OM Patrol Log

[cadaha]

Patrol 2 for U-51 and the patrol area was at the south western approaches. I chanced the channel to get there and as I had been warned it was a pain. As I mentioned earlier I spent daylight hours submerged due to air patrols and torpedo boats frequenting the area but then had to contend with mines which caused damage on several occasions. All were repaired by my DC team but it is a route I will not take again.

As I approached my patrol area I detected and sank a 5000 ton cargo vessel which I thought bode well for the upcoming patrol. The location seemed as if it would be a natural path for ships approaching the channel and also heading for Liverpool. This was not the case and after 96 hrs and not a single sighting or radio report for the area I moved south to the BF7 area where I had seen several reported ships during my patrol.

Here I was luckier and managed to sink 4 merchants before I was forced to consider a route back to base due to 50% fuel remaining. One of my victims in this area was a 9000 ton cargo vessel which helped bring my total up to 22,000 tons before heading north.



As the cargo ship sunk below the waves on the western edge of the Bay of Biscay I considered my return course. I wanted to head north and avoid the channel so north of Scotland was the decision. Here I decided to push even further north and try and see if I could attack any targets between the Greenland and Iceland gap. I had seen several ship reports for that area and my real world knowledge of that area as a route made me want to see if it was viable in SH4.

By the time I reached the area I was getting low on fuel and only had one fish fwd and 3 aft so I couldn't really afford to patrol for too long there. My patience paid off and I sank a 5,000 ton cargo vessel as I steamed northwest of Iceland.

I carried on and took a route I like back towards Kiel. The deep water lane west of Bergan and Stavanger (both have been visited by me on a few occasions when in the Navy so for some strange reason felt comfortable for me in game).

As I made my way into the channel south of Kristiansand (another place that brings back memories of service life) I headed east but hugged the south side of the channel as I knew this part would offer more targets to boost my tonnage. Sure enough this channel towards the Baltic was heavily traveled and I took another cargo almost straight away with a single aft torpedo and finished off with the deck gun. I only had 2 more fish left and wanted to make the most of then so I had decided that any vessels attacked would have one fish sent at them and then be finished with the deck gun.

Next in line another juicy target which, even though I thought I'd need 2 to sink it, I fired one and prepared to surface and attack with the deck gun, but to my surprise it blew up almost immediately after the fish detonated.



The next contact appeared the next evening and I ran ahead to set up. I only had one fish left so my plan was the same as before but, as before, the cargo was destroyed by the impact of the one and only fish that was fired at it.



As I set up the attack on the previous vessel I had a sound contact report about another merchantman approaching from the west. I quickly recorded it's projected course so that I could head it off once the current attack was concluded. I surfaced after the attack and headed off on the plotted course at flank speed with only a deck gun and AA gun at my disposal. Once I had steamed within 1000yds of the cargo ship I opened fire with all my remaining ammunition. The deck gun pounded the hull and superstructure while I sat on the AA gun and stitched the waterline with Armor piercing rounds, switching to the superstructure when they had finished. Once the final round had been fired by the deck gun (the AA gun was out of ammo now) I was amazed to find the cargo ship still on the surface. My real world experience will tell you that what occurred during that engagement was impossible. Even a 20mm weapon with AP and HE rounds will cause considerable damage to a merchant ship at such close range (over 3,000 rounds were fired) and the 10cm (4") deck gun would have laid waste to to the hull and upper deck. Merchant ships cannot take the pounding that warships can due to the fact that they have very large compartments meaning that huge areas can be flooded when the hull is breached. Warships, on the other hand are honeycombed and can have several compartments flooded and still stay surfaced The largest and weakest area of a warship is the engine room, but even that can be flooded without the ship heading for the bottom. It will be stopped in the water without power or able to move but it can remain surfaced until aid arrives if the rest of the hull integrity is intact.

Anyway I arrived to my home base on 14 January 1940 with just under 54,500 tons to add to my total. Another Knights Cross and a few weeks leave until Patrol 3.