sound. With her nose pointed toward the distant contact, U159 surfaces to replenish the oxygen supply, then returns to periscope depth. The weather is Calm & Clear, with a ½ moon. Perfect weather for a night submerged attack, with ample light. At 1920 three FAT torpedoes are fired normaly, in a fan of 3 degrees (tubes 1, 2, 4). C2 Cargo. Course 035, making 9½ knots. 1800 meters. At 1924 the target passed 000 R, and was assumed to be missed. As an accuistic torpedo left tube3, three impacts were heard, and the target immediately sunk for 6418 GRT. (Sorry BDU. I wasted an accuistic torpedo "for insurance purposes". 29.maj.44 At 1646 a medium speed warship is oicked up on sound. This is the first warship contact we've had this far south, at BF45's southern border. The weather changed to medium fog, with 15 m/s winds, and stayed that way for the duration of the patrol. U159 made nightly high speed runs across The Bay, and had no encounters with aircraft. Patrol results: 2 merchants sunk for 12.865 GRT. 1 1050 tonne destroyer sunk. Hull & Crew Integrity at 100%. Diesel reserves between 4% and 5%. 8 of 14 torpedoes expended. U159's history to date: 6 war patrols completed between 17.apr.42 and 1.jun.44. 12 merchants sunk for 109.354 GRT. 1 1050 tonne warship sunk. |
U-36 VIIB BACK IN ACTION
Patrol No4
01 January 1940 Someone in BdU seemed to hate us so this was our departure date. 22:59 hours U-36 slipped out Wilhelmshaven and set course for CF32 05 January 1940 Grid AN41 18:29 hours We came across an enemy scnooner , they seemed harmless and at first I decided to let them sail on since they didn't seem to have spotted us. Suddenly a man from the wactch crew shouted "Radio antenna" pointing his hand at the scnooner. ALARM, Deck gun crew on station. 3 88mm rounds took care of the problem. I don't know if they had reported our position. 06 January 1940 Grid AN14 06:48 hours Empirpe type freighter sunk in bad weather 3 bow torpedoes fired (1 dud) 10 January 1940 Grid AM52 07:53 hours Granville type freighter sunk with 1 bow torpedo 17 January 1940 Grid CF32 06:09 hours Small freighter sunk by 2 bow torpedoes (1 dud) 19 January 1940 Grid CG49 17:42 hours Small merchant sunk by 1 bow torpedo 21 January 1940 Grid CG86 10:20 hours Large merhant sunk by 52 88mm rounds in calm seas and 0m/s winds 22 January 1940 Grid CG95 13:48 hours Granville type freighter sunk by 24 88mm rounds Grid CG95 15:06 hours Large merhant sunk by 51 88mm rounds in calm seas and 0m/s winds 30 January 1940 Grid BE35 22:20 hours We intercepted an enemy convoy after a long chase. 4 bow TIs fired and all missed. No explosion heard. A total loss of torpedoes. No bow torpedoes left. Return passage. 03 February 1940 Grid AN41 20:45 hours Coastal tanker sunk by 8 88mm rounds. 05 February 1940 21:57 hours U-37 docked safely at Wilhelmshaven 36 days at sea 9 ships sunk 43316 tons No damages or deaths. |
U-552, Patrol 3 continues
(sorry guys this report is going to be a long one... don't bother reading if you're in a hurry! And good to see some action packed reports here in the thread :salute:)
Leutnant z.s. Helmut Unger U-552, VIIC 11. Flotille, Bergen 4.9.1942 18:09. Länge 10, 23' Ost, Breite 72, 14' Nord. Cloudy, heavy rain, visibility 700 – 1100 meters. First attempt to attack the convoy we were chasing had to be aborted due to bad weather. The convoy's course was difficult to estimate from hydrophone bearings while moving and then diving again to get new bearings. Compressed air was down to 75 %. The second attempt in locating the convoy was made more patiently and a course estimate of 250 – 270 degrees was made. While approaching the convoy Metox gave four warnings. Our own radar didn't locate anything approaching. From about 5 – 10 kilometers from the convoy the approach was made submerged while trying to make a better estimate of the convoy's course. Judging by the hydrophone screws the front and sides of the convoy were covered by 5 – 6 escorts. A River class frigate was sighted 1100 meters from us, making approximately 10 knots. The AOB and course was too difficult to estimate in low visibility and our shooting solution was very much an estimation and I decided not to shoot. An 11000 BRT tanker was sighted but we couldn't get a decent solution since the ship was too close to our boat. However at 16:57 hours an aft torpedo was shot at a 9000 BRT frachter. Impact pistol, depth 4 meters, range 700 meters, AOB 90 degrees Steuerbord, Schusswinkel 21, bearing 180. The ship's speed was estimated to be 7 knots. Right after the first shot another torpedo from rohr 1 was shot at a 3800 BRT frachter. Impact pistol, depth 4 meters, range 470 meters, AOB 84 backbord, schusswinkel 28, bearing 6 degrees. The estimations were made hurriedly, and judging by the hydrophone sounds the torpedo shot at the smaller ship was very short. The aft torpedo however hit it's target and a huge series of explosions was heard on the hydrophone, followed by sounds of a sinking ship. The 9000 BRT frachter was probably carrying ammunition for the convoy and the torpedo must have exploded those too. Escaped making 1 – 2 knots, diving to A+70, first just going straight ahead, and when the escorts were estimated at having no clue of our position, turning away from the convoy's direction. Now reloading, 10 G7e torpedoes left inside the boat and 2 G7a's outside. In this kind of weather the new FAT torpedoes that have been experimented successfully by U-159 might be very useful. Not having a revolving radar makes it more difficult to approach the convoy in this weather– we have to keep our bow pointed to the convoy's general direction if we are to get a warning about an escort making a dash for us. 5.9.1942 05:31. Länge 9, 03' Ost, Breite 72, 14' Nord. Cloudy, heavy rain, visibility 700 – 1100 meters. A second attack against the convoy was made. After five hours of regular hydrophone checks and maneuvering, the convoy's course was estimated at 261 degrees, 7 knots. The attack was made with a course of 171 degrees from inside the convoy, which was easy as there were only escorts on the sides of the convoy. Fast screws were heard at a relative bearing of 230, probably the front guard had left it's post and was returning some distance away. One of the port escorts was seen, but not recognized in low visibility. A 1800 BRT Küstenmotorschiff was seen but was too close for attacking at a good AOB. At 05:04 hours three G7e torpedoes were shot at an 11000 BRT walfabriksschiff. Range 870 meters, speed 7 knots, bearing 343, AOB 76, schusswinkel 0. Three hits were heard on the hydrophone in less than a minute and afterwards sounds of metal bending. Presumed sunk. Escaped diving at silent speed to A+80, no initial course change. We are now getting ready to start pulling away from the convoy. The escorts didn't notice us. Oberfähnrich z.s. Akermann deserves a medal for his efforts on the accurate estimation of the convoy's course in these weather conditions, as do radiomen Stwora and Gertenbach for accurate enough hydrophone bearings and keeping us away from merchants on collision course. In fact all of the crew have made an immense job in our patrol so far, but I probably can't get Iron crosses for everyone – though I might be able to pull that off, if we manage to sink a couple of big ones more. With seven ETO's left inside the boat (two ATO's outside, but not much use in this weather) I expect we should be able to attack the convoy with full force twice more. 10:33. Länge 8, 34' Ost, Breite 72, 03' Nord. Cloudy, heavy rain, visibility 700 – 1100 meters. At 9:34 hours a destroyer was sighted at a relative bearing of 180 degrees, distance 900 - 1000 meters. The escort opened fire immediately and put it's searchlight on. Crash dive, AK, hard turn starboard, 2 BOLD canisters launched while diving to A+70. The boat was rattled by presumably 20 mm or 37 mm gunfire. The destroyer dropped 6 sets of depth charges, presumably on the sites where the decoys where launched. The intervals between drops were between 5 – 6 minutes. Between 5 – 7 depth charges were dropped in each set. The first DC's dropped in a set exploded after a descend of 15-16 seconds and the second DC's dropped after 20-25 seconds. Presumably the sets are designed so that the first DC's explode nearer the surface than the latter ones. If this is the case, the DC's probably affect a very narrow, but deep area. No internal damage to the boat from getting hit by the gunfire has been found. DC's probably were too far away to affect the boat. Damage to the hull can't be inspected until we surface and the wind gets mild enough for the crew to be able to walk on the hull. I have decided to let the convoy pass. We are now headed towards the back of the convoy, in hope of spotting possible undefended stragglers. If the weather doesn't change, we have to sail to nearest port in Bodö to inscpect the boat. Prior to getting attacked by the destroyer at 9:34, Metox had given radar warning signals at 6:32, 7:15, 7:25, 7:45 and 7:56 hours. I took these as coming from the general direction of the convoy and presumed them harmless and I didn't order a zig zag course. However, it is possible that an escort slipped behind us from the bearings calculated and approached from 180 degrees relative bearing in order to get close from direction where GHG has the worst chance of picking the hunter. I badly underestimated the enemy's capabilities and we only escaped because the destroyer's gunners didn't do their job properly. In low visibility it might be better to follow a convoy out of the range of their radar and while making hydrophone checks, also check one's 180 degree position. The younger crewmen seem to be quite happy about our close escape and perhaps not realizing how close to death we really were. The more experienced men seem to be more aware of the seriousness of the event, but keep a brave face in order to not frighten the youngsters. 14:48. Länge 8, 36' Ost, Breite 71, 57' Nord. Cloudy, medium rain, visibility 700 – 1100 meters. At 12:13 hours there was a contact on the hydrophone. Estimated targets range, speed and course from FuMo 29 bearings as 261 degrees, 2 knots. At 14:05 hours one G7e shot from Rohr 5 at a 1600 BRT trampfrachter. Range estimated at 600 meters, AOB 90, schusswinkel 0, impact pistol, depth 3 meters, bearing 178 degrees. 45 seconds later a hit between the front masts, the aiming point was just before the bridge. 42 minutes later sounds of a sinking ship on the hydrophone. Six G7e torpedoes left inside the boat and two G7a's in outside storage. I am continuing towards the port at Bodö. Unger |
U-36 VIIB
Patrol No5
6 March 1940 20:21 hours U-36 left port under the escort of a minesweeper with orders to patrol grid AM32 11 March 1940 Grid AN11 09:45 - 18:53 hours The RAF had sent a whole squadron of Swordfish biplanes during these hours Of 9 planes attacked only one returned home. 1620 20mm rounds were used. The attacks were one at a time. 25 March 1940 Grid AD59 Convoy attack , 4 bow TIs fired , 2 hits scored 10:33 hours Small freighter sunk by 1 bow torpedo 10:34 hours Coastal freighter sunk by 1 bow torpedo 30 March 1940 Grid AD59 Convoy attack 4 bow TIs fired 4 hits scored No ships sunk 2 torpedoes were aimed at a convreted whale factory ship and the other 2 at a large cargo. No evidence as to what ship the torpedoes had hit. No other contacts during return passage 10 April 1940 14:43 hours U-36 docked at Wilhelmshaven. 36 days at sea 2 ships sunk 4266 tons 8 aircrafts shot down vonHarris and the whole crew were transferred to the new U-96 VIIC boat New batteries , allowing shorter recharge times were installed as well as a new color scheme. @sublynx Nice report with a lot of details. |
I just came back from what was supposed to be a trip to the med. Waiting for the right conditions to pass Gibraltar i met a huge convoy just a few hundred miles outside Morocco. Managet to sink a few escorts, a tanker, and two rms Aquatanias. I saved one acoustic fish incase a escort ship would follow me as i tried to escape and actually two did. After hours of bombardement one of them gave up and i decided the best thing to do was to get up at topedo depth and fire the last fish. I did and the escort blew up in a terrible blaze. I hadnt slept for some time to i gave the highest ranking officer orders to get us back to France while i took a long nap :).
Satisfied with the tonnage, 102 000. Not 100% realism though :p |
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20 - 25 seconds = 60 - 75 meters. DC drop rate = 3 meters / second. Helpful? Very nice, and extremely interesting report. I realy enjoyed the read. |
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Oh yeah!! :D Extremely helpful, thanks a lot Snestorm! I'll keep that 3 m/s in mind and try to find out if there is something I can do to make avoiding DC damage more likely. If I don't succeed, at least I have something to do while the DC's keep exploding.:arrgh!: |
Leutnant z.s.Yiannis
My first contact Patrol No 2 Day at sea 14 September 5 hours:06.07 Grid BF41 Weather: Clouds Overcast,Precipitations none,Fog medium wind speed 7 meters per second direction 125 ship sunk Medium cargo by 1 bow torpedo September 5 hours:10.04 Grid BF41 Weather: Clouds Overcast,Precipitations none,Fog medium wind speed 7 meters per second direction 100 ship sunk Passenger/Cargo by 2 bow torpedo Patrol No 2 Day at sea 15 September 6 hours:02.54 Grid BE39 Weather: Clouds Overcast,Precipitations none,Fog Ligth wind speed 7 meters per second direction 50 small convoy of ships in 7000 km..approach and ship sunk Nipiwan Park-type Tanker sunk by 11 88mm rounds. ship sunk Coastal Freighter sunk by 18 88mm rounds. |
U159 IXC. Patrol 7.
Underway from Lorient 27.jul.44 at 2025.
Assigned grid is DC72 (W of Florida, USA). Sunrise 0450. Sunset 1940. ½ moon, and growing. After just 1 day out Heavy Fog moved in, making our exit from Lorient safer and faster. 2.aug.44 BF45 (275 miles S of Ireland). Heavy Rain & Fog. Wind 8 m/s. At 1335 sound reports a medium speed warship approaching. U159 immediately points her bow toward the warship, and goes to periscope depth, where the weather becomes known. At 1338 a second warship is reported, and at 1342 2 more, allcoming straight at us. A T5 accuistic torpedo is set up to be fired into the group, with hopes that it will home in on a target. Bearing & AOB 000. Speed 12 knots. Depth 3 meters. At 1405 sound reports the closest warship at 000, medium range & speed. Fire 3. New depth 100 meters, at silent speed.. The torpedo never detected the warships, and the warships never detected U159. Lesson learned: Even with accuistic torpedoes, the shot still has to be properly set up. (One ship passed directly over us, on a directly opposite course). 3.aug.44 BF44 (Still 275 miles S of Ireland) Heavy Rain & Fog. Wind 7 m/s. At 1611 sound reports a medium speed warship closing. Periscope depth. Listen. Point stern ahead of our visitor. Again we will attempt to fire on sound only. Estimated course is 280, making 12 knots. Depth 3 meters (always). Course is confirmed by sound "constant bearing" 30 degrees prior to the shot. 1647: Fire 6! And at 1651 a big explosion is heard, in spite of being in our baffles. Town Class Destroyer (1190 tonne) sunk. 5.aug.44 BE66 Temporary sound contact on a fast warship, at long range. 18.aug.44 BD74 ("No man's land", between Canada & The Azores). 1841: "Detecting radar signals". A L A R M ! Crash dive! 1842: Sound: "Warship. Closing very fast." Destroyer! Heavy Rain & Fog. Wind 15 m/s. 1852: Depth charges are heard in the distance. 1856: 2 weak pings are heard, with a wide gap. 1911: Warship moving away at medium speed. 20.aug.44 0830: Present position is CD96. Heavy Rain & Fog. Wind 8 m/s. 2 of 14 torpedoes expended. (3 T5 torpedoes, and 9 FaT torpedoes remaining). |
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U-159 seems to have some issues with those promising homing torpedoes. |
U-96 VIIC
Patrol No6
10 May 1940 18:10 hours U-96 left Wilhelmshaven for grid AN34 in Norway Patrol area reached with no enemy contacts 24 hours and no contacts either U-96 requested orders and was ordered to patrol the area south of Iceland 15 May 1940 Grid AN41 21:31 hours Passenger/cargo sunk by 1 bow + 1 stern torpedoes U-96 remained submerged to reload the empty tubes 16 May 1940 Grid AN26 05:44 hours Large cargo sunk by 4bow + 1 stern torpedoes U-96 remained underwater to reload Grid AN14 13:37 hours Coastal freighter sunk by 2 bow torpedoes 16:30 hours Large tanker escorted by ASW trawler was picked up by hydrophones. 4 bow tubes were fired , 2 explosions heard 1 possible missed and the other is unaccounted for. The tanker escaped With only 1 bow + 1 stern externally loaded torpedeos unusable becasuse of 12-15 m/s winds U-96 started her return passage vonHarris was blaming the new camouflage pattern for his bad luck with the tanker and everybody agreed. 19 May 1940 20:13 hours U-96 docked at port vonHarris rushed out to file a request for skin change with some excuse he made up that this one wouldn't blend in with the enviroment. Strangely the request was approved. 10 days at sea 3 ships sunk 12698 tons No casualties or damages |
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Unknown whether SH3's T5s are better than the real ones, or we were just fortunate. Even late war, my favorite torpedo is the good old G7A. Hard as it is to resist going 100% steamers, I try to keep them down to historical limitations. Don't care for G7Es, but always keep them in the majority. |
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