18.8.1940 South Atlantic 9°5’S, 6°16’W 207th day at sea

The Wolf continues her cruise of destruction. sinking 13 ships from Pernambuco to Brazil. On the 22nd of June she sank the Panamanian tanker WYOMING 10,011 grt of the Tanker Corp (Johan Rasmussen & Co), Panama loaded with 12000 t of gasoline from Aruba to Freetown the entire crew of 52 were taken aboard. The following day Oblt.z.S Soltau of the starboard bridge watch sighted 2 smoke columns off the starboard bow on approaching the 2 vessels identified as 2 Panamanian tankers, the raider disguised as a neutral Dutchman approached to within 1000m and decamouflaged ordering both tankers to stop at once and not to use wireless neither complied and soon 18 salvos from all her artillery sent both vessels to the bottom. Kapitan.z.S Hartmann ordered 2 boats to be launched and with searchlights located 119 survivors from the tankers they were the FLORIDA 11,335 grt and VISTA 10,061 grt of the Panama Transport Co (Standard Oil Co), Panama the first tanker was loaded with 13000 t of aviation spirits and the second with 11,000 t of gasoline. On 26.6 the merchant raider was drifting on the South Atlantic swells when lookouts of the fore crosstrees sighted 2 ships closing to 1800m and opened fire on the two ships within minutes boarding parties under the commands of L.z.S Schmidt and L.z.S Mohr board the vessels and take them intact. The Panamanian freighter RANGOON 3,421 grt from Colombo to Aruba loaded with misc. cargo and the tanker SAMSON 4,972 grt from Aden to Liverpool loaded with 4500 t of diesel fuel and 1,000 t of gasoline. Kapitan.z.S Hartmann ordered the vessels taken prize and bring aboard all valuable goods found aboard after taking over all the Nautical charts, ships logbook, provisions, tools, a welding rig, and 20 bottles of oxygen from the freighter from the tanker the Wolf took on the 4500 t of diesel fuel the Demolition party under Oblt.z.S Wolff sinks both vessels with scuttling charges. The Wolf continued the hunt on the 29th another tanker came into view and within 20 minutes she was sent to the bottom. The Panamanian tanker was sighted and sunk in position 74°7’S, 33°8’W she was the EL MAR 3,486 grt from Aruba to Bahia Blanca loaded with 3500 t of fuel oil. 19 were taken prisoner.

On 1.7.1940 Wolf sinks the British freighter WINDWARD 6,701 grt from Freemantle to Liverpool via Durban-Cape Town-Pernambuco-Freetown loaded with 7000 t of steel plate and general cargo. the freighter was sunk with a torpedo, 22 were taken prisoner. The following day 2 more Panamanian vessels were sunk the tanker EL RIO 10,000 grt of the Panama Transport Co (Standard Oil Co), Panama from Aruba to Freetown loaded with 11000 t of bunker fuel she was sunk with 8 x 15cm salvos the liner DEMETRIO 6,951 grt from Bahia Blanca to Freetown then on to Sydney to be converted into a troopship was sunk with scuttling charges. 116 were taken prisoner. Later that day Mtr.II Meyer of the port bridge watch sighted another freighter closing to the target this vessel was identified as a Panamanian as well the vessel was further closed and a warning shot was fired over the bows bringing the freighter to a halt again a boarding party under L.z.S Schmidt board the ship and identify her as the CONSTANSA 5,040 grt of the Panama Transport Co (Standard Oil Co), Panama from Freemantle to Aruba loaded with 7700 t of pipe, steel plate, and machinery destined for the oil refinery on the island. Again, the vessel was taken prize all valuable documents, stores, and equipment taken aboard the raider and the ship scuttled. 2 days later while cruising south to get out of the area the Wolf came across another 2 ship convoy consisting of yet another Panamanian tanker and freighter both were stopped with warning shots over the bow, boarded, inspected, and sunk. They were the SANTIAGO 5,286 grt loaded with misc. cargo and BURMINGHAM 3,481 grt loaded with 3500 t of gasoline.

The Seekriegslietung informed Kapitan.z.S Hartmann that the Altmark was at Point Andalusia to fully resupply the raider and soon the ship headed south on the 9th she sank the Panamanian freighter SHERMAN 4,188 grt from Colombo to Aruba loaded with 4000 t of general cargo. After sinking the freighter, the raider headed south then east towards St. Helena Island sighting no shipping until this morning when lookouts sighted a large silhouette off the port bow Kapitan.z.S Hartmann identified the mysterious shadow as a light cruiser! All stop! darken the ship! crew to action stations! the Wolf came to a halt the cruiser passed at a distance of 2400m after the cruiser was out of sight the raider moved north one hour later a British freighter came into view however Hartmann decided not to sink the ship due to the proximity of the cruiser. Instead, the Dutch flag was hoisted on the mainmast and the Wolf continued north accelerating to 17.5 knots. Soon the freighter was out of sight. Kapitan.z.S Hartmann now decides to breakoff operations and head south to meet the Altmark now 200km north of Tristan da Cunha.

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15.9.1940 South Atlantic 200km North of Tristian da Cunha 228th day at sea

After an uneventful voyage south, the Wolf meets the naval tanker Altmark in position 35°25’S, 12°17’W. The raider took aboard 800 x 15cm shells, 100 x 7.5cm shells, 12000 x 2cm shells, 3 torpedoes, 2200 cbm3 of diesel fuel, 2000 t of water, 1000 cbm3 of lubricating oils, 7 months’ worth of stores, 1 Arado Ar 196 A-1 aircraft stored in 5 ton crates. During the resupply the currently used Arado is launched carrying out daily reconnaissance flights in a 250km radius of the ships. The Wolf also took aboard 10 prize officers and another 100 petty officers and ratings for use as prize crews as well as 1 officer and 10 petty officers and ratings specializing in EMC mines.

Considering that Schiff 16 is operating in the mid Indian ocean and Schiff 33 off Madagascar, having sunk 3 ships, and heading east Kapitan.z.S Hartmann plans to repeat the mining operations carried out by the ship’s namesake. Hartmann, the first officer, and the navigation officer plan to lay 8 minefields off the approaches to Cape Town. Kapitan.z.S Hartmann plans to depart for the Cape Town area on the 20th.

https://scontent-hou1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...nw&oe=633D9B8E

Unfortunately, due to some technical difficulties with SH5 in which I had to reinstall the game therefore making the last savegames unusable therefore I have to conclude the war cruise of the Wolf. Hopefully in future I can get a proper Hilfskreuzer war cruise going.
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:(
 

Sad to hear this, was enjoying reading of the Wolf's exploits against allied shipping. May she sail again soon.:Kaleun_Salute:

It's quite frustrating but then again its SH5.

Currently working out the storyline for the new raider patrol. I plan to make this into another unrealistic mega patrol which will take the raider from 1935-1945. Hopefully I can get this going by late October so stay tuned. :Kaleun_Salute:
https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/att...3&d=1665365153

:Kaleun_Cheers:

Looking forward to it CPTLTJASON! Here is to wishing you a smooth installation, and stable SH5 / TWoS game running! :salute:

Great read and operations, as usual !:Kaleun_Salute:
Looking forward for your next raiders patrols :Kaleun_Cheers:

Thanks I glad y'all are enjoying the operations!
:Kaleun_Salute::Kaleun_Salute::Kaleun_Cheers:

After several months of work this is the first draft of what the HK would've looked like had she existed during the next few days I'll make further adjustments to the plans, finalize the storyline, and get screenshots done.



https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/att...1&d=1667006581

I took down the posts due some inaccuracies and in my search for information on commerce warfare in the Spanish Civil War I found a book by Michael Alpert "The Spanish Civil War at Sea" and just by reading a preview I learned partly how ships were secretly sent to Spain this will add to the accuracy to the story of Schiff 30 with that being said I will have to edit the storyline once again, so it makes sense.

I know in the past I had great success with U-293/U-838 unfortunately not so much with the Hilfskreuzer side as I continue to study the operations and tactics of these vessels I am not a fan of posting then deleting stuff but the story albeit fictional has to make sense and in the end this is a hobby, So the ship will return to port for a short period of time while I get the storyline sorted out.

:Kaleun_Salute::Kaleun_Cheers:

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/att...1&d=1635219157

First off I appreciate all the interest y'all have in this project I'm glad that folks are enjoying the adventures of the Hilfskreuzer.

Currently working on the appearance of the ship and the storyline, for the storyline the recent book i got has been helpful (In my opinion its more of a what if? book for the Spanish Republican Navy) but it works.

Here is the final draft of Schiff 30's appearance
Dimensions of Schiff Nr. 30
Length: 600ft
Beam: 65ft
Draft: 36ft

I am aware that there were few vessels that were not ocean liners to be over 580ft if they aren't Whale factory ships, tankers, etc. during the interwar years and WWII. I also plan on keeping a Kriegstagebuch even though they are of the same format as uboat KTBs the wording is of course much different I'm currently using a translated version of the Kriegstagebuch of the raider Atlantis as a guide for the kriegstagebuch of Schiff 30. With that being said hopefully in a few weeks time I'll finish rewriting the part of the storyline that covers the ship's early history I feel that's been quite vague.

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/att...1&d=1668205718

Sounds like even better tales of "Afrika" are soon to come CptLtJason. Looking forward to hearing more........sink 'em all.
:Kaleun_Salute:

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Update:

Finalizing the storyline for the early history of the ship, as for the appearance of the ship, this has been finalized after researching the war diaries and experience reports of Schiff 16 and Schiff 33.

The only thing of course is that these call for smaller faster vessels, which the “Weserfels” at 600ft ain’t meeting that criteria!, but the recommendations for higher speeds (25.5 knots), more modern guns (10 X 15cm Tbts C/36), radar (modified version of Seetakt/De-Telegraph), improved rangefinder placement (3m), Armor (on the hull and decks), Leichte Schnellboote (which won’t come aboard until much later), aircraft catapult (on the extended boat deck), cabins, bunks, etc. (as noted in the experience report of Schiff 33) were made of wood and therefore flammable so all these aboard are of metal construction etc. more detailed list of improvements will be published later.

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/att...1&d=1669324453

Definitely looking forward to the first sailing day, even if it is just a shake-down cruise. :salute:

On September 1st 1939 at 04:47 the first shots of the Second World War were fired when the Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish positions on the Westerplatte.

The Seekriegslietung began preparations for commerce warfare in earnest. Although auxiliary cruisers were hardly a priority, 2 prewar studies were hastily carried out in the summer of 1939 and there was little support among the officers in the Seekriegslietung or the Naval High Command. In spite of this the Kriegsmarine’s auxiliary cruisers were to repeat the successes achieved by disguised commerce raiders of the Great War such as the Mowe, Seeadler, and Wolf IV. During WWII the newest and fastest freighters were reserved for troop transports therefore the conversion office of the Kriegsmarine was left with a pool of ships ranging from modern motorships with reliable diesel engines to steamers with recycled steam turbine engines from bygone passenger liners. 11 freighters were converted, 9 sailed, of these 6 were sunk in action. The “Thor” was destroyed by explosion in Yokohama, Japan. Only “Widder” and “Orion” survived. The last merchant raider sunk on the high seas was Schiff 28 also known as the “Michel” she was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS Tarpon (SS-175) some 50 miles from port. This marked the end of the Hilfskreuzer operations...........or so official history says,

However, there was a 12th raider a mysterious vessel doomed to sail the seas for eternity. By orders of the Führer, she sailed on a cruise of destruction, sinking ship after ship, destroying port after port, sowing minefield after minefield it was even said that she sank an entire convoy when the escorting destroyers abandoned their posts on sighting her terrifying silhouette, captured and held the Cocos Islands, and even took a battleship prize at the British Naval Base at Trincomalee, Ceylon.

In spite of this the allies were never aware of the existence of this raider as her activities were always linked with uboats, other commerce raiders, and even spies. It wasn’t until late 1944 when a British tanker was sunk in the Pacific Ocean roughly 80km off Papua New Guinea that shed light on the existence of this mystery raider, but Allied intelligence attributed this sinking to a Japanese raider.

She was never caught and subsequently undertook the return voyage to Germany, or what was left of it and surrendered in late 1945 at Kiel Harbor, Buoy Nr. 10.
This is story of the dreaded merchant raider Schiff Nr. 30
The “Wolf”.
.....................Die Piraten des Führer......................
https://scontent-hou1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...vw&oe=63889E4D

:Kaleun_Applaud:
" the escorting destroyers abandoned their posts on sighting her terrifying silhouette"
Now if I can only get the same effect from a Type IX........

Looking forward to hearing more CPTLTJASON, the secret patrol logs of "The Wolf."

Early 1935, Marinekommandiertenabteilung, Berlin.

The motorship “Weserfels” was originally part of the new Ehrenfels Class ships these large fast motorships were diesel powered giving them a tremendous advantage over coal or turbine ships. Most would end up sailing the DDG Hansa Line’s East Asia Route (Hamburg-Calcutta).

Fate of the Ehrenfels Class ships during and after WWII.
M/S Ehrenfels Sunk off Mormugoa 09.03.1943
M/S Weserfels - - - - - - - - Not Built - - - - - - - -(Officially)
M/S Reichenfels Sunk off Kerkenna Island on 21.6.1942
M/S Kandelfels Converted into Hilfskreuzer and sunk on 8.5.1941 by H.M.S. Cornwall (56)
M/S Kybfels Sunk off Leukás, Greece 21.5.1941
M/S Goldenfels Converted into Hilfskreuzer and sunk off 22.11.1941 by H.M.S Devonshire (39)
M/S Hohenfels Sunk by the crew in the Port of Bandar Shapour on 25.8.1941
M/S Tannenfels Sunk as a blockship at Bordeaux-Bassens on 25.8.1944
M/S Moltkenfels Sunk off the roadstead of Hela in East Prussia on 11.4.1945
M/S Neidenfels Taken prize at Eckernförde on 25.5.1945, scrapped on 8.10.1975

The “Weserfels” was taken over before her keel was laid at the Deshimag A.G. Weser Werft, Bremen. However, she was still being designed and was not expected to be laid down until later in the year with her sister and namesake of the class Ehrenfels, but planners in the Marinekommandiertenabteilung had other plans. In mid-1934 KAdm Karl von Werner of the Marinekonstruktionsamt (K) proposed the construction of a disguised commerce raider from the keel up, this project was initially met with strong opposition, the Reichsmarine was in the midst of building the last Panzerschiffe, known as Panzerschiff C costing 82,000,000 RM and were finalizing plans for the Admiral Hipper-class cruisers in spite of this Adm Reader Chef der Marineleitung authorized von Werner to proceed with the project with utmost secrecy and so on January 2, 1935 at 10:00 hrs. the teletype at the A.G. Weser Werft tapped out the a directive from Berlin, Officials from the Reichsmarine’s Marinekonstruktionsamt (K) soon took over the plans of the “Weserfels” and began a study into a possible design and construction of a “Handelsstorkreuzer” or “Trade Disruption Cruiser” for this the ship was given the designation of H.S.K. (10).

Unlike the Hilfskreuzers of the Great War which were just converted freighters this study was to design and build a Hilfskreuzer from the keel up. This vessel would be heavily armed with 10 x 15cm guns, an array of secondary and anti-aircraft guns, 6 torpedo tubes, a catapult, the space to carry 8 aircraft, range 180,000km, an endurance of at least 300 days, space for up to 580 mines, cargo space for captured cargo, specially built refrigeration rooms, large pens for livestock, prisoner quarters, etc. Although being heavily armed they lacked above all things armor. With the “Weserfels” it was decided to augment the sand ballast, it was decided to install armor plates on her decks and sides with a thickness of 3/4” on the deck and 1” on the hull from frame 10-frame 210.5 This greatly increased her weight from 8,000 grt to 12,000 grt. but it provided protection for her machinery spaces, magazines, torpedo rooms, mine rooms, and her 8 x 15cm guns hidden behind flaps which were a headache to design in less than two months.
During this phase in the design process, It was eventually decided to build the ship independently of the other Ehrenfels Class ships which is the reason she does not appear as an Ehrenfels Class ship.

The superstructure layout was retained being only slightly modified, along with the engine installation. The original length of the ship was to be 506ft however this increased to 600ft. This new length would give the ship the extended range and greater endurance that the naval architects and engineers were looking for and the option to install improved machinery the downside was that she would be easily singled out and hard to camouflage.
Her keel was laid down on January 20, 1935 at the Deschimag A.G. Weser Werft in Building Way Nr. V.

During the construction of the ship, the commander was assigned, the newly promoted Korv.Kpt. Hellmuth Wilhelm Hartmann the II. Artillery officer of the pocket battleship Deutschland. Previously he had served as commander of the minesweeper M-21. He joined the Kaiserliche Marine in October 1918, one month later the war ended, however Hartmann was retained and was swiftly promoted by 1928 he held the rank of Kapitanleutnant and was in command of M-21 before being transferred to the newly completed Panzerschiffe Deutschland as II. Artillery Officer in June 1933 shortly after the ship entered service. After being given command he began assembling his crew, rejecting the entire roster provided by the Personnel Office. Instead, he handpicked his officers, petty officers, and ratings. Once the crew selection was completed the crew of 440 were housed in barracks in Bremen the nature of the ship was still a mystery to the crew and was to remain for the remainder of her construction.

The ship was completed on April 5, 1935 The launching took place on April 10, 1935 and without ceremony one of the last ships launched under the flag of the Reichsmarine floated high on the River Weser. The “Weserfels” was then towed to the Fitting out Pier where she was completed by April 30th.
On completion the cost of the new raider was over 31,000,000 Reichsmarks due to the high cost and size of the vessel further ships of this type were not pursued and efforts were shifted to what would end up being the never completed Plan Z.
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:Kaleun_Salute::Kaleun_Cheers: