Quote:
Originally Posted by pikke
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.
|
October 9, 1939 AN79
0402 A large merchant is coming our way. Moving into position. The weather is good enough for a deck gun attack. Perhaps we'll shot a single torpedo and, were it not enough,we'll eventually finish her off with the gun.
0430 The torpedo hit slowed her down but sonar detected warships in the area so we didn't wait and sent her down with the deck gun. U53 will leave the area submerged and sail north.
1143 Torpedo boats and what sounds like a trawler are patrolling the area. Must be careful.
1832 Tramp steamer closing in. Sea condition still good. Down to periscope depth and closing the gap.
1911 Jumped off and smashed her with deck gun. Bet that was a nasty surprise.
October 10, 1939 AN79
0448 Schooner blasted by flak gun. I'm thankful for the weather and sea conditions.
0702 Sound contact closing from the north. U53 will surface and make a quick dash toward it.
0733 It's a medium cargo. Will try the one torpedo and deck gun tactic again.
0753 That worked well! Another one goes down. U53 will move away from the coast and try to find a worthy target for it's last torpedo.
1127 Sonar report merchant contact moving northward. Moving to intercept.
1148 Passenger/cargo spotted. Down to periscope depth. Wind picked up a bit but deck gun still viable. I'll try and save it for a bigger target.
1149 Sonar report warship contact far away but closing. Will shot our last torpedo.
1202 It's a dud! Went off halfway. Surfacing and going with the deck gun.
1208 Opened it like a tin can. Trawler spotted. Diving and hiding.
1212 Trawler sniffing around but seems like they have no idea about our position. U53 will try to crawl away.
1442 The trawler left the area and now U53 can surface again and start heading home.
1626 Ship spotted! Merchant sailing toward us, could we perhaps put to use our last deck gun shells? Down to periscope depth and getting into position.
1644 No more deck gun shells, and also some of our flack gun ammo were used, but U53 claimed a stubborn coastal freighter. Now, off toward our base
October 12, 1939
At 1302 U53 docks at Whilelmshaven
15 Ships sunk for 47757 GRT
Where will U53 go next?