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pikke · 08-16-21, 04:05 AM

Part 3
October 8, 1939 AN79

0704 Ship spotted right in front of us, coming our way. U53 down to periscope depth.
Damn, never been so unhappy to spot a target. We had to interrupt our convoy chase.

0710 Indentified as Coastal freighter on a East-west course, likely not part of the convoy we were hunting.

AN79 0717 British coastal freighter sunk. At least we made a quick job of it. Dashing toward the convoy hoping to at least finish off the wounded passenger cargo.

0750 Destroyer coming our way, had to submerge. Wounded passenger cargo about 8km away. Should I shot and risking wasting another torpedo?

AN79 0759 Got it! About 7500m away...we lucked off and claimed at least one vessel from the convoy.
U53 will now move parallel to the convoy course and try to get a shot at the Nelson, if at all possible.

0853 Batteries are draining fast and we are not in a good position yet. Also, sonar reports 4 warship contacts in the Dover area, adding to the convoy escorts. I'd like to surface and make a quick dash ahead but doing so in broad daylight in this area would be suicidal.

0942 Batteries are down to 40% and we now have 8 warship contacts in the area. This hunt has failed. U53 will now head northeast to a safer area and then up to recharge batteries and get some fresh air. HMS Nelson going away stings a lot.

1551 Sound contact toward the french coast. Merchant, medium speed, moving away, heading north.

AN79 1753 French Passenger/cargo sunk, once again a single torped was not enough, had to finish it off with the deck gun.

AN79 2018 British Passenger/cargo sunk using deck gun. The weather is good and the sea is calm so I'll try saving torpedos for bigger preys.

AN79 2222 A bigger one this time, a British Ore Carrier heading north, two eels sent her down quite quickly. Warships sniffing around.

AN79 2301 Coastal freighter cruising south, U53 will try to move into firing position. Must be careful, two armed trawler, an ASW one and torpedo boats are in the area.

AN79 2312 Got her. The solution was not optimal and the torpedo hit nearby the propellers, but she went down fast. Back to playing hide and seek with the warships, another ASW Trawler came up from the Dover area to join the fun. I'll consider myself lucky there is no destroyer around.

October 9, 1939

AN79 0102 U53 slowly cruising on the surface, recharging batteries and ventilating the boat.
October 8 was a busy day. Failures and successes alike. We are down to 3 torpedoes so I'm thinking to not go to the assigned patrol area but to move west toward the english coast and see if we can find some juicy prey there.

08-16-21, 04:05 AM	#5903
pikke Sparky Join Date: Jul 2021 Location: Italy Posts: 152 Downloads: 19 Uploads: 0	U53 - Type VIIb - 2nd patrol - part 3 Part 3 October 8, 1939 AN79 0704 Ship spotted right in front of us, coming our way. U53 down to periscope depth. Damn, never been so unhappy to spot a target. We had to interrupt our convoy chase. 0710 Indentified as Coastal freighter on a East-west course, likely not part of the convoy we were hunting. AN79 0717 British coastal freighter sunk. At least we made a quick job of it. Dashing toward the convoy hoping to at least finish off the wounded passenger cargo. 0750 Destroyer coming our way, had to submerge. Wounded passenger cargo about 8km away. Should I shot and risking wasting another torpedo? AN79 0759 Got it! About 7500m away...we lucked off and claimed at least one vessel from the convoy. U53 will now move parallel to the convoy course and try to get a shot at the Nelson, if at all possible. 0853 Batteries are draining fast and we are not in a good position yet. Also, sonar reports 4 warship contacts in the Dover area, adding to the convoy escorts. I'd like to surface and make a quick dash ahead but doing so in broad daylight in this area would be suicidal. 0942 Batteries are down to 40% and we now have 8 warship contacts in the area. This hunt has failed. U53 will now head northeast to a safer area and then up to recharge batteries and get some fresh air. HMS Nelson going away stings a lot. 1551 Sound contact toward the french coast. Merchant, medium speed, moving away, heading north. AN79 1753 French Passenger/cargo sunk, once again a single torped was not enough, had to finish it off with the deck gun. AN79 2018 British Passenger/cargo sunk using deck gun. The weather is good and the sea is calm so I'll try saving torpedos for bigger preys. AN79 2222 A bigger one this time, a British Ore Carrier heading north, two eels sent her down quite quickly. Warships sniffing around. AN79 2301 Coastal freighter cruising south, U53 will try to move into firing position. Must be careful, two armed trawler, an ASW one and torpedo boats are in the area. AN79 2312 Got her. The solution was not optimal and the torpedo hit nearby the propellers, but she went down fast. Back to playing hide and seek with the warships, another ASW Trawler came up from the Dover area to join the fun. I'll consider myself lucky there is no destroyer around. October 9, 1939 AN79 0102 U53 slowly cruising on the surface, recharging batteries and ventilating the boat. October 8 was a busy day. Failures and successes alike. We are down to 3 torpedoes so I'm thinking to not go to the assigned patrol area but to move west toward the english coast and see if we can find some juicy prey there.