Mowgli
07-06-19, 01:11 PM
What a patrol this is turning out to be. Departed Wilhelmshaven on 3rd May 1940.
Ordered to land a spy near Liverpool I creep in and avoid the numerous escorts. There are a few low tonnage merchant vessels but none worth risking the mission for.
With the spy dropped off, I evade the escorts as I want deep waters and to be in my patrol area in the South West approaches.
Then the storm hit for almost a week and I can see nothing. I get a bearing on a convoy surrounded by escorts and try to get past the escorts but with rough seas and no visibility they sweep past me and are gone.
Moral is low and fuel even lower but the weather breaks into clear blue skies and decide to head towards the channel to see if I can find a target. All I encounter are Spanish or ROI ships and waste more time on plotting and setting up attacks on them.
On the 29th of May I receive orders to return to base but not to dock until June 7th and I am guessing Dunkirk and France are about to fall and I will be transferred to one of the liberated French Ports.
I have fired just one torpedo (along a bearing into that invisible convoy) and have sunk NOTHING and have no wish to return to any port with no tonnage to my boats credit.
So I have a question, should I go through the channel and return to port or if I stay and continue to hunt will I be transferred to a French Port regardless? I have 49% fuel remaining.
Ordered to land a spy near Liverpool I creep in and avoid the numerous escorts. There are a few low tonnage merchant vessels but none worth risking the mission for.
With the spy dropped off, I evade the escorts as I want deep waters and to be in my patrol area in the South West approaches.
Then the storm hit for almost a week and I can see nothing. I get a bearing on a convoy surrounded by escorts and try to get past the escorts but with rough seas and no visibility they sweep past me and are gone.
Moral is low and fuel even lower but the weather breaks into clear blue skies and decide to head towards the channel to see if I can find a target. All I encounter are Spanish or ROI ships and waste more time on plotting and setting up attacks on them.
On the 29th of May I receive orders to return to base but not to dock until June 7th and I am guessing Dunkirk and France are about to fall and I will be transferred to one of the liberated French Ports.
I have fired just one torpedo (along a bearing into that invisible convoy) and have sunk NOTHING and have no wish to return to any port with no tonnage to my boats credit.
So I have a question, should I go through the channel and return to port or if I stay and continue to hunt will I be transferred to a French Port regardless? I have 49% fuel remaining.