Tell us what you are upto in your current campaign

[Maceaciadh]

Just finished my 14th patrol of my 1st career. i am based in lorient after recently switching flotilla's and boats. i find the recent upgrade to the type 4 great! the extra room for torpedo's and crew is very pleasing as well as the increased range and flak gun. although i do miss the extra ammunition for the deck gun carried by the type 7.

Anyway i am sent out to patrol the eastern Atlantic with little results. only a single merchant is spotted(C2) so i position myself parallel to it, match speeds and then blow ballast! the sub flies up out of the water like a salmon with my men quickly mounting the deck gun and taking out the opposing ships guns with just 3 shots. i sink her with ease and continue up towards Britain and Ireland hoping to catch a convoy of ships that regularly pass through the Irish sea but before i get there i am spotted by bombers. i quickly order to dive but they have have already lined up into their attack runs. i take a hit it the stern whilst partially submerged which is easily repaired and continue on sinking a few ships along the way.

on the way the weather takes a turn for the worse with huge waves and heavy fog all around. i take this opportunity to sneak into the welsh harbour of merthyr. with visibility down to 300M or so nothing could spot me without blind luck. unfortunately i cannot spot my targets without the same. once i arrive there is nothing in the docks at all so i search the area nearby and find another C2 anchored just outside the harbour. i line my shot up being careful not to be to far that i cannot see the target nor too close that the safeties do not disengage. A gift of a kill really with the ship exploding into a fireball, i quickly get out of there before any destroyers arrive however i am spotted by a PT boat moments later which i swiftly destroy and set flank speed after my position is given away

i make it back to the irish sea and he weather is brightening up, i head northwards and again am spotted by planes! i dive quickly again i hear to bombs go off, then again a second round comes in. but oddly my event camera turns on and shows a plane going down :hmmm: . i stick up my observation periscope to see what happened and at either side of my boat there are 2 huge fires. i guess 2 bombers flew into each other :haha:. with luck like that who needs a periscope to shoot.

i continue north again and receive a message about a convoy entering between Ireland and Scotland. just what i have been waiting for! :Kaleun_Salivating: i get myself into position and lie in wait for my sonar man to to start shouting out contacts. i wait for them patiently beneath the surface and line up my shots for the largest ships, 3 C2's and a T2. as always the biggest ships belong to the Americans and i dont want to lose any renown now. i fire my first torpedo at the T2! dud :shifty: A second! dud :wah: A third! thankfully this one goes off blowing the ship sky high but now i am tightly pressed for time having to reload. i sink the first C2 with ease and just about get a reload in to disable the second with the forward tubes. i then set slow speed in order to get ahead of the last C2 and sink her as well. i quickly mark the position of the disabled ship and crash dive going right down to 140 M outside of listening range. i dodge a few DCs and wait around for them to leave, then up to periscope depth to reload and finish off the last C2.

at this point i have a single torpedo left in the aft tube and decide to call it a day. i set course homewards around the north of Ireland and down to France. but not until more fighters spot me just at the northern tip of Ireland. i dive but take a hit again to stern which forces a leak. Thankfully it is only minor and so is all other damage to the electrics and diesels. i then make it back to port without much else happening only to discover in my report that my remaining hull was 9.72%!:o i cant wait until someone invents a damm snorkel for these things

|feb 26th-mar 8th 1941: 62% realism |

[Pappy55]

Finally after two weeks the storm subsided to a flat ocean..

I decided to take the boat closer to Gibraltar and listen.

Soon enough I had 3 contacts 2 merchant and one warship i got in close for the intercept at periscope depth..

Fired off 1 torp at each merchant both hit one sunk and one was crippled..

The patrol craft was at a nice 90 degree at my stern so i decided to snap shot him from the aft.. it was a hit big explosion and he sunk instantly..

Then I surfaced and but 2-3 rounds from the deck gun into the limping freighter and she soon sunk..:rock:

I think i will dive again and wait till nightfall as that work will surly bring out the RAF or Patrols to play with me.
:lurk:

[TwoGamers]

First Patrol October 1st
7th flotilla
While sailing north to grid AM17 two british aircraft attacked me. They turned back out to sea and so I went hunting for a Carrier. I didn't find my carrier but instead because of my adjusted course sunk about 30000 tons before reaching my grid. Then i got over 40000 while heading home. Had 4 torpedoes left. Better amp up the diffuculty:hmmm: I will put on DUD eels. P.S due to install problems and me still getting use to the game I dont have any mods:Kaleun_Sleep:

[VONHARRIS]

100% realism - GWX - Hsie V16B1 patch

Still struggling to properly install the Stiebler 4B addon

Patrol 4 log page 1 of 2

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/6325/patrol4page1of2.jpg


Patrol 4 log page 2 of 2

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/2843/patrol4page2of2.jpg

Patrol 5 log page 1 of 2

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Patrol 5 log page 2 of 2

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7364/patrol5page2of2.jpg


Patrol 6 log page 1 of 2

http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/7641/patrol6page1of2.jpg

Patrol 6 log page 2 of 2

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/2152/patrol6page2of2.jpg

Patrol 7 page 1 of 2

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/3416/patrol7page1of1.jpg

Patrol 7 log page 2 of 2

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/1126/patrol7page2of2.jpg

That's it for now!

[Zedwardson]

Had a odd, fun patrol.

6/40 new guy, in a IX.

I am off the North east coast of Britain, getting out of the North Sea to the North Atlantic (Note to self, soon I will be forced more to the east as patrols are picking up off the coast. Might not be able to do the Shetland/Orkney passage runs anymore.)

I find a 5000 ton freighter, reported it in to HQ, and since it is calm, man the deck gun and head flank speed to it, thinking I can pound the ship to bits and save my torpedoes. I have started to manually shell the ship when suddenly I get a call "We are being engaged!" I look to my watch officer, a Hunt class DD is 16000 meters away flying with a Bone in is teeth. So I pound the freighter with the deck gun till shells start to fly around me. I curse, the ship is down to two knots and burning, but I play DiD, so I order a change in course and dive. Then run silently and wait for the Hunt Class. The Hunt class starts depth charging, but is well away. after a while, the depth charging stops, and the Hunt class is is going away, so I pop up to Scope depth to find out whats going on.

The freighter is dead in the water, and the Hunt Class is going in a line. So I launch two Eels at the freighter, and a tight spread to the Hunt class.

Both eels to the freighter are duds, blowing up before they reach it. After a few german cuss words, then i see the Hunt class change direction due to the blasts. Dang it. I get my crews to reload. and as soon as I have a Eel ready, I launch again at the freighter.

ANOTHER dud. :/\\!!

I was waiting for the next Eel to load as the Hunt Class changes directions. Suddenly the Merchant explodes, and the DD goes nuts, firing away. And I am going "What the HECK?"

The German air-force finished off the merchant (I guess it was Norway based) and claimed my kill.

Then I had the exciting time of being bombed north of Britain while putting the externals eels into the main racks on on the surface so I couldn't dive (I play that I can only load externals on the surface in calm weather, and can't dive while doing that). Lucky I was not sunk.

However, not all was lost. I was off Portugal when I get a notice to hunt down two cruse ships/transports. In a dark and stormy night, I came across two RMS Aquitania class ships only going 12 knots. (I though they would be faster, but I didn't gripe) I got ahead of the rear one, Turned towards it, and fired a spread of four torpedoes. 3 hit and it sunk quickly. So I quickly caught up with the other one, same tactic, and it was put on the bottom as well. Suddenly a Escort cam screaming down to find out what was going on. I dived and found a long range contact with what appeared to be a Odd, single line convoy, but they got the slip over the night.

Still, 80k tons on the first patrol for my new commander is a good day.

[Zedwardson]

9-9-40

Just lost my 2nd commander of the war. Died in the same failure of tactics. Was heading to a convoy contact, and ran headlong into a Escort, and was shot up badly before I could Crash drive, then I was badly depth charged. My men where brave, and despretly tried to do repairs, but the ship slowly sunk lower and lower, and the damaged hull just didn't like 164 meters under the water, and it was crushed.

RIP

3 patrols (39 days) 11 (11/0) 118903 (118903/0)
Think I am going with a VII and not a IX, as the IX get me killed since i can't crash drive fast enough.

[VONHARRIS]

100% realism - GWX - Hsie V16B1 patch

Patrol 8 log page 1 of 3

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/276/patrol8page1of3.jpg

Patrol 8 log page 2 of 3

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/452/patrol8page2of3.jpg

Patrol 8 log page 3 of 3

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/4439/patrol8page3of3.jpg

More to follow!

[BootsmanBoof]

2nd patrol in my IIa, U-12, less than 100kms off the English coast. The weather was quite poor at around 10am, spotted a tramp, decided to go in hard and fast in a surface attack and fire at around 500m (I don't need bad sea prematures). Due to rough seas and the fact my watch officer is also torpedo trained, I had him down below looking after the torps while I held the tower with 2 rates.

So I was around 600m away from the target and charging in at 11knots when I heard the sudden roar of aircraft engines and got the fright of my life when a bomb exploded probably 20m off the port side and showered my boat with water. Verdammt!!!!!

Luckily I had pinged for depth prior to my attack run, so a sharp turn to starboard to avoid collision and a crash dive saved my skin.

Currently at 60m wondering whether to stick around for another shot or just retreat submerged with my tail between my legs.

[VONHARRIS]

100% realism - GWX - Hsie V16B1 patch

Patrol 9 page 1 of 2

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/6070/patrol9page1of2.jpg

Patrol 9 page 2 of 2

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/389/patrol9page2of2.jpg


Patrol 10 page 1 of 3

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Patrol 10 page 2 of 3

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Patrol 10 page 3 of 3

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/383/patrol10page3of3.jpg

Summer time = end of teaching period = lots of time to play.

[Harald_Lange]

@VONHARRIS, I'm using NYGM and the Hsie V16B1 patch, with SH3 commander. Could you tell me how you get such detailed patrol logs? Thanks.

[VONHARRIS]

@VONHARRIS, I'm using NYGM and the Hsie V16B1 patch, with SH3 commander. Could you tell me how you get such detailed patrol logs? Thanks.

I am keeping notes as events happen and then I edit the patrol logs in Commander or directly in C:\Documents and Settings\User\My documnets\GWX\data\cfg\Careers\von Harris

von Harris = My current Commander name.

[Zedwardson]

Had a hairy moment, was tracking a Task force, and was hoping to find a nice ship at the center of it. Then I ran into it.

3 torpedo boats, and 3 ASW trawlers. (opps) crash dive and slink away as they blow holes in the water with depth charges.

Luckily later i was able to find a convoy and sink three ships and survived getting dinked by a Q ship and got my crew home.

It is late 1940 and it is already MUCH harder to hunt.

[VONHARRIS]

100% realism - GWX - Hsie V16B1 patch

Patrol 11 page 1 of 2

http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/3416/patrol11page1of2.jpg

Patrol 11 page 2 of 2

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/3616/patrol11page2of2.jpg

Patrol 11 map

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/4287/patrol11map.jpg

[Zedwardson]

3 14NOV40 - 19NOV40 (6 days) 3 (3/0) 7831 (7831/0) U-boat damaged (H.I. 82.34%)
I lived, very short patrol, sunk a low value tanker, then came to a massive convoy. Sneaked in, you would think that it would of been a turkey shoot, but Dud torpedoes was the rule of the day. Firing them off as fast as I could. Lots of duds. surfaced and manned the guns but the escorts fire was too close for comfort, so I crashed dived and waited for the convoy to pass me over. Then I finished off a small freighter who was crippled with the deck gun. Shadowed it till dawn, and gave a lot of locational reports, hoping for a air raid as it was so close to France in late 1940. I tried to sneak in once again with three eels, but a Town Class spotted me and damaged my boat, so I got quiet, got away, and returned home. Somehow A Intermediate Tanker was sunk by me, so I was able to get 7931 tons, my worse showing by far.

[VONHARRIS]

100% realism - GWX - Hsie V16B1 patch

Patrol 12 log page 1 of 4

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/2834/patrol12page1of4.jpg

Patrol 12 log page 2 of 4

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/5683/patrol12page2of4.jpg

Patrol 12 log 3 of 4

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Patrol 12 log page 4 of 4

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5765/patrol12page4of4.jpg


Patrol 12 map

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/293/patrol12map.jpg

[VONHARRIS]

100% realism - GWX - Hsie V16B1 patch

Patrol 13 log page 1 of 2

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/6439/patrol13page1of2.jpg

Patrol 13 log page 2 of 2

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/9822/patrol13page2of2.jpg

See also : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=83681 post 10650

[Fubar2Niner]

Pretty scary patrol Von :yep:

[VONHARRIS]

Pretty scary patrol Von :yep:

It was almost a replay of my previous career end in the Carribean.
Same situation but I didn't survive.

[Zedwardson]

17.1.41. 1626 Patrol 5
U-403, 7th/13th Flotilla
Left at: January 17, 1941, 16:26
From: St. Nazaire
Mission Orders: Patrol grid CF32 22.1.41. 1031 Grid BE 97 Ship sunk! HMS Bataan (Tribal class), 1850 tons. Crew: 206. Crew lost: 41 1144 Grid BE 97 Ship sunk! SS Bienville (Medium Cargo) (Medium Cargo), 5301 tons. Cargo: Wine/Spirits. Crew: 38. Crew lost: 6 1245 Grid BE 97 Ship sunk! HMS Cygnet (Black Swan class), 1250 tons. Crew: 183. Crew lost: 155 1904 Grid BE 94 Ship sunk! SS Sea Panther (Large Cargo), 6946 tons. Cargo: Phosphates. Crew: 46. Crew lost: 3 2029 Patrol results
Crew losses: 0
Ships sunk: 4
Aircraft destroyed: 0
Patrol tonnage: 15347 tons BACK


Almost bit it when suddenly a flowers class got the range on me on the opening salvo on my last attack. was depth charged out the wazoo and was under 50% hull when I limped home. Looks like the men will have time to visit the french girls while the ship repairs. It was a nasty convoy fight between me, a large convoy, and its five escorts.



First approach i was spotted well outside the convoy, and I sunk the Tribal with a electric eel gut shot before I crashed drived, the flowers class that annoyed me the entire battle depth charged me. I surface, reload with steam torps, and launch a long string of steam torps at the convoy at 10k meters. get two hits, and one is fatal. perscope depth, and get a ideal shot at one of the escorts, so I sink it and go down as the flowers pounds me with some more depth charges.



Now it was night, and i was down to one steam forward, and one rear. So I charge in, and there is a front escort, a rear escort, and a type S somewhere inside. So I launch the steam at a large frighter, and I flip around to launch the last torpedo when I am spotted. Star shells are fired, and I order my gun crew into action to cause mayhem, as I keep turning at flank speed to get my stern shot off.



Then the same flowers starts to pepper my haul with fire. Crash dive, damage control teams get the damage under control, and i risk 100 meters and go silent.


Get 40 depth charges toss at me by the flowers class and its buddy. As they go they are sailing back at 8000 meters to the convoy. So I use my stern shot to take a last chance at the flowers class, and when it misses, surface, and head back to base.



Didn't get as many freighters as I wanted. Do the allies already have radar in Jan 41?

[NightCrawler]

almost hit the 100.000, but it was 95.875 tonnage, the credit i had was 2500, torped 17 ships, and 1 bi-plane....

Tonight im ready to sail out again saving credit to purchasing XB for long haul to US coast, away from the planes... hopefully will have luck like the last mission..

But DD's gettin smarter every day, i had 1 mission grid CG 85, there was a DD in 1940 that already use hedgehogs..., it was a pain to get away, but it works, and made home....

[VONHARRIS]

Two patrols completed
Lots of time to play

100% realism - GWX - Hsie V16B1 patch
Not much details this time:oops:

Patrol 14 log page 1 of 1

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4678/patrol14page1of1.jpg


Patrol 15 log page 1 of 2

http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/8851/patrol15page1of2.jpg

Patrol 15 log page 2 of 2

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1019/patrol15page2of2.jpg

[VONHARRIS]

Patrol 16 Log page 1 of 1
Not much of a patrol , as both scopes were useless!

http://img862.imageshack.us/img862/5948/patrol16page1of1.jpg


After repairing the scopes , U-154 was ready to sail again

Patrol 17 log page 1 of 4

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/3347/patrol17page1of4.jpg


Patrol 17 log page 2 of 4

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Patrol 17 Log page 3 of 4

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Patrol 17 Log page 4 of 4

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/8674/patrol17page4of4.jpg


Next patrol will be at the US East Coast , operation Paukenschlag

[Sepp von Ch.]

05.1941. On the way to the coast of Africa (Freetown) with my lovely VIIC Boat. I am saving fuel

[NightCrawler]

Mission grid: AM53, after patrolled that grid 24 hours heading south to Gibraltar, there are loaded with ships coming in/out that corridor, just wait and take them down... with luck 2 ships together.. the weather change quick, torped 2 ships and 1 friendly fire(Greece ship)(small cargo ship) but didn't sink otherwise it will reown me minus, it was to dark to check the flag... the greece ship was limped(out of order) or in german language "aus ter stelle"....

Now heading back to Ireland grid BE, have 6 torpedos left, and 100 round deck-ammo, hopefully after this mission, i can relocate to Brest or Lorient..
Im at 5014 reown, need to have for IXB 7500, so hopefully i pass the reown, to pimp my new IXB for the next voyage...


Came home at Lorient when i received a message that Lorient is available, on the mission book it said back to Wilhelmshaven, but i was lazy to take a long route all the way to N13/N14 thats crowded with DD's later in the war, so came home, with tonnage of 29500, not enough to get the IXB, so i stick for 2 mission with the VII type..
I will upgraded for 300 reown from single to dual AA, and keep the rest for the new boot...

[sublynx]

http://i.imgur.com/p4Hr3s.jpg

Here's my latest patrol:

http://imgur.com/p4Hr3

It's the whole war diary I kept during the patrol, 24 pages, so I put only a link here.

[VONHARRIS]

Here's my latest patrol:

http://imgur.com/p4Hr3

It's the whole war diary I kept during the patrol, 24 pages, so I put only a link here.

A very detailed patrol log.
Congats on that! :up:

[NightCrawler]

Boot: VII
Upgrades: dual AA for free
changed: type II torpedo's in Type I torpedo's

Mission 7

Came home with total tonnage 31952
Torped 7 merchants
1 destroyer
1 patrolboat(not speed boot)
date left port: 10-6-1940
Date arrive port: 11-12-1940
U boot hull %: 84.90
Reown this mission: 746.65

[sublynx]

A very detailed patrol log.
Congats on that! :up:

Thanks VonHarris :salute:

[LemonA]

http://i.imgur.com/p4Hr3s.jpg



The Secretary of Command HQ of the U-boat arm has requested the inspection of the files.

OKM - Berlin, 13/05/40

[sublynx]

The Secretary of Command HQ of the U-boat arm has requested the inspection of the files.

OKM - Berlin, 13/05/40

An inspection seems ominous. Luckily I'm at sea again :arrgh!:

[NightCrawler]

Mission 8

Boot: VIIB

Patrol Grid: BF 17

Came home with total tonnage 28580
Torped 4 merchant
1 Destroyer

date left port:12-2-1940
Date arrive port: 1-11-1941
U boot hull %:100
Reown this mission:595.95

[Red Heat]

Personnel File:

Name: VON PAULUS
Date of Birth: 12SEP13
Place of Birth: MAGDEBURG
Date of Intake: 01APR35 (CREW 35)

Promotions
03JAN36 SEEKADETT
01JUL36 FÄHNRICH Z. S.
01SEP37 OBERFÄHNRICH Z. S.
01FEB38 LEUTNANT Z. S.
30NOV39 KAPITÄNLEUTNANT

Medals
30NOV39 IRON CROSS, SECOND CLASS
19JAN40 IRON CROSS, FIRST CLASS
07JUN40 KNIGHT'S CROSS
11SEP40 KNIGHT'S CROSS WITH OAK LEAVES
28JAN41 KNIGHT'S CROSS WITH OAK LEAVES AND SWORDS
15MAY41 KNIGHT'S CROSS WITH OAK LEAVES, SWORDS, AND DIAMONDS

Badges
NIL

U-Bootwaffe Postings
10APR38 U-Boat Flotilla Weddigen (Commander training)
01AUG39 2nd Flotilla (9 patrols)
19JAN41 7th/13th Flotilla (4 patrols)
20AUG41 1st Flotilla (1 patrols)

U-Boat Commands
01AUG39 U-33, Type VIIB (9 patrols)
19JAN41 U-97, Type VIIC (5 patrols)


Status: In home base before patrol 15

Date: Friday, Oct 17 1941

Last patrol end: Sunday, Set 7, 1941

U-Boot: U-97, Type VIIC

Flotilla: 1st Flotilla, Brest

Next patrol grid: ET49

Last saved: Saturday, Aug 25, 2012 at 16:31

Totals patrols: 14 /377 days

Ships sunk/merchant/warship: 65

Tonnage/merchant/warship: 290371 GRT.

[nutworld]

On Sept 29, 1939, U-30 and its Captain Leonard Krueger surrendered after being forced to the surface in the Irish Sea after being severely damaged in battle with a British A&B Class destroyer.

The patrol ended with 2 ships sunk for a total of over 5600 tons of merchant shipping sunk.

[Buhring]

OLtn. Heinrich Buhring, U-99 (VIIB) - Assigned to Operation Hartmut, Apr. 1940

I penetrated the Olotfjorden just before our invasion forces.

I fought a first sqd. of English DD's trying to reach Narvik on Apr. 10. Four hits, three ships sunk, only one credited.

On April 13, we sighted the Warspite incoming wit an escort of some 8-10 DD's. They were coming in at 20 kts, probably too fast to have a good hydrophone performance, so I could maneuver easily in order to position myself in the perfect spot to hit the battleship.

2.800 mt. away, 2.700... 2.600... suddenly the enemy TF slows at 4 kts and steers 10/15° in my direction -- and my tactical position and torpedo solution go down in the sink.

I am forced to maneuver at high speed in very shallow water and wiht giant waves alternatively covering my scope and making my turret show out of the water. Enemy DD's start approaching, so i have to fire my salvo at some 1.900 mts from a nearly impossible angle. I miss with all four, even if at least one was on target (it porpoised some 50 mts. from the target) -- and have to outmaneuver the DD's who are getting the hell out of me.
No caution here, there is a BB to sink! Max speed submerged and I maneuver so that I can put some distance between me and the hunters, but also that I can bring my aft tube to bear. I fire again, at a distance of more or less 1,500 mt.: another near miss. My crew is reloading the fore tubes, and I still have to dodge the DD's -- but at least one of them gets stuck on the shallows. I get some DC, none of them too near (just some light damage to the obs scope and turret).

In half an hour I cant get my last attempt at the Warspite: I have duped the destroyers, who are depthcharging an empty spot a couple of miles behind me, so I have an unobstructed path to the battleship, who is starting to fire on our destroyers in the Narvik bay. So I can approach the ship and fire my last-but-one torpedo at the Warspite from 800 mts. This time I hit just aft of the B turret: a fire starts, but no immediate listing shows.

Then I have to run away from the destroyers, but I can see through the scope that the Warspite is still sailing East, towards the bottom of the fjord and engaging our ships. Many hours later, when the English DD's withdraw and I can re-surface, the Warspite is still there, on fire and heavily listing. Clearly the AI considers her sunk, because a nearby Zerstorer is not firing on her, but on the map she shows as a diamond, not as a sunk ship. Obviously I will get no credit from this sinking, but I am proud of having helped the comrades of the surface ships to do their job.

(Needless to say, ten hours later, when I am sailing away from Narvik, the Warspite steams past me, unscathed: I decide to consider it an hallucination of my third watch)

A couple of considerations on the engine limitations:
1) it is so annoying to sink a ship and see her alive and kicking again only because you have sailed out of rendering distance. I think some workaround should be found.
2) the tactical behaviour of surface forces is often utterly unrealistic. No capital ship would venture in a restricted water combat when damaged. In real war, the Warspite would have withdrawn with all her escorts.

[grislyatoms]

After a couple year hiatus, I am once again heading out to tick off Churchill. Had to find all my old notes, files, mods etc. first.

[sublynx]

After a couple year hiatus, I am once again heading out to tick off Churchill. Had to find all my old notes, files, mods etc. first.

I've been there :) It's hard work getting all the old mods and notes together and then getting acquainted with the new ones! Anyways welcome back and Gute Jagd :arrgh!:

[VONHARRIS]

Realism 100% - Hsie realism pack v16B1

Patrol 18 log page 1 of 3

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Patrol 18 log page 2 of 3

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Patrol 18 log page 3 of 3

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/7582/patrol18page3of3.jpg



Patrol 19 log page 1 of 3

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/7411/patrol19page1of3.jpg


Patrol 19 page 2 of 3

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/8209/patrol19page2of3.jpg

Patrol 19 log page 3 of 3

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/969/patrol19page3of3.jpg

Hull integrity after patrol 19 : 60%
I am glad I survived this.
In my previous career , I was DCed in the same area at the same time.

[ijnfleetadmiral]

Departed Wilhelmshaven 22 January 1940 and patrolled assigned grid square for allotted time. Weather abysmal, so no targets sighted; had to cross Atlantic to get out of storm, which finally broke off St. John's. Headed into port itself and was quite pleased to find anchorage without torpedo nets. Sank a Modern Tanker and the Black Swan at anchor in the harbor (pretty much the only targets of value there) and then headed south. Tried to intercept a convoy, but no luck, so made directly for Halifax, going into the harbor itself. Once again, no torpedo nets (my officers all agreed that this was quite strange for a major convoy depot), so we managed to bag a second Modern Tanker. However, we failed to spot the ASW Trawler and the A/B-class DD that immediately raised steam and attempted to find us, but one fish from the aft tubes blew the stern off the DD and we managed to escape, this time back across the Atlantic.

We headed for home via the Denmark Strait, hoping against hope to possibly catch a British cruiser patrolling the area...no luck. Tried the same with the Iceland-Faeroes Passage...nothing. Finally headed down the British east coast and managed to pick off an ASW trawler, but the weather was slowly closing in again. We headed further south and managed to escape into clearer skies, and we were almost off the northern entrance to the Channel when we sighted a Large Cargo escorted by an ASW trawler. Hit the merchant with three torpedoes and when the ASW Trawler came after me a single torpedo from the aft tubes sank her.

Decided enough was enough, so we headed home, arriving on 6 March. Was awarded the German Cross in Gold and the Knight's Cross, and also my first promotion. And the war goes on...

[Dive! Dive! Dive!]

Started new campaign in a Type-II. Ordered to patrol a grid not too far from the Scottish coast and at a rather nice point. Had quite a bit of traffic from the Forth. Mostly just trawlers and other small boats until a small convoy of merchants showed their faces. I sank two before the north sea forced me under. Weather got even worse and soon it was pouring it down. With our 24hr patrol done with two kills, we decided to use up the last of our eels on any ships docked up the Forth. I then spotted 3 merchants and a destroyer :woot:. I fired first at the destroyer so that it couldn't tail me. Then with what we had left, sank two of the three ships. Out of torpedoes and not in any mood to waste fuel, we returned to base to recieve medals and promotions. Beer is on me crew...:arrgh!:.

[grislyatoms]

I've been there :) It's hard work getting all the old mods and notes together and then getting acquainted with the new ones! Anyways welcome back and Gute Jagd :arrgh!:

Thanks! Feels good to be on deck again.:arrgh!:

[Stark]

patrol off the west coast of England, merchants were easy picking if not scattered. After 2 confirmed sunk and attempts to intercept 3 others we ended the patrol due to lack of fuel, 10k tons to the deep!

[grislyatoms]

1st patrol - 29877 tons, 10 ships. Hunted up and down the North Sea coast.

Incidences - Had a PT Boat approach at high speed off Hartlepool after a sinking. Evaded.

Morning light, jumped by unidentified aircraft same position return leg. Attack was utterly ineffective.

Several contacts with neutral vessels.

Machinist is fatigued all too easily. Will look for a replacement from the billet when we return.

Weather turned foul as we approached October. 15 m/s wind, seas confused, heavy lightning.

Pleased with the boat and the crew, for the most part. Watch Officers will recieve commendations upon return to port.

Disposition upon returning - ~33% fuel left, 1 stern torpedo, 60 deck gun rounds, no damage.

Returned to port after exactly one month at sea.

[grislyatoms]

2nd patrol - Heading for the grounds upon which we had so much success last trip - just off Hartlepool.

3 contacts thus far - 2 Norwegian, 1 Dane. Set up solutions on each, only to abort last minute. Frustrating.

Sea is flat calm, wind 4 m/s.

19:06 - on the surface, batteries recharging, full watch complement.

[ijnfleetadmiral]

Our new patrol took us off Lerwick in the Shetland Islands. Found a C/D-class DD and sank her with an eel planted directly under her first stack. Blew the stack clean off and sank her in short order. Then sniped a J/K-class DD that headed to investigate the sinking. After another J/K-class DD was seen in the area decided to not push our luck and moved off.

Intercepted no less than TWO so-called 'Task Forces', which turned out to be nothing more than DD flotillas. Not wanting to tempt fate, we let them pass unmolested. Headed to an area off Lowestoft and managed to catch sight of part of a convoy. Sank a Large Merchant with two fish and disabled a Modern Tanker with a third. Then when the two escorting ASW trawlers moved to attack, we moved off, but kept the tanker in sight, later moving back in to finish her off. Currently attempting to intercept a REAL Task Force (and not a verdammt DD flotilla!) in an effort to emulate the earlier sinking of H.M.S. Rodney on our second patrol, but bad weather's closing in, so somewhat doubtful of our chance of success.

And the beat goes on...

[ijnfleetadmiral]

Attempt to intercept task force failed AGAIN. Headed across North Sea and along Norwegian coast...NOTHING. Desperate for targets, made a pass at Barentsburg, sinking a Coastal Tanker and my first Whale Factory Ship at anchor. Was then FINALLY able to go home. Handed out awards and promotions to my crew and accepted the Oak Leaves to my Knight's Cross.

[NightCrawler]

U-47
Total Tonnages: 47512
7 Ships sinked:
3 Merchant
4 Tankers

[Stark]

The crew was anxious as we sailed closer to our target, the days of avoiding patrols in order to get close enough had their nerves fried. Giving the order at 1800 the submarine sailed in the eastern entrance into Scapa Flow. After dodging the beached tankers we made flank speed under the cover of night to our target. At 21:23 we were within striking range of the harbor, spotting a large troop transport and a destroyer close by I gave the order to the Weapons Officer to launch the torpedoes. Turning the boat around to set for a hasty retreat I saw 4 large splashes through my para-scope, and sent the order towards more friendly waters. Beers all around when we reach port.

Total Tonnage
1. Troop Transport (x1)-9084k
2. Destroyer (x1)-1375k

[grislyatoms]

Rethinking my idea to hunt the deeper water "holes" off Hartlepool and Firth of Forth. Popped out of my hole to pursue a sound contact. Yet another Norwegian. On the way back to my hole, very nearly ran over an ASW trawler in the dark. How they didn't see/detect us is baffling.

Going to use a little more caution from now on. :o

[sublynx]

Rethinking my idea to hunt the deeper water "holes" off Hartlepool and Firth of Forth. Popped out of my hole to pursue a sound contact. Yet another Norwegian. On the way back to my hole, very nearly ran over an ASW trawler in the dark. How they didn't see/detect us is baffling.

Going to use a little more caution from now on. :o

I once had a collision with an armed trawler in 500 meters visibility. Luckily it wasn't totally head on but more of a scraping the paint of the type II and getting some minor hull damage kind of traffic accident. I just continued on the surface and lost the trawler to the fog. They did notice me, but I was out of visual range before they had finished turning. Luckily it was 1939 so they could not find me with radar :)

After that I made a habit of continually checking the area with the hydrophone, if there's fog. I haven't kept the habit though, so now I'm probably going to end up dead in a collision sooner or later.

After the enemy gets radar, staying surfaced in fog is suicidal. One needs to stay below or keep making hydrophone checks.

[Andrewsdad]

U-48 Type VIIB Third War Patrol 18 May to 2 June 1941

Patrol Assigned Grid BE38

Afternoon of 22 May 1941 encountered a medium convoy with three destroyers escorting. Visibility excellent. Began to end around when the port side destroyer spotted my boat. Was forced to submerge, the destroyer was unable to find us. After dark I was able to slip behind the port column and fired one torpedo at a large merchantman in the second column. Range 2500m AOB: port 100 Gyro 50 degrees. Detonation was heard approx 4 minutes after firing. Ship hit was a small merchantman in the starboard column.

Fired two torpedoes at the trailing ship in the port column. Range 1200; AOB 180 (0) No hits observed.

Slowed to increase distance from the escorts and reloaded tubes.

23 May 1941

Maneuvered ahead on the starboard side of the convoy. Weather deteriorating, dark night, was able to close to 1500 meters from the enemy.

Fired one torpedo each at two large merchantmen. Range 1000m; AOB starboard 80; gyro angle 340 and AOB starboard 110; gyro angle 20. Observed hits on both targets which sank.

As dawn was breaking I maneuvered to track the convoy for the day and intended to resume the attack after darkness.

Visibility poor. Lost the convoy, It must have turned to port (south).

24 May Grid BE 62

Ran into the starboard side of a large convoy. Medium visibility. Ships in the near column were all small freighters, however the next column in had a large ammunition ship. Fired two torpedoes AOB starboard 90; Range 1500m, target speed 6k. Observed one hit which caused massive explosions. The ship sank in one minute. My boat was spotted in searchlights and starshells and forced to dive. Evaded three destroyers for one hour. Heavy seas made for poor detection.

26 May 1941

Seas moderated enough to strike the external torpedoes below. The last ones aboard. One forward and one aft.

Recieved message that BISMARCK needed assistance. Was approx. 4 hours away and set course in heavy seas with medium to poor visibility. At 0800 hours submerged to listen for contacts. Warships were heard bearing 90 degrees relative. Changed course and surfaced at Ahead Full.

0900: Lookout spotted ship bearing 300 relative. Was HMS RODNEY! One minute later HMS KING GEORGE V was spotted trailing in column. Both ships were seen to fire their main battery to port at a unseen target opposite me.

Submerged the boat and made ready the last forward tube. Enemy speed was estimated at 16 knots. As RODNEY had passed KGV was targeted. AOB starboard 80; Range 2000m. G7a type gyro angle 350d

As soon as the torpedo left the tube, lowered the periscope and went to flank speed and full starboard rudder to bring the last torpedo (stern) to bear. The bow shot missed ahead.. I overestimated the target speed so reduced the setting to 12k. Fired the stern shot AOB starboard 110; range 1800m. G7a torpedo ran to amidships of the target and PASSED UNDERNEATH THE SHIP! The depth setting was 6m and must have run at least 5 meters below its setting.

The shot was perfect. The crew was very disappointed and it was a long sail back to Lorient....

I bet some British tars soiled their trousers watching that torpedo go right at them !!!

AD

[sublynx]

Here's my latest war diary, 31 pages, mostly weather reports:)

http://i.imgur.com/YjJ5M.jpg

[grislyatoms]

Nice work sublynx! Very much like some of the actual logs I have read.

[grislyatoms]

23712 tons, crew and boat in good shape. Would have been over 30,000 but our last target (ore carrier) settled in shallow water, and cannot be claimed in good faith. For want of a handful of deck gun rounds to pierce the air pocket in the bow, we cannot claim her, as she was not well and truly sunk.


3rd patrol - Have abandoned the idea to hunt deeper water pockets off Hartlepool and Firth of Forth/Rosyth, mainly due to aircraft presence, but also concern about targets grounding instead of sinking.
9000 tons on our way to AM02 AM52. Was concerned with sinking merchants so close to Scapa Flow, but we had opportunity, and seized it. No doubt BdU will advise to "be more aggressive".

[grislyatoms]

"I bet some British tars soiled their trousers watching that torpedo go right at them !!!"
:up:

[grislyatoms]

Now that we have the water - ran crash dive drills. They could be a little better.
Currently testing our boat's limits. Passing through 160 meters. The L.I., and some of the new crew, are turning green. She, and they, must be able to take it.

[grislyatoms]

175 meters. Deep as I dared go. Bow and stern torpedo crew did not take it well at all. Hmm.

[sublynx]

Thanks grislyatoms! I try to write the report trying to follow Dönitz's orders:

http://uboatarchive.net/BDUOrder501A.htm

Lots of repetition but at the moment I can't imagine playing without keeping a detailed report :ping:

[STEED]

I started a new career in Oct44 in a Type VII/41 I'm based up in Norway, exact location slips my mind at the moment. :haha:

First patrol against a convoy coming from Russia and that was a real stinker! I will never understand how the heck I survived that one. Took out a couple of Escorts and two medium cargo ships. Dec-Feb I mainly been attacking the Russian small convoys, better odds making it to the end of the war. :03:

[palatum]

Just had my first "in the middle of convoy" experience. What a rush! Foul weather, heavy winds, zero visability, and managed to get inside the columns. Twisting and turning to get decent solutions. No time or need to set course, I used the rudder actively for the first time. I travelled parallell to the convoy for some time, then turned 90 degrees and fired at targets coming in sight. Then rinse and repeat. I actively used binos to search for targets, as they didnt show up on the map. I have map contacts enabled, but it didnt help much, and I didnt need them, I was so close that targets were filling up the whole FOV of the UZO. I even had manual targeted shots at ships running parallell to me, with decent luck, 2 out of 3 hits.

Eventually a corvette showed up as I was on an attack run, and I managed to fire the torp at a merchant, then squeeze just ahead of him, leaving the corvette to take a detour around him. Good fun, and around 24000 GWT and 4 red ships :yeah:

[sublynx]

Here's the latest war diary of U-29:

http://i.imgur.com/Y045I.jpg

My commander Schröter got assigned a desk job by SH3Commander.

I continue playing with U-29, now with Ob.lt.z.s. Günther Ebler as the U-boat's new captain

[LemonA]

Here's the latest war diary of U-29:

http://i.imgur.com/Y045I.jpg

My commander Schröter got assigned a desk job by SH3Commander.

I continue playing with U-29, now with Ob.lt.z.s. Günther Ebler as the U-boat's new captain


http://img.xrmb2.net/images/631030.jpeg

The secretary of OKM has us inquire why it took more than 5 hours 33 minutes to identify the approximate number of destroyers in one convoy?
In similar cases, it took other ship crews significantly less time (" Twenty minutes later they had managed to get an idea of what was against them (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1932365&postcount=22) ").

OKM Berlin, den 30.09.40

[sublynx]

The secretary of OKM has us inquire why it took more than 5 hours 33 minutes to identify the approximate number of destroyers in one convoy?

http://i.imgur.com/7sA3n.jpg

That was the official explanation. The unofficial explanation is that as I've become accustomed to GWX's lightly defended convoys I have a bad habit of not paying much attention to the escorts. Maybe I should try NYGM for a change :arrgh!:

[LemonA]

My commander Schröter got assigned a desk job


These are more likely to have been the real causes of the dismissing of Ob.lt.z.s. W. Schroeter:
1) 13.9.40. One of the heads of OKM, K. Dönitz, made a number of comments regarding to the activities of u-29l (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1934112&postcount=4314) on the 6th of their patrols (KTM-report No. 4313 (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1932418&postcount=4313) ).
2) 30.9.40. The secretary of OKM sent a written question (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1934112&postcount=4314) to commander of U-29 with the request for information on this subject.
3) 01.10.40. The reply letter (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1934260&postcount=4315) from Schroeter was returned as undeliverable due to incorrect addresses.
4) 06.10.40. Without any expressed reason Schroeter was informed in writing by OKM (Berlin, Tirpitzufer 1), that he will be taking up a new post on 07.Oct'40 in Duesseldorf, Adlerstraße 74 ...

[Grun Teufel]

Every year I play silent hunter 3 until the war ends or I get killed. I play it almost like it is a hunting season. Currently, I'm starting my 3rd patrol on the 12th of February, 1940 and I am casting off to grid AN52 in a type VIIB after a recent transfer to Wilhelmshaven.( which I am happy about because I hate going in and out of Kiel.) :yeah: More later with tonnage and what all happened at sea. Happy Hunting!

[sublynx]

These are more likely to have been the real causes of the dismissing of Ob.lt.z.s. W. Schroeter:

Oh well, that's military life for you... At least Schröter made it alive :) Hopefully Ebler reads addresses more carefully.

[ijnfleetadmiral]

Kurt Hossel Strikes Again!
Target Practice for U-123

In what is probably the most daring strike of the war yet, U-123 under Oberleutnant zur See Kurt Hossel, attacked the harbor of Reykyavik, Iceland on 3 August 1940. The crowning achievement of this attack was the sinking of Southampton-class light cruiser H.M.S. Sheffield, sunk at anchor without warning. Other ships destroyed include:

1 A/B-class Destroyer
1 C/D-class Destroyer
1 Large Merchant
1 Medium Cargo Ship
1 Small Merchant

For this daring attack, Hossel has been awarded the Diamonds to his Knight's Cross. We of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht salute Oberleutnant zur See Hossel and the entire crew of U-123, for they are truly Grey Wolves of the Deep! :salute::salute::salute::salute::salute:

[ijnfleetadmiral]

Gibraltar Attacked!
U-123 Strikes British Mediterranean Stronghold


Kurt Hossel and U-123 have outdone themselves yet again. On 27 September 1940, after successfully attacking a convoy and sinking a Large Merchant and a Granville-type Freighter, followed by the sinking of a Large Cargo Ship near the Western entrance of the Strait of Gibraltar, U-123 penetrated the heart of the anchorage itself, sinking TWO Southampton-class CLs at anchor, along with a Tribal-class Destroyer.

Our intrepid Hossel then began his escape, but decided to make one final periscope observation on his way out. The fortunes of war once again smiled on U-123 as there, at anchor, with no escorts in sight, sat battleship H.M.S. Nelson. Six torpedoes were fired and the Nelson exploded with a blast that shook the harbor, capsizing to starboard and sinking within minutes. U-123 escaped in the subsequent chaos, and arrived at her new base at Lorient on 1 October, having sunk over 83,000 tons in one patrol.

In recognition of Hossel's stunning achievement, our beloved Fuhrer Adolf Hitler ordered a special grade of the Knight's Cross created. It is therefore our pleasure to announce Oberleutnant zur See Kurt Hossel as the first-ever recipient of the Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, & Diamonds to the Knight's Cross. We of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht salute the crew of U-123 and their commander, the newly-crowned "Prien of the South"!

[TheDuke233]

Recently in SHV, I was doing a photo recon of anchored enemy carriers in the Solomons...Snuck into shallow water camera range and alearted a Jap DD.. I had no option other than to shoot down the throat.. I fired a 3 torpedo spread and scored two hits, sending him to meet honorable ancestors..Got my recon photos and as I was doing a 180 for deeper water I heard another torpedo impact from the one that missed the DD...I thought I had hit the carrier as it was in the same direction I fired..Later in deeper water, I upped scope and observed smoke and flames on the horizon from the direction of the carriers...At 10K+ more yards and in deeper water I surfaced...Very soon thereafter I had an extreamly PO'ed Jap destroyer headed right at me, lobing shells while blazing and smoking away!! I had scored a very lucky hit with the missed torpedo on another DD I hadn't even seen!! :hmmm:...Dropped down below the thermocline, went silent and snuck away...10K+ more yards and a distant blazing DD in the periscope rear, I surfaced again...Yeah...you guessed it...Here he comes right at me with a bone in his mouth...Back deep and quiet, coming to periscope depth to cross the gap and into the deep sea channel, I surfaced again at about 15K..:huh:.Here he comes from out of sight range, still blazing and smoking but with a full head of steam...Enough is enough...This guy was going to chase me all the way back to Pearl Harbor...Another spread from my rear tubes and he went down...Prob a glitch in the software, but with a little imagination, it could have been a Jap DD with radar....Man, I love the sub sim games!!! Need to find some DVD's of the "Silent Service" TV program of the late 1950's early '60's...B&W film, but I never missed and episode...

[VONHARRIS]

Patrol No 3 of current career
January 20 1940
Just off Wilhelmshaven en route to AL 63
Hearing to the theme of Das Boot on gramophone

Congratulations to Kurt Hossel and U-123 for their last achievement.

[BootsmanBoof]

Patrol 15 out of Lorient, Late Oct1940, U-46 type VIIB. Came across a convoy 2 days out of port, took out 2 destroyers from range with the deck gun, and then took my time blasting the merchants for around 50,000 tons in a couple of hours of daylight surface attacks LOL, was a little hairy with merchant deck gun and MG fire and the boat took some damage, but not one crew member was harmed.

I play GWX with SH3, and although taking out escorts is not my usual realistic method of gameplay, I thought what the heck.

Home 4 days after departure, awarded Knights Cross with Swords & Oak Leaves, now approx. 250,000 tons sunk.

[aj906]

19 August 1941:

Having spent a very unproductive time tooling around EQ33, having left Lorient in mid-June I've since relocated to EE48 and since arriving have thus far sent five tankers and a medium cargo totalling 49,999 tons to the bottom in the space of a week. I still have 11 eels left aboard my type IXC (I've not used the stern tubes). Despite the time and distance spent on patrol, I'm thinking it will be a lack of eels that forces a return before fuel considerations do. Here's hoping for another 30K tons before I have turn tail for France!

[Hardigen]

Ahoy there ship mates,back up yer t,psails and heave to,an listen to this echo sound,,,,,, I was dogging this C 2 after putting a torp into her the weather was atrocious so it was a topside attack, she spotted me and went onto an evasive course ,ablaze from stem to stern I followed for many a league unable to get in a good position .Eventually managed to get about 990 metres on her port quarter ,fired my last forward tube when she suddenly swung over to starboard and showed her stern ,the turbulence of her screws exploded the torp before it hit the ship . Could,nt use the gun crew because of the weather , so let her go on her merry way, I think she deserved to survive she put up a good fight .

[Jimbuna]

My usual haunt....250km west of the entrance to the Med.

[TabbyHunter]

Assigned Grid BF17 to patrol. Set out Feb 4th or 5th...maybe 6th.

On the 9th, I entered the English Channel, got shot at by a PT boat that came out of the fog (only 50 to 75 meters of visiblity, so I was running on the surface). Took minor damage, surfaced an hour later and got the most interesting message from BdU. The Ark Royal is comeing to the Channel on the 13th, with Renown possibly the 14th. I've been patrolling the western entrance for two days now (its the night of the 12th) and I am hoping I get the play with an Aircraft Carrier.

U-51 (My boat), U-48, U-26 and U-37 are forming a nice little wolfpack right about now.

[TabbyHunter]

Ark Royal was a noshow. Patrolled the entrance for an extra two days, then made a flank run to Portsmouth, the estimated berth of the massive ship. After sneaking near, sending a landingparty to scout out the port, no carrier.

Return to port with only 7k sunk.:nope:

Set out for my next war patrol and had a chicken match with the KM Admiral Hipper...And won!:har:

[Nobon]

1940, January 2.

The U-50, Type VIIb U-Boot, after a thorought refitting, and replacement of the crew,
(Installed GWXv3 Gold, and painstakingly syncronized with my
older mods- restarted career.. sigh...) finally runs out of the pen again.

To its first patrol in the series.
___________________________________


Her orders is to Reach BF44, so travel around the Danish semi-isle, and go
through the shallow and well protected La manche canal, to reach its
destination under the Brit isles.


The voyage spent without any drama, Thou' the Kaleun (khm.. Me.) realised,
that the officer he chosen into the CE position, has a very... High pitch voice,
almost comical... And VERY annoying. No matter, hes a mechanic, so I sent
him -back- to the engine room, -period-.

Listened to loud Gramophone music after that, to forget that jester.
(as well as the whole crew)



First encounter:
______________

As gotten close to the canal, we received a BdU message, which located a
ship, near our position, headed almost the same way. (Sout-south-east)

Quickly planned the course, and went before the victim, planned a
perpendicular approach to the roughly estimated course
(as in GWX there isnt any direction showing spike, the contact is only a square,
and the direction is 'south-south-east)
with the help of its Hydrophone contact, so corrected the course a bit- and
finally found out, with some anger, that its only a small fishing boat...

Why BdU send us contacts, that clearly visibly civilian?

No matter, whe shot it to pieces with the 88's. Traffic is heavy here,
survivors got a chance.



Hunt for clues:
________________

As we submerged, to listen to the sinking sounds of the ship, instantly discovered alot of contacts via Hydrophone.
(by me, not by the sonarman, that joker doesnt have a
radioman skill yet, so when we ran over by a destroyer, he finally recognise,
and tell me with a smile: "Warship, medium speed, closing, being exactly at
our position. Do I get a candy, mein herr?")

First I thought that its the La Manche canal's traffic, and the patrols, as the
signals came from west.

But as the U-50 darted out to follow, the Hydrophone sounds seemed to turn
more over to the south...

Anything it is, it goes -exactly- to the French shore... To south. Near the
canal entrance, but not in that direction.

As the evening came, U-50 continued on surface, in flank speed, all hands with mechanics skills
in the diesel room... Those two lying down ladies shaked their asses so fast, that our boys
barely could keep up, to care, and oil them...
Soon the Second Watch discovered a merchant ship. And another.
First we saw this two, then it took me a half hour in the target
speed calculating excitement*, to look up from the geometry, move my head left,
and frozen to stone discover many.. many... more.. ships...

(* it isnt that easy, when you -doesnt- have a visible
contact in the map if you see a ship, so you have to ID-it, estimate the range
by calculating that what size you see the largest mast in, compared to the
real size by the Rec.manual., then take a protractor, and draw a line from
your ship in the target's angle, measure the calculated range, and put a mark
on that line, "there was that bastard compared to me!" then wait 3 minute 15
sec, then take another range calculation, draw another line from your
direction, put another mark on it, then read the distance between the two
marks... I usually miscalcule by 1 knots up, or down... Jussst enough to slip a
torpedo not more than 1m -before- the bow, or -after- the aft, in 2000-1500m attack distance...)


The convoy...
_________________

Encountered a very large convoy.... 10 ships, or more, Doesnt saw the lead...
Only merchants, at least the tail of it, which I could see- no escorts.
In the exact moment I sent a contact report to BdU. BdU answered:
"No U-boot's near my position to help me, I can attack with great care, if I want."

Ok. Convoy went at medium speed, at least 12 knots, So I cant do this
underwater...

Stayed in like 6000m distance from the closest one, and roamed in a paralell
course, while I draw the convoy's course in 6200m distance, after Ive aligned
myself to get exact the same range in 3-4 times in ten minutes.

Managed to climb upfrom the tail right beside their middle. Planned to go
before them, and take a perpendicural approach again.. But somehow they
were too fast, the closing up took too mutch time.


At least I tought the course is paralell. It was, for a time. Then they started
to turn a little bit in every second minute to the south-south-east. Aimed for
the closest French harbour...

Fiiine, more hard to follow, as I need to travel more on the outerward of the
curving course... (the convoy was very long, only 3-4
knots slower than me, and I was near the side of the middle, so getting to
their other side wasnt an option)

In that momentum was when I noticed something really weird in the almost
pitch black UZO scope, in the background of the closest, blurred little image
of a merchant, in 90° from me.....:


The shadow..
______________

First I tought thats only a "low lighting" smudge, when high-res colors in 3d
engine start to behave like the 256 color settings, and fall apart to different coloured clouds.

As ship couldn't be that tall... -past- a large merchant, but -over- it...
And still was very blurry, doesnt had any outline.
Or any beliveable...

Then one of my watchmen coughed a bit, and touched my shoulder.
And he told me.

No, it cant be...


The feeling of a swimming mouse:
_______________________________________

What could be this huge...? Being well-past the nearest, blurry little merchant
in 6000 m, barely visible, or more likely non-visible, in the ptch-black, only recognised it as a
somewhat solid smudge in the pulsating colorclouds, and -still- looks twice as
high as a merchant...

Then he told me. In a dry, simple style, exactly when U-50 turned to get
closer to the convoiy, and the outline of that... Thing became more sharp...
And I felt the same terror.

"Battleship".

Right in the middle of a large merchant convoy, sailing to France.
It was too far away, so narrowed the distance in our semi-paralell course,
getting -really- scarily close to the nearest merchant... 4000 meter, or less...
(in GWX it isnt that fun anymore XD)
If they find me, that... Thing fires ONE gun, and the U-50 is disperse into a
mixture smoke of steel-powder, and blood cloud.


3600m to the closest merchant...
Finally managed to ID the monster, thou' I wasnt sure, but we havent got
mutch time. Identified as a Revenge class... battleship.

(Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenge_class_battleship )

http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/guides/images/2/23/Mqrsov1.jpg


So a brother monster to that Günther Prien, and his U-47 sank a year ago: The "Royal Oak"... (also a Revenge)

Ive read that these old all-over-gun giants were too slow, and too big targets
for WWII ship battles, so Revenges got used as flasghips in mass fleets,
guarded ports, (many AA guns also) and.. surprisingly they used some to
escort merchant convoys, as the wiki wrotes.

Ok. 3500 meter to the merchant. Couldn't risk more.
I decided:

The U-50 took a sharp 55° turn right into the middle of the convoy, submerged to periscope depth, and went forward in flank speed...


Second encounter:
___________________


Made some measurements about the target's speed, (with the painful hand-by-hand method described earlier)

Went as close as could be in 5 knots full capacity, (it was a stormy
weather, and the canal doesnt like if you cross it, it more likes if you
travel all along the shore) really close to the point, when the Battleship
crosses
my 0°, and start to increase distance...

It was around 1800-1700m distance, when the U-50 let loose the salvo.

I.,II.,and IV. fired simultaneously.
Magnetic pistol, around 9.7m depth (as the Revenge's draft is 8.9)
targets's speed set on 10knots, (as measured) angle-on-bow almost 90°
all G7a (T1) torpedoes, set to full speed, narrow spread. (around 2-2.5)


(fired the aft.-torpedo to a small merchant crossing
my 180°, with hastily calculations in the meantime, also fired the
remaining one in the bow to a large merchant around 1000m, both with
guessed values, both missed....)

After a longer than expected run, one really big explosion shook
the gigantic ship's bow, and immediately one other eel splashed under
her middle line, and the last one, half way to the aft.

Both exploded -right- under the keel of the monster.

A series of loud explosions bursted out when the middle one hit,
and one of my men whistled in excitement: "-KaLeun", shes going
down..."

...


The miserable fate of The Washed Ashore Leviathan
_____________________________________________

All hands followed my order to swarm the fore, and back torpedo rooms,
to speedily reload, and maybe catch some of the merchant ships, while I
felt that my right eye is glued into the optic of the attack periscope.

Forgot about anything, just watched the monster slowing down. And
really-really slowly, after five minutes, its aft started to get lower, and
lower... (suddenly, a destroyer came out of nowhere, from the direction of
the convoy's lead, but I couldnt care less, as its lamps washed through
the beautiful monstorcities body, I just watched...)

Fires started slowly, all around the gigant's body...
Finally, after 15 minutes, the Revenge class tilted to its left side... Sank a
bit, and.. remained there. Remained in that position, as it only could sank
20 meters, not more. (The La Manche is a shallow little tub.
Basically it isnt sank, only run ashore, and tilted 45° to rest.)

The captains log shows the dry statement:
"Revenge class Battleship: 31.000 bruttoregistertonnes of Royal Overwhelming
Father Of All, Colonnial, Commonwealth BRUTALITY- sank."

Doesnt really believed my eyes, as I watched that ran-ashore armoured whale burn out...
Then was when I first heard the creeping pings of the destroyer's ASDIC.... We are...



Sitting duck in a box
___________________________

found....

Wasnt too long before the pings started to pile up, and I first heard, with
bare ears, the propeller of the destroyer...
Dive? WHERE?? In periscope depth we had FOUR meters left under us...


The U-50 a slow, too slow turn in the blind spot, when that damn thing
swimmed on top of us, preparing to bomb, so we had some troubles,
minor injuries with a bomb or two, but then it somehow lost our trail.
I tried to keep the huge flaming wreck between us, and started to feel
too comfortable...

As some of my torpedoes reloaded... With the fresh eels in my pocket,
the captain of the U-50 felt, that those merchant sound contacts are still
really close... And started to dart there with full speed, until I leave the
destroyers view.
Well, speeding up engine RPM wasnt a good idea, as those Tommies
immediately found us, and we had it...
We had it this time. That damn thing -ran over- us, almost tear off the
conning tower-flak-and-deck-gun, everything. And also bombarded the
zauerkraut out of us....

Immediately -heavy- flooding in command room, bow quarters, e-engine
room... Engines broken down, the U-boot started to fall like a rock...
Without any hope to surface... (well, except blowing
ballast, but I rather risk pressure, than 6-8 heavy guns in one ship...
)
This was the only time I gave grace that we are sittig in a tub...
The U-50 smashed into the ocean floor in 20m depth, and continued to
bash, and crush its lower compartments, which nearly meant our end...

All hands worked on repairs, and we only outrun the ticking -final-
flooding- timer in 1-2 seconds in all compartments.
(with continuing injuries from stomping ourselves
again and again into the ground)
Finally, after the flooding was stopped (it was really close this time...
Our end, I mean. ) And the pumps started to work the water out,
the U-50 started to raise one.. meter. Enough to float, and doesnt crush our nose anymore.
Somehow we managed to get the e-engines to work...
Just realised in periscope, that a small Motor Torpedo Boat also arrived, to
hunt us, with its seeking lamp. Turned away from it slowly, lowered the
scope, and...
Started to slip away, in silent running, lowest speed, which meant
2...knots... with that tormented engine compartment, and acid spitting battery cells...

Then the destroyer sprang out from behind a large wave, blind me through the optics,
with its reflector lamps, and started to shoot large machineguns at my periscope.
I Lowered the scope, and the U-50 started to turn.
Moving slow as a snail...
Thats when was I heard the -immediately- frequent, loud, and precise
ASDIC for 1-2 seconds, then BAAAM, we got it again with the bombs...

THAT was when I spitted out some blood, (as I bashed my head into
the periscope) and said it... :


Enough. (Third encounter)
______________________


Deck hands, and sergeants working fast, to keep out flooding...
engines shut off for a minute or two..
Ok. We practically paralysed, even if we run our engines, 3knots is
best at submerged in this situation.
And we almost died in that little more succesful bomb run before this
one... The sub barely keeps itself together.
Ok, chump. Then lets finish this.

Attack scope up, found the bastard. Turning around a huge wave, then
increasing speed, in our direction.
Some work in the torpedo controls, guessed estimations again, speed set
to 12, solely a foresense, nothing more, open tube door, and when the
bastard slipped before my 180° ... The eel from the aft of the U-50
launched after him.
Thats was the right time. Hes too fast to turn in time to evade, im at his
90°, hes really close, almost isnt enough way for the torpedo to arm,
and... and.

A really long pause, compared to the close distance, then a loud BANG!,
and some flames blast out from the aft of the bastard.
Engine spinning up, hes increasing speed, and start to turn on us.
But the aft is slowly start to lower...
And the speed drops... The engine spins like hell.. But just pumps even
more water inside its wounded buttock, as climbs foreward..
And then the aft's weight slowly pulls it underwater... Explosions..
Its over.
Still, the canal is so shallow, that even the Tribal class Destroyers two
masts are remained poking out, after its settled.


Then the Motor Torpedo Boat appeared, straight run for us...
Ok player... Ok...

Blowed ballast, and immediately manned the gun. I coordinated the fire,
the little joker took some 88's High Explosive shells, exploded something,
caught on bigger flames tha itself, and...
And lined up beside us, and the flaming little man behind the autocannon
opened fire at the open deck of the U-50...
Then speeded away.
3 of my men immediately collapsed in blood. Others took them inside, and
took their place. After a 15 minute run, and 20-25 exact... high esplosive
impacts, the little thing finally blown up. .. ..

Three smoking wrecks, one of them is in a size of a village,
and Im sitting here like a duck. Right next to the most guarded canal ever.
And its 8 a clock, and the sun is secretly climbed up while we fought...
Clear view in 16km.


That aint good...




Aftermath
__________


Flank speed ahead, right to south, staying on the surface, battery
recharge turned off, I need both engines... Machiners work like hell, while
the damage team tries to cover up the outer faults of the water
bombardment.

At our back, watchmen reports a new warship.
A light, slender submarine hunter class arrived... depth charge thrower at
his back for water bombing, and no more, than -one- pair of turnable gun.
high calibre. And a big chimney, indicating a strong, fast engine...
No armor, no other ballast. Resembles to a speedy, huge yacht. Fast,
armed enough compared to a submarine, turns waay faster than a
destroyer, designed to one thing: to Hunt and Kill U-Boot.

Luckily, it seems, that its too far away to see our short silhouette...
As its start to seek around the smoking battleship.


Ok. repairs over.
Lets face the facts:

1.: The sub is partially flooded, there are some water, that cant be pumped out.
2.: The pressure-hull is crushed, if we take a dive for ike 60 meters, its
going to collaps inwards...
3.: Three of my men are shot, propably dying, as I couldnt found a medic
until we ran out from port.
4.: Only 8 torpedoes left,
and 124 of 200 HE 88's shells.
5.: The whole fore battery, located under the bow quarters, are blow
open, and spilling acid since... Had to bridge over the dead cells via wire.
Basically we have half battery power left. Half e-engine capacity, and half
time underwater...


So, I had only one option left:

From the gramophone, after 2-3 hours of GWX stock, and self collected
Edit Piaf, Marlene Dietrich, 1940 radio news, Lord Haw Haw
demotivational war commentaries targeting the Brits, tipperary song,
and various military leads, the ship's speakers start to rumble the...
"Benzin" from Rammstein..... ...

And, the U-BOOT, designated as U-50, takes a sharp turn to the right,
and heads West, in full speed ahead...
Right into the La Manche canal. As we required to PASS the patrols
somehow, REACH the BF44 target triangle under the Brit isles, and prey
for enemy shipping.


30.000 from 40.000 german submariner never got back ashore in the Second World War. Ok, thats the odds. We can go now.


+ + +


.

[TwoGamers]

1st patrol on my first 88% realism career. I only have contact upadtes on. Im U-12 a type IIA based in wilshaven

After arriving in AN81 I recieved a contact report south of my posistion. I track it and upon finding it signal it to surrender with flags and a shot across the bow from my flak gun. It surrenders and I get me a nice 3500 tons. Sinks in minutes after the time bombs go off.

Nothing else happens for the rest of the patrol. Crew gets some medals back at base. I am satisfied with my patrol

Already doing better then the histrorical U-12

[u35_captain]

January, 1944 - U-105, Type IX.

It has been an unpleasant winter in Lorient. War prospects dim daily. The chances of victory seem a thing of yesteryear, a myth we once told ourselves. But still, the war goes on, as does our duty.

The crossing of the Atlantic was mostly uneventful - at least after escaping roaming Sunderlands that have made transit in and out of Lorient more eventful, to say the least. The North Atlantic is a killing ground for U-boats, now, so we skirted south of the Azores, engaging in a deck gun battle with a small merchant, and sinking her. Small prey, and even that is dangerous - but not worth a torpedo at such a critical point. Besides, our gunners are highly decorated veterans. I still trust in their accuracy, and rightly so.

But it is time to be daring. We arrive off the coast of South America, with ports in sight: San Fernando and the Port of Spain. Time to teach the allies that the Atlantic isn't their lake, yet. The northern entrance is guarded by two destroyers, but reconnaissance of the southern channel indicates only an elderly Clemson. Not expecting us, the Clemson is easily disposed of with a single torpedo directly into her engines, the depth charge racks making her explosive demise all the more satisfying.

Under cover of darkness, U-105 breaks into the shallows on the surface, and by daybreak we are submerged and hidden from roving aircraft. With the coming of night, we reconnoiter San Fernando and find...nothing! Not a single verdamnt ship. Has our daring been for naught?

But on the passage north to the Port of Spain - our lookout crew see a T3 tanker, riding at anchor! The allies must be overconfident indeed to leave such a prize undefended and a sitting duck. A pair of torpedoes are sufficient to break her back and send her down in pieces. But the crew has hardly begun celebrating their victory when a second T3 is spotted, to the north. This beast takes three, but her fate is sealed.

After that, the Port of Spain is merely icing on the cake, the U-105 blasting a Small Tanker at long range. But by now our antics are sure to have stirred the hornet's nest. As dawn breaks the next day, we are running the northern channel off - our anti-aircraft gunners getting some practice on a Catalina that decided to be a little too bold.

We escape detection by the northern guardians, and continue our run, blasting two small tankers on the lanes to Curacao, then finishing our hunt with a pair of T2s on the rich tanker route to the east of Cuba.

Happy new year, Amerikaners - the U-boat fleet is not a toothless dragon yet.

[Nobon]

1940, january 7.
The U-50, type VIIb U-Boot
and its new captain, Leutnant z. s. Daniel Wolf
continues its first patrol. The boat is in grim condition...

________________________________________________


The fate of the leviathan:

After the events of the first part of the patrol, lengthly decribed in my last
report: the three torpedo hit under the keel of the Revenge class
battleship, which then identified by BdU (SH3 commander...) as the
HMS Ramillies,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ramillies_(07)

and the destruction of the HMS Zulu
Tribal class destroyer, and an unidentified Torpedo Motor Boat, the U-Boot
left the area.

And the rescue efforts of the Battleship continued by a
Submarine hunter light corvette, and then other ships.

Luckily for them, the Battleship sank
(basicly just "run ashore" as it only sank 15 metres until it reached the bottom)
at the entry of the shallow La Manche canal. So most parts of the giant remained on
the surface. On the second half hour, fires started to break out, and
quickly spanned throuought the ship... This, and the explosions of the
three torpedoes under the keel caused the:

Death of 11 british navy personnel.
All other hands from the total of 1198 crew were rescued by arriving allied
ships.

The battleship was mostly burned out, all of its munitions, and fuel exploded in the flames.


Crossing Dover, and the travel in the La Manche

Since the Kommandant of the U-50 decided to try to continue its route to
the given target zone, (BF44) the crew worked hard on repairs, and to
basicly keep the vessel on the surface, and over the seafloor, during
submerge runs... All of the men were overworked, tired to exhaustion, or
intoxicated by leaking diesel engines, or the inhaled acidic air from the
destroyed aft. battery.

Due to their superb work, the boat managed to slip through Dover, and
most of the travel in the canal passed fast.

On the second day, radio transmissions from BdU marked a convoy,
heading west, and hastly calculations made to cross its course during the
night. Eventually the Kommandant decided to let them go... The boat
wasnt in a condition for a long hunt, and the many patrols on the canal
meant unknown dangers.

But then the hydrophone took a faint sound of a lonely merchant on a
South-south-west course...

The fourth encounter:

The sound proven to be a lonely Coastal Tanker.
The U-50 engaged it in a daring surface run, and sank it with gunfire.

As BdU reported, it was the MV Harfry, 1353 tons, shipping aviation
fuel.
Sank with all souls onboard, except for a lonely survivor.

The fifth encounter:

The U-50 continued its way out of the canal. On the grid BF17, lookout reported a lonely merchant again.

The boat took a submerged attack run.
The target was identified by the kommandant as a Granville-type Freighter.
The ship took one torpedo under the keel, another set on impact is missed, and then took te Coup d'état from 88's gunfire on the surface.

The ship, identified by the kommandant from the painted name, was the
SS Thistleglen, 4708 tons. The cargo was aircrafts, clearly visible.

The fate of the crew remained unknown for now, but the U-50 saw many
lifeboats floating, and the shores were close enough.


Another convoy: (Sixth encounter)

The U-Boot finally reached its destination in the BF44 area, and started
the 24 hour patrol.
It was quickly paused, as BdU reported a middle size convoy, north from
the target square, on a roughly eastern course, around 8 knots.

Calculations were made, and the U-50 darted out in flank speed, to reach
the convoy in time.
It managed to close up to viewing range, on the right side of the convoy,
during the night.

Identified a large ship, a Modern Tanker, roughly around 10.000 tons...
as a main target, and a Medium Cargoship, as a secondary target for the
first run, as they were the largest.

As the course of the convoy appeared to rapidly changing, and the dusk
just started, the kommandant decided to took the chance, and the boat
made a sharp turn towards the convoy, leaving the parallel course,
submerged to periscope depth.

calculated the speeds of the two targets each, and fired two torpedoes
under the keel of the Modern Tanker, and the Medium Cargo ship, fired
from the closest distance from 2600-2400 metres.

Both torpedo fired at the tanker missed, but the Medium Cargo ship
received two hits under the first part of the bow, and immediately
stopped.

The U-50 quickly turned around, and fired its torpedo from the stern, after
the escaping tanker, but missed it closely. Again.

In the meantime, suddenly heavy fires broke out on the Medium Cargo
ship, and not mutch later it drowned rapidly.

Adressed later by Bdu, it was the SS White Falcon, 4757 tons.
Shipping Coal. Fate of crew unknown.

The convoy fled, no escorts showed up, so the U-50 continued its way, back to the BF44, to complete its patrol.
Only one torpedo remained, in the first bow tube.

Seventh encounter:

The U-50 spent its last hours from the 24 hour patrol, when BdU reported
a merchant, on a western course, in the vicinity of the boat, on south.

After finishing the patrol, the U-50 fired up its engines, and stormed
southwards, cutting the calculated cone, where the merchant could be.

Proven to be a Medium Cargo ship, later ID-d as the SS Bald Eagle
4758 tons, shipping Steel.

Took the very last torpedo of the U-50, under the keel, and sank after many hours.

Most of the crew died in the torpedo explosion, as the kommandant examined only a few lifeboats.

The U-Boot started its way to back home...

Eighth encounter:

Soon it crossed the way of another lonely merchant, near the canal:

Another Granville-type Freighter, sank by gunfire on the surface, while the
U-boot was flying the hohenkreutz Kriegsmarine flag. Felt like a pirate
attack. At least half of the 88 soul crew died, as the lifeboats suggest.

BdU ID-ed it as the SS Cassequel, 4709 tons. Its cargo was a good
load of military vehicles.

Ninth encounter:

Another BdU message was taken, suggesting a lone ship travelling near.
The idea was almost rejected, but the theater was so close, and it was
midnight, nice, dark environment, that the kommandant ordered the slight
course change.

It was appeared to be a robust Empire-type freighter.
The U-50 shot all of its remaining 41 pieces of 88's shells to it, aimed by
the kommandant, at least 27 was hit, despite the chaotic waves. The
vessel was flaming, lost its chimney, and took several good shots on the
waterline, and under it. But still was afloat, no signs of flooding.

The kommandant risked the fragile, heavily broken boat, so the U-50 took
a turn, and closed down to the merchant from the other side, and made a
heavy ramming attack in 12 knots. The freighter tilted to its right side,
most of the shell hits on its hull turned under the waterline.

And the target remained in this slightly tilted condition.

After lots of hours, the ship slowly tilted more, and more to its right side,
and soon the deck became washed over by the waves. A half a hour later
the Empire Type freighter was sunk by flooding. That was the last victim
of the reborn U-50 on its first patrol.
As BdU suggests, and the kommandant also made the same reading at
the ship's stern, this was the SS Armanistan, 6797 tons. Shipping timber.
Very few boats lowered....

The U-Boot took a fast turn, and entered the La Manche again...


The way back home:

As there were many diesel fuel spared, the boat travelled in flank speed.
Three, or four times its submerged to evade patrols. After passed right
next to a large british freighter, waving, and smiling at it at the surface,
(without any remaining weapons...) a destroyer appeared, and made two
runs with depth charges on the hastily submerged boat, both missed,
then the U-50 managed to flee.

Passed Dover in submerged, on a very low, 2 knot speed, and traveled in
peace around the Danish semi-island, arrived to the port of Kiel, enjoying
he music, and ovation...

It was -really- lucky, that none of the thrown roses was hit the vessel, as
the chief-engineer was sure, that even one flower can sunk this broken
down boat...

The first patrol of the reborn U-50, with its new crew, and fresh new
captain, Leutnant z. s. Daniel Wolf, was over.

______________________________

Conclusion:


The 18 day patrol resulted in 60.062 bruttoregistertons of sank allied
shipping. 3 military, and 7 merchant vessels.

The three injured crewman, including Werner Suraj professional watch,
and helmsman matrose, was died on the way back home.

The crew was presented with 3 pieces of Second Class Iron Crosses,
one U-Boat Front clasp, and 33 pieces of U-boat War Badge.

Daniel Wolf wasnt presented with any medal, but immediately
promoted to Oberleutnant Zur See.

The poor U-50 remained in two months... At the dry dock, during the heavy repairs...


And about the captain...

During that two months, Daniel was thrown ..period... out from two
bars, became an unofficial mood raiser entertainer of a night club, with his
boasting stories, and drunken speeches about the "Everyday sexuality
and the war leaders of the Third Reich", drunk at least 420 bottles of
Beck's beer, and almost died between at least four pairs of heavy tits,
spanked, and grabbed six wide, round asses of similar ladies, and was
accompanied on his knees by at least one of them in 60% of his partied
nights, where he drunk with his officers, and started many fistfights with
other navy personnel....

His navy dress-suit became almost nothing more than a rag, at the time,
when his boat finally completed repairs. .. ... :Kaleun_Cheers: :Kaleun_Party:

[VONHARRIS]

Nice report Nobon.

U-64 IXB status report

http://i47.tinypic.com/30njgn8.jpg

[Stubudd]

With GWX i checked the dates and waited outside scapa to catch the hood and prince of whales racing out to find the bismarck. Managed to sink the prince on the spot and damage the hood- she escaped temporarily, but i chased her and found her beached on a tiny island directly west of scapa flow.

Then i raced down to where the bismarck would be sunk in time to be waiting for whatever i could find, the ark royal or some of the other capital ships. I managed to sink the king george V and hit the rodney or renown, whichever is the accompanying capital ship, but the bismarck apparently got credit for finishing her before i could work a way to get another a shot.

It took a couple reloaded saves to find the right spot to have a shot at those fast moving big ships out in the atlantic- BE53 northeast corner- but i don't care- i just wanted to see this stuff. GWX is amazing, after playing SH3 without it for a long time.

This was with a IXB i believe, whichever you start a new career with out of 2nd flotilla in 1941. Somewhere around 140k tons for that patrol. Nice work by the guys that mod together. Now i'm looking to find another scripted event to check out- maybe some of the stuff in the far east.

[Kapt Z]

4/12/40 (41st day at sea)
0330hrs
Grid BE99
Heavy rain, poor visibility, winds 11

3 ships sunk for 9100 tons

3 torpedoes remaining

Fuel 40%

No damage

Oblt Gunter Kaiser
U-97, type VIIC
7th Flot. St Nazaire

[Gustav Schiebert]

I've just started a new campaign in October 1939: SH3 + GWX3 + OLC Gold Mk IId (on 100% realism), sailing from Wilhelmshaven.

First patrol grid was AN13 - nice and close, I could be out there, complete the mission then back home for the weekend! So I chugg out and make for the grid - getting to northern Scotland with no problems or contacts. I decide to go north of the Orkneys. Nice and narrow, hopefully moving at silent speed and periscope depth I can pick up some odd ships moving through the gap. As I move along, my sonarman picks up a merchant due north, but after a brief chase I loose it, as it was heading directly away from me.

By this time the weather is atrocious and I can barely stay on course. To spare the men, I spend the majority of the rest of the outbound trip at 25m. A few breathing/recharging breaks later, I'm searching AN13.

Nothing.

Not a solitary schooner. Probably all safely in harbour; on the surface the men of the bridge watch can barely see each other, let alone any ships! Dejected, I turn and head for home. By the time I near the Orkney gap again, the weather has improved a bit. The wind still makes surface running unpleasant but at least the rain has stopped, and visibility is a bit better.

On the way home, I decide to make a run for Scapa Flow.

http://www.mvhalton.co.uk/photos/scapa.jpg

I use the Burra Sound entrance from the west, slipping silently through at about 1500 to give me a full night's dark. As I pick through the narrow channels I'm grimly aware of the wrecks of the German High Sees Fleet beneath me, scuttled at this exact spot in 1918. The waves are still big, even in this natural harbour. The sonarman is struggling to keep tabs on all the contacts, but a brief peep with the 'scope tells me they're mostly MTBs. As I approach the centre (the middle light blue box):

Contact! Kriegschiffe! Lager null!

Dead ahead! A quick peep on the 'scope - to see above the waves, I have to have the LI bring the boat so far up in the water that the bridge sometimes pokes above the waves. I spot a V&W circling ahead, but he's heading south as I continue east. But a massive shadow catches my eye at 345. A battleship! Close by! Supressing the desire to scream with delight, I quickly check the horizon for anything else. Just that V&W, but he's heading away. I check the range - 3200 - good job I had a look, or I would have slinked right past him!

I open all four tubes, line myself up, and let loose with a spread shot. About a degree - hopefully at 3000m they should spread enough to deliver a nice broadside. Unfortunately, two eels detonate early, less than 30 secs from the tube. Verdamnt! The other two steam on and hit, however, they must have been the right-hand two of the spread as the formidible triple-gun structure of the Nelson starts to burn, and it lurches forward by the bow - but stays still. The V&W turns round, interested. I make a call. The 1WO, the bosun, both torpedomaate and every spare man is in that bow torpedo room, trying to get another shot ready. The V&W heads off to the entrance, where I came in, but doesn't seem to notice me floating there. My bluff has worked.

After a record-breaking reload, I put another eel in the now-listing bow of the battleship. Another hit - an explosion, but so little effect that I wonder (even now) weather or not it detonated just short of the target. But now I HAVE to get out of here, despite my silence I think the destroyer knows where I am. I turn due west, leaving the listing Nelson astern of me and heading back the way I came in. As I come about, I use the stern tube to hit him again, in exactly the same spot. This time, within seconds of impact, cries go up round the boat as the sonarman reports the sounds of bulkheads collapsing. I proudly write up the 36,000 GRT battleship HMS Nelson into the log at 2336. But it's not over yet.

I can't even watch my achievement, as all attention is focused on that destroyer between me and my exit. The water is only 20m deep - no diving to escape. I decide my only hope is crawling ahead at 1kt on silent running, and hoping my oxygen doesn't run out. I follow the approaching destroyer on the hydrophones as he gets closer ... and closer ... and closer ... he's in an attack run, he's pinging me, it's all over ...

The deafening WHUUUMP of depth charges comes, two, three, four ... followed by the loudest, most almightly crash I've ever heard. Every compartment is leaking and the bridge is critically damaged. Amazingly, the sky periscope survived, and I raise it out the water just a tad to look at my adversary. Sinking. Yes, that titanium-plated, indestructable conning tower has claimed another victim as the destroyer plummets to the bottom. Fortune is smiling on the U-Bootwaffe today!

A quick look to 200 shows two more destroyers moving in at about 8000m, so I don't want to hang around. Leaving the 1WO in charge, the LI and every hand goes to damage control mode. The leaks are quickly stopped, but the rest of the damage is a bit harder to deal with and despite me moving to all ahead full (all stealth gone now), I'm crawling away at 2kts with a damaged propeller. The destroyers are moving in - but they seem to be lost and start circling about 3000m south of me, giving the LI time to repair the damage. I plough back through the Burra Sound without even a single sonar contact!

By the time I get back into open sea, the men are struggling to breathe and my battery is almost dead. One last scan with the sky 'scope ... nothing. Auftaufen! Back on the surface, the men breathe easy once again, as I give the Oberstuermann the order to return home.

And the rest, as they say, is history!

[Riccardo1975]

Hello everyone!

In U-111 off the coast of Ireland in March 1940 on my second patrol.

Sank 21 ships(some trawlers, granted), two destroyers(JK class and an AB), three asw trawlers and a Revenge class battleship with a nice four shot spread. Got a large tanker(8230grt) on the way out of the convoy with a tube V magnetic shot and missed a Black swan with tube VI. Dived to 160 m, ran silent and escaped.:D

Got home with about 85000 tonnes sunk, no casualties and 92% hull integrity thanks to an annoying Hurricane.

Was awarded an Iron Cross second class.:huh:

Shouldnt I be having lunch with Adolf and getting a Knights Cross?

Is this a joke? Or was sinking an American medium cargo,(always submerged to resemble a mine hit)a bad idea........ 21 Allied. 1 Neutral.

Running GWX 3.0 and 50% realism.

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg594/Riccardo1975/SH3Log-page0001_zpsa2770c5c.jpg


I want Golden Oakleaves too....

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg594/Riccardo1975/Rudel_zps6be39e8a.jpg



Oberleutnant R A J Murphy.

[Gustav Schiebert]

Was awarded an Iron Cross second class.:huh:

Shouldnt I be having lunch with Adolf and getting a Knights Cross?

You should be, for that. Here's my research on the matter:

KptLt Gunther Prien had the EKII already when he sunk HMS Royal Oak in October 1939. He got both the EKI and the Knight's Cross for that, as well as tea with Hitler etc.

ObltzS von Tiesenhausen sunk HMS Barham in November '41 - he also had the EKII but only got the EKI, and no lunch with Hitler (although he did eventually get the Knight's Cross in January '42.

There was a lot of variance over a commander's reward for a 'prestige sinking', although a Knight's Cross was usual. Towards the end of the war the requirements dropped enormously and some recieved the RK for simply damaging a merchant ship, so dangerous had it become.

In reality if you had sunk a Revenge class (Royal Oak was of that class) you could expect at the very least EKII and EKI. Probably RK and tea with Hitler as well. I think the game can't 'leapfrog' awards like in real life - if you pass the threshold for the RK and the RK + Oakleaves in one patrol, you get the RK at the end of that patrol and the oakleaves are 'stacked' so that you'll recieve them next patrol, even if you don't sink anything.

Hope this helps!

[Jimbuna]

SINK EM ALL!! http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/pirate.gif

[Riccardo1975]

[QUOTE=

In reality if you had sunk a Revenge class (Royal Oak was of that class) you could expect at the very least EKII and EKI. Probably RK and tea with Hitler as well. I think the game can't 'leapfrog' awards like in real life - if you pass the threshold for the RK and the RK + Oakleaves in one patrol, you get the RK at the end of that patrol and the oakleaves are 'stacked' so that you'll recieve them next patrol, even if you don't sink anything.

Hope this helps![/QUOTE]:up::up

Thanks for the info! It was right in the middle of an eastbound convoy just north of Belfast. End around to the North, let the Black Swan pass on me on the surface then ahead 1/3 at scope depth, heading 190. Always have 2xT1 and 2xTII up front for bubbles or no bubbles, so loosed the lot at 800m. Three hits amidships and one engine room. Foundered stern first. :yeah:

So at the end of my next patrol I'll get my EK First Class even if I only sink 3 schooners and large trawler?

Many thanks again! I'll try to learn photo uploads. Can you upload patrol logs off SH3 Commander?

Last one! Where do I get "Das Boot sounds" from. Sounds immense!

Got a single hit on HMS Hood way west of Rockall at about 2200m. HMS Rodney was there as wel but thats another story....:03:

Rich

[Singed]

Still getting to know SH-3 (I used to play SH-4). SH-III + GWX + a couple of other minor mods, running around 80 percent realism. Manual targeting, but I like my eye candy so the f12 camera is available, though my own house rules say I can only use it after the eels go out and absolutely never when I'm being attacked.

On my 5th patrol, heading towards my assigned grid west of Ireland another boat reported a large inbound convoy that was almost right on top of me at 2100 hours. I ordered a westward turn and put my best watch hands on deck, by 21:45 we had spotted the first escort heading straight for us. Sea conditions were slick, a bright moon provided excellent visibility for us, but also for them so I immediately ordered periscope depth. It was not long before I could see there were two escorts out front, followed by a mass of large ships.

With little time to maneuver to the edges of the convoy and not wanting to present my side to the escorts, I ordered the U-99 straight in to the heart of it, but first we had to get past the escorts. Set depth at 100 meters, ahead slow, and wait for the moment to present itself. Before long, I could hear escorts behind me, and nothing but merchants ahead, we had slipped through the screen.

Since I had a rough course on the convoy, I began setting the TDC for a fast 90 attack and ordered a change of heading to nearly due north, turns for just 1 kph, we glided silently up to periscope depth while opening all tubes. As the scope broke the surface, two targets presented themselves perfectly, just a few hundred yards, and only slightly off 0 bearing. I sent two eels each at them, then swiveled the scope 180 to find a large tanker perfectly positioned for the rear tube and close. I let the rear eel go and called for the dive.

End result, 4 of 5 hit, 3 ships down. We never had an escort get near us. Wound up shadowing the convoy while reloading and picking off two more before heading back to port. My best mission yet.

[Arnold]

SH III, patrol 13, 13 MAR 41, U-48, 1st Flotilla, Brest
Enroute to the North Channel, to a point about 250 KM West of Glasgow. Sunk C2 cargo, 6446 tons, 3 MAR 41, BF45. Sunk C2 cargo, 6447 tons, 8 MAR 41, BE69. Sunk tanker, 11,653 tons, 13 MAR 41.
We had a bit of trouble on our last patrol while near the North Channel. We received a report of an inbound convoy nearby. We plotted an intersecting course for the convoy and caught four C2 cargo merchants with a screen of four escorts. Approaching from the Southwest of the convoy, we attempted a fast surface run around the rear of the convoy. Spotted by a British V&W destroyer, we submerged to periscope depth and faced our enemy head-on. At 900 km, we fired an electric eel, which swept past the destroyer on it's starboard. Success! For some unknown reason, our torpedo made contact and we sank our first capital ship! I could hear shouts of "Becks! Becks! Becks!" from the engine room. And so, our journey continues on our 13th patrol. I enjoy watching the sunrise, while on deck. I enjoy the majesty of the North Atlantic storms. I often let the game remain at 1X time compression, so I can enjoy the view of the ocean. Fair winds and following seas, my friends. Fight! Win! or Die!

[Riccardo1975]

You should be, for that. Here's my research on the matter:

KptLt Gunther Prien had the EKII already when he sunk HMS Royal Oak in October 1939. He got both the EKI and the Knight's Cross for that, as well as tea with Hitler etc.

ObltzS von Tiesenhausen sunk HMS Barham in November '41 - he also had the EKII but only got the EKI, and no lunch with Hitler (although he did eventually get the Knight's Cross in January '42.

There was a lot of variance over a commander's reward for a 'prestige sinking', although a Knight's Cross was usual. Towards the end of the war the requirements dropped enormously and some recieved the RK for simply damaging a merchant ship, so dangerous had it become.

In reality if you had sunk a Revenge class (Royal Oak was of that class) you could expect at the very least EKII and EKI. Probably RK and tea with Hitler as well. I think the game can't 'leapfrog' awards like in real life - if you pass the threshold for the RK and the RK + Oakleaves in one patrol, you get the RK at the end of that patrol and the oakleaves are 'stacked' so that you'll recieve them next patrol, even if you don't sink anything.

Hope this helps!

Hey Gustav!

That attack on Scapa was superb! Early war destroyers just seem dumb beyond belief? Getting rammed and surviving! Wheres the titanium conning tower download....?:haha:

Tried the same trick at Freetown but the huge amount of tonnage inside the breakwater made me forget the anti submarine nets. Gun battle on the surface with an ASW trawler wasn't the right method of infiltration. Especially when the V&W turned up. End of career.:down:

Heading for the North Channel found some lucky Danish cargoes in the North Sea and had a fight with ten Swordfish heading in an anti-clockwise arc around Scapa.
http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg594/Riccardo1975/SH3/SH3Img13-1-2013_184030_437_zps481486fc.png
They sent them singly while i was sunbathing off Aberdeen, then pairs as I headed for deep water above the Orkneys and then the last lot were a trio while heading for the Faroes. No match for my Stabsoberbootman AA specialist! Think it was down to a "Task Force" that was just north of Scotland, course ene(?)
http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg594/Riccardo1975/SH3/SH3Img13-1-2013_193645_355_zps6f00aa00.png
Got no contacts on the way to Londonderry so had a look in that port. Got an A&B astern of a J&K eastbound, 4km bearing 320. Dived to periscope depth, headed north, rig for silent running sank them both with my two stern TII.
http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg594/Riccardo1975/SH3/SH3Img14-1-2013_145446_849_zps0e73efd8.png

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg594/Riccardo1975/SH3/SH3Img14-1-2013_145539_495_zps1529aea5.png


Not quite simultaneous hits but the J&K detonated and the smaller A&B just foundered. Both torp. set to 2m running depth and impact, distance was over 1400m. Fired tube V at bearing 170, counted to ten(quickly!)and then fired tube VI at something like 240.
After surfacing for some fresh air got surface contact of three Elcos so fired a few 105mm at about 3km looking for that "magic" hit. Started taking return fire so dived to 20m and disappeared westbound, ahead slow, secure from silent running.
http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg594/Riccardo1975/SH3/SH3Img3-1-2013_205845_694_zps5775c316.png

Hope Onkel Neal doesn't mind me uploading all these photos..?

Still hunting.....:salute:

[Ancient Mariner]

Late 1940.Patrol Grid CF34 out of St Nazaire. Got off to an evening launch,+- 100km offshore "Sub spotted" from watch,on further investigation I found an S class. Decided to attack on surface with guns....after a small exchange of cannon & flak fire she was sent to a watery grave.

Reached Grid CF34 patrolled for 24h then went hunting intercepted an ore carrier,was lucky to spot rising sun flag BDu would have had my bacon.....2 Days later intercepted a good size convoy with a fairly heavy escort(2 Black swan,Dido,S class & Flower) Tried a new tactic albeit unsuccesfuly of firing a spread into convoy,,,0 for 4....:down: Got ashcanned for a while...managed to escape but decided to try again.......snuck in from behind pn surface at flank....ended using all my eels for 0 kills.....:wah: 3 definite duds at 800m:/\\!! Second patrol in a row with many a dud eel...come on BDu...sort this problem out

[Grun Teufel]

[QUOTE=TheDuke233;1938035]Recently in SHV, I was doing a photo recon of anchored enemy carriers in the Solomons...Snuck into shallow water camera range and alearted a Jap DD.. I had no option other than to shoot down the throat.. I fired a 3 torpedo spread and scored two hits, sending him to meet honorable ancestors..Got my recon photos and as I was doing a 180 for deeper water I heard another torpedo impact from the one that missed the DD...I thought I had hit the carrier as it was in the same direction I fired..Later in deeper water, I upped scope and observed smoke and flames on the horizon from the direction of the carriers...At 10K+ more yards and in deeper water I surfaced...Very soon thereafter I had an extreamly PO'ed Jap destroyer headed right at me, lobing shells while blazing and smoking away!! I had scored a very lucky hit with the missed torpedo on another DD I hadn't even seen!! :hmmm:...Dropped down below the thermocline, went silent and snuck away...10K+ more yards and a distant blazing DD in the periscope rear, I surfaced again...Yeah...you guessed it...Here he comes right at me with a bone in his mouth...Back deep and quiet, coming to periscope depth to cross the gap and into the deep sea channel, I surfaced again at about 15K..:huh:.Here he comes from out of sight range, still blazing and smoking but with a full head of steam...Enough is enough...This guy was going to chase me all the way back to Pearl Harbor...Another spread from my rear tubes and he went down...Prob a glitch in the software, but with a little imagination, it could have been a Jap DD with radar...

awesome action! Did you sail this patrol during the battle of the Coral Sea by chance? I do believe that happens somewhere around those islands.

[Dronston]

I was assigned a grid near Freetown and after reaching and patrolling it I decided to check out if there was any bounty near the harbor of Freetown.
:arrgh!:
On the way I ran into a large convoy but was blocked by 3 black Swans and a flower class. Sank 3 of 'em but took damage and decided to not pursuit the convoy (also running out of fuel and torpedoes) 'cause it would take too much time to get into position after dodging my pursuers for several hours.
:know:
I was able to creep up just near the Freetown harbor entrance (P depth, silent running) and saw a 24k ton troopship and I couldn't resist trying to sink it (I know, not very realistic but very heroic). I ran aground, had some damage and went on decks awash and still did not get noticed. I fired two torpedoes at the troop carrier and hit it. Of course all hell broke loose and because I couldn't dive my tub was used for target practice. Needless to say my boat and crew did not survive, they will be missed and honored.
:salute:

Now for my question, is there a chart or mod telling me the various water depths around the world for SH3? That way I can determine if there is any depth at any given spot so I can work out tactics or a route when I plan another stupid action like this.
:hmm2:

[Ancient Mariner]

Patrol 3: JAN 20 41:Assigned to grid AK 23.

Multiple sinkings in grids BF 17,41 & 42:arrgh!: 7 for 24k

Seems my complaints reached Bdu & they sorted me out some eels that explode when they hit target had 2 duds both MK2 electric.

All bar 2 traveling alone. Came across a small liner but she was making some serious speed NNW.Couldn't keep up. Then came across 4 ships in "convoy" waited for dark,got ready for 2 Large tanker kills......periscope up.....running lights on....:shifty:

RTB 02-10-41
Promoted & Medals for crew
40921 Merchant tonnage

[Gustav Schiebert]

11 July 1944: BdU to all boats ... U-158 has failed to report in despite repeated contact requests. Task force last reported in AN22. Presumed sunk with all hands.

That was all the shocked U-Bootwaffe had to go on, when the telegraphists rushed through the boat and handed the signals to their commanders. Oblt Heller was dead. The greatest U-Boat ace, since overtaking Kretschmer last year, had fallen in the service of the Reich. No-one would ever know the full story of what happened to U-2547 and her crew...

* * *

On 07 July, Heller ordered 'ahead one third', and the Type-XXI boat U-2547 slipped silently out of the moorings at Bergen. No band, no parade, not like the first patrols out of Lorient. This was Heller's seventh war patrol, and the second in the futuristic elektroboot. Ordered to patrol the Western Approaches, the last patrol had yeilded 15,000 GRT - an impressive total at this stage of the war.

On the evening of 11 July, Heller ordered the boat to switch from schnorkel to electric propulsion. He sat on the control room hatchway door and peered expectantly at the hydrophone operator. His face was screwed up with concentration. "Warship screws ... 030! Moving fast! Long range!"

This was it. Heller took one of the headphones and scanned around. A task force. No merchants. "Well men!" he clambered back into the control room." Maybe it's time to show some Tommy destroyers the war isn't over yet. Rudder 20 degrees to starboard! Come to 330! Half speed ahead." The planesmen grinned as he slapped them both on the shoulders. Oblt Heller would come out on top. He'd been depth charged so many times before and escaped - even in his old Type-IX boat U-158. This elektroboot was Germany's salvation.

All that could be heard was the gentle hum of the engines, and the periodic whirrrrr-clunk of the periscope as Heller watched the Task Force cross his scope. "Dammit! They're going to slip past ... full speed ahead!" The men looked at each other as the engines sped up, going up in pitch and volume. Would the Tommies hear them like this? Heller called down the instructions to the bosun. "Going for that Hunt Class. Range: 2,300. Speed ... 14kts. AOB, 80 bows left. Spread shots from one, three and five - two metres depth, spread angle three degrees. Flood tubes one, three and five! Ready..."

Heller cursed. "He's seen us! Dammit ... switch AOB to 0! Spread angle to one degree ... fire!" The eels hissed from the tubes, and no sooner had the last one left the boat did Heller jump down into the control room. Rudder hard to port! Take her down! All ahead emergency!

Within minutes, the boat was at 110m. They hadn't heard any ASDIC yet, and all the destroyers were behind them. Heller ordered silent running and slowed to creep speed. He looked at the bosun, who's face was fixed on the stopwatch. He looked up and shook his head. "Missed, Herr Oberleutnant." Well, that battle was lost. Now for the next one.

The rumble of depth charges started far away. The men grinned at each other at first, they were slinking away at seven knots, even at creep speed. But then the screws started to surround the boat ... the hydrophone man started to report screws at 230, 250, 270 ... Heller constantly adjusted the course to try and head away from their course, keeping them at 180. But the explosions slowly got closer. Suddenly, the noise of propellers became overwhelming as a destroyer passed straight overhead.

For the next three hours, it was cat-and-mouse. Some of the bombs shook the boat so hard, the men thought the hull had been breached and the water was rushing in. They couldn't hide in 100m of water. The hydrophones were out, radar down, radio, two torpedo tubes, all the 'scopes, the port creep engine was destroyed ... Heller glanced at the Chief. As they read each other's thoughts, another blast shook the boat. "All batteries destroyed, Herr Oberleutnant! We're making water in the stern very fast!". Damn. Time for one last throw of the dice. "Blow the tanks, LI! Everything we've got! Get us on the diesels straight away when we surface..."

Even before the boat had fully broke the surface, the ting-ting-ting of the Oerlikons could be heard as the bows broke the surface. "First watch to bridge! Come to 180! All ahead, chief, FASTER!" The boat shook again, and screams could be heard from above. Heller clambered up the ladder, and stepped onto the bridge among the remains of his bridge watch. All four dead. He looked around him, almost blinded by the searchlights. Six ... seven destroyers! This was it. "Chief! Prepare the boat for scuttling! Abandon ship!" But it was too late. One of the destroyers raced out of the circling pack and made straight for the boat. As Heller looked back up over the side of the bridge, the last thing he saw was the bow of the destroyer as it slammed into the boat.

U-2547, and Oblt z. S. Ernest Heller, were no more.

[VONHARRIS]

http://i50.tinypic.com/2zxvbco.jpg

[Singed]

Starting over haha, the good news for everyone else is that the Tommies have GOT to be running short of depth charges at this point.

[VONHARRIS]

Starting over haha, the good news for everyone else is that the Tommies have GOT to be running short of depth charges at this point.

They never do. They have an unlomited supply of these tincans as well as counteless planes to makeour patrols a living hell.:wah:

[LemonA]

11 July 1944: BdU to all boats ... U-158 has failed to report in despite repeated contact requests. Task force last reported in AN22. Presumed sunk with all hands.

That was all the shocked U-Bootwaffe had to go on, when the telegraphists rushed through the boat and handed the signals to their commanders. Oblt Heller was dead. The greatest U-Boat ace, since overtaking Kretschmer last year, had fallen in the service of the Reich. No-one would ever know the full story of what happened to U-2547 and her crew...

* * *

On 07 July, Heller ordered 'ahead one third', and the Type-XXI boat U-2547 slipped silently out of the moorings at Bergen. No band, no parade, not like the first patrols out of Lorient. This was Heller's seventh war patrol, and the second in the futuristic elektroboot. Ordered to patrol the Western Approaches, the last patrol had yeilded 15,000 GRT - an impressive total at this stage of the war.

On the evening of 11 July, Heller ordered the boat to switch from schnorkel to electric propulsion. He sat on the control room hatchway door and peered expectantly at the hydrophone operator. His face was screwed up with concentration. "Warship screws ... 030! Moving fast! Long range!"

This was it. Heller took one of the headphones and scanned around. A task force. No merchants. "Well men!" he clambered back into the control room." Maybe it's time to show some Tommy destroyers the war isn't over yet. Rudder 20 degrees to starboard! Come to 330! Half speed ahead." The planesmen grinned as he slapped them both on the shoulders. Oblt Heller would come out on top. He'd been depth charged so many times before and escaped - even in his old Type-IX boat U-158. This elektroboot was Germany's salvation.

All that could be heard was the gentle hum of the engines, and the periodic whirrrrr-clunk of the periscope as Heller watched the Task Force cross his scope. "Dammit! They're going to slip past ... full speed ahead!" The men looked at each other as the engines sped up, going up in pitch and volume. Would the Tommies hear them like this? Heller called down the instructions to the bosun. "Going for that Hunt Class. Range: 2,300. Speed ... 14kts. AOB, 80 bows left. Spread shots from one, three and five - two metres depth, spread angle three degrees. Flood tubes one, three and five! Ready..."

Heller cursed. "He's seen us! Dammit ... switch AOB to 0! Spread angle to one degree ... fire!" The eels hissed from the tubes, and no sooner had the last one left the boat did Heller jump down into the control room. Rudder hard to port! Take her down! All ahead emergency!

Within minutes, the boat was at 110m. They hadn't heard any ASDIC yet, and all the destroyers were behind them. Heller ordered silent running and slowed to creep speed. He looked at the bosun, who's face was fixed on the stopwatch. He looked up and shook his head. "Missed, Herr Oberleutnant." Well, that battle was lost. Now for the next one.

The rumble of depth charges started far away. The men grinned at each other at first, they were slinking away at seven knots, even at creep speed. But then the screws started to surround the boat ... the hydrophone man started to report screws at 230, 250, 270 ... Heller constantly adjusted the course to try and head away from their course, keeping them at 180. But the explosions slowly got closer. Suddenly, the noise of propellers became overwhelming as a destroyer passed straight overhead.

For the next three hours, it was cat-and-mouse. Some of the bombs shook the boat so hard, the men thought the hull had been breached and the water was rushing in. They couldn't hide in 100m of water. The hydrophones were out, radar down, radio, two torpedo tubes, all the 'scopes, the port creep engine was destroyed ... Heller glanced at the Chief. As they read each other's thoughts, another blast shook the boat. "All batteries destroyed, Herr Oberleutnant! We're making water in the stern very fast!". Damn. Time for one last throw of the dice. "Blow the tanks, LI! Everything we've got! Get us on the diesels straight away when we surface..."

Even before the boat had fully broke the surface, the ting-ting-ting of the Oerlikons could be heard as the bows broke the surface. "First watch to bridge! Come to 180! All ahead, chief, FASTER!" The boat shook again, and screams could be heard from above. Heller clambered up the ladder, and stepped onto the bridge among the remains of his bridge watch. All four dead. He looked around him, almost blinded by the searchlights. Six ... seven destroyers! This was it. "Chief! Prepare the boat for scuttling! Abandon ship!" But it was too late. One of the destroyers raced out of the circling pack and made straight for the boat. As Heller looked back up over the side of the bridge, the last thing he saw was the bow of the destroyer as it slammed into the boat.

U-2547, and Oblt z. S. Ernest Heller, were no more.


1.) How does it comes that he was somewhat "surprised" by the superior military power of 5 or 6 destroyers
and that he didn't noticed that the unsuitability and inability of his hydrophone-operator was a life risk for the whole crew?
2.) An operator call "Warship screws ... 030! Moving fast! Long range!" is according to every u-boat textbook a signal to stay away or proceed with utmost caution and not a signal for a offensive'strategy.
3.) And if all goes south then there must be more than dive, dodge and turn corners. There must be a plan B, there has to be special life-saving evasive strategies against destroyes (for example against a high speed appraoch the Horberg-S ). None of these took place.

Ernest Heller was seriously at fault, if you ask me. And he should go down into the history books as a tragic example of incompetance and naivety.

[Gustav Schiebert]

LemonA, thanks for reading and your thoughts! Not sure specifically which 'textbooks' you're referring to, but in reference to point 2:


Do not see danger everywhere and in everything, do not overestimate the enemy, do not always seek to place yourself in his position, do not assume that everything that is going on in the theater of war applies to yourself - these internal reservations and scruples are a sign of uncertainty, and of a negative attitude, which impairs your ability to reach a decision, and endangers the success of the operations.
Audacity and a readiness to take responsibility, coupled with cool, clear thinking, are the pre-conditions and the basis of success.

(Section I, Para 16, U. Kdt. Htb.)

The rare opportunity of attacking an enemy concentration of ships must be used, by going all out, with all the torpedoes, even in spite of the strongest enemy escort. One of the ships of the concentration should be attacked, and the attack carried out, by a method suited to the position of the target, in a manner calculated to annihilate the latter; immediately afterwards a second and third ships should be attacked where possible.

(Section II, Para 134, U. Kdt. Htb.)

Evasive manoeuvres were, I grant you, over-simplified in the write-up for readability. 100m is too shallow to attack but I can assure you U-2547 was doing no passive lurking or blundering turning while getting depth-charged. I suppose 'the plan', inasmuch as there was one, was to do a Schnee and escape underwater before the torpedoes hit, hence the firing at a fair distance to allow escaping.

[Arnold]

2 AUG 41, U-651...* intercom crackles * Attention! Thanks to Jaesen Jones and SH3 Commander v 3.2.0.203, I have removed all fatigue exclamation points from our boat. No more complaining about being tired! From now on, the bosuns will maintain the good order of the boat, by keeping the following watch bill and six-hour rest period for the crew. Engine room: 6 hours, E-room: 6 hours, Deck watch (fair weather) 4 hours, Deck watch (foul weather) 2 hours, Radio: 6 hours, Sonar: 6 hours, Helmsman: 6 hours, Control room: 6 hours, Bow torpedo maintence 6 hours, Stern torpedo maintence, 6 hours. That is all.

[Riccardo1975]

I've been playing submarine sims since the days of Silent Service.

You have to be pretty dumb to attack a task force on purpose.:doh:

Dive deep, go quiet and head in the opposite direction preferably into deeper water with your fingers crossed that you haven't been spotted..

I never attack more than two and only if they are heading for me in a straight line,whilst I'm at scope depth, rigged for silent running.

Heller bought his tickets and then won the raffle.:yep:

Oberleutnant R A J Murphy
U-111

[sublynx]

There was a time in 1943 during the war that the U-boats were ordered to attack destroyers. The first such attack against the destroyer screen of a convoy was a success and the second a disaster.

I think a decision to attack a hunter group with a type XXI could have been historically possible if there would have been XXI's around. It's something I would not attempt light-heartedly, though.

[Gustav Schiebert]

At the risk of going a bit off topic... and thanks to everyone who's commented on this, it's nice to get some real feedback from other players. What the forum's all about.

I suppose the disparity might be because I very much play 'in character', trying to act as a real U-boat commander would have done. I accept all the arguments that people put saying it was incredibly dangerous, and yes it was done with an element of suicidal madness. But that was realistic suicidal madness.

Real U-boat commanders attacked much stronger enemies, with much worse boats, in much worse situations. And they had more at stake than their 3-year DID campaign. A great number of them died, but some succeeded. Commanders were expected to attack when the odds were against them - and a Knight's Cross Oakleaves Swords winner, commanding a XXI, would have a certain amount of expectation to attack.

Furthermore, attacking a task force was in many ways safer than attacking a convoy full of ASW assets. Task forces cruised at 15-20kts at times - too fast to use ASDIC. And a commander would likely maintain speed rather than hunting for a single U-boat - at this stage in the war the danger from Gnats was too great for everybody to sit still and scan for a sub. Better to remain at speed, invulnerable to Gnats and rely on best speed to cruise out of the attack zone before the U-boat can attack.

I'm not getting shirty about some criticising the decision - that's what this thread's for. But I do object to people putting it down to amateurish over-enthusiasm, because that by extension applies to all the commanders and crew who died in the same circumstances in real life - on all sides. Submarine warfare is a one-sided business.

Rant over - I won't clog up this thread any more with my ravings on this one :p

[Arnold]

8 NOV 41, 23:50, U-651, 1st Flotilla, 16th patrol. While heading SW to patrol grid CF64, a report was received, via radio direction finding, regarding an enemy ship, heading NNE, aprox. 214 km away, SW of our position. Orders were given to increase speed to 13 kts. and change course to 200 degrees. The enemy's course was plotted on the chart, along with our intersecting course. Clear skies, a half moon and heavy seas greeted me as I went on deck. I scanned the sky to see the different star formations I had remembered when I was in the Boy Scouts. "There!" "The Big Dipper, with the two stars at the end of the cup, pointing to the North star." I climbed down the ladder to the conning tower, patting the helmsman on the shoulder, then climbing down to the control room. I advised the Chief Engineer to contact me when we were 50 km away from our contact's course. I retired to my bunk for a nap. 0540, I was woke by the navigator, who told me we had reached a point aprox. 50 km away from the course of the enemy ship. I ordered a dive to 30 meters, at 1 kt. At 30 meters, I listened, using the sound man's headset, for any sound of a ship. Nothing. "Surface!" "Same course!" "Ahead full!". 0800, 5 km from the enemy course, I ordered a dive to 30 meters at 1 kt. 0839, sound contact! bearing 251! "New course 108 degrees!" "Surface!" I marked the map, at a point about 17 km away from the boat at 251 degrees. 0855, sound contact! bearing 63 degrees! Marked the map, at a point about 14 km away from the boat at 63 degrees. I connected both marks on the map to determine the aprox. course of the contact. Marked a 90 degree intersecting course to enemy course. On deck, the morning sun is just off our starboard bow. 0908, aprox. 4 km from the intersecting enemy course, "Dive to 30 meters!" "Ahead 1/3!" 0911, contact! bearing 59 degrees! 2.5 km from intersecting point. I gave rudder commands to line the boat up with the 90 degree intersecting course. 0921, at a point aprox. 4 km away from the contact, "All stop!", scope observation. "There she is!" Heading right at us!" "Ahead standard!" Connect stern tube!" 0939, "All stop!" 0948, scope check. "It's a Brit!" "Open stern cap!" acquired solution "Fire tube five!" "Hit!" "New course 30 degrees, ahead standard!" "She's a C3!" "She's slowed to 1 kt!" "She's dead in the water!" "Open bow cap, tube 1!"!" "Rudder 9 degrees to port!" "Ahead slow!" I marked a 90 degree intersecting course to the ship. Line up for final shot(s), rudder 0 degrees, gryroangle 0 degrees, range 900 meters. "All stop!" "Fire, tube 1!" "Open bow cap, tube 2!" "Fire tube 2!" "That broke her back!!" "There she goes!" "Ahead 1 kt., dive to 50 meters, return course to patrol area". "We'll contact BdU once we have put some distance from this area". "Re-load tubes, then take a rest men, you have earned it!". Lt. jg. Carl A. Lange Jr.

[Marcello]

At the risk of going a bit off topic... and thanks to everyone who's commented on this, it's nice to get some real feedback from other players. What the forum's all about.

I suppose the disparity might be because I very much play 'in character', trying to act as a real U-boat commander would have done. I accept all the arguments that people put saying it was incredibly dangerous, and yes it was done with an element of suicidal madness. But that was realistic suicidal madness.

Real U-boat commanders attacked much stronger enemies, with much worse boats, in much worse situations. And they had more at stake than their 3-year DID campaign. A great number of them died, but some succeeded. Commanders were expected to attack when the odds were against them - and a Knight's Cross Oakleaves Swords winner, commanding a XXI, would have a certain amount of expectation to attack.

Furthermore, attacking a task force was in many ways safer than attacking a convoy full of ASW assets. Task forces cruised at 15-20kts at times - too fast to use ASDIC. And a commander would likely maintain speed rather than hunting for a single U-boat - at this stage in the war the danger from Gnats was too great for everybody to sit still and scan for a sub. Better to remain at speed, invulnerable to Gnats and rely on best speed to cruise out of the attack zone before the U-boat can attack.

I'm not getting shirty about some criticising the decision - that's what this thread's for. But I do object to people putting it down to amateurish over-enthusiasm, because that by extension applies to all the commanders and crew who died in the same circumstances in real life - on all sides. Submarine warfare is a one-sided business.

Rant over - I won't clog up this thread any more with my ravings on this one :p

As I see it, going after a task force is a mistake. Escorts were easy to replace and relatively expendable, especially late in the war. Sinking merchants loaded with supplies, while still easy to replace, caused some direct damage to the enemy economy and with a bit of luck to the enemy land forces themselves depending on the nature of the cargo. Put it this way, what do you think it is bigger loss of the following:
A) A frigate of 1400 tons.
B) A merchant of 14000 loaded with tin/rubber/wheat/tanks spares.
The only exception I would make is for high value warships: battleships, fleet carriers, large cruisers, as these were a harder to replace and would have an impact on operations on land.
Risk for risk it is still better to attack a convoy than a typical ASW task force.

[Pranne]

Its December 1940 and iam with my IXB on patrol in BE36 and around, lots of single ships underway.

[Pranne]

Its December 1940 and iam with my IXB on patrol in BE36 and around, lots of single ships underway.

[Mork_417]

Well, all promotions & medals have been handed out, and the crew had some time to blow off. :rock: Decided to upgrade U-50's engines which according to my office calendar pushed my sailing date out from Feb 8th to March 8th. However, I have just left port, and the Captain's log is showing it's still Feb 8th. :06:

Anywho, it's Feb 8th, 1940 (we think), and we are heading to AM-97. :arrgh!:

[Synthfg]

I Hate 1939
What idiot invented the neutrality laws :down:
Patrol 3, late sept
Nice grotty weather to hide in on the run into and through the channel, yet every merchant I get close to is either Dutch Irish or bloody Belgian

FFS 2 huge Belgian tankers line astern heading towards the port of London, Prime unescorted targets, massive tonnage, and I can't :arrgh!: them :Kaleun_Crying:

[Sailor Steve]

What idiot invented the neutrality laws :down:
The same idiot who decided that it's his job to start wars, not some lowly skipper far down the ladder.

[tsotha]

The only exception I would make is for high value warships: battleships, fleet carriers, large cruisers, as these were a harder to replace and would have an impact on operations on land.

I wonder how worthwhile attacking even capital ships would have been unless the attack could be made with virtually no risk (i.e. no destroyer escort). By 1939 battleships are obsolete in surface warfare. Would you risk your boat attacking a ship if you knew it would only be effective for a few days in 1944, particularly since a ship that size requires quite a bit of resources to support?

[desertstriker]

retired SH3 for a bit since i really don't have the time to play it all my campeigns have captains getting fat on extended shore leave

[VONHARRIS]

retired SH3 for a bit since i really don't have the time to play it all my campeigns have captains getting fat on extended shore leave

Make sure that they don't get fat enough else they won't be able to enter the hatch of the conning tower! :D

[desertstriker]

Make sure that they don't get fat enough else they won't be able to enter the hatch of the conning tower! :D
already planed on putting them through a rigorous PT training program if they make the boat list considerably when stepping on and a lighter PT program if they just cant fit in the hatch:k_rofl:

[VONHARRIS]

already planed on putting them through a rigorous PT training program if they make the boat list considerably when stepping on and a lighter PT program if they just cant fit in the hatch:k_rofl:

Now , there is an exellent Flotilla Commander!
A beer on me! :Kaleun_Cheers:

[Marcello]

I wonder how worthwhile attacking even capital ships would have been unless the attack could be made with virtually no risk (i.e. no destroyer escort). By 1939 battleships are obsolete in surface warfare. Would you risk your boat attacking a ship if you knew it would only be effective for a few days in 1944, particularly since a ship that size requires quite a bit of resources to support?

Battleship obsolescence was only a far from universal opinion at the start of the war, in practice in the european theater battleships continued to fight and shape the fight well past 1939, if only because they were what was available. Even if actual encounters with their direct opponents were uncommon they still saw significant active action, be it smashing italian cruisers or chasing german raiders; shore bombardment was conducted well before 1944 as well. Even when just sitting in their harbors they would still influence what the enemy would do; it is worth noting in that regards that even in 1944 Tirpitz was still perceived, wrongly perhaps but perceived neverthless, as a threat that had to be neutralized. Likewise earlier british and italian operations to sink each other battleships in harbor were undertaken for a reason.
By 1944 battleships were certainly obsolete outside few niches, but by then Italy was out, north africa lost and Donitz was feeding u-boats and men into a meatgrinder in the hope to buy time for the elektroboot to come along. In 1940 or 1941 the naval landscape was somewhat different however and the few british carriers and carrier based planes could not bear all the brunt of the fight.

[Synthfg]

Battleships and Cruisers played important parts in the North Atlantic, Arctic and Mediterranean Campaigns

The Mediterranean theater in particular saw several battles between capital ships

Even in 1943 / 44 the Big Guns were having major influence on the Landings, first in Italy and then in France / Belgium

It was only in 45 when the fighting had moved far inland and the Kreigsmarine fleet had been decimated that the Battlewagons were no longer relevant to the European theater



On my own Late Spet 39 patrol things have significantly improved.
After days of heavy weather the sky's cleared as we left the channel for the Atlantic
Picked up a couple of small merchies, but traffic was very light,
decided to head north on a wide swing around the west coast of Ireland to see if those convoy lanes were any busier

Cruising north we receive a report of a slow convoy approx 150km to the SE of us heading NE,

Plotting an course to get ahead and intercept we race along to get into position before turning to the SW at approx midnight and slowing to a stalking speed

On the 2nd reconnaissance dive the hydrophone operator picks up the convoy dead ahead and coming my way :D

After sprinting in I dive at at what I estimate is 5km out, Hatches closed and starting to go down when Boooooingggggg, Booooinnnnng, something is pinging us, :eek:
Up scope to find a black swan has snuck in behind us at about 800m and is turning in, Quickly prepare and loose the rear fish which explodes underneath him and takes him out,

Can now start to make out the convoy, mostly small merchants and coastal's, but there is a large merchie leading the center column,
I make him my first target and send a II straight down his center line on mag, Bang and that's him slowing and in obvious distress

Looking for my next target I spot an ammunition ship and another large merchie in the convoy, Turning towards them I find another black swan closing on me, He get's the type I I keep in T4 for such emergencies which holes his bow takes him but a min to drive his bow under and that's all she wrote

But behind her comes a Southampton, who rapidly turns and legs it from the scene,

I pick up the ammo carrier with a spectacular explosion and put a hole in the 2nd Large merchie, but she refuses to go down,

I pick off a small cargo that wonders across my path, but her icon turns green, 1am with no lights in the middle of an escorted british convoy, what did she expect

At this point I'm swearing at Hans and the boys in the torpedo room to get me more rounds,
Hans assures me it will be less than 5 mins until I have a tube available so I start to turn back in for a 2nd shot at the big boy when the Southampton reappears,

I decide that if I take her I might be free of the surface escort and can bring my gun into play so I switch targets and yell loudly at Hans to hurry up

Set my attack run just so and as the sh gets into the perfect attack position the light on 2 goes green, good boy Hans and Loss

Perfect hit right under the B turret she sits there for a sec and then a massive secondary as her magazine goes up


Just preparing to surface and doing a final swing when I spot an S class sub lurking at the edge of the convoy, :nope:

He will have to go so start to close
Just getting into perfect firing position with hans telling me he's almost ready when she turns north and puts on a burst of speed,

But I'm right behind her now, right surface and get on that gun, sink her before she can turn to bring her own weapons to bear

She taggs my tower with her AA, but she goes down and that's the last of the escort.

I now have a sea full of unescorted unarmed merchies :rock:

Notice I'm down to 3 fish as well but with 75 rounds I think I can do some damage,
Even more when I find that most of them are carrying a mix of high explosives and gasoline,

it was like fireworks night for a while, explosions going off everywhere,
But now I'm out of fish and out of main gun shells and there are still 4 or 5 little ships on the surface, nice of them to give me some lights for target practice with the aa gun, cant sink them but the cargo exploding is satisfying, I need more ammo :Kaleun_Mad:

Anyway crying a little I set course for home, going to be a long journey without any ammo
But with almost 100k to my name some of those dockside nurses are in for a rough time when we get back

[Arnold]

17 Feb 42 Patrol 20. It is with regret Bdu reports the loss of U-651 in the Bay of Biscay. Recent orders and increased flak guns required boats to "stay up and fight", rather than dive to avoid aircraft.
The galant crew were able to down several fighters, yet, two fighters were able to limp back to base, alerting British bomber command.
The bombers returned in force, to overwhelm the crew of U-651. It is suspected that the radar set wasn't turned off. Oh well, time to start a new career.
3 Sept 39
Patrol 1
U-18
U-Flotilla Weddigan
Base: Wilhelmshaven
Orders: Patrol AN16
Well....it's about time I learned how to manual target. This will be my first time playing at 100 % realism. This should be interesting.
We leave the harbor and encounter twelve sightings, one German destroyer and several Schnell boats. At 12:22 we spot a German fishing trawler. Using the map tools and the stop watch, I practice estimating the trawler's speed. She's doing about 8 knots. I used the note pad method to obtain the range and the Aob. During our patrol, all fish fired either missed or exploded early. Near Scapa Flow, I encountered a C-2. Out of eels, in heavy winter seas, I was curious about the effects of ramming. (on our boat and the C-2) The only effect were sparks, no damage to either ship! It was rather exciting, speeding at 8 knots broadside into the ship. The 1st patrol ended with TWICE the renown for accomplishing nothing, except to complete our orders.

[Hakkalotty]

Hi guys! im new to the forum and really started playing SH3 in the last 2-3 months..im doing my first campaign started in 1939 in Wilhelmshaven, i been playing in a very easy mode (when i will die i will start a new campaign increasing realism) trying to learn the game. The date now is August 14th 1942 and i been transferred to Lorient i command a nice type IXC and i can tell the Tommie's are getting smarter and greater in number (especially in the air!), i have now 4 petty officers specialized in flack-gun!! In this current mission im playing im on my way off the coast of South Africa and a large convoy was signaled to me but i had to give it a miss as i was too far away,
Anyway i would like to thank all you guys for all the tips i got from the forum and hopefully we will be in touch again. Happy hunting you old rascals :up:

[VONHARRIS]

Hakkalotty

Welcome to Subsim.
Try to stay away from aircrafts as much as possible.
Fighting them equals to your death sentence.

Gute Jadg Herr Kaluen

[ninja turtle]

Anyway i would like to thank all you guys for all the tips i got from the forum and hopefully we will be in touch again. Happy hunting you old rascals :up:

Welcome and :agree: with the tips and help from this forum

:subsim:

[Jimbuna]

Hi guys! im new to the forum and really started playing SH3 in the last 2-3 months..im doing my first campaign started in 1939 in Wilhelmshaven, i been playing in a very easy mode (when i will die i will start a new campaign increasing realism) trying to learn the game. The date now is August 14th 1942 and i been transferred to Lorient i command a nice type IXC and i can tell the Tommie's are getting smarter and greater in number (especially in the air!), i have now 4 petty officers specialized in flack-gun!! In this current mission im playing im on my way off the coast of South Africa and a large convoy was signaled to me but i had to give it a miss as i was too far away,
Anyway i would like to thank all you guys for all the tips i got from the forum and hopefully we will be in touch again. Happy hunting you old rascals :up:

Welcome Aboard :salute:

[Missing Name]

I've decided to start using manual targeting.

April 1940, Operation Hartmut.

Wasted four eels on a collier. The first time, I messed up the solution. The second... one missed, one dud.

Was told to intercept allied forces. Attacked the HMS Nelson. Wrong solution. Broke the port diesel in my attempts to attack a second time.

Returned to base, tail tucked.

[Arnold]

28 Sept 40
Patrol 10
U-94
Due to our victories in France I have been transferred to a new type VII boat in Brest. Most of my officers and crew from U-19 will accompany me on the train from Germany to France. I've dismissed two sound men for neglect of duties on our last patrol. I caught them sleeping while on duty. We provision our boat and depart at 13:01 hrs. (100% realism)
As soon as we leave the harbor I order the navigator to make a sounding to determine the depth under keel. Fifty two meters. Good! I order a dive to periscope depth and proceed at 1 knot until dusk.
I have decided to set the watch for the entire crew the same as our enemies; 4 on, 4 off. (in this way I don't have to play "musical chairs" more than necessary, while allowing my crew rest)(I have fatigue turned off)
19:41 hrs
I go up on deck to smoke a cigar. The sea is calm. A faint light is still visible to the West. We head towards the North Channel.
Rudi Kruska, Lt. Sr.

[Arnold]

30 Sept 40
Patrol 10
U-94
We have reached the edge of the continental shelf, off the SW coast of France, 216 kilometers from Brest. No contacts to report. The crew has settled down to a routine watch schedule. Morale is good.
I go up on deck at 0:200 for a cigar smoke. The sea is glass. The sky is clear, filled with stars. The sea air is fresh. All I need is a pine forest to surround us and I'd feel right at home. Back home, my wife is closing the windows at night to keep the day's warmth in our cottage. Should it become cold enough, she'll start a fire in the wood stove.
Two days at sea and I'm already homesick.
Rudi Kruska, Lt. Sr.

[desertstriker]

Decided to go though my stable mod soup and make it reletively unstable, on an atomic scale, with new mods. Now i have to go back every now and then and edit this or that to make some mods compatable when i find an error:-? why does it seem some of us spend more time fine tunning than playing:k_rofl:

[Arnold]

2 OCT 40
Patrol 10
U-94
11:39 hrs., received a report from the sound man, "merchant, medium speed, constant distance, bearing 358". I order a depth change from 50 meters to 21 meters, maintain course and speed 1 knot. I plot a mark on the map at 358 degrees about 34 kilometers from the boat. And I wait. Noon, contact is now at 20 degrees. I plot a mark on the map at 20 degrees about 34 kilometers from the boat. I order the boat surfaced, ahead full, course due North. I assign Lt. j.g. Schminga to the bridge. I set the torpedoes to a depth of 3 meters, with contact pistols.
13:07 hrs. contact sighted, bearing 317 degrees. I order a dive to periscope depth, flank speed, new course 335 degrees.
13:31, fire!
13:32, Impact, enemy unit destroyed.
Down scope, depth 50 meters, speed 1 knot, reload tube 1.
13:44 tube 1 reloaded. Good job men! At my request, the radio man puts a record on the platter to play "Sing, sing, sing" by Benny Goodman.
Tomorrow, Noon, we'll have good news with our daily position report for BdU.
Rudi Kruska, Lt. Sr.

[Archer7seven]

Running the surface warfare mod, I took the only ship worth playing in the campaign, (the pocket battleship due to its range), to indonesia, via a fuel stop with a V ship. The pickings around the west coast of Australia and India are great.

[Arnold]

4 OCT 40
Patrol 10
U-94

03:04 Ship spotted, bearing 270 degrees. I order a dive to periscope depth, ahead full, new course 151 degrees.
03:14 Ship identified 500 meters away as a British tug boat, speed 7 knots.
03:16 I miss (or duds?) with two torpedoes. We surface. I man the deck gun myself and fire high-explosive shells 400 meters away from the target.
03:27 Enemy unit destroyed. Return to course.
5 OCT 40
02:00 We surface the boat in grid BF18. I go up on deck, holding a cup of coffee. The big dipper constelation is off our starboard beam. The two torpedo misses bother me. Five thousand marks apiece, wasted. I confer with my torpedo men. We draft a report for headquarters.
Rudi Kruska, Lt. Sr.

[Arnold]

6 OCT 40
Patrol 10
U-94
14:09 Sound contact, merchant, medium speed, closing, bearing 002, long range. I plot a mark on the map 34 kilometers away, bearing 002. Come to depth 23 meters, maintain course and speed.
14:29 Contact bearing 021 degrees. I plot a mark on the map 34 kilometers away, bearing 021. I connect the plotted marks to obtain the aprox. course of the merchant. Battle stations, surface, full speed ahead, course due North.
14:33 New course 340 degrees, make your depth 36 meters, ahead slow.
15:02 Merchant identified as a British C-2.
15:21 Tube one, fire. tube two, fire.
15:22 Torpedo impact. Enemy unit destroyed. Make your depth 50 meters, speed 1 knot, return to course.
15:37 Both tubes, 1 & 2 reloaded.
18:00 I ask the radio man to put a record on the platter, "When you're smiling", by Billie Holiday. As the crew rotates the watch, I retire to my bunk. I have nightmares of men drowning. I wonder what terror awaits me, should I suffer the same fate of the men I killed.
Rudi Kruska, Lt. Sr.

[Nerazzurri]

Just returned from my first patrol. 11 ships for 54,000 tonnes. It won't last.......:arrgh!:

[maurice076]

I finally installed GWX3.0 and started a new career.First move....over the sub net at gibralter :) this should be fun!

edit:That was fun,little crowded though.Found a large convoy too.1st patrol 70,000+ tons.

[cuthy2k]

From last night:

I have a little spot that I like to sit in off the coast of Northern Ireland, east of LondonDerry opposite the Scottish Island of Kintyre which has a pot of deep water.

I'm sitting there, using GWX 3 Gold picking off lone merchies early 1940 with the deck gun and larger ones using carefully aimed torps for 1 hit kills (hit the front mast, ship takes on water as it sails and goes down about 1-2 hours later).

Bored off the many ore carriers that pass through when all of a sudden sonar goes mental with many contacts approaching fast from the West heading into the safety of the British Isles.

I get into position, up scope... HMS Hood and a Revenge class battleship with 7 (yes SEVEN!) escorts. I consider chickening out and breaking off the attach, but then again, this opportunity dosent come along that often!

All 4 tubes flooded... 2 at each battleship. 4 hits! :o

The escorts then go mental! I fired from 4000m and as soon as the last torp left the tube I dived to 70m and headed in the opposite direction. A couple minutes later, an escort finds me and calls his brothers and sisters to the party.

3 hours RL they hunted me, depth now 150m. I tried every trick I could but there were 2 escorts sitting 1000 and 1300m away from the rest listening and coordinating the attacks for the others. The escorts were clambering over me like bank holiday traffic at the beach with lots of reversing and course changes.

I was only hit once, causing minor damage to the flak gun. 3 hours later, I somehow escaped! My tactic: sitting a few meters above the bottom on silent running and zero movement. The escorts must have gotten spooked by a false reading as they started DC'ing a contact a couple hundred meters away and kept at it. After 30 minutes of no sonar my way, I crawled off.

After all that, I didnt get one of the battleships who limped off with the decks almost awash :/\\!!

[Arnold]

8 OCT 40
Patrol 10
U-94
Noon. Daily position report sent to Bdu.
1400 hrs. Changing of the watch. I order a dive to 40 meters.
1800 hrs. I hand a phonograph record, "Ain't misbehavin'", by Fats Waller, to the radioman. As the record begins to play, smiles break-out in the control room. The soundman, Hartwig Eckerman, frowns and shakes his head in disapproval. As we head towards the North Channel, the boat settles down to a monotonous routine. Between watches, the crew listen to the radio, sleep or play cards. My secret stash of American jazz phonograph records helps with morale. A recent inspection of the forward torpedo room bilge, by the Bosun, revealed an attempt to ferment a small supply of apple jack, using apples, bread and sugar.
So, we have an alcoholic on board.
Rudi Kruska, Lt. sr.

[KptLtHansDampf]

After Karl Bukowksi, who managed to sink 9 freighters and 1 V&W-Class for 23666 tons in total from 01AUG39 to 27JAN40, the Type IIA named U-3 was handed over to Werner Koch.

Here's a summary of his first patrol (01FEB40 - 15FEB40):

Departing from Kiel and heading to AN46, the journey through Kiel Canal and the North Sea was kinda boring, and no viable targets shown up at AN46. After extending the patrol area, a Schoner was sighted at AN44, and quickly sunk with the Flak.

Shortly after that, at AN51 East of Firth of Forth, he stumbled upon a large convoy leaving the Forth heading east. U-3 shadowed the convoy for a few hours, and at around midnight the boat managed to slip through the escorts. Thanks to the calm sea and the clear weather a lot of juicy targets were on display. Werner Koch picked the two juiciest and fired three well calculated shots at excellent angles ... 20 seconds later the first torpedo exploded prematurely, 5 seconds after that the second torp did that too, and just 10 seconds later, yes, you guessed it, the last torpedo hit a mackerel or something.
Luckily the escorts looked at the wrong spots for U-3, so the boat slipped out of the convoy on the other side.
Werner Koch decided not to make a second attempt on the convoy and headed further south.

At AN72 east of Hull another Convoy heading north-east was spotted, but with only two remaining torpedos the risk was not worth the possible outcome. But within the convoy a single ship was heading south, and it turned out an Empire Type a few hours later. U-3 shadowed the Empire Type for a few hours, to ensure that no warships were in range. At 9 o'clock in the morning U-3 overtake the freighter, got into attack position, 90°, 800 meters, and fired two well calculated shots. Both torps hit as intended, the Empire Typ slowed down to 1 knots immediately, showed signs of smoke from the impact areas and tilted 45° to the port side. And then ... nothing.

U-3 stayed for three whole days and nights 200 meters next to the tattered Empire Type, but this stubborn ship refused to sink. The use of the flak-cannon was not possible because the weather changed to extremly ****ty in the meantime. Werner Koch was thinking about ramming that rigid freighter, but a Task Force showed up, passing almost exactly through the position of the not-so-sinking ship, so the plan was given up and U-3 headed home.

So this first 15 day-patrol of Werner Koch netted incredible 17 BRT. *three thumbs up*

[sublynx]

http://img37.imagevenue.com/loc520/th_940006433_u29ktb_122_520lo.jpg (http://img37.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=940006433_u29ktb_122_520lo.jpg)

[Kalach]

Completed 16 patrols from the start of the war.
On the 24th of December 1941 whilst about to attack a convoy we were detected by a destroyer that seemingly came out of nowhere. The first attack caused damage to the propellers, trying to limp deeper, the second attack damaged the electric engines now leaving us with a max speed of 2 knots. They attacked again causing flooding throughout the boat and killing a petty officer.
Unable to escape and facing more attacks the decision was made for an emergency surface and surrender.
Well off the start a new career :hmmm:

Decided to play with the surface WarShipMod, completed 5 patrols in a 1934 Class Destroyer so far (they're so quick when you only have about 3500km of fuel haha). So far I've only encountered and sunk small merchants and patrol craft, will be interesting to see how I go 1 on 1 with an enemy destroyer, or trying to escape from a big threat :) .

[sublynx]

From BdU's war diary on the 15th of November, 1940:

U 29 reported starting a low visibility surface attack against a slow moving convoy and has not reported since. The boat is considered lost.

[LemonA]

From BdU's war diary on the 15th of November, 1940:

U 29 reported starting a low visibility surface attack against a slow moving convoy and has not reported since. The boat is considered lost.

Here in St. Nazaire HQ, we are all reeling from the shock of the rumors that u29 must be considered as lost - a total loss.
We from the navy headquators all know a convoy attack itsself is among the most difficult choices an u-boat captain can make. And under low visibility you need an expert on the hydrophones who is expierenced in the interpretation of multilayer sounds.

Once these facts of his last known position have been transmited we will start a reconnaissance flight.


I myself can imagine that the tragic loss of u29 could be in connection with Ebler's "pushy" personality and his excellent results last month. Maybe the very short vacation didn't do him to good.

[Paul Riley]

I'm impressed. My thread seems to have taken on god-like qualities here with over 300.000 views :rock:
I will be sure to make some new additions again over the coming days during my new career.

Keep posted...

[Fubar2Niner]

Patrolling off SE Iceland trying to find the Mighty Hood :arrgh!:

[Warren Peace]

7 Sept. 1939.

U-117 (VIIB), 2nd Flotilla out of Wilhelmshaven.

On-station at the south of Ireland, patrolling areas BF11, 12, 14 and 15. Recently received orders to engage all Polish vessels and British merchant traffic, in accordance with international prize regulations. So far, negative contacts for British of Polish vessels, although numerous vessels of neutral countries have passed through the area. Hopeful that the heavy shipping traffic will soon offer targets, the men are getting...sloppy.

[U505995]

9 Jan. 1942

U-109 (IXB), 2nd Flotilla out of Lorient.

One of the first boats to participate in Operation Paukenschlag, I set out of Lorient on the 18th of December and reached the US east coast by January 1st. I generally patrol within 44-60km off the coast line starting near New York in grid CA28. From there I sail southwards toward Beaufort then go back North again. So far a bagged one large tanker, two coastal freighters, and one pesky armed tugboat that raked me with a hail of machine gun fire. I'm about to make an attack on a large Merchant in grid CA52.

[Fubar2Niner]

December 10 '39

U-49 Flotilla Saltzedel. Home port Wilhelmshaven.

Cast off November 5 at 03:43 hrs.

Weather for the most part horrendous.
9 November
Torpedoed and sunk an M13B cargo for 3473 tons. Grid AN 14

24 November.
Decided to head off the SE Iceland, hoping to spot the Hood patrolled for 10 days with no luck. Altered course to 320 degrees toward the Firth of Clyde, still cannot find my target.

December 10 06:35
Sunk a L01B for 9092 tons, grid AM 65 using deck gun. Weather still atrocious!

December 10 11:37.

Crawling my way into Firth of Clyde inlet.

[richyrich]

Hi all. Just thought I would share whats going on in my campaign so far. 1st mission was lightly successful 2nd mission I came across a convoy,lightly escorted by mostly v&w destroyers so I crawled in unnoticed (it was night time lol) and smack in the middle of the convoy sat HMS Rodney, so I set off a salvo of 3 torps and turned round sharpish and legged it cause I had been spotted by some pesky small merchant, but I sank the Rodney, also sank 1 large tanker 1 large freighter and a whaleing ship, got hit a few times by the destroyers but made it home ok. 3rd mission drew a blank but 4th mission I hit 2 destroyers, and revenge type ship, got pounded for ages near scapa flow as a result of being detected while trying to sneak in and hit anything I could find there. Anyways, onto my 5th mission now. Have fun everyone, and good hunting :)

[Warren Peace]

9/20/1945

Update on U117. While tracking a large allied convoy, we were discovered by a warship that was unattached to said convoy. Successfully evaded after several hours. While surfacing to replace oxygen in bad weather, watch officer moron lit a cigarette on the conn tower (only explanation I can think of for aircraft spotting us in this soup). Our position was discovered by patrolling aircraft and the boat was subsequently sunk.

Will now be operating U-13 (IIA) out of Kiel. Need more practice before taking the larger boats out again.

[richyrich]

Trying to track HMS Hood just west of Rockall Bank, discovered by escorting destoyers, got my ass blown out of the water. Reloading game to try again lol

[Tycho]

My first surfaced night attack! Full realism. From 1400m, 2 and 2 hits, electric torpedos, two ships sunk, escort failed to detect me, total success. I'm going to sleep, happy!

[Neugeniko]

Hey all,

I just started a new campaign. Its been a while since i have played, years in fact. My first patrol was uneventful, peace time. I took the time to get to familiarize myself with GWX/OLC/ACM Reloaded and the two new exe patches. And run simulated firing solutions on passing ships.

My second patrol was a lot of fun. I patrolled WSW of England along convoy routes into Bristol. The first ship sunk was a tramp steamer, a magnetic shot in bad weather.

I received a map contact for a large convoy just 80 km away; looks like it was heading into Bristol. At 11 pm I positioned myself between the first column and the second. I planned to fire on three targets. Stern torpedo to a ore carrier in the first column, 2 bow torpedoes to a large merchant in column 3 and 2 bow torpedoes to a large merchant in column 4. That all changed as I realized the HMS Hood was in column 3! All 4 bow torpedoes on the Hood! As soon as all torpedoes were fired I dove for 100 m and crawled out at 2 kt silent running. Some time later i got the message that the ore carrier had sunk, no word on the Hood.

Setting up for my second attack at 3 am. I lined up the Hood again and a Large Merchant to the rear. The Hood was on fire, I wasn't going to let her get away. Four more torpedoes were sent her way, and soon she was down along with the large merchant. \o/

Having 2 bow torpedoes left i sent them into a Large Merchant on the third attack at 7 am.

All up about 70 k tons sunk. One torpedo left in the rear reserve, but after a successful convoy attack like this I decided to head home. Passing through the English channel again was sure to exhaust my still green crew.

Neug

[richyrich]

U-43 based at Wilhemshaven.

Ordered to patrol BE83
October 9th 1939. Left port at 13:00 and set course for AN14.
Arrived at AN14 at 23:07. 23:09 watch officer spotted a slow moving merchant, it was a Granville type freighter moving away from us at north east. In light of our poor position to the enemy ship, I decided to steer north at ahead flank to get ahead of them, and once ahead I called to steer west and then called for periscope depth and ahead slow. Once in postion I stopped all engines and waited for the ship to come into perfect firing range but as we were waiting at 23:55 the sonar operator heard another merchant not too far away moving directly towards our position, it was headed east. Once the Granville was in a good position I fired 3 torpedos in a spread, scored 2 hits but she never sank so I called to surface the boat and finished her off with the deck gun and she sunk at 01:12. I called for the watch crew and set a westerly course at ahead standard. The second ship came into view at 01:35 and it was a large freighter heading east. I instantly asked to change direction to south and at 01:45 I called for periscope depth and again, we waited for her to come to us. She was moving very slowly and took a while to move into position, but at 02:30 I fired 3 torpedos at her and this time all 3 hit. She stayed afloat for another 10 or 15 minutes before she sunk. We surfaced at 03:00 and returned to our original course on ahead flank. We saw no more ships for the rest of our journey towards BE83 and it was looking like we might not get anymore sightings until we were around half way through our patrol. At 08:40 on the 13th October the watch officer called ship spotted, I looked Through the UZO and saw not 1, but 2 merchants headed towards us, another Granville type and a small tanker. We carried on our course while I decided what to do, and which to attack 1st,but while I was sat thinking, the decision was made for me, they spotted us so I had only 2 options left, the deck gun, or get as close to the Granville as humanly possible and blow her out of the water, then deck gun the small tanker, so I set to periscope depth and ahead flank, and set course to get close to the Granville which was now doing a dance all over the place to get away, but I had other plans. I got to within around 800 metres and fired 3 torpedos at her, and asked for back emergency. The torpedos hit and she started sinking soon after, a called for ahead slow and turned the boat right and surfaced, the tanker was only some 700 metres away, and I called for the deck gun crew. They engaged the tanker and she sank around 10:15. Satisfied with the tonnage we had acquired I set a course back to base and on the 16th October we returned home to Wilhelmshaven. Thanks for reading :salute:

[Sepp von Ch.]

I my current campaign? Ehm... All hands dead near Normandy beach in June 1944...GWX is realistic hard.

[Warren Peace]

U-13, IIA out of Kiel. 8 Oct. 1945.

Just returned from third patrol of the English coast in the North Sea (One more and I beat my survival record!). Have discovered that sector AN14, north-east of Scapa Flow, offers numerous contacts passing around the north of the British Isles. Have sunk 2 merchants in the area, a coastal freighter and a Granville for just under 3,000 tons total. Not impressive, but I'll take what I can get. (Note: the Granville was carrying wine and spirits. Sending English wine to the depths, a great victory). Will continue to patrol the area in future outings as long as possible, suspect British Naval forces are beginning to move through the area with greater regularity.

U-13 Out.

[sublynx]

From BdU's war diary on the 19th of December, 1940:

The BBC reports that they've sunk and captured some of the crewmen of U-70. The boat was on it's maiden voyage and was last heard of while reporting starting an attack run against a convoy at BF15.

(Running NYGM now and it seems my careers will be very short from now on)

[ntz]

hah, i just had my most fortunate hit ever ..

i was returning from patrol with fuel reserved to very last liter .. rough sea, strong wind however good visibility .. my WO suddenly spotted merchant .. he was in great possition and course to me .. i decided last furious attack with only last 2x T1 and 2x T2 in tubes ..

i didn't recognize the target ship because of bad weather and his aharp AOB to my position .. i fastly calculated approach triangle and gone underwater with ear stuck in hydraphone and correcting my course by his climbing from ~ 320 -> 0

well, my initial conclusion was wrong and when i come to periscope depth ready for attack i've found, that my fast moving enemy is at desired 90AOB, but probably 1200-1400m ahead .. anyway, i put pieces of my target solution (all get by an eye :)) together and launched both T1s and wait for the result .. well, i even didn't change my course so in the time of supposed hit was the ship ~20 to right from me ..

both torpedos either missed or gone below (100% realism, no way to check) .. my only chance to score was wasted .. dunno why i just put my course slightly before him, full ahead and set both T2s for shot .. i never use T2s on rough sea for this purpose ..

when I was at 1000m from him with AOB something like 115 i just for fun fired at fixed point first T2 and after while even second with fixing delay only by inreasing target speed beyond the real .. i really did not expect anything, but both T2s magically hit the target and sunk it instantly ..

i never before scored just a lucky shot nor even tried to use T2s on rough sea and at 1000m at realatively small ship .. i forgot, target was grenville frighter (4kT, 78m long - smaller ship)

at rough sea i do all measurents by an eye and try to approach close (ideally with 80-100 AOB at 300-500m) .. big advantage is to target ship you know good in the meaning of dimensions and distance by an eye .. i sunk prior to this on this patrol (with 8x T1 and 2x T2) 3x minor 2kT frighter and one same 4kT grenville frighter .. all of them accessed at very very close and the most of TDC datas get by an eye .. it took 10 torpedos (at full realism and with NO childish reloading) ..

regards, ntz

[desertstriker]

seting my course out of port through the keil canal so i can sleep while going through and pick it up after work as well since it is approx a 20 hour journey at 4knts i have plenty of time if i set it at no time compression :P
its early war and resently hit a convoy getting some good tonnage previous patrol.

[sublynx]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F1Nc4EEqNZdl9aUNH6_MZG9tFVi-xn_B17oCJU03VbA/pub

[Leandros]

After a long period of 1940 working at the TVA (TorpedoVersuchsAnstalt) in the Baltic I could finally leave Lorient on Oct. 1st, 1940 in my new Type IX boat, the U-65. The main purpose for me going back on active duty is to work up a boat for in-the-field testing of the new homing (self-seeking) torpedoes, which is what I worked with.

In the meantime the development work has progressed to an even better model than the Falke, mu subject. Unfortunately, there are great concerns in the KM leadership as to the feasibility of this torpedo concept as the U-boat war is going quite well as it is. They are very expensive to make and there doesn't seem to be an immediate need for them. However, a testing program with one boat has been approved.

The work-up of the boat and crew has gone well, in the 4 active patrols we have sunk in total 148752 tons of shipping, among them quite a few naval vessels, mainly escorts. This we have achieved without the new homing torpedo. The first and sixth patrols had to be aborted due to technical problems with the diesel engines. On the second patrol there was an unusually high number of torpedo duds and misses. This seems to have been remedied.

On this, the seventh patrol, we finally got the first two TXI torpedoes, an improved version of the Falke. My instructions are to use these on enemy escorts if possible. If they prove successful we shall receive a larger complement on the next patrol. So far, we have sunk 2 merchants west of Gibraltar and an A&B destroyer and two small merchants outside West-Africa. The destroyer came upon us in the dark when on the surface, we first detected it when it opened fire - distance approx. 1.000 meters. We crash-dived and I had prepared a TI on magnetic, depth 5 m. I turned towards him so to have him approx. 30 degrees on our port beam as he was approaching 400 meters. The wide curve of the torpedo made it go right under him, coming in on his port side. That was it. I never had a chance to use the TXI as he was too close. However, it turned out that it was escorting two small freighters which we proceeded to torpedo. While one lay dead in the water the other continued straight ahead, doing about 8 knots. On a distance of about 1.000 meters I fired the TXI on magnetic, depth setting 7,5 meters, in his general direction. It did the trick. After having confirmed both sinkings we proceeded to our patrol area EJ84. I hope to find an enemy warship for the second TXI.
....Oooops.....CTD.......when restarting. What was that for...? Enemy ship in the vicinity..?...leaving the game submerged....? having opened the captain's file duirng a mission...?

Anyway, Patrol 7 aborted.

Obleu z.S. Hansen - 8th patrol U-65 (Type IX) June 1st 1941 - Lorient.

Left the outer Lorient defenses 0315. Mission; Same as on Patrol 7 - test the prototype homing torpedoes against enemy escorts. Patrol area: AM15. This time we have uploaded 8 TXI's. Good hunting to us!

June 3rd 1345: Mystery U-boat - just one man in the tower.

June 12th 0253: Back in Lorient

The ZK II's behaved quite well. One went under two Ore Carriers without exploding, one did not register its target and disappeared. One Flower class corvette was downed by a TI tail-shot.

It is important that the TXI's are launched at the appropriate time, not too early, not too late. Best technique is to launch it manually centered on the enemy's expected advance line as he would usually zig-zag. Magnetic fuze should be used.

My crew showed a somewhat jumpy attitude which is not strange considering the extra strain in constantly and deliberately attacking the ememy's naval vessels.

Efficient tactics would be that each pack has one or two escort hunters, providing time and space for the others to attack the merchants. Proper distribution of loaded torps is important. At this mission, with 6 enemy escorts sunk, it was necessary only once to dive to any depth to avoid an attack. 8 ZK's in one boat is probably unnecessary as TI's or TII's can also be effective against escorts. Particularly if these are targeted first.

This result was achieved against one large convoy in two consecutive days.

[Leandros]

Obleu z.S. Hansen - 9th patrol U-65 (Type IX) June 23rd 1941 - Lorient

Ready for the 9th patrol - second one testing the Zaunkønig II torpedoes. We still have 8 ZK's but I have changed the load-up a little. Rear tube and stores have only TI's and TXI's - 3 x XI's and 4 x I's - one of each ready. Up front: 5 x TI's, 4 x TII's and 5 x TXI's - with 1 x TI, 1 x TII and 2 x TXI's in the tubes.

The TII's are mainly kept to get in first, un-detected shots.

Leaving Lorient for AM53

[Leandros]

Obleu z.S. Hansen - 9th patrol U-65 (Type IXB) July 20th 1941 - Lorient

Ready for the 9th patrol - second one testing the Zaunkønig II torpedoes. We still have 8 ZK's but I have changed the load-up a little. Rear tube and stores have only TI's and TXI's - 3 x XI's and 4 x I's - one of each ready. Up front: 5 x TI's, 4 x TII's and 5 x TXI's - with 1 x TI, 1 x TII and 2 x TXI's in the tubes.

The TII's are mainly kept to get in first, un-detected shots.

Leaving Lorient for AM53

Obleu z.S. Hansen - 9th patrol U-65 (Type IXB) July 28th 1941 - Lorient

A quick trip. Back in Lorient July 281930.

On our way to AM53 hit upon two merchants in BF43. Sunk by torpedo and deck gun on the night 21/22nd July.

Arrived in AM53 an Ore Carrier was sunk by torpedo 242040.

25/26th a large convoy was attacked several times. Multiple escorts. See patrol report.

TXI's worked well apart from one not igniting when passing under target. Another missed due to bad aiming. One came back to haunt us and exploded aft of the boat - came in at an angle after being led on to us by a pursuing Flower corvette. Damaged a rear tube. Sunk the corvette with a forward TI deflection shot.

TI's and TII's worked very well.

The two last Large Cargos were sunk by deck gun on the way back (out of torpedoes).

[Leandros]

Departed Lorient 090715.

See captain's log. Proceeded to patrol area with a swing towards Gibraltar. Continued southwards. Very little traffic. None in the designated patrol area. Return voyage with another swing towards Gibraltar. Bad weather with strong winds, heavy rain and visibility 350-450 meters. Detected a large convoy on an easterly course, destination Gibraltar. Weather still bad, low visibility. Was jumped twice by escorts in the bad weather. Obviously radar-equipped. Crash-dived but had both guns destroyed. Never able to make the convoy due to the heavy escort. After a slugging match withdrew with 21% HI. Returned Lorient. Arrived 262055.

Zaunkønig tests quite satisfactory. When used properly approx. 75% success rate. However, they seem to develop an attitude problem in the Commander in that it is too "easy" to accept a duel with the escorts, at the same time taking up space for anti-merchant torps. It is a principal question that has to be decided upon whether one boat in a pack should primarily be assigned to anti-escort duty or if the same number of torps should be distributed among all the boats, giving all the chance of better self-defense.

Anyway, if several boats are operating in the vicinity of each other with the ZK's they can create the danger of "friendly fire". Before introduced into general use there is a need for proper regulations and procedures.

[Leandros]

Obleu z.S. Hansen - 12th patrol U-65 (Type IXB) Feb. 8th 1942 - Lorient.

Left Lorient 080442, assigned patrol area CA76.

Patrol 11 was quite successful, the last test of the Torpedo Type XI. Main results were achieved in the NE corner of AM64, the narrowest part of the Northern Channel. Improved tactics and better loading of the torps gave results. FLAK guns had obviously been sabotaged as reloading of both took more than a minute. See status report.

Present position: Western part of CA91. Daylight is coming, we are submerging now to cover the last stretch to our assigned patrol area tomorrow night. Fuel remaining - approx. 60%. Everybody is excited.

The crossing was not without incidents. Hit on a small convoy just after entering the Atlantic, 3 merchants escorted by a "4-stacker". Lured him on and sunk him with a forward 400-meters TI deflection shot . The 3 merchants sunk by torpedo and deck gun after some fancy side-stepping.

Halfway we dumped into a merchant in bad visiblity, he damaged both our FLAK guns before we were able to dive. Lost him in the bad visibility. All damage repaired by our excellent repair crew.

Hals und Beinbruch!

[sublynx]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y36btENnm2yTaQY92fEEyytyl2cxs9_a-XLorBxp9yM/pub

[Leandros]

Obleu z.S. Hansen - 12th patrol U-65 (Type IXB) Feb. 8th 1942 - Lorient.

Left Lorient 080442, assigned patrol area CA76.

Patrol 11 was quite successful, the last test of the Torpedo Type XI. Main results were achieved in the NE corner of AM64, the narrowest part of the Northern Channel. Improved tactics and better loading of the torps gave results. FLAK guns had obviously been sabotaged as reloading of both took more than a minute. See status report.

Present position: Western part of CA91. Daylight is coming, we are submerging now to cover the last stretch to our assigned patrol area tomorrow night. Fuel remaining - approx. 60%. Everybody is excited.

The crossing was not without incidents. Hit on a small convoy just after entering the Atlantic, 3 merchants escorted by a "4-stacker". Lured him on and sunk him with a forward 400-meters TI deflection shot . The 3 merchants sunk by torpedo and deck gun after some fancy side-stepping.

Halfway we dumped into a merchant in bad visiblity, he damaged both our FLAK guns before we were able to dive. Lost him in the bad visibility. All damage repaired by our excellent repair crew.

Hals und Beinbruch!

Position: South of Halifax. Damaged by CTD aircraft (...:wah:....) Unrepairable damage. Mission aborted. Returning to Lorient surfaced.

[Dronston]

In patrol 8 I encountered 3 unescorted small merchants and did not want to waste torpedoes on them. The one at the back was a neutral, first 2 British. So I sneaked up behind them with the neutral providing cover from their cannons. The neutral got hit by its "friends" several times. I could now and then swerve to take shots with the deck gun, eventually sinking the 2nd ship. Now I left the cover of the neutral and pursuit the first merchant but with the neutral behind me. I took some damage but nothing too serious. The neutral was sunk by the British merchant, hey not my fault :haha: Obviously I also sunk the British merchant.

[Leandros]

In patrol 8 I encountered 3 unescorted small merchants and did not want to waste torpedoes on them. The one at the back was a neutral, first 2 British. So I sneaked up behind them with the neutral providing cover from their cannons. The neutral got hit by its "friends" several times. I could now and then swerve to take shots with the deck gun, eventually sinking the 2nd ship. Now I left the cover of the neutral and pursuit the first merchant but with the neutral behind me. I took some damage but nothing too serious. The neutral was sunk by the British merchant, hey not my fault :haha: Obviously I also sunk the British merchant.

Good show!

Fred

[flag4]

Obleu z.S. Hansen - 12th patrol U-65 (Type IXB) Feb. 8th 1942 - Lorient.

Left Lorient 080442, assigned patrol area CA76.

Patrol 11 was quite successful, the last test of the Torpedo Type XI. Main results were achieved in the NE corner of AM64, the narrowest part of the Northern Channel. Improved tactics and better loading of the torps gave results. FLAK guns had obviously been sabotaged as reloading of both took more than a minute. See status report.

Present position: Western part of CA91. Daylight is coming, we are submerging now to cover the last stretch to our assigned patrol area tomorrow night. Fuel remaining - approx. 60%. Everybody is excited.

The crossing was not without incidents. Hit on a small convoy just after entering the Atlantic, 3 merchants escorted by a "4-stacker". Lured him on and sunk him with a forward 400-meters TI deflection shot . The 3 merchants sunk by torpedo and deck gun after some fancy side-stepping.

Halfway we dumped into a merchant in bad visiblity, he damaged both our FLAK guns before we were able to dive. Lost him in the bad visibility. All damage repaired by our excellent repair crew.

Hals und Beinbruch!


like the 'bad weather crossing' photo.:up:

[sublynx]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kije9Dgn5cUyxq-Hc05vJouBkCU6GYlcJCyhFHYjJoQ/pub

[Laufen zum Ziel]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kije9Dgn5cUyxq-Hc05vJouBkCU6GYlcJCyhFHYjJoQ/pub

Very nice KTB.

[sublynx]

Thanks Laufen zum Ziel :salute:

This was an especially interesting patrol for me as this was the first time that I got the order to keep reporting on the convoy in hope of a wolfpack attack.

Now I just need to fix my weather so that it actually changes during the patrol :oops:

[Laufen zum Ziel]

Thanks Laufen zum Ziel :salute:

This was an especially interesting patrol for me as this was the first time that I got the order to keep reporting on the convoy in hope of a wolfpack attack.

Now I just need to fix my weather so that it actually changes during the patrol :oops:

The North Atlantic can be a nasty mistress:haha:

[the dark knight]

Started a new campaign after finishing my original career with a IXD2, so time for a new game! Type VIIb, Williamshaven home base, grid square AN68.

My type VII, U47 had a successful day today! It is end of september/ early october 1939 in my current career. Frustrated that nothing but neutral shipping has been in my grid square and not to mention that square is a waste of a Type VII, I decide to head up to hunt off the north coast of Scotland. As I was passing just off the west coast of Scapa Flow submerged on September 20th or so, I was contemplating sneaking into the base just as the real U-47 did, when my hydrophones operator indicated he had a fast moving contact headed our general direction. Fearing it could be a destroyer, I set all my torpedoes accordingly. I turned south, and headed tword the sound source raised the periscope and was surprised and excited to see what was on the surface. It was HMS Hood! And she had a friend along with her, the HMS Nelson! They both were steaming east heading for the channel between Hoy island and the Scottish mainland to Scapa Flow and were about 2500M right in front of me in perfect position. :D (lucky me!) I fired 2 torpedoes at each and waited for what seemed like an eternity for impacts and reloads. The first two hit the HMS Hood, one in the engine compartment, and the other where her propeller shafts meet the hull. I turn my attention to the impacts on HMS Nelson next. Two impacts, both in the engine room. Nelson keeps steaming on however, while Hood comes to a grinding halt. I had already turned my U-boat around and fired another torpedo into Nelson from my stern tube. This one jams the rudder hard to port and HMS Nelson starts to make a large circle. I turn the sub around again and my first tube is reloaded. I fire one more torpedo into Nelson amidships and she starts to capsize. Now I turn my attention to the HMS Hood. I wait for tubes 2 and 3 to reload, and fire them at Hood's B turret magazine......one prematurely explodes, :wah: the other impacts and a huge explosion rips the Hood in half. (magazine explosion?) I look back to the Nelson, who is on my starboard side and see she is going down very slowly. I am about to put her out of her misery when destroyers show up and start hunting me. I dive and crawl along the sea floor to the west. I hear explosions after 15 minuets or so that did not sound like depth charges. I come to the surface after shaking the destroyers off, raise my periscope and see Nelson is gone! I decided to return to port at this point since my torpedo's are running low and the seas are too choppy to use my deck gun.

sitting in port now, lots of medals to give to the crew. Hope the next patrol goes this well. Will probably grab a IXB u-boat next. I like my type IX's more, and now I have the renown for one.

[sublynx]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NWoKn935cIMeMLbBLAjpRoERAMJqXSt5PDeZGIZC1Zk/pub

contains a description of a convoy attack using H.sie's wolfpack mod - however the pack did not materialize ("out of fuel")

[Rammstein0991]

6-12-1940
Patrol Log.
Kptlt. Egon Roth.

As I am writing this My boat U-99 is steaming ahead standard south of Ireland through grid BF16 on our way to our preferred hunting grounds of AM51 and AM52, as I write this a freshly killed British merchantman lay sunken behind us as we slip off into the night. The choice to patrol through the northern Irish waters was a practical one due to the large amount of British shipping moving through here (Ironically to avoid risking being attacked in the "English" channel). Strangely enough much of the shipping there consists of lone merchantmen, sometimes in a pair but most often alone.

I cannot deny that U-99 is a good boat with a good crew, but, being a type VII as it is, the range and torpedo count hampers us to a frustrating degree. But that may soon change.

During the award ceremony for my last German cross I found myself the recipient of the unexpected honor of having my medal presented by "Uncle Karl" himself, this was for my latest patrol in the AM grid which totalled no less than 54,000 tons of enemy shipping (including one Tribal class destroyer), after the presentation ceremony Donitz and I spoke and he then asked me if there was anything he could do for us in light of our service to Germany, and I DID have one thing I wanted. I mentioned to him about my...reservations about the limitations of the Type VII in regards to endurance and firepower and how my crew and I were unhappy with how this limited our ability to patrol. Donitz nodded, told me he sympathized with our predicament and then went on about his business and I mine.

Two days later, as I sat in my office at the pens of Lorient I received a phonecall ordering me to the commandants office, once there I was approached by one of Donitz's officers from BdU who informed me that pending the results of U-99's next patrol I could become eligible for one of the new (and larger) ocean going type IX boats, and that if I performed well enough on this last mission then I would be ordered back to Willhelmshaven to assume command of my new boat with orders to sail her back to Lorient to resume duties once there.

I can only hope our past success over the last year will continue on this patrol, with luck perhaps I can convince BdU to allow me to transfer my crew with me, without them I wouldn't have had the successes I have, I look out for the boys under me.


================================================== ======
Hope that didnt suck TOO bad, lol :D

[sublynx]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FcqelZq2VOXWKCekKZYKAqRd6I-vir4smTt1wiKGl5A/pub

[adrians69]

On 2nd patrol, September '39. Got into Scapa and sunk Royal Sovereign battleship. As we were making our egress in VERY shallow waters, we were set upon by 4 destroyers and 2 MTBs. After 45 minutes of cat & mouse, 3 destroyers broke away, but 1 destroyer (V&W) and 1 MTB were more persistent. The destroyer stopped to listen so I turned on her and put 2 eels into her keel and that was that.

When I raised the OBS, the MTB was burning also so I assume it must have been close to the destroyer when she blew.

Currently sailing the east coast looking for ToO, 3 torps left and around 60 88mm shells. We shall see what the day brings!! :D

[acooper]

U-4 type IIA
August 1st 1939
weather at port calm........

first patrol task in area AN52 after completing Naval academy and securing promotion as captain of first boat :woot:.
Proceeded from kiel to designated patrol area at head slow (this rust bucket hasn't got the legs for anything faster :/\\!! )
Not much action on the way, a few neutral nation single merchants ducked down below as not to be see and reported.
Patrolled designated area for 24 hours, crew a little green around the gills as the east coast of scotland hasn't sent us any nice weather.
radio report of a British warship heading SSW right at us, crew in high spirits as our first kill could be a RN warship :D .

August 10 1939
weather cleared with large swells
No sign of RN warship crew and my self a little disappointed :( . Watch crew have just reported a single british merchant liberty class, radioed in contact report and have started to shadow merchant, managed to jump ahead during the night and set up an ambush, sent 2 torps in one premature detonation about 200 meters out :06: second hit right underneath her keel and broke her back she went down quick, fuel reserves at 50% now time to head back home.

ALARM :o RN frigate spotted lucky enough on 90deg course to our own. Dived down to periscope depth 3 torps spread, 5834m out FIRE, torps running straight and true, then all three premature detonation :hmmm:, one fish left and the frigate has spotted the detonations. crash dived to 90 feet silent running (danger deep any flooding and we will hit crush depth before we can say fatherland. hmm frigate has ignored us or lost contact with us she is sailing away. No need to test our luck homeward bound again.

docked at kiel on august 11 1939 11 days at sea 2343 tons sunk
party in the bar tonight :woot:

[adrians69]

Well another eventful day on the British east coast. We came across a collection of contacts off the coast around Blyth. 2 or 3 warships and 1 merchant. We decided to engage the merchant so we set up an ambush with the hydro and got her! Only 2400 tons but another result. Out of torps now so will be putting into Heligoland for restock/refuel.

[acooper]

BuD Urgent message......... To any boats in the vicinity of AN 18 to look out for U-4 last reported location 26 km off the scottish coast shadowing x3 destroyer
convy........ feared destroyed all hand lost.......


(oh well back to the drawing board :cry:)

[Rammstein0991]

hats off to U-4:Kaleun_Salute: you will be missed.

...or rather BELATED hats off since I'm past 1939 :haha:

[Leandros]

U-4 type IIA
August 1st 1939

docked at kiel on august 11 1939 11 days at sea 2343 tons sunk
party in the bar tonight :woot:

Hmmmm.....August 1939....:hmmm:....

Fred

[Leandros]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FcqelZq2VOXWKCekKZYKAqRd6I-vir4smTt1wiKGl5A/pub

Nice!

Fred

[Sailor Steve]

docked at kiel on august 11 1939 11 days at sea 2343 tons sunk
You might want to be aware that the war doesn't start until September 1. Any ship you sink in August is neutral, and sinking it will make you an enemy of everybody for 24 hours, including Germany. You will also be given negative renown equal to the tonnage sunk. Your tonnage was probably -2343, and put you in the hole.

[EHB]

17th of September 1939, U-33, Oblt.z.S August Jungmann:
Accidentally ran into a large convoy on my return journey south of Ireland. Took me way too long to realise it was escorted by a battleship.
Snuck into the convoy. Should have waited for darkness (note to self). Got discovered a couple of minutes to soon. The battleship (later identified as the HMS Rodney) opened fire and managed to hit a tanker instead, setting it ablaze. With rudders hard port i fired my last three eels in a salvo towards the diverging Rodney and dived. Three hits. The crew cheered. In my exhilaration I forgot to alter course. With the escorts on my tail and at 80 meters depth I thought I was being depth-charged but then followed a loud screeching sound. At this point I had to cheat a little by having a look in the periscope (you can see things at 80 meters depth under water? Really?).
Turns out I was hit by the sinking battleship dragging the boat down. With serious damage to the bow section and heavy flooding, the boat was out of control. I thought that was it, but soon after the boat hit the seabed at about 155 meters depth. More damage being sustained. Destroyer circling above and the desperately working to shore up the dying boat, I took a look in the persicope again. Only a few meters away, the HMS Rodney was neatly sat beside me on the bottom of the sea... (I do wish I had remembered to take a screenshot, but I was literally sweating in my chair). Finally managed to stop flooding while being depth-charged and a couple of hours of evading the destroyer/s the boat finally surfaced in a quiet starlit night on calm seas.
Upon arriving home, I gave the enitre crew two months off. Bad call. My chief engineer got himself killed in a barbrawl a copule of weeks later....

(Sorry for the long (and first) post. This might be commonplace, but felt I had to tell the tale...

[sublynx]

(Sorry for the long (and first) post. This might be commonplace, but felt I had to tell the tale...

Commonplace?? Not at all! We sometimes get hit by the sinking ships, but your story was something many of us will never experience and you yourself won't probably ever again experience that, either.

Thanks for sharing :arrgh!:

And welcome to the forum :)

[EHB]

Was quite nervewrecking (strange how one emerges one self in this game).
1st Battleship on 100% Got lucky with my guestimeates after they altered course. Still don't know how the boat survived. Think it was about 15-20secs till collapse in the bow compartment at the worst.

[Tupolev]

I'd say colliding with a sinking battleship at 80m depth is worth passing on to the forum!!

That bad luck is right up there with my collision with a shot-down bomber. Right into the Turm!!

We gotta learn to hit the screenshot buttons faster!!!

T

[adrians69]

After resupply at Heligoland, we returned to our hunting ground on the east of England. Back around Tyne & Blyth, during the routine hydro sweep, we encountered a new contact approaching from the south. Ambush was set and another Hog Island (4400 tons) was ours.

We have mopped up a few coastal and fishing boats with the 88, but off Grimsby another contact was discovered heading towards us. As it was night, we closed on the surface to engage with the deck gun, but we were unaware that a destroyer was lurking just over the horizon. Crash dived as it approached and went silent. The merchant had been heavily damaged and slowed to a crawl by our shell hits, so we were able to keep in contact with her until the destroyer gave up the hunt. Once the destroyer was out of earshot, we surfaced again and finished off the merchant with another few rounds.

Out of torps and now heading for home to bring this patrol to an end. Campaign results in 2 patrols so far 2 warships, 9 merchants for a total of 57884 tons, most of which were sunk on this last patrol.

[EHB]

January 20th 1940, U-33, Oblt.z.s August Jungmann
This career just gets weirder and weirder.
On passage north of the British Isles on to the designated patrol grid southwest of Ireland, my 2WO spotted a warship. I started my plotting to determine range etc. It soon turned out it was stationary. A quick rumage through the naval charts revealed a small speck of an island at the very south of grid AM34, northeast of the Hebrides. Through the periscope it became clear that the ship had run aground. Almost felt a little bad for the poor souls aboard as we quickly dealt with the Southampton-class cruiser.

This time I remembered to take a screenshot (Having all the time in the world...)

It's not to obvious, but the black just below the horizontal recticle is a small land tounge.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/picture.php?albumid=827&pictureid=7002

[sublynx]

It never stops amazing me how many surprises this ancient game can deliver :)

[sublynx]

A near death NYGM escorts experience... NYGM is very much harder than GWX or Vanilla, IMO. Saved in the end by SH3Commander's thermal layer effect.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PgIyf2sIfgViCUPt-z62KvbjykmHczlvRJH3aLmFRP0/pub

EDIT: well, my commander was saved by SH3Commander again as it decided to put him to a desk job. I guess three lousy patrols in a row was enough for BdU :)

[EHB]

Sorry for posting so much, but this kaleun just turned the luckiest ever:
January 27th 1940, U-33, Oblt.z.s. August Jungmann.
To put it really short:
My 1WO spotted a ship. Intrigued I came to the bridge and found a British Task Force heading our way. It consisted of 5-6+ destroyers, a couple of light/heavy cruisers and an aircraft carrier. Almost dead ahead. Easiest sinking ever (apart from the Southampton-class a couple of days eralier). Four eels. Fours hits. Depth charged. Conning tower, periscopers, and antenna destroyed. Minor damage to deck and hull. Docked ten days later.
Total after 7 months of war: 108.756 tonns. HMS Rodney, HMS Illoustrious & HMS Manchester sunk + merchants.

Too much luck. Can't possibly last very much longer (Unless like the previous post SH3 Commander saves him...)

Screenshot:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/picture.php?albumid=827&pictureid=7007

[sublynx]

Sorry for posting so much, but this kaleun just turned the luckiest ever:

Wow EHB you really are the luckiest guy ever :arrgh!: I've yet to even see a carrier in this game and now you bag one just after sinking a battleship :arrgh!:

With you on our side I begin to see a victorious end to this war :rock:

[EHB]

I'm baffled to be honest. Been playing this game for years and only spotted a carrier from afar in the mediterranean. Feels like I'm somehow cheating.

[desirableroasted]

If you want a guaranteed shot at a battleship, go up to Narvik on 2 April 1940... find a nice safe spot and wait for the fireworks. Upside: you get to take on a battleship, numerous destroyers and airplanes at close range. Downside: you are in shallow water and in fjords. It will spring-load your sphincter, that is for sure.

I believe this is only in GWX3.0.

I'm baffled to be honest. Been playing this game for years and only spotted a carrier from afar in the mediterranean. Feels like I'm somehow cheating.

[sublynx]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VtygsFoyyrWRRgMbqAFQCiTmhb4KPSKRjUZTW1Kde1w/pub

The patrol with the lowest career tonnage ever :oops: I just gotta love H.sie's modded torpedoes :O:

[EHB]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VtygsFoyyrWRRgMbqAFQCiTmhb4KPSKRjUZTW1Kde1w/pub

The patrol with the lowest career tonnage ever :oops: I just gotta love H.sie's modded torpedoes :O:


Just had a 67 day patrol with a total of 108 BRT. Stormy weather and horrible plotting resulted in a torpedo attack in 15 knots windspeed on a motor vessel on the way home north of the Shetlands. Last torpedo. Magnetic pistol. Now I manage to hit. Damn funny though. The little tub got blown several meters out of the water. Next patrol I was stupid enough to attempt a Dover durchsprung. Forced to surface after 5 hours of constant depth charge attack between Le Havre and Portsmouth. Surrendered the boat. Total career tonnage: 108 BRT.

[sublynx]

Now I manage to hit. Damn funny though. The little tub got blown several meters out of the water.

That is something everyone should do at least once just for the laugh :/\\x: It really does look funny :arrgh!:

Another thing one probably does only once is the English Channel experience. Lots of traffic make travelling really slow, TC low and there's mines and destroyers. And it's shallow. Never again ! :dead:

[EHB]

Only second time I tried the Dover strait. Guess I should listen to BdU in the future...

By the way, wich tool do you use for the report/captains log? Is it just a template to fill in or generated by some software (with your entries)?

[sublynx]

BdU usually has very good ideas, but on the other hand sometimes he has orders that just need to be broken - like the one in 1943 that orders one to try to engage aircraft instead of crash diving :dead:

The doc is just a template I made for Google Docs. It uses free fonts I downloaded from the internet. I run SH3 in windowed mode so it's easy for me to type my notes while the game is running:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxGyRdiLD2g

The only problem is I lose sound when I write the notes, so I need to keep an eye on the crew texts in case they warn about an approaching airplane. I won't hear the warning if I'm writing :O:

BTW If somebody wants the template for their own war diaries, I can upload it somewhere.

[aj906]

U-67, Typ IXC
18 June 1944
Assigned to patrol AM97: St George's Channel

Left Bergen 30 May 1944 and skirt the Irish coast, sinking seven ships for a total of 29,360 BRT. Was able to sink two with the deck gun - both large trawlers - while I bagged a large tanker just entering the St George's Channel.

Constant diving for aircraft - thankful for the snorkel, but even motionless at night this isn't much of a help having been DC'd by aircraft with Leigh Lights.

I was on the surface at night reloading the stern tube when I was caught by an aircraft (although I didn't get a radar warning). I had approximately five minutes left of reloading so the gunners had a nice blatt at the Sunderland which did a little bit of damage. Just as I get underway and am about to order us to periscope depth my lookout screams enemy spotted. Turns out to be at least six sets of smoke closing at high speed. I swing the boat around and fire my last remaining acoustic torpedo in the general direction and then crash dive.

I jettison a decoy and get a depth check only to find we have 84 metres below the keel. I then spent three hours and, by my own count, 103 explosions from either DC or hedgehog before finally slipping the noose.

Damage:
attack and observation periscope damage
radio destroyed
radar destroyed
hydrophone damaged
stern torpedo - 1 damaged, the other destroyed
both engines damaged
deck and flak guns destroyed
seven members of the crew wounded

Have 14 torpedoes remaining so am going to sit out another 48 hours in this grid and then head back to Bergen...

[sublynx]

I've never survived to 1944 and it sounds like I'm not too sure if I even want to...

[Radian]

Switched to Type IX for my 18th patrol. Left for a grid off the coast of Casablanca. After completing my 24 hr patrol, Radio message says Germany has declared war on America. Dec 8 or 9?

Any way... so it's off to America......

Long cruise. I get distracted by a large convoy above the Azores. Bag a large and intermediate tanker... Slink off and decide to continue on to America.....

Arrive off North Carolina. Head north. Not long before I find a large freighter and a small freighter. Both running with lights on... I casually sail up to them and sink them with deck gun! No threat and no place for them to run. Just target practice in rough seas.

Continue on. Hydophone picks up a target closer to shore so I go to get it.... A stinking trawler!
Well Better to use the flak gun on a 98 ton trawler then a plane attacking me. Just as it sinks I get a look out warning of ship spotted! Humm another target?

NO! High speed torpedo boat heading for me. "Crash Dive!" Just made it.

So now decide to head south and off Georgia I sink another large freighter and a great lakes coastal freighter with my deck guns. Deck gun now down to only 9 shells. I'm going to have to use some of the 17 torpedo's I have left.

So I want to use them on high tonnage easy to sink targets. Nothing better then fat loaded tankers....

I sail around Florida and head for Galveston. I sail almost to the harbor. It's night and I find nothing other then a stupid armed tug....

So here I am just off of Galveston with a bunch of torpedos and nothing to show for my cruise from Georgia around Florida.....

So I guess it's time to do a harbor incursion!

Sweet. A spend the entire night slinking around at periscope or 7m depth. Then I attack. I bag a large tanker, a Modern Tanker, a 7.9k Troop Transport and another armed tug blows itself up by dropping depth charges in 18 meters of water!

I'm cruising out on the surface as the sun is coming up.

So now I'm thinking I might sail back and check out Miami Harbor. Still have 10 torps left... More then 1/2 a tank of fuel... It's dark and I'm wearing my sunglasses.

Radian

[Jimbuna]

BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!!

[sublynx]

That's the offensive spirit :/\\x:

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning. --- Smelled like . . . victory."

[aj906]

U-67, Typ IXC
18 June 1944
Assigned to patrol AM97: St George's Channel

Left Bergen 30 May 1944 and skirt the Irish coast, sinking seven ships for a total of 29,360 BRT. Was able to sink two with the deck gun - both large trawlers - while I bagged a large tanker just entering the St George's Channel.

Constant diving for aircraft - thankful for the snorkel, but even motionless at night this isn't much of a help having been DC'd by aircraft with Leigh Lights.

I was on the surface at night reloading the stern tube when I was caught by an aircraft (although I didn't get a radar warning). I had approximately five minutes left of reloading so the gunners had a nice blatt at the Sunderland which did a little bit of damage. Just as I get underway and am about to order us to periscope depth my lookout screams enemy spotted. Turns out to be at least six sets of smoke closing at high speed. I swing the boat around and fire my last remaining acoustic torpedo in the general direction and then crash dive.

I jettison a decoy and get a depth check only to find we have 84 metres below the keel. I then spent three hours and, by my own count, 103 explosions from either DC or hedgehog before finally slipping the noose.

Damage:
attack and observation periscope damage
radio destroyed
radar destroyed
hydrophone damaged
stern torpedo - 1 damaged, the other destroyed
both engines damaged
deck and flak guns destroyed
seven members of the crew wounded

Have 14 torpedoes remaining so am going to sit out another 48 hours in this grid and then head back to Bergen...


So having survived the St George's channel, I turn tail and head for home. I find two medium tankers that don't put up too much resistance on the 20th.

In the Western Approaches I blunder into a hunter-killer group in absolutely foul weather (my own fault, I was surfaced with no radar even though I had a working snorkel): rain, high seas, visibility limited to under 400 metres. I get absolutely pasted before finally being able to use the weather to my advantage and escape.

Damage is:
both stern tubes now out of action; hydrophone kaput, attack periscope destroyed, one engine for the scrap heap and two further injuries to the crew.


As I am heading home north of the Shetlands I pick up smoke on the horizon in clear weather at dusk that turns out to be the Nelson escorted by only three destroyers and a Fiji Class vessel. I still have 11 eels but decide discretion is the better part of valour as test dives below 25 metres had brought nothing but damage and flooding. :/\\!!

I was in the best position for an attack on the Nelson and the Fiji at some 3,300 metres: two torps each to slow them down and then a slow tracking of their positions while the escort stuffed around looking for me, a reload and then another go to finish them off (assuming my first two didn't do the job). Mind you, that was all in my head.



I don't have hull integrity showing in game but later after I return to port and check patrol results via Commander I find was down to 7.62%

Given my patrol resulted in a smear over 50K tonnage I'm pretty happy, but another 50K with these two ships combined should have seen me promoted to God. However, playing dead is dead, at least my crew and U-67 are still around to have another go. Now that is being more aggressive - making sure you live long enough to keep on hitting the enemy rather than going out in a blaze of glory. :rock:

[sublynx]

7.62% !? That's like diving with a Swiss cheese :gulp: Congratulations on surviving and with some huge tonnage for that time of war as well :salute:

[Rammstein0991]

=War Log=
U-502 (IX-C)
9-17-41

Returning to base from patrol NW of Ireland (Grids AM52, AM53) Despite several unfortunate misses and failed detonations, have managed to sink 5 ships, two C2 cargo ships, Two C3 cargo ships, and a small merchant for a total of 31,187 tons, would have liked to score more but perhaps next time.

[ExFishermanBob]

Just struggled through the channel (late June, '40) and on my way to lurk off Gibraltar, in the sun, again. Happy days....

[Rammstein0991]

=Captain's Log=
U-502 (IX-C)
10-3-41
5:12 AM

Am once again in preferred hunting ground of AM 52 (NW Ireland), Despite having just Arrived in the area, have already scored 3 kills (All "small" merchants), two however were sunk W. of Ireland about 20 or so nm off the coast on our way to our hunting ground, We have plenty of Fuel, Eels, and my cook tells me the food stores are still near full, so I am looking forward to a nice long hunt for some fat Tommies. The sailors plying their trade in the north shall find themselves losing much sleep for fear of us.

[BassII]

Found a large convoy in area BC sailing my IXB in 1942.
Manage to hit and down 3 of the biggest merchant ships using 5 torpedoes!
(Thats a great % of torpedoes working!)

I went down, and soon after i was pinged by 4 destroyers. Sat a course away from the convoy, zigzaging depth and course, silent running (never heard and felt so many depthbombs). At a time i was down at 150m!!

I manage to sneak away, with my tower, aa and deck guns destroyed.

I got promoted with yet another mass produced cross...my jacket is getting heavy:D

[the dark knight]

January 18th, 1940 (campaign #2)

U-123 IXB

Patrolling in AM 65. I have been hunting unsuspecting merchants, and had already sunk a large tanker, small tanker, ore carrier, 2 coastal merchants, and a granville type freighter. I still had 10 of my torpedo's left (most of my victims being finished off by the deck gun) when near the mouth of the River Clyde I run across the HMS Hood sitting stationary. Finding it odd that she is here, I fire all four bow tubes at a range of around 2000M. I set 2 to impact, 2 to pass under the keel with magnetic detonators. One of the magnetic pistols explodes half way through its run, yet the Hood doesn't respond. The two impacts hit amid ships, and the last passes under the keel and explodes. I turn the IX around and fire both stern tubes at 5m depth with impact pistols. One aimed for the forward powder magazine, the other for the rear magazine. Both hit, and HMS Hood turns turtle and sinks! On my way home with 2 torpedo's in the stern and 2 in the bow torpedo rooms.

I say it is odd that the Hood was near Greenock, because according to the HMS Hood's war diary, Hood was supposed to be patrolling the Shetland–Faeroes gap from the 15th-24th of January in 1940.

[Rammstein0991]

(From message to BdU)
Kptlt. Viktor Kress.

23:49 Status Report
09/01/42(Jan) 23:49
U-129 (IXC). Position Grid EN 32
Torpedoes left: 13
Tankers Sunk: 4
Total Tonnage: 30,300

Not a bad start for a new career. :arrgh!:

[Woxor]

I want to start by saying hello to you all since I'm new to both subsims and to the forum as well. I've always had a fascination for submarines, but in the last month it has really escalated. As I bought a PC for just some weeks ago it opened up the now several years old, but amazing, world of Silent Hunter III.

Naturally it took me a few (disastrous) patrols to get up to speed with all the controls and all the gameplay, but with the aid of assisted torpedo targeting and a realism level of 65%, I'm slowly getting the hang of it, and am now on a quite succesful (compared to my other patrols) patrol on grid CG, North West of Gibraltar.

I started out by patrolling grid DH47 with my IXC based in Lorient, as that was my objective, but did not have any success during my mandatory 24 hours of patrol. However, as I was heading East towards Gibraltar I stumbled upon a merchant, which kind I cannot recall. After sinking her with two torpedoes I felt the crews and my own morale rise, and I decided to head even closer to Gibraltar.

I sneaked around about 80 kilometres west of Gibraltar and, surrounded by destroyers, managed to sink another cargo ship. While heading west submerged to escape the heat, I encountered several other lone cargo ships, last one being a C2 Cargo, my biggest sinking so far.

I am now heading West by South-West, with seven torpedoes and 70% fuel left, which should allow me to sink a few more before I head back to port. Wish me luck! :salute:

[sublynx]

Happy hunting Woxor :ping:

[Rammstein0991]

Try going to AM52 AM53 and AM02 Woxor, lots of lone shipping there especially between 40-43 :arrgh!:

[TECHNICOLOR]

Near Canadian coast.Intercepted a convoy full of fat targets,about 5 10000+ ships including a battleship.Planned to kill escorts and use all remaining torpedoes on the ships .Sunk an Flower Class,then detected and depth charged for 8-10 hrs in-game time.Periscopes, front compartment damaged and floded. Gun,radio, hydrophones destroyed. Returning for repairs to Lorient. Nobody died and the kaulen learned an important lesson.:/\\!!

[Grun Teufel]

U-105 type IXC

Almost to my patrol grid CB13. Shot down 7 Sunderland Bombers as soon as I left Brest, France. Then shot down a mkII before I decided to dive to get away from the rest of his unit. sank 2 merchants along the way. ran into a convoy which Appeared to be coming out of Halifax. Engaged and sank a T3 before breaking contact with them. Hopefully I will engage another convoy before heading home.

Happy Hunting!!!

[the dark knight]

U-123 type IXB, February 1940 orders for grid square EJ66

North of scotland we ran into a task force with HMS Rodney, HMS Hood, and HMS Renown. I was not in the best position to engage, and was only able to close to 5000m. The closest warship to me was Renown, so I aimed for her stern, hoping to cripple her ability to run at speed. 2 torpedoes hit, and Renown comes to a grinding halt. Escorts go crazy, but they never find me. I fire 2 more into Renown under the powder magazines and she turns turtle and sinks. As I headed south near Ireland, I attacked 3 trawlers with the deck gun, and an ore carrier and large merchant. I continued heading south when between France and Ireland I ran into a huge convoy (20+ ships) in daylight and being ahead of the convoy, I submerged and let the convoy close. I raise the periscope and I spot the HMS Nelson in the center of the convoy! I do some quick plotting and find that HMS Nelson will pass 500m in front of my bow! I wait for her to close and fire 4 torpedoes into her. Nelson comes to a halt and starts to sink. I fire my stern torpedoes into a large merchant, who turns turtle and sinks. I am able to slip away since the only escort was busy looking for me elsewhere. We are currently docked and resupplying at the Thalia.

[nataraj]

Hi all, this is my first time with SH, first post in this forum.

Lt zS Helmut, at your service. :salute:

First patrol uneventful. Start at W'haven, assigned grid BE16.
Took the channel route to get there -3 days Aug.1-Aug 3 1939 (72 h)
and 5 1/2 days to return via North route. mostly 30kn winds, sea rough.

Watch crew on tower completely submerged at times, but unfazed, continued looking through their binoculars :huh:

Between Patrols: upgrade hydrophones to KDG

Patrol 2: start at W'haven, assigned grid BF16, this time we go the long way (N of Scotland, Ireland). My log (BTW, is there a convenient way to keep a log in-game?) of the first days:


W'hafen 1939

08 31
1600 leave port
1700 part. cloudy, wind 8kn N
exercise: man deck gun, load HE, return to watch
1831 radio msg.: war starts, "no attacks!" "waiting positions" - continue plotted course

09 01
0400 overcast, wind 15kn SSW
2000 radio msg. "Poland hostile", rest:neutral

09 02
0730 position: 150nm E of Lerwin
1700 position: 80+ nm NE of Shetland (+ 75|76 78|79 ) HDG 270

09 03
0000 position: 80nm N of NW end Shetland Is. (+ AF 74|75 77|78 )
overcast, wind 15kn SSW
0211 radio msg: "at war with GB, attack merchants", continue course (peri / surface)
0600 position: 190 nm N of Scapa Flow
1000 position: (+ AE96|AF74 AE99|AF77 ) HDG 247
1400 radio msg: attack troops, escorted, hostile action targets
1551 radio msg: attack British ships
1553 radio msg: do not attack French, only defense
1948 radio msg: SSS 56°44'N 14°05' W "Athenia" - too far
2101 radio msg: Brit., FR, AU, NZ, IN at war
2113 radio msg: SSS Polish sub (AO94)
2200 position: 30nm S of Färöer (+ AE98 AM31|AM32 ) HDG 225

0904
0800 overcast, wind 15kn SSW
1202 radio msg: "do not attack passenger ships (even in convoy)"
1809 radio msg: enemy AE83 HDG WNW 18kn (dist. 320 nm)

09 05
0000 position: 15nm NE of intersect (+ AM29 AM43|AM51 ) HDG 190 13kn
0600 position: (+ AM43|AM51 AM46|AM54 ) HDG S, peri depth, 6 kn (ETA BF16: Sept 8 0800 - 72 h)
0830 SSS 45°29'N 9°45'W "Bosnia" (Biscaya)
Battery 50% (in 2,5h 50% ???) - surface
0855 Battery 100%
0905 radio msg: Convoy AM49, course NE, spd 5kn (dist: 100+ nm)
1005 set course 230 to intercept convoy in 6-7 hrs at 10kn
1212 Merchant ship - dist 4km BRG 005, new course 210 to get side view and torpedo angle
1219 Identify British flag, Passenger/Cargo 2-3km BRG 030
1222 2 torp T1, 1 hit 1 miss. Surface. Deck gun
1225 * she's going down. 2k+ GRT. continue towards intercept approx. 40nm at 10kn, ETA 1630
1302 radio msg: SSS "Pluvoise" (off Gibraltar)
1401 radio msg: SSS "Royal Sceptre" (Biscaya)
1523 radio msg: "Large Convoy" AM49, course NE, 5kn (dist approx 10nm) - peri depth, slow
1540 Contact: "Warship Medium Speed Closing! Bearing 342! Long range!"
1549 more contacts (merchants), Silent Running HDG 130
1600 7 contacts (1 warship, 6 commercial)
1630 more than 15 ships in convoy. Dist 12km.
OMG, it's a huge convoy ... should I try to take out the warship (destroyer maybe, or frigate?) first? It worked in the Naval Academy exercise.
But who knows how many more destroyers there are?

Hm, in real life it was past midnight, so I postpone the decision.
What a long day ...
SAVE and EXIT

over and out,
Helmut

----
edit Nov.15: changed rank to Lt zS as I'm only starting my career.

[nataraj]

And so I died ...

I decided against attacking. Figured there'd be at least 2-3 destroyers in the pack. Too much of a risk for my first war patrol.

But ... I thought maybe sneak away and take a look at what's sailing in the convoy. Set a course SE - perpendicular to the convoy's NE course. Periscope depth to be able to listen and 5 kn speed. Stealth meter: green.

In the chaotic bundle of hydrophone lines on my map I must have missed the one that went after me: a Black Swan frigate was way ahead of the pack and started to chase me. I survived two runs of depth charges, but the third one hit me at 50-60m depth and engines off. Ping - ping - ping, you're dead. "Career abandoned"

----------

Good thing I still had that save from last night. Reloaded and made a quick run: surfaced, flank speed, course 110. After 15 nm there was no sound contact. Back on course due S. Phew.

Do not pull the tiger's tail ... (at least not if you're still a kitten)

[sublynx]

Welcome to the forum and good luck on the next hunt :arrgh!: In 1939 you might well find a convoy with only one escort. If you do, attack it and practice avoiding just one escort. That's easier. But be sure to have lots of water between you and the escorts. In shallow water you might not have time to escape the depth charge runs.

[desirableroasted]

At 5Kts, an elite escort certaiinly might hear you and investigate. A dull one might pass 1000 m in front and never twitch. You never know.

Remember, your great advantage is that you move in three dimensions, while your opponents cannot. The ability to go deep is your best friend in this game, which it is why it is madness to run the Channel in wartime: you can do it, but if you are caught, you are sailing around in a shallow bathtub.

[nataraj]

Thanks, desireableroasted and sublynx, for your advice! Seems I need to pay more attention to good vs. poor position and be content to sink one ship out of a whole convoy - and get away with it :D
For the moment I'll have to learn how to observe without getting killed in the process. I'll do just that.

[the dark knight]

some time ago there was a hint here on the forum that I took to heart and still use today. When you are in your conning tower interior, there is a dial that shows your engine RPM's. If you are running silent and keep your RPM's below 100 (or less that 2 knots) when near an escort, you should be okay. I will get in front of the convoy, dive and go silent. When I am ready to unleash my attack I try to be in the middle of the convoy. I will come out of silent running and fire everything I have and reload if possible. When the escorts come, I crash dive and then go silent once more. The key is to keep your RPM's low. If you want to practice, the single missions are a great place to explore new tactics. :up:

I also like to cripple 2 or 3 ships by attacking their propellers. The will come to a grinding halt, and after the escorts are finished trying to kill me and they leave, I have some nice fat merchants sitting still for me to finish off.

[nataraj]

Thank you, dark knight, for sharing your tactic and for the hint with the RPM dial . I took a quick look around last night but did not see it (or mybe just did not recognize it). Shall look harder next time ...

As for combat tactics, I definitely have to learn a lot here. During the "Naval Academy" convoy exercise I died often - until I changed the strategy and took out the destroyer first, then the ASW trawler. Seems I took a shortcut and never learnt the right way to hit Merchants and then escape the destroyers.

Did some searching last night and found a few hints/articles on the net that seem to be useful: "The Submerged Attack", "ASW technology and proper submarine tactics", "The Art of Escape" and "Defensive Maneuvering". Have to study these before moving on to training mode.

I was thinking about running the exercise again, but if there are any single missions that are particularly useful in training these combat/evasive tactics, I'll go and play these before returning to career mode.

Cheers
Helmut

[Rammstein0991]

Your best bet is to simply avoid convoys if at all possible, go for lone merchants or pairs traveling w/o escort, only go for the groups when you cant find the more helpless prey, you'll live longer :arrgh!:

[jacobston]

In shallow water you might not have time to escape the depth charge runs.

What I usually do if I get caught in shallow water is rig for silent running and hope I don't get blown out of the water by the depth charges. Then I get my sonar officer to follow the contact and when he is circling around after his attack run, I raise the scope and try to fire a torpedo into him. I did that earlier today when i was being hunted by four destroyers outside their harbor. I sunk two and managed to get the others to run aground.

[Rammstein0991]

What I usually do if I get caught in shallow water is rig for silent running and hope I don't get blown out of the water by the depth charges. Then I get my sonar officer to follow the contact and when he is circling around after his attack run, I raise the scope and try to fire a torpedo into him. I did that earlier today when i was being hunted by four destroyers outside their harbor. I sunk two and managed to get the others to run aground.

Sounds like me infiltrating pearl lol :arrgh!:

[desirableroasted]

Remember that a lot of shallow water is also heavily mined (at least in the supermods).

People play in different ways, but in my little SH3 world, being DCd means I have made a tactical mistake, but it comes with the territory. But being DCd in shallow water means I have been stupid for going there in the first place.

[jacobston]

Remember that a lot of shallow water is also heavily mined (at least in the supermods).

Oh, I remember. I recently started a new campaign with the Grey Wolves Mod. I was experimenting with different crew arrangements, tried to leave the harbor at periscope depth and, well, you can figure out the rest. I survived though, thanks to efficient damage control i managed to limp back to the harbor.

[Rammstein0991]

=War Diary=
U-794 (XVIIIA Walther type)
Ktplt. Egon Roth
=02-18-44=

Have just left base of Surabaya, Java for my first patrol in this new boat, I was initially reserved about leaving my old IXD behind and upon first sight I found my new command to be somewhat...unattractive in its blocky and rigid appearance, Even less appealing was the loss of rear firing Eels which limits offensive and defensive options as pertaining to enemy action.

However, I was made aware and instructed in the use of a new form of propulsion system, which to the amazement of the crew and I, can allow for a high knot of speed on the surface as well as submerged. Alas I cannot describe this new engine, its performance limits, or its fuel source in any written document kept aboard the boat on the off-chance that it may somehow fall into enemy hands.

This newfound speed along with the increased forward armament, as well as all of our eels being internal are a suitable compensation if I had to confess. In fact not half an hour ago we had our first success just north of Australia, we happened upon a lone troop transport traveling about 6 knots, 2 torpedo's stopped her dead in the water, but after a half hour she had not sank, so we struck her once more just aft of the bow and she went down by the head.

More entries will come, as soon as we have further success.

[nataraj]

Thanks again to all you guys on this forum for your help!

After some practice sessions with destroyers I started career mode again, this time with GWX and SH3 Commander (real ship names, no fatigue, stop TC on enemy contact). Flotilla 2, UBoot VIIb.

Set realism to 80% (still need help from the WO to ID those merchants), spent some of my precious renown on officer skills, and - for the second patrol - on a KDG hydrophone. Had a great time, enemy warships far enough, some minor cargo and two Large Merchants sailing my way.

Ended 2nd patrol with 6 ships sunk (34k t) after only 8 days (out of front torpedoes)

I play the downloaded version (amazon, not steam), on Win7 64bit. Tried to install the hi-res patch but no effect, it still sends 1024x768 to my monitor, hm. Good enough, though.

Next patrol, I'm going to shoot down those planes :)

OLt zS Helmut

[Sailor Steve]

Since you have Ship Names enabled you might be interested in this.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/downloads.php?do=file&id=4022

[Dread Knot]

Next patrol, I'm going to shoot down those planes :)


Be careful. It's a U-Boat, not an anti-aircraft cruiser. :ping:

[nataraj]

Be careful. It's a U-Boat, not an anti-aircraft cruiser. :ping:

How true ...

In preparation for my next patrol, I did the Naval Academy flak training. Again - or so I thought. This time it was completely different. When I first played that training during my first days with SH3 (stock), it was just that: an exercise to learn the icons/commands, use the flak myself(find F11, find Tab key, push space bar, miss, miss, ... reload, ) Nothing special.

This time (GWX and SHC), it was pure hell. Died after 5 minutes. Not just me ... ALL of us died, and fast. How can they do that during training? Slaughter their cadets, and not just them, kill shiploads of seamen, sink an expensive UBoot - just for the "exercise"? Hm ...

But ... I did learn. Another training in hell: Full speed, rudder max port, target bombers first, double click on damage control in F7 screen, replace dead flak gunner, rinse repeat. Downed 7 of these murderous planes, then my gunner kept shooting at a damaged plane that went in circles until he ran out of ammo.

So, all in all, a valuable lesson: three flak gunners lost, 7 planes down. Which means, I just COULD stand against a single incoming aircraft without too many losses, but then: is it WORTH it? What exactly is the benefit of staying surfaced, exposed, vulnerable - only for the CHANCE of shooting one stupid plane that will have radioed my position anyway ?

Considering I get nice renown for spending 2-3 torpedoes on an 8-10k t merchant, why bother with the enemy planes at all? Kicks, ok I understand that. But in a war and with 50 men aboard, I strongly doubt that commanders would be expected to take that risk without very good reason.

I guess my default tactics would be to dive and do a turn unless he's already throwing his bombs at me.

[Marcello]

The problem is that quite often you would not have the time to dive to a safe depth.The weather or others circumstances could enable the plane to get close to the u-boat.Then diving could result in the u-boat being still only partially submerged or at any rate leaving a still visible trace it could not put enough distance from by the time the plane was able to drop its charges.

[nataraj]

Oh, definitely, I'll put up a fight if it can't be avoided.

But my first analysis really was about cost/benefit in PICKING a fight with - say - a lone airplane. I looked into lots of .cfg files to find out what the renown values are for those ships I might encounter in fall of 1939. While I'm at it, I also put together "museum" shots and "Erkennungshandbuch" pages, because I cannot yet recognize the ships at all ... if any newbies like me are interested, the document is here (2,5 MB - Merchant ships only): http://helmut.saueregger.at/gameresources/SH3/HSMerchants1939.pdf
If I read the files correctly, a Sunderland airplane gives 70 renown which puts it into the same category as Small Merchant, Small Freighter, Tramp Steamer. Hm, I think I would not waste a torpedo on a Small Freighter for 70 renown... would I kill a Flak-qualified Petty Officer for possible 70 renown ? Definitely not. "Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked them up."

So, back to the question: how late is too late to dive? And: how much time can I spend looking around - find the plane, guess the distance, think ... - If my guys spot the plane 9 km away, that's 5nm. A plane approaching at 100kn needs 3 minutes to reach us, from 4.5km away only 1.5 minutes. To dive to 20-25 m, how long? one minute? Two? The window for the decision to dive or stand seems to be very narrow ... Like "Q" said in one of the Bond movies: "always have an escape plan" :D My plan is yet in very bad shape!

[the dark knight]

What I do, if it is early war and something pitiful like a swordfish I will shoot it down. My flak gunners are good, and will always kill a swordfish on its attack run. If it is a bigger plane, I will try to discourage it, fire upon it, maneuver at flank, and after he passes over me, then I crash dive to 60m. That way once he is turned around, I am long gone. Later in the war, if I have the long tower installed, and it is a lone plane, I might fight it out, but most of the time I will crash dive on first sighting. Remember, planes carried depth charges that had a maximum of 50m fuses on them (I think it was more common for them to have 25M fuses). Anything deeper than 50m, you should be okay.

[jacobston]

I have recently done some experiments with a type VIIB and the chronometer.
Dive to periscope depth takes about 2 and a half minutes while not moving, but a crash dive will take about 30 seconds to make 25 meters, and little while longer for the wake to disappear.

[nataraj]

Thanks dark knight and jacobston for your replies - very useful indeed!
Seems like since it is only 1939 in my naval career, I might try the "shoot the incoming plane then dive" strategy. I do have a qualified flak gunner, and in any case those AI flak gunners are way better than I am myself (as opposed to deck gun which I usually fire myself unless I'm maneuvering).

Glad you did those timing experiments alredy, jacobston - that would have been next on my list. I had the feeling that diving took more like half a minute and not 1-2 minutes when going at 1/3 ahead and then doing a "crash dive".

So now that I have a plan A and a plan B I feel much more comfortable with staying on the surface when the "plane spotted" message arrives ...

[Rammstein0991]

All depends on the mod you use as well, I've found that in vanilla SHIII the planes arent near as effective as in rl, making it easier to duke it out

[kaleun Peter Gipp]

Date 16/Sep/1940
Location Grid AM94
Intercepted Convoy , 0500 hrs
Avoid lead destroyer , have Ammunition ship in sights along with two T16B tankers lined up and solutions for attack ready .
Fire first torpedo target Ammunition Ship , line up for second and third targets , fire second torpedo , fire third torpedo , Hit with the first torpedo , hit for the second torpedo miss with the third , up periscope for confirmation , scanning aft what do I see but a destroyer heading straight for me , no time for solution , alarm !!!!! Down we go , run silent run deep , so I thought , the circus begins .
Long story short , did all kinds of maneuvers to shake the destroyers off , 2 Flower Class 1 V&W Class 2 Motor Torpedo Boats , played dead on the ocean floor , nope that was not wise of me , from the start of the attack run on the convoy until 1500 HRS they would not give up , depth charge and pinging was the order of the day , U-Boat took some big hits but it was salvageable until they got a fix on me resulting in U-Boat destroyed by pressure , all hands lost SUMMARY Oberleutnant z.s. Peter Gipp and U-48 were lost sometime on 16SEP40 . 13 patrols 175 days 43 merchant sunk 7 warships total 239041 tons . Many , Many Thanks for everyone who contribute to this site and creators of the many mods that renders this simulation as close as possible to realism . :Kaleun_Salute:

[Missing Name]

Decided to try manual targeting again, this time with a white board to take notes. Spotted a pasenger-cargo and fired a two-shot salvo from the bow tubes.
http://i.imgur.com/RKQyr5p.jpg
(I missed by half a boatlength. So I popped up and shelled it until it was somewhat flooded.)

[Rammstein0991]

Date 16/Sep/1940
Location Grid AM94
Intercepted Convoy , 0500 hrs
Avoid lead destroyer , have Ammunition ship in sights along with two T16B tankers lined up and solutions for attack ready .
Fire first torpedo target Ammunition Ship , line up for second and third targets , fire second torpedo , fire third torpedo , Hit with the first torpedo , hit for the second torpedo miss with the third , up periscope for confirmation , scanning aft what do I see but a destroyer heading straight for me , no time for solution , alarm !!!!! Down we go , run silent run deep , so I thought , the circus begins .
Long story short , did all kinds of maneuvers to shake the destroyers off , 2 Flower Class 1 V&W Class 2 Motor Torpedo Boats , played dead on the ocean floor , nope that was not wise of me , from the start of the attack run on the convoy until 1500 HRS they would not give up , depth charge and pinging was the order of the day , U-Boat took some big hits but it was salvageable until they got a fix on me resulting in U-Boat destroyed by pressure , all hands lost SUMMARY Oberleutnant z.s. Peter Gipp and U-48 were lost sometime on 16SEP40 . 13 patrols 175 days 43 merchant sunk 7 warships total 239041 tons . Many , Many Thanks for everyone who contribute to this site and creators of the many mods that renders this simulation as close as possible to realism . :Kaleun_Salute:
Hats off to Kaleun Gipp, he will be missed,:lost: thats why I avoid convoys though, too much risk for so little gain, my good ol' commander Egon Roth prefers to sick his type IX on lone merchants north of Ireland, hapless fools never know what hit em.

[the dark knight]

May 1940, U-123 type IXB

After spotting an Empire freighter NW of Scapa Flow and sinking it, we decided to hunt off the northern waters off of Scotland. We found a group of 3 ships, 1 destroyer and 2 auxiliary cruisers. I set all 4 eels to magnetic and adjust the depth to pass under my victims. I fire one at the destroyer, 2 at the first cruiser and one at the last. 3 of the 4 hit, one on each ship right under the ammo stores. 3 huge explosions, and my victims quickly sink! It was then I decided to go scope out the waters surrounding Iceland, and in the process, I stumble onto an enemy convoy. The water is shallow, only 35m, but I decide to take the risk since this is a huge group of ships. I fire upon and sink a ceramic ocean liner, large tanker, and 2 C3 cargo's. I did have reload time after polishing off the liner and then bag the tanker and cargo's, since the escorts were not really looking for me yet. After 6 hours of holding my breath during intense depth charging in shallow water, we are headed home. Luckily the escorts set the charges way too shallow as I crept along the sea floor at 32m.

[nataraj]

Finished my third patrol today. 23 days at sea, none of my crew injured (except Gustav, who fell off a bunk while playing cards).

Learned a lot.

My first huge convoy. I lay there waiting already. Too late to run away when sonar guy went: Warship spotted, warship spotted, ... ugh. Depth 25m, engines off, silent running. Took 3 hours for the convoy to pass over me and be gone. I used the free cam and saw: Black Swan, Southampton, Black Swan, Submarine. Lesson: do sound checks from 15-20 km away.

Wasted 2 and spent another two (yes, that's four !) torpedoes to sink a humble Small Tanker. Reviewed my strategy and adopted a totally different approach: go in front unseen and wait. Aim. Then kill. Worked great. I put my other torpedoes to good use, so consider those wasted torpedoes well spent on my learning curve.

After 14 days, a small freighter and that small tanker was all I had in my bag.

Then: "Enemy Convoy". Did she say: "large"? No. Let's take a look.
Sound check reveals merchants and a warship. Hm. Only one? Let's go.
I took the destroyer out first. At 25m depth so the cargoes would not hit me. Silent running. No periscope, only hydrophone bearings. 2 Torpedoes. 600m. AoB 90°. He never saw it coming. Destroyer went down 3 minutes after being hit.

After that, no more warships. But a small freighter destroyed my flak and attack periscope when he rammed me. Used all torpedoes except one aft torp, and all my deck gun ammo. Came back with:

Ships sunk: 12
Aircraft destroyed: 0
Patrol tonnage: 47573 tons

full log here(as .pdf)
(http://helmut.saueregger.at/gameresources/SH3/CaptLogPatrol3.pdf)
Now what? give out medals and qualification. To whom? I have 5 officers
Gun/Torp
Watch
Repair
Machinist
Helmsman

and petty officers with Machinist, Torpedo (3 each), plus Radio, Watch, Flak (one each).

I have no idea what to "buy" with my renown. Keep it for the promotion? Get a new sub (why?), better equipment (what?).

Guess I'll just go to the Kit-Kat Club and spend the night with a Fräulein :yeah: They like my ... uniform.

OLt zS Helmut

[nataraj]

So I spent a day in port.
No sub upgrades, one crew change: dismissed the Helmsman and took on another Watchman officer.
Had a party with my crew and handed out medals, badges and promotions. Qualified a gunner PO

Main upgrades were in the ship's "assist" systems:
better view, better navigation and aiming tools. Spent the whole morning trying to figure out how one would determine course and speed from four (sound) bearings alone, could not do it... then in the evening: found Kuikueg's "four bearings" method (exactly what I was looking for) - AND the MaGui mod with the attack disc, too.

So now this is how I'm going to sail on my next patrol:

GWX 3 Gold
GWX - 16 km Atmosphere <=== newly enabled
GWX - Enhanced Damage Effects
GWX - No medals while sailing
TMT v2 <=== new
MaGui Final <=== new
German images for MaGui F <=== new
Type II, VII, IX, or XXI salvo selector <= new

sub VIIb, time ?Oct?/Nov 1939

realism: I'll keep the map updates and the external camera on, also WO assist(ID only), that's 80+% - good enough.

See ya in two weeks game time (dead or alive) ...



Still not quite sure what patrol grid to choose. South of Ireland again, probably. Rich hunting grounds so far.

[Rammstein0991]

Journal
LEUTNANT Z. S.
Johann Strauss
U-83 (Type VIIB)
Wilhelmshaven, Germany
11-28-39

Have just returned from a very successful patrol in U-83 off the Eastern coast of England, in a mere 8 days at sea we managed to sink 8 merchant ships and 1 fishing boat totaling 28,109 GRT. Will take on provisions, fuel, and torpedos and allow crew a short stint to rest and write to families and girlfriends, and then we shall return to sea by early December at the latest.

[kaleun Peter Gipp]

20/Feb/1940
Grid AF78
Spotted HMS Rodney with 3 Destroyer escort ( All three DD escorts port side of HMS Rodney )
Lined U Boat perpendicular to HMS Rodney's heading , closed into 1100 meter range , set torpedo's depth to 10 meters , fired 4 torpedoes , result 2 hits 2 miss
Sea Cadet mistake did not set sights at bow of ship but rather at the super structure , therefore striking behind super structure .
Once fired executed silent run with a spiral dive to 100 m bottom out and headed towards HMS Rodney while escorts began circling search around crippled ship . Rodney dead in water , escorts searched for 1 hour then headed north leaving Rodney ,secured from silent run loaded torpedoes , periscope depth , fired off 3 torpedoes for a quick kill . Start of engagement 04:42 , End of engagement 07:40 .
22:33 Hrs 20/Feb/1940 Spotted task force escorted by 6 Destroyers Tribal class , escorting HMS Hood , HMS Warspite and HMS Rodney ?
Let them pass had enough excitement for the day reported contact to HQ dove to 50 meters and listened to the gramophone while enjoying a plate of potatoes and bully beef .