Originally Posted by frau kaleun
(Post 1413604)
U-51, Type VIIB
2 U-Flotilla, Wilhelmshaven
Kptlt Kurt Dennert, Commander
Having my best career so far this time around... our 2nd and 3rd patrols (and first two assignments as a frontboot) netted us close to 45000 GRT. Mostly lots of smaller prey taken down with 1 good torpedo hit plus the guns, and occasionally with guns alone if the conditions were right.
Our last patrol turned into a long two-parter, with a one-day stopover in Las Palmas on Feb 4/5 1940 to resupply at the Corrientes. Just prior to that we'd intercepted a big juicy convoy coming north out of Freetown, no military escort, just one small armed freighter who couldn't keep us from sinking 2 large merchants and two ore carriers with a combo of eels and guns.
After leaving the Corrientes we returned to the same area after receiving a report of another northbound convoy out of Sierra Leone; when we made contact it turned out there was an escort this time around, but this amounted to one Black Swan leading the procession which we sank without her ever noting our presence. From there it was like shooting fish in a barrel, and oh what lovely big fish they were! We proceeded to put eels into as many as possible, leaving the wounded dead in the water or straggling far behind while we continued in pursuit of the remainder of the convoy. Some ships burned and sank while we were off attacking others, some required a little more attention... but after all was said and done, we'd taken down a large cargo, 4 ore carriers, and a 8500 ton tanker in addition to their hapless caretaker.
We turned for home with nothing much to speak of in the way of ammo left to throw at the enemy, but were lucky enough to pick up a hydrophone contact while running submerged NE of the Shetlands. When we surfaced and chased her down it turned to be yet another ore carrier, which succumbed to what was left of our firepower in due order.
We finally arrived back at Willy with another 89000+ GRT to our credit, and a total of 34 merchants and 1 destroyer sunk for 136000+ GRT overall. Iron Crosses were handed out en masse, several members of the crew received well-deserved promotions, and I achieved two of my three main goals for this career: a Knight's Cross and a promotion to Kapitanleutnant. (My third goal is to live long enough to make the transfer to a French base - wish me luck!)
We left on our current patrol at the end of March 1940, and after finding and sinking one large British cargo ship on our way through the North Sea, we ran into terrible weather which kept us submerged for hours at a time. We had multiple hydrophone contacts, most of them moving not much faster than we were due to the weather, but spent a great deal of time intercepting the potential targets only to find out they were either neutral ships or our own German merchants.
Consequently we were still making our way north for the inevitable swing around the Shetlands when we received a report of Royal Navy ships leaving British ports and heading, it was believed, for Norwegian waters. We resolved to take our time and stay closer to the Norwegian coast on our way north, preferring the deeper water there anyway, which served us well when operations began against Norway a few days later and the order went out to defend Narvik if at all possible.
By the time we were entering the Vestfjord, British task forces were already moving in and out of the area seemingly at will; we missed a chance to pick an Illustrious-class out of one when the sharp eyes of an escorting destroyer's lookouts forced us under before we could get close enough and in good position from periscope depth. They made what I would have to call a lackluster attempt at pursuing us, throwing a few depth charges at where we'd been when they'd spotted our 'scope but not coming near enough - even when we were still only 20-30m down - to do any damage.
Once we'd escaped from that little adventure we had reports of multiple RN task forces moving in and out of the area, but they always seemed to be too far away and moving too fast in the wrong direction for us to have any hope of intercepting them. Then we got a report of one heading on a course that would take her due south of our current position in about 12 hours. A few quick calculations and, why yes, I think it's doable! We plotted an intercept course and went to periscope depth about 2km from the expected intercept point and almost immediately picked them up on the hydrophones. At least seven, maybe eight ships... and when they finally came within view, there they were - a parade of destroyers with the HMS Warspite steaming along happily in their midst.
Now this, I thought, is personal. We'd gotten a report of a task force coming northwest out of the Irish Sea back in Sept 39, on our first combat patrol; and, miracle of miracles, when the report came in we were in what seemed like a good position to intercept it. We did get within visual range, and identified the Warspite as part of the task force; we even managed to get within 2500m of her, coming in at an almost perfect right angle to a course from which she seemed to have no intention of deviating. I'd fired a spread of four eels that seemed like it couldn't miss and then gone deep to await the expected retribution from her escorts. And waited... and waited... and... NOTHING. Not a single hit out of four torpedos fired. And given her speed, no chance in hell of catching up to get another shot at her.
But this time it was different. Checking and doublechecking, watching her approach nearer and nearer as I popped the 'scope up and down in the rolling waves... and... LOS! Then dive, dive, dive for all we're worth, and wait, and wait, and... YES!
I don't know how many hit, or where, but it was enough. She went down while her angry companions began crisscrossing the waters, dropping depth charges, and pinging away at their attacker. But by then we were 100m down, running silent, and getting the hell out of there.
And thus it was that I sank the first capital ship of my (and U-51's) career. :yeah:
Now I just gotta survive past June so I can see France!
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