Campaign update
U-43 based at Wilhemshaven.
Ordered to patrol BE83 October 9th 1939. Left port at 13:00 and set course for AN14. Arrived at AN14 at 23:07. 23:09 watch officer spotted a slow moving merchant, it was a Granville type freighter moving away from us at north east. In light of our poor position to the enemy ship, I decided to steer north at ahead flank to get ahead of them, and once ahead I called to steer west and then called for periscope depth and ahead slow. Once in postion I stopped all engines and waited for the ship to come into perfect firing range but as we were waiting at 23:55 the sonar operator heard another merchant not too far away moving directly towards our position, it was headed east. Once the Granville was in a good position I fired 3 torpedos in a spread, scored 2 hits but she never sank so I called to surface the boat and finished her off with the deck gun and she sunk at 01:12. I called for the watch crew and set a westerly course at ahead standard. The second ship came into view at 01:35 and it was a large freighter heading east. I instantly asked to change direction to south and at 01:45 I called for periscope depth and again, we waited for her to come to us. She was moving very slowly and took a while to move into position, but at 02:30 I fired 3 torpedos at her and this time all 3 hit. She stayed afloat for another 10 or 15 minutes before she sunk. We surfaced at 03:00 and returned to our original course on ahead flank. We saw no more ships for the rest of our journey towards BE83 and it was looking like we might not get anymore sightings until we were around half way through our patrol. At 08:40 on the 13th October the watch officer called ship spotted, I looked Through the UZO and saw not 1, but 2 merchants headed towards us, another Granville type and a small tanker. We carried on our course while I decided what to do, and which to attack 1st,but while I was sat thinking, the decision was made for me, they spotted us so I had only 2 options left, the deck gun, or get as close to the Granville as humanly possible and blow her out of the water, then deck gun the small tanker, so I set to periscope depth and ahead flank, and set course to get close to the Granville which was now doing a dance all over the place to get away, but I had other plans. I got to within around 800 metres and fired 3 torpedos at her, and asked for back emergency. The torpedos hit and she started sinking soon after, a called for ahead slow and turned the boat right and surfaced, the tanker was only some 700 metres away, and I called for the deck gun crew. They engaged the tanker and she sank around 10:15. Satisfied with the tonnage we had acquired I set a course back to base and on the 16th October we returned home to Wilhelmshaven. Thanks for reading :salute: |
I my current campaign? Ehm... All hands dead near Normandy beach in June 1944...GWX is realistic hard.
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U-13, IIA out of Kiel. 8 Oct. 1945.
Just returned from third patrol of the English coast in the North Sea (One more and I beat my survival record!). Have discovered that sector AN14, north-east of Scapa Flow, offers numerous contacts passing around the north of the British Isles. Have sunk 2 merchants in the area, a coastal freighter and a Granville for just under 3,000 tons total. Not impressive, but I'll take what I can get. (Note: the Granville was carrying wine and spirits. Sending English wine to the depths, a great victory). Will continue to patrol the area in future outings as long as possible, suspect British Naval forces are beginning to move through the area with greater regularity. U-13 Out. |
U 70 lost
From BdU's war diary on the 19th of December, 1940:
The BBC reports that they've sunk and captured some of the crewmen of U-70. The boat was on it's maiden voyage and was last heard of while reporting starting an attack run against a convoy at BF15. (Running NYGM now and it seems my careers will be very short from now on) |
hah, i just had my most fortunate hit ever ..
i was returning from patrol with fuel reserved to very last liter .. rough sea, strong wind however good visibility .. my WO suddenly spotted merchant .. he was in great possition and course to me .. i decided last furious attack with only last 2x T1 and 2x T2 in tubes .. i didn't recognize the target ship because of bad weather and his aharp AOB to my position .. i fastly calculated approach triangle and gone underwater with ear stuck in hydraphone and correcting my course by his climbing from ~ 320 -> 0 well, my initial conclusion was wrong and when i come to periscope depth ready for attack i've found, that my fast moving enemy is at desired 90AOB, but probably 1200-1400m ahead .. anyway, i put pieces of my target solution (all get by an eye :)) together and launched both T1s and wait for the result .. well, i even didn't change my course so in the time of supposed hit was the ship ~20 to right from me .. both torpedos either missed or gone below (100% realism, no way to check) .. my only chance to score was wasted .. dunno why i just put my course slightly before him, full ahead and set both T2s for shot .. i never use T2s on rough sea for this purpose .. when I was at 1000m from him with AOB something like 115 i just for fun fired at fixed point first T2 and after while even second with fixing delay only by inreasing target speed beyond the real .. i really did not expect anything, but both T2s magically hit the target and sunk it instantly .. i never before scored just a lucky shot nor even tried to use T2s on rough sea and at 1000m at realatively small ship .. i forgot, target was grenville frighter (4kT, 78m long - smaller ship) at rough sea i do all measurents by an eye and try to approach close (ideally with 80-100 AOB at 300-500m) .. big advantage is to target ship you know good in the meaning of dimensions and distance by an eye .. i sunk prior to this on this patrol (with 8x T1 and 2x T2) 3x minor 2kT frighter and one same 4kT grenville frighter .. all of them accessed at very very close and the most of TDC datas get by an eye .. it took 10 torpedos (at full realism and with NO childish reloading) .. regards, ntz |
seting my course out of port through the keil canal so i can sleep while going through and pick it up after work as well since it is approx a 20 hour journey at 4knts i have plenty of time if i set it at no time compression :P
its early war and resently hit a convoy getting some good tonnage previous patrol. |
U 71 patrol 1
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Obleu z.S. Hansen - 8th patrol U-65 (Type IX) May 7th 1941 - Lorient.
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After a long period of 1940 working at the TVA (TorpedoVersuchsAnstalt) in the Baltic I could finally leave Lorient on Oct. 1st, 1940 in my new Type IX boat, the U-65. The main purpose for me going back on active duty is to work up a boat for in-the-field testing of the new homing (self-seeking) torpedoes, which is what I worked with. |
Obleu z.S. Hansen - 9th patrol U-65 (Type IX) June 23rd 1941 - Lorient |
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Obleu z.S. Hansen - 9th patrol U-65 (Type IXB) July 28th 1941 - Lorient |
Obleu z.S. Hansen - 10th patrol U-65 (Type IXB) Sep 9th 1941 - Lorient
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Departed Lorient 090715. |
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Obleu z.S. Hansen - 12th patrol U-65 (Type IXB) Feb. 8th 1942 - Lorient. |
U 71 patrol 2
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Position: South of Halifax. Damaged by CTD aircraft (...:wah:....) Unrepairable damage. Mission aborted. Returning to Lorient surfaced. |
In patrol 8 I encountered 3 unescorted small merchants and did not want to waste torpedoes on them. The one at the back was a neutral, first 2 British. So I sneaked up behind them with the neutral providing cover from their cannons. The neutral got hit by its "friends" several times. I could now and then swerve to take shots with the deck gun, eventually sinking the 2nd ship. Now I left the cover of the neutral and pursuit the first merchant but with the neutral behind me. I took some damage but nothing too serious. The neutral was sunk by the British merchant, hey not my fault :haha: Obviously I also sunk the British merchant.
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Good show! |
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U 71 patrol 3
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Thanks Laufen zum Ziel :salute:
This was an especially interesting patrol for me as this was the first time that I got the order to keep reporting on the convoy in hope of a wolfpack attack. Now I just need to fix my weather so that it actually changes during the patrol :oops: |
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