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U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - Apr. 290231 lst 1944 - N CF36 - Patrol 25 |
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U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - May 030707 lst 1944 - W BE95 - Patrol 25 |
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U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - May 112325 lst 1944 - Lorient Patrol 25 |
What am I up to in my current Campaign???
I'm currently awaiting roll call and afternoon calisthenics, afterwards i will be scavenging the mess hall for any sort of implement that can be used for excavation and earth moving. The plan is to make a successful escape before Christmas. No place to go really, desert in ever direction as far as we could probably care to think about. Rumors of a river which can be rafted have circulated but i doubt it will lead to any place of consequence. Given my feelings of the futility of going afoot in the Arizona badlands i have volunteered to stay with the group of men who will remain behind and organize some sort of distraction on the night of the escape. KaptLt. Wintergarten Camp Papago Park, Arizona November 1944 |
Why didn't you fly out in the Cub....? |
4th patrol
OLt.z.S. Helmut reporting back from 22 days at sea - my 4th patrol.
First two weeks: lots of time to read and study submarine tactics. From different sources I put together a three pager as a quick reference during action: "Contact, Approach, Attack". Came in quite handy during the next couple of days. Hunting ? Small fry only. Spent 4 torpedoes and 140 shells on 10 ships (27 k tons total), but had about 75% fuel left, so kept looking for larger ships to hunt. Had an eye opening experience with a not so neutral convoy (see earlier report) that kept me hungry... Then one night / early morning: a convoy, escorted by 2 warships: one A&B class destroyer and one Auxiliary Cruiser. Seems those Aux.Cruisers don't have any ASW gear: the cruiser never chased us, and when we finally looked him in the eye through the periscope, had nothing better to offer than a few shots from his flak. We were lucky, too: the Aux.Cruiser did not sink immediately, but I had received the "going down" message so I kind of forgot that the ship was still up there when we surfaced to chase two Large Merchants. Only when the cruiser finally went under I realized he should have been shelling us ... That morning, between 4am and 6am we sunk 2 warships and 4 Large Merchants - 60k tons - with 10 torpedoes and 46 shells. (full log here) Back in Wilhelmshaven, I need to dismiss my First Officer - he's ready for promotion to Oberleutnant z.S. and SH Commander suggests he should get his own command. I concur. Time for a little R&R while they clean the ship. Happy Holidays, whatever your faith may or may not be, OLt.z.S. Helmut |
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U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - June 4th 1944 - Lorient - Patrol 26 |
U-552 December 20th, 1940
Grid AM 34 First patrol with our new U-boat, and it was a great one! We encountered an outbound enemy convoy on the way to our patrol grid, south of Ireland, and sank 3 merchants. 1 whale factory ship, 1 large merchant, and 1 medium cargo. The convoy was escorted by 3 black swans. It also looked like the convoy had been attacked a short while before, 2 merchants were on fire, as well as one of the swans. Once again, the swans came looking for me, but they never found me. We escaped to the north, and north of Ireland we ran across a coastal freighter, which we dispatched with our deck gun. Once in our patrol grid, there was one lonely A&B class destroyer. We closed on him, and put a torpedo into his engine room from 900m. He exploded in a huge fireball. There has been nothing for a week, then we get a radio report of a convoy due south of our location! We can make it if we run at flank speed, but this will leave us running on fumes to get home. I decide it is worth the risk. 10 hours later, at midnight, we come upon the convoy. We get in front, dive and wait. This one is escorted by 1 black swan, and 2 hunt I's. We pick out two targets, an Empire freighter, and a medium cargo. We manage to sink both, and once again, slip away unscathed. The allies are horrible with ASW currently, I wonder how many U-boats they are claiming to kill, but are letting slip away. This will not continue much longer I fear. We are headed home. No torpedo's left, just deck gun ammo and heavy seas. Hopefully the trip home will be uneventful. |
U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - June 081200 1944 - Eastern Channel Approaches - Patrol 26 |
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U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - June 081500 1944 - Eastern Channel Approaches - Patrol 26 |
U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - June 120600 1944 - Wilhelmshafen - Patrol 26 |
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Thank you, I have GWX version Gold 3.0. |
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U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - Jul 302134 1944 - North-West Scapa Flow - Patrol 27 |
U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - Jul 310619 1944 - West Scapa Flow - Patrol 27 |
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U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - Jul 310941 1944 - western part of Pentland Firth - Patrol 27 |
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U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - Aug 010113 1944 - south-east AM34 - Patrol 27 |
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U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - Aug 151200 1944 - Trondheim - Patrol 28 |
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U-65 - IXB - Kaleu Hansen - Aug 200549 1944 - east AM51 - Patrol 28 |
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