Tell us what you are upto in your current campaign

[Leandros]

Originally Posted by BillCar

@ Frau Kaleun: you'll be fine in early 1939. I have had success going through into 1941, but you have to pick your moment (same with the English Channel later in the war).

Passing through the English Channel shouldn't be a problem after June '40. After all, millions of tons of German surface ships passed it up till Summer '44. The shipping routes were constantly sweeped for mines and escorted convoys went almost every day.

There were no standing RN patrols on the Continental side and during the day RN were under orders not to venture beyond RAF fighter coverage. As a matter of fact their orders - also for the destroyers - were not to be farther from the UK coast than 25 nautical miles.

With other words, in reality, clinging to the French coast during daytime shouldn't give you any problems. But, that is not how the game plays it.......

[BillCar]

S E C R E T

H.M.S. "HARROWGATE"
6th July, 1944.

Sir: I have the honour to submit the following report of the sinking of a "U" Boat, believed to be "U-53," on 6th December, 1940, in the Irish Sea:

2. On Saturday, 6th December, 1940, H.M.S. "HARROWGATE" (Senior Officer), and H.M.S. "CORWOOD," forming Force 4, were patrolling in support of the 5th Convoy SC, in accordance with the Commander-In-Chief's 6 0848B.

3. On receipt of Escort Group 2's 6 1316B, at about 1345B, it was decided to shift the patrol 30 miles to the south. This was reported in my 6 1347B and the new patrol line was reached at 1508B. Ships were in line abreast, 5 cables apart, patrolling at 25 knots, zig-zagging on a mean course of 090.

4. At 1545 an Elco motor boat was observed 5 miles astern (bearing 250 degrees) engaging a surfaced U-boat. Course was immediately altered towards by Blue pendant and at 1558, on approaching the scene of the attack, which was marked by a smoke float, speed was reduced to 7 knots and an A/S search commenced with "CORWOOD" about 1 mile north of "HARROWGATE."

5. First contact was gained by CORWOOD at 1625 and by HARROWGATE at 1634 and during the next two hours nine deliberate attacks were carried out, seven by CORWOOD.

6. At 1917, nearly an hour after the last pattern had been dropped, HARROWGATE was stopped 850 yards from the target, bows on, watching for movement when the plot reported target moving. CORWOOD had lost contact at about 1900 and was searching at slow speed. It was decided to attack without waiting for CORWOOD to regain contact and pattern "G" had been ordered when at 1921 the submarine surfaced about 800 yards ahead at an inclination of about 100 left. Fire was opened from "B" gun and a hit obtained on the conning tower, with the second salvo. High Explosive was used and penetrated the conning tower, starting a fire, the flames being clearly visible through the hole made. No further hits were obtained with main armament and fire was checked as soon as it was apparent that the enemy did not intend to fight. Close range weapons were used during the same period.

7. The crew commenced abandoning ship almost immediately, the submarine surfaced and HARROWGATE and CORWOOD both closed with ideas of boarding. HARROWGATE lowered a whaler and motor boat and CORWOOD a whaler, but the U boat went down before either could reach her. All boats then proceeded to recover prisoners, disembarking them in CORWOOD, while HARROWGATE circled the area. The last six recovered by HARROWGATE's motor boat were embarked in HARROWGATE to save time. A total of 52 prisoners were recovered, including the Captain (Jochen Luebke) and five other officers. Six were injured, three seriously. They were landed at Plymouth, at 0300 on 7th December, 1940, in accordance with the Commander-in Chief's 6 2330B.

8. A/S conditions were generally good. In the initial stages HARROWGATE experienced doubtful and non-sub echoes but later the target was classified "Submarine" and held consistently. Blowing of tanks was heard after the second attack and it is considered that the submarine went to the bottom at that time and remained stopped.

9. Team work on the whole was excellent. Signals were made both by V/S and VHFR/T and the firing ship, which was generally CORWOOD, almost invariably fired when on by bearing from the directing ship. At 1655 both ships commenced an attack simultaneously and CORWOOD was told to go ahead. At 1806 HARROWGATE carried out an attack but was too close to CORWOOD and fire was held.

10. The team work and operating of the A/S crew in HARROWGATE were excellent once contact had been established.

11. The Elco motor boat who carried out the original attack was signaled by light but attempts to exchange information were unsuccessful. He could not be contacted by VHFR/T or on 2410 kc/s.

12. It was anticipated that HARROWGATE and CORWOOD would be relieved by the 4th Escort Group during the hunt. H.M.S. "MOORSON" was sighted and my 6 1742 passed by V/S at 1755 and an other escort vessel was sighted at about 1900 but failed to answer V/S signals made by 20" S.P.

13. The submarine commander, Luebke, informed us that he had sunk in excess of 314,000 tons of shipping, which is an outlandish claim, but would be most impressive if verified.

I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
[Signature]
John Henry Cole,
Captain, R.N.

Enclosures:-
1. Training of plot.
2. Recorder tracing - original only.
3. Form S1203.
4. Signals.
5. Particulars of prisoners.

Distribution:-
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, PLYMOUTH
(Copies to:-
Captain (D) Plymouth,
Commander (D), 4th Destroyer Flotilla,
The Director of Naval Intelligence,
Director of A/S Warfare)

[KL-alfman]

U-110 (IXB)
Kaleu Artur Stein reports back to base in Lorient
his 8th war-patrol (assigned grid: CA76) appears to be his most successful one.

on the way to the grid two lone merchs could be sunk, after arriving it turned out that there were a lot of smaller ASW-ships and quite many coastal freighters and small tankers. 2bigger freighters were hit in the near of the grid and after staying for a week in this surroundings it was decided to go for convoy-hunt south-east of Halifax.

and indeed a large outbound US-convoy could be spotted. it must have been already under attack by an other boat, because 3smaller ships were already burning lightly. not waiting for the evening U-110 attacked immediately and it proved wrong.
after releasing the first salvo of two (which took out a large freighter) our periscope was sighted and the nearest ship opened machine-gun fire. so we broke our run and decided to go deep.
after one and a half hours we came up and shaded the convoy. the burning ships could be made out from a comfortable distance:



at night-fall the second run was accomplished. the main target was a Brooklyn-class cruiser right in the middle of the convoy. as there were only 2escorts (Swan and Flower, front and rear) the goal was relatively easy to achieve. the USS Nashville never stood a chance:



the wheather grew worse and so we were able to attack at day-time for the third time. as the sea got rougher by the minute, we tried now to fire just one eel per target and go for the bow. it was the right decision!:



after having released all our fish we went deep and the fast approaching escorts were too late to ping us down, they didn't even release their DCs.
for the next run we had to circle the convoy to get nearer to the bigger vessels. we attacked again in the dark and took out 2 liberty-freighters.



5 torpedoes still left we went for the final attack. this time we aimed for a C2 and an ore-freighter in the first row. after hitting the C2 (which exploded soon after) suddenly the whole convoy turned crazy! all the ships seemed to have lost their navigation-controls and nearly rammed each other! even the front escort suddenly hurried away at high speed:



sadly only two aale remained and we guessed we could use them on our trip home what we successfully did.
a lot of medals and promotions rained over our boat after arriving Lorient. Kaleu Stein got the knights cross with all the stuff on it.
now a 30day-holiday awaits!

[krashkart]

^ Great screens! Wish my computer were up to par for the external views like that.

[KL-alfman]

Originally Posted by krashkart

^ Great screens! Wish my computer were up to par for the external views like that.

hmm, don't know but I thought my system is ancient compared to all of yours (single core athlon 2,6ghz, 2gb ram, 6600gt with 256ram). this was "modern" six or seven years ago .....

btw:
of 24ships of this convoy I could take out 8.
and I came back with all the 110shells of my 10,5deck-gun.

D. 23.okt.39.
03.22. Underway from Wilhelmshaven, bound for Patrol Grid AM23.
(Hmmm. Another VII grid for my IX(A). No complaints.)

D. 3.nov.39. AM23.
02.00. Arrive on station. Passage was uneventful.

D. 4.nov.39. AM23.
02.00. Enrout to Rockall.

D. 6.nov.39. AM19.
19.43. Ship Spotted. VCS (Variouse Courses & Speeds).

21.15. Radio Report Recieved. Convoy. AL03. East. 6 Knots.

21.52. Little Merchant (2.389 GRT) Sunk.
Course 084. Speed 7 Knots. Night Surface Attack. T1 Torpedo x 1, and Deck Gun.
(Off to hunt BDU's convoy).

D. 7.nov.39. AM19.
02.18. Radio Report Recieved. Convoy. AM19. East. 6 Knots.

Convoy Attacks. U37 vs The Lone Flower Class Corvette.
Convoy remained on Course 089, at 6 Knots.

03.29. Little Tanker (4.316 GRT) Sunk. Night Surface Attack. Stern Tubes.
06.38. T2 Tanker (10.871 GRT) Sunk. Night Surface Attack.
11.20. Little Merchant (2.335 GRT) Sunk. Daylight Submerged.
11.20. Little Tanker (4.276 GRT) Sunk. Daylight Submerged.
17.00. Last 2 torpedoes. 1 never reached target. 1 hit. No sinkings. Daylight Submerged.
18.00. All torpedoes expended (12). Returning to base.

D. 11.nov.39. AE92.
18.10. ALARM! Aircraft. 40 Miles north of Færøerne.

D. 21.nov.39. Docked at Wilhelmshaven.

Patrol Results: 5 Ships. 24.187 GRT.
U37's History: 2 Patrols. 32.676 GRT.

[krashkart]

Originally Posted by KL-alfman

hmm, don't know but I thought my system is ancient compared to all of yours (single core athlon 2,6ghz, 2gb ram, 6600gt with 256ram). this was "modern" six or seven years ago .....

btw:
of 24ships of this convoy I could take out 8.
and I came back with all the 110shells of my 10,5deck-gun.

If I still had the functioning desktop unit I'd probably get results similar to your experience. Right now I run SH3 on this little itty-bitty EeePC 1005HA.

~1.6GHz Intel Atom (hyperthreaded)
Mobile Intel 945 Express w/ 256Meg <-- not a gamers video adapter
1GB phys. memory (saving for a 2 gig module)

The sim runs fine, as it should. But this poor little graphics adapter they chose is terribly overworked by some of the external views.


Looks like you ran into a storm there. I always get bummed when there's a nice juicy convoy, and no clear weather to be found.

Cheers

[BillCar]

Originally Posted by krashkart

Looks like you ran into a storm there. I always get bummed when there's a nice juicy convoy, and no clear weather to be found.

I love attacking convoys in rough weather. I can get in among the merchants without being noticed and hit multiple targets at my leisure before diving! Heavy fog, rain, and rough seas are fine by me. I just set my eels to run at 3 or 4 metres depth on impact pistols!

[Dissaray]

Storms always test the ability of the skipper. You get the added advantage of being damn hard to see with all the waves and the rain but you have to take into account the way the waves may expose your boat to breaching when in the troughs. Simultaniously the best time to hunt and has the makings for the hardest hunts you can come acrros.

My best advice for hunting when ruff seas force you below parascope depth to save stealth is to get very familiar with shooting off of hydraphone readings. Nothing is more devious than unleashing hell on the sea while 20m below the surface when you enemy has no idea you are even there I say. Even though they are only computer generated targets I can't help but feel slightly sorry for not giving them a fighting chance. Though those emotions of sorow are quickly over ridien by how awsome I was in that last convoy attack where I out classed the escorts.

[BillCar]

Originally Posted by Dissaray

Storms always test the ability of the skipper. You get the added advantage of being damn hard to see with all the waves and the rain but you have to take into account the way the waves may expose your boat to breaching when in the troughs. Simultaniously the best time to hunt and has the makings for the hardest hunts you can come acrros.

My best advice for hunting when ruff seas force you below parascope depth to save stealth is to get very familiar with shooting off of hydraphone readings. Nothing is more devious than unleashing hell on the sea while 20m below the surface when you enemy has no idea you are even there I say. Even though they are only computer generated targets I can't help but feel slightly sorry for not giving them a fighting chance. Though those emotions of sorow are quickly over ridien by how awsome I was in that last convoy attack where I out classed the escorts.

I generally make my attacks surfaced, and use different length shots + different speed torpedoes to make a few shots hit simultaneously. Then I crash dive and run silent.

[frau kaleun]

Patrol 2
U-35, U-Flotilla Saltzwedel
Oblt. Peter Schmidt, Commander
August 24, 1939, 03:24
Departed: Wilhelmshaven
Mission Orders: Patrol grid BF19

September 7, 1939, 02:18
Grid BF 24
Ship sunk: SS Winona (Coastal Freighter), 1870 tons
Cargo: Phosphates
Crew: 32
Crew lost: 14

September 8, 1939, 07:13
Grid BF 24
Ship sunk: MV River Tay (Deep Sea Trawler), 547 tons
Crew: 14
Crew lost: 13

September 8, 1939, 09:21
Grid BF 24
Ship sunk: MV Lillian E. Kerr (Motor Vessel), 112 tons
Cargo: General Cargo
Crew: 22
Crew lost: 3

September 9, 1939, 06:22
Grid BF 21
Ship sunk: SS Alwaki (Granville-type Freighter), 4707 tons
Cargo: General Cargo
Crew: 68
Crew lost: 67

September 9, 1939, 23:41
Grid BF 24
Ship sunk: Q Ship USS Atik (Small Freighter), 1593 tons
Crew: 74
Crew lost: 25

September 10, 1939, 04:19
Grid BF 24
Ship sunk: SS Burwah (Passenger/Cargo), 2426 tons
Cargo: Passengers
Crew: 211
Crew lost: 204

September 10, 1939, 14:32
Grid BF 25
Ship sunk: MV Tamesis (Ore Carrier), 6013 tons
Cargo: Sulfur
Crew: 96
Crew lost: 11

September 13, 1939, 18:03
Grid AN 79
Ship sunk: SS Robin Sherwood (Medium Cargo), 5271 tons
Cargo: Timber
Crew: 65
Crew lost: 46

September 15, 1939, 11:47
Returned: Wilhelmshaven
Crew losses: 0
Hull integrity: 85.84
Merchants sunk: 8
Merchant tonnage: 22539
Warships sunk: 0
Warship tonnage: 0 tons
Aircraft destroyed: 0
Patrol tonnage: 22539

****************************

My last eel went into the ore carrier - I'd decided to make the run home through the English Channel, because why not? Was south of Plymouth, about halfway between the English and French coasts, when I spotted her making way through heavy seas. She didn't seem to be getting jostled about too much so I figured I'd take a chance on a magnetic fuse, and whaddya know? But it still took her almost two hours to sink, and given the weather and the armed trawler that came sniffing around after the attack (and with no more torpedoes to play with) there wasn't much I could do but wait it out.

Had some fun making passage through the Channel - got spotted by a Tribal class destroyer while cruising through a sqall just north of the Dover/Calais line which resulted in a couple hours of running silent at 35 m while they circled around dropping depth charges. They got near us only twice and we took no damage to add to what we'd got courtesy of an armed trawler in a much worse storm just a couple of hours after we sank the Winona on Sept. 7; we'd taken some damage to the deck casing before we could dive, but fortunately the gun was not knocked out of action and served us well when we came across the Robin Sherwood on the 13th.

Was a bit surprised, given the nearness of that attack to the English coast, that no one came looking for us afterward; she certainly had plenty of time to radio her location and situation.

All in all, I'm just happy to have made it home safe and sound.

[KL-alfman]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

All in all, I'm just happy to have made it home safe and sound.

and you sank an awful lot of ships, too!

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by KL-alfman

and you sank an awful lot of ships, too!

*




*Playing at 18% realism helps.

[KL-alfman]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

*


*Playing at 18% realism helps.

there isn't much of a difference to my playing at 76%

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by KL-alfman

there isn't much of a difference to my playing at 76%

Right now it's all I can do to remember to check how much fuel I have left and how much farther I can go with it. That and having someone yelling at me that the batteries are down to 25% when we're being depth charged. Oh, and we're gonna run out of oxygen eventually as well. So far we haven't come too close to the edge on any of those, so I guess I'm doing okay.