1916
10-08-05, 09:02 PM
Men, I have good news. - I FOUND JOHAN! He was wondering about in the front torpedo rooms :-j Now on to the story :up:
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From the logs of U-52, type VIIB out of Kiel.
1st September 1939
We set sail. The crew seems happy when we leave port, but I don't really look forward to the 4 day cruise out to see. Nothing but bitter Northern Atlantic seas await us in the coming days.
5th September 1939
We have passed through Scandinavia, just now passing the souther Dutch coast. We encountered a Freighter, and sunk it without problems. An easy 6,000 tons for our crew. It gave them a real moral boost for my crew.
11th September 1939
Today we passed England. Not too much going on. A contact pulled me away from dinner, but I could not find the contact with the periscope and decided to move on. The rest of the journey west is without incident. Scapa Flow seemed like a tempting destination, but I decided to conserve my torpedos for my patrol area.
15th September 1939
After spending a couple of days surfaced, we finally reach our destination. Dinner tonight consisted of fresh Swordfish, potatoes, rice and a chocolate beverage.
16th September 1939
Johan has been at the helm since I fell asleep. I was awakened at 8 AM by Fritz, our radio operator. We were in the midst of our patrol when we received a message from another U-boat in the area. "Large convoy reported, quadrant AM19, heading ENE at 6 knots." I ordered my crew to set course for AM19.
17th September 1939
CONTACT! A large convoy, 4 columns, mixed ships. I spotted 2 Small freighters, 2 armored freighters, 2 C3 freighters and 1 C2 tanker. I was unable to identify any other ships, and I spotted no escort.
We move within 1000 meters of our first target. We are undetected. The first C3 freighter is in range and we are in attack position. 2 torpedos are fired. 1 makes impact just forward of midship, the other in the after of the ship. A large explosion is heard and the kill is confirmed by periscope. Still no sign of an escort.
0957
Fritz reports propellers inbound, starboard, closing fast. I raise periscope and spot a corvette. Johan takes us down to 20 meters, we are silent and still. We avoid detection this time.
01039
We are in position to attack another C3 freighter with a T2 tanker nearby. 1 torpedo is fired at the T2 tanker, possibly hitting fuel as I observe a massive explosion, followed by the ship breaking in two. The corvette spots the scope and comes back to hunt us. We move out of the area.
01043
Audible DC sounds are heard in the distance. We have managed to evade the corvette again.
We move into attack position on the second C3 freighter. 2 more torpedos are fired, but one misses. The successful torpedo strikes just aft of the rear of the cabin. We maneuver into a new firing position. A second torpedo is fired, this time hitting the freighter in the bow area. The ship is sunk.
01130
We hear the corvette closing again. I order and emergency dive to 70 meters, but it is too late, there is nothing I can do. The Corvette drops depth charges onto the midship and stern of our boat. The control room suffers light damage and the diesel and electric engine rooms suffer moderate flooding. Our engines are still good, we get out alive, the corvette is unable to find us again. DC sounds are heard in the distance.
18 September 1939
The damage to the engine rooms is repaired, luckily no one was injured in the attack. We set sail for home.
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I sunk a freighter on the way home, I put my remaining bow torpedo and 1 aft torpedo into the other Freighter (don't remember which type), but I circled it like a shark when I was surfaced, waiting for the aft room to reload.
I survived this patrol, but just to get the message that the war ended on 1 September 1939. :hmm:
Total tonnage from this patrol : 33,103 tons. Man I love T2 Tankers ... big boom and lots of tonnage :rock:
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From the logs of U-52, type VIIB out of Kiel.
1st September 1939
We set sail. The crew seems happy when we leave port, but I don't really look forward to the 4 day cruise out to see. Nothing but bitter Northern Atlantic seas await us in the coming days.
5th September 1939
We have passed through Scandinavia, just now passing the souther Dutch coast. We encountered a Freighter, and sunk it without problems. An easy 6,000 tons for our crew. It gave them a real moral boost for my crew.
11th September 1939
Today we passed England. Not too much going on. A contact pulled me away from dinner, but I could not find the contact with the periscope and decided to move on. The rest of the journey west is without incident. Scapa Flow seemed like a tempting destination, but I decided to conserve my torpedos for my patrol area.
15th September 1939
After spending a couple of days surfaced, we finally reach our destination. Dinner tonight consisted of fresh Swordfish, potatoes, rice and a chocolate beverage.
16th September 1939
Johan has been at the helm since I fell asleep. I was awakened at 8 AM by Fritz, our radio operator. We were in the midst of our patrol when we received a message from another U-boat in the area. "Large convoy reported, quadrant AM19, heading ENE at 6 knots." I ordered my crew to set course for AM19.
17th September 1939
CONTACT! A large convoy, 4 columns, mixed ships. I spotted 2 Small freighters, 2 armored freighters, 2 C3 freighters and 1 C2 tanker. I was unable to identify any other ships, and I spotted no escort.
We move within 1000 meters of our first target. We are undetected. The first C3 freighter is in range and we are in attack position. 2 torpedos are fired. 1 makes impact just forward of midship, the other in the after of the ship. A large explosion is heard and the kill is confirmed by periscope. Still no sign of an escort.
0957
Fritz reports propellers inbound, starboard, closing fast. I raise periscope and spot a corvette. Johan takes us down to 20 meters, we are silent and still. We avoid detection this time.
01039
We are in position to attack another C3 freighter with a T2 tanker nearby. 1 torpedo is fired at the T2 tanker, possibly hitting fuel as I observe a massive explosion, followed by the ship breaking in two. The corvette spots the scope and comes back to hunt us. We move out of the area.
01043
Audible DC sounds are heard in the distance. We have managed to evade the corvette again.
We move into attack position on the second C3 freighter. 2 more torpedos are fired, but one misses. The successful torpedo strikes just aft of the rear of the cabin. We maneuver into a new firing position. A second torpedo is fired, this time hitting the freighter in the bow area. The ship is sunk.
01130
We hear the corvette closing again. I order and emergency dive to 70 meters, but it is too late, there is nothing I can do. The Corvette drops depth charges onto the midship and stern of our boat. The control room suffers light damage and the diesel and electric engine rooms suffer moderate flooding. Our engines are still good, we get out alive, the corvette is unable to find us again. DC sounds are heard in the distance.
18 September 1939
The damage to the engine rooms is repaired, luckily no one was injured in the attack. We set sail for home.
--------------------------
I sunk a freighter on the way home, I put my remaining bow torpedo and 1 aft torpedo into the other Freighter (don't remember which type), but I circled it like a shark when I was surfaced, waiting for the aft room to reload.
I survived this patrol, but just to get the message that the war ended on 1 September 1939. :hmm:
Total tonnage from this patrol : 33,103 tons. Man I love T2 Tankers ... big boom and lots of tonnage :rock: