iambecomelife
08-13-05, 10:57 PM
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/3311/apica3om.jpg
November 23, 1939
After leaving Wilhelmshaven late last night, dawn finds us in the North Sea without another vessel in sight. We've left the local traffic - and minefields - behind. The men breathe a bit easier.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2565/blookouts0gb.jpg
I still maintain a full watch crew even in local waters where the risk of attack is low. This is a mind-numbingly boring duty for the men assigned, but there's no way around it. I'm proud of the men for holding up as well as they do. I'll have to remember to get them some new cap badges that match our emblem, BTW.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1218/cfood2sa.jpg
Provisions seem to be holding up well. At this stage in the patrol the decent food makes up for the lack of excitement.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4143/dflippysub2iq.jpg
As we approach the UK I submerge during daylight hours to minimize the risk of attack, conserve fuel, and pick up contacts on the hydrophones.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1412/ekontakt0xe.jpg
We're rounding the coast of Scotland when we finally get a hit - a merchant at long range.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/742/fcrankitup9yy.jpg
I tell Otto to floor it and he grins. U-49 surfaces and races over the waves like a dog let off a leash.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6245/gproducerscope3kl.jpg
Target sighted. She's a refrigerated ship, probably in ballast because she's sailing away from the UK. The distinctive white hull and blue funnel ID her as a vessel of the Jamaica Banana Producers Co. We make out the flag just to make sure she's not on charter to a neutral country. She's flying the red ensign - fair game. After outrunning her on a parallel course several KM away, we submerge and wait.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/8870/hproducerhit6xj.jpg
We launch tubes I and IV, getting hits at opposite ends of the ship. She stays intact, though, so we give chase underwater.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6843/iproducercrip2sy.jpg
She's still too fast for us. I'm tempted to fire a shot at a bad angle, but we surface instead to work her over with our 88. I'll have to improve my aim and hit critical areas; soon, the British will probably arm most of their merchants, making deck gun attacks too risky.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/249/jproducerdown8kz.jpg
Five or six rounds strike home, and two lifeboats pull away. We idle at a safe distance as the ship sinks by the bow. Lt. Roth hails them over a loudspeaker. Their vessel was the "Jamaica Innovator" of 5300 tons. We're happy to hear that the entire crew is accounted for. After giving them a course to the Scottish coast, we gun the engines and make for the open ocean. We're fairly close to Scapa Flow, and I'm not in the mood for a showdown with a destroyer or two.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4931/ksmallmerchhit12vo.jpg
After night falls we encounter a small merchant and take her out with a single torpedo and several deck gun rounds. We pick up a destroyer closing in on the hydrophones, but manage to elude her.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/3834/lilustdark7we.jpg
After the action of the past few days we experience a lull. The next few days and nights are as dull as our days in the North Sea. Then one night Lt. Roth shouts for me at the top of his lungs, jolting me out of my card game. It's what looks like half of the home fleet: Rodney, Illustrious, and a swarm of destroyers ploughing through the night at medium speed. We get as close as we dare on a perpendicular course and submerge, flooding all tubes for a shot at the Rodney. At the last minute I decide to let Rodney go by and get a shot at Illustrious. We let loose with four magnetic, under-the-keel shots, but the carrier's skipper earns his pay that night. With a desperate burst of speed he manages to evade all four torpedoes, including one that misses his rudder by a whisker. We frantically dive but the British only drop a couple of depth charges before leaving. Maybe they have bigger fish to fry, like one of Admiral Raeder's surface units.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5484/mcontactchase1yr.jpg
After missing several hydrophone contacts that week we finally get a good, steady reading - a merchant off the Western Approaches. We give chase...
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/8868/naceshigh1kv.jpg
And are disappointed to discover that it's only a tug. A hurricane keeps us down for an hour or so, buying the tug's crew a little time.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6105/obangtug1ih.jpg
After the flyboy leaves, we get down to business.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/3276/pdiveconvoy7ad.jpg
We receive a report of a lage convoy but I ignore it, assuming that we won't be able to intercept. Then we get another radio report; it's just a few miles away now. We submerge and wait for it to steam into our path.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6403/qconvoy6fm.jpg
It's an impressive array of ships, including some targets that must be over 10,000 tons. This ought to make up for the disappointment of the past few days. Just as we're maneuvering into position underwater the lone escort, a V&W destroyer, picks us up.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1346/rvwstalk8du.jpg
He keeps us down for a harrowing three hours, pounding the water with barrage after barrage of depth charges. When we surface some time later, the convoy is long gone and the V&W is a smudge on the horizon. We try to home in on the convoy by following him but I break off after a short time. The convoy is approaching the continental shelf, and we won't have enough depth to evade if we attack.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5063/sconsolation1km.jpg
We're running low on fuel, so I head for home. I go back the way I came - over Northern Scotland - since the channel is still in British and French hands. We bag a lone merchant in the North Sea as a consolation prize. Shortly afterwards we collide with a tug in bad weather, but a repair crew quickly puts the damage right.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/9209/thome9zd.jpg
We get back to Wilhelmshaven three days before Christmas. The weather is terrible, as usual, and we can't see our hands in front of our faces. I guess we should be glad we sank anything, but those two missed chances weigh heavily on the crew. Still, Christmas will take our minds off the patrol, and there's always next time ...
November 23, 1939
After leaving Wilhelmshaven late last night, dawn finds us in the North Sea without another vessel in sight. We've left the local traffic - and minefields - behind. The men breathe a bit easier.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2565/blookouts0gb.jpg
I still maintain a full watch crew even in local waters where the risk of attack is low. This is a mind-numbingly boring duty for the men assigned, but there's no way around it. I'm proud of the men for holding up as well as they do. I'll have to remember to get them some new cap badges that match our emblem, BTW.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1218/cfood2sa.jpg
Provisions seem to be holding up well. At this stage in the patrol the decent food makes up for the lack of excitement.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4143/dflippysub2iq.jpg
As we approach the UK I submerge during daylight hours to minimize the risk of attack, conserve fuel, and pick up contacts on the hydrophones.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1412/ekontakt0xe.jpg
We're rounding the coast of Scotland when we finally get a hit - a merchant at long range.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/742/fcrankitup9yy.jpg
I tell Otto to floor it and he grins. U-49 surfaces and races over the waves like a dog let off a leash.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6245/gproducerscope3kl.jpg
Target sighted. She's a refrigerated ship, probably in ballast because she's sailing away from the UK. The distinctive white hull and blue funnel ID her as a vessel of the Jamaica Banana Producers Co. We make out the flag just to make sure she's not on charter to a neutral country. She's flying the red ensign - fair game. After outrunning her on a parallel course several KM away, we submerge and wait.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/8870/hproducerhit6xj.jpg
We launch tubes I and IV, getting hits at opposite ends of the ship. She stays intact, though, so we give chase underwater.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6843/iproducercrip2sy.jpg
She's still too fast for us. I'm tempted to fire a shot at a bad angle, but we surface instead to work her over with our 88. I'll have to improve my aim and hit critical areas; soon, the British will probably arm most of their merchants, making deck gun attacks too risky.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/249/jproducerdown8kz.jpg
Five or six rounds strike home, and two lifeboats pull away. We idle at a safe distance as the ship sinks by the bow. Lt. Roth hails them over a loudspeaker. Their vessel was the "Jamaica Innovator" of 5300 tons. We're happy to hear that the entire crew is accounted for. After giving them a course to the Scottish coast, we gun the engines and make for the open ocean. We're fairly close to Scapa Flow, and I'm not in the mood for a showdown with a destroyer or two.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4931/ksmallmerchhit12vo.jpg
After night falls we encounter a small merchant and take her out with a single torpedo and several deck gun rounds. We pick up a destroyer closing in on the hydrophones, but manage to elude her.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/3834/lilustdark7we.jpg
After the action of the past few days we experience a lull. The next few days and nights are as dull as our days in the North Sea. Then one night Lt. Roth shouts for me at the top of his lungs, jolting me out of my card game. It's what looks like half of the home fleet: Rodney, Illustrious, and a swarm of destroyers ploughing through the night at medium speed. We get as close as we dare on a perpendicular course and submerge, flooding all tubes for a shot at the Rodney. At the last minute I decide to let Rodney go by and get a shot at Illustrious. We let loose with four magnetic, under-the-keel shots, but the carrier's skipper earns his pay that night. With a desperate burst of speed he manages to evade all four torpedoes, including one that misses his rudder by a whisker. We frantically dive but the British only drop a couple of depth charges before leaving. Maybe they have bigger fish to fry, like one of Admiral Raeder's surface units.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5484/mcontactchase1yr.jpg
After missing several hydrophone contacts that week we finally get a good, steady reading - a merchant off the Western Approaches. We give chase...
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/8868/naceshigh1kv.jpg
And are disappointed to discover that it's only a tug. A hurricane keeps us down for an hour or so, buying the tug's crew a little time.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6105/obangtug1ih.jpg
After the flyboy leaves, we get down to business.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/3276/pdiveconvoy7ad.jpg
We receive a report of a lage convoy but I ignore it, assuming that we won't be able to intercept. Then we get another radio report; it's just a few miles away now. We submerge and wait for it to steam into our path.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6403/qconvoy6fm.jpg
It's an impressive array of ships, including some targets that must be over 10,000 tons. This ought to make up for the disappointment of the past few days. Just as we're maneuvering into position underwater the lone escort, a V&W destroyer, picks us up.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1346/rvwstalk8du.jpg
He keeps us down for a harrowing three hours, pounding the water with barrage after barrage of depth charges. When we surface some time later, the convoy is long gone and the V&W is a smudge on the horizon. We try to home in on the convoy by following him but I break off after a short time. The convoy is approaching the continental shelf, and we won't have enough depth to evade if we attack.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5063/sconsolation1km.jpg
We're running low on fuel, so I head for home. I go back the way I came - over Northern Scotland - since the channel is still in British and French hands. We bag a lone merchant in the North Sea as a consolation prize. Shortly afterwards we collide with a tug in bad weather, but a repair crew quickly puts the damage right.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/9209/thome9zd.jpg
We get back to Wilhelmshaven three days before Christmas. The weather is terrible, as usual, and we can't see our hands in front of our faces. I guess we should be glad we sank anything, but those two missed chances weigh heavily on the crew. Still, Christmas will take our minds off the patrol, and there's always next time ...