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Old 05-26-23, 06:33 AM   #441
Kapitän
The Old Man
 
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Default U 115 - First War Patrol (2nd leg) - Black May - B.d.U.-Order of the Day

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kapitän View Post
Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

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U 115
- KTB -
First War Patrol
(17th war patrol overall)

Tuesday, 25 May 1943 - South of the Cape Verde Islands

- 3rd week at sea completed -

0035 - Qu.1271ES - SSW6/5, medium swell, partly cloudy, medium visibility, >1000mb, shifting East.

0308 - Qu.1512ES - East6/5, medium swell, partly cloudy, medium visibility, >1000mb.

0700 - Qu.1557ES - Diving for torpedo maintenance and trial dive.

0707 - T=50. Beginning torpedo maintenance.

0758 - Tube I serviced.

0815 - Tube II pulled - Watch Change at 0811 -

0849 - Tube II serviced.

0940 - Tube III serviced (tubes I-III are T-3/Pi39H).

1031 - Tube V serviced (EtoFat/Pi39H).

1042 - Sunrise.

1122 - Tube VI serviced (T-4/Pi39H).

1130 - Reception Depth. Beginning of Trial Dive acc. B.d.U. Standing Order No.507 & No.308. 145rpm/3kn.

1150 - CO₂ Warning at 1.7% (after 4h 50min.).

1200 - Qu.1584ES - Days Run: 152.5nm - ↗ 133.2nm (16h 50') - ↘ 19.3nm (7h 10')
Total: 3827.3nm (20tg 22h) - ↗ 3666.9nm (18tg 12h 04') - ↘ 160.4nm (2tg 9h 56')
458cbm (3cbm in 24h); Course 161°; T=A+50; Battery 63%; CO₂ 1.8%; 3xT-3, 2xEtoFat, 1xT-4; 9xBold.

1216 - Boat is safe and secure at 2A-Meter. Setting for T=20 with 145rpm.

1227 - At A-Meter, 96rpm.

1231 - Boat rises to T=18.5m.

1234 - Boat is level at Reception Depth (140m in 18min. at 145rpm and 96rpm). Battery 61.5%; Compressed Air Supply 285 Atü; CO₂ 1.8%.

1239 - F.T. from B.d.U.: To all U-boat Commanders:

1) Our heavy U-boat losses in the last month are to be attributed primarily to the present superiority of enemy location gear and the surprise attacks from the air enabled by these. More than half of these losses have occurred by reason of their surprise tactics, on approach and return passage, as well as in the operational area in attack positions. The losses in attacks against convoys themselves were, however, slight except for one case in which conditions were particularly unfavorable. A part of these losses also occurred through air attack.
2) The present situation in regard to enemy aircraft and enemy location must be counterbalanced, through entailing other disadvantages, by special precautionary measures while proceeding and in waiting positions. Orders regarding this have been issued. I shall also come to further conclusions in the selection of operational area.
3) I am directing my whole attention to the improvement of our own location, anti-location means and Flak armament. This problem is being worked on everywhere with great concentration. Practical results will shortly be introduced for operations. Until then cruising and waiting must be carried out with skill and care, but actual attacks with the same tenacity as ever.

- signed - B.d.U. & Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz -

1240 - Surfaced after 40min. and 2.2nm since Etmal (Total: 5h 40min. and 15.7nm). Weather and Sea unchanged in 9.5h.

1242 - Boat ventilated and Compressed Air Supply filled. 2x225RPM/8kn.

1611 - SE1/1, partly cloudy, light haze, medium visibility, >1000mb.

1615 - Charging batteries (61.5%): Stbd.-Charging, 496RPM; Port-Propulsion, 285RPM/8kn.

1930 - Batteries charged => 3h 15min. for 38.5%. 2xSmall-Ahead/185RPM/7kn

1935 - Test Run of main diesels acc. B.d.U.-Standing Order No.510. - 285RPM/1/3-Ahead/10kn.

1940 - 375RPM/2xH.F./13kn.

1945 - 455RPM/Full-Ahead/16kn.

1950 - 496RPM/A.K./18kn/30min.

2020 - Reducing speed in speed settings of 5min. decrements.

2035 - 2x225RPM/8kn.

2311 - Sundown. Weather and Sea unchanged since 1611 (7h).

RST
KorvKpt.& Cmdr. U 115
Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

U 115
- KTB -
First War Patrol
(17th war patrol overall)

Wednesday, 26 May 1943 - West of Freetown

0950 - Early Morning Dawn.

1049 - Sunrise. SE1/1, partly cloudy, medium visibility, >1000mb.

1200 - Qu.4922ES - Days Run: 199.5nm - ↗ 197.3nm (23h 20') - ↘ 2.2nm (40')
Total: 4026.8nm (21tg 22h) - ↗ 3864.2nm (19tg 11h 24') - ↘ 162.6nm (2tg 10h 36')
455cbm (3cbm in 24h); Course 161°; 3xT-3, 2xEtoFat, 1xT-4; 9xBold; Weather and Sea unchanged since Sunrise.

1400 - Outgoing F.T.: To B.d.U.:
Will be a Supply Boat 27.5., 1400. - RST -

2305 - Sundown. NNE1/1, partly cloudy, medium visibility, >1000mb.

2306 - Incoming Radio Reports:

To all U-boat Officers:

Most Secret

Order of the Day, from 24.May 1943.

The increasingly hard and bitter struggle against our victory leads me to emphasize to you the seriousness of our present situation and future. You know that we are fighting off successfully with the army and air force on all fronts the extremely strong attacks of the enemy, engagements being very heavy in some cases. This battle for the security of the homeland and occupied territories must be carried in in order to ensure food for our people and the manufacture of weapons and ammunition for the front. You must understand clearly that the present struggle only constitutes a stand against an enemy stronger in men and material but it does not suffice to bring about a speedy and definite victory.

You alone can, at the moment, make an offensive attack against the enemy and beat him. The U-boat must, by continuous sinking of ships with war material and the necessary supplies for the British Isles, force the enemy to continual losses which must slowly but steadily sap the strength of the strongest force. The German people have long felt that our boats constitute the keenest and most decisive weapon and that the outcome of the war depends on the success or failure of the Battle of the Atlantic.

Each one of you must be aware of his great responsibility and every Commanding Officer must be able to say that he has conducted operations with every effort and tenacity in order to attain our important goal. I know that operations for you out there at the moment are some of the hardest and most costly in losses, since the enemy's defence at the moment is superior in view of new technical methods. Believe me, I have done everything and will continue to do so, in order to introduce means to counter this enemy advance. The time will soon come in which you will be superior to the enemy with new and stronger weapons and will be able to triumph over your worst enemies, the aircraft and the destroyer.

In the meantime we must master the situation with the measures already ordered and with a partial change in operational areas. We will, therefore, not allow ourselves to be forced into the defensive and will not rest but, where there is an opportunity, continue to strike and fight on with still more fortitude and decision in order to make ourselves even stronger for the decisive Battle of the North Atlantic, which will be carried out shortly with improved weapons, in the area most vulnerable for the enemy.

We will then be the victors, - my faith in our boats and in you convinces me of this.

Heil Hitler,
Commander in Chief
Dönitz

From O.K.W.:
a) At Peenemünde, before Hermann Göring, Erhard Milch, and other top German leaders, a A-4 rocket (V-2) and a flying bomb (V-1) were tested. The A-4 rocket flew perfectly, while the flying bomb crashed only after a mile or two of flight.
b) Starting at about 0200 hours, 759 British heavy bombers attacked Düsseldorf.
c) The Red Army launched an offensive against our troops in the Kuban bridgehead between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

B-Dienst Report:
a) Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier USS Bogue (CVE-9) and her task group arrived at Argentia, Newfoundland.

RST
KorvKpt.& Cmdr. U 115
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