I'll follow orders... but I ain't gonna like it!
 

I'll follow orders... but I ain't gonna like it!

I've been ordered to refuel at Vigo and to make my way through the Straits of Gibralter to LaSpezia for transfer to 29 flotilla.

...But first! Let me set the scene:

I've been splashing around in grids DH33, AL99 and AL96 for SEVEN WEEKS in U-205 with only two small passenger cargoes and an ore carrier to show for it. Each were individual encounters not in convoy.

We still have eight fish left. (Mostly, the old G7a steamers.)

My crew is just about ready to start killing each other.

The diesel tanks are down to about 10%... and the crew cheers wildly as I finally order the course heading for 7th Flotille HQ in St. Nazaire.

Within two hours of sending our patrol report, and notifying BdU of our intentions... the radioman hands me an encrypted message:

1750 hours

From: BdU
To: U-205

Willenbrock
1941/11/06
Officer only:
Refuel in Vigo and proceed to LaSpezia for transfer to 29 flotilla.

Okay... that doesn't sound so wierd, but wait! There's more! In previous messages the line where "Willenbrock" appears is usually filled by various names that the message is intended for... ie: "Guggenheimer" and "Schonder" etc.

That being said... My career name is "Heinrich Lehmann."

"Willenbrock" is not a name I use.

(Some people here have thought at one time or another that I took my Subsim nickname via Das Boot and/or KptLt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock who commanded U-96. I did not. It is just coincidental and a bit entertaining to me at times relating to the "Kpt. Lehmann" moniker. I flew with an online Red Baron3 squadron... Jagdstaffel 5... for a couple of years as "Klaus Lehmann" before stumbling into SH3. I only add "Heinrich" when actually playing the game, because going without a first name just looks wierd to me.)

http://jasta5.org/Jagdstaffeln_5/pilots/lehmann.htm

In the movie "Das Boot" U-96 never made it through the Straits of Gibralter.

The actual U-96 did not sail in the Mediterranean, but was very badly damaged attempting to make it past Gibralter in LATE November... with Gunter Bucheim aboard.

As for the fate of her sister boats... U-95 was torpedoed and sunk just east of Gibralter. U-97 did indeed sail there, but was eventurally sunk by an Australian aircraft west of Haifa.

It couldn't be Willenbrock sending the message. He wasn't commanding a flotilla until late in the war... and on November 7, 1941... best I can tell he was patrolling southeast of Greenland.

It can't be Willenbrock receiving the message... because it was addressed to U-205!

So some of it seems a little creepy to me when considering that radio message... and the "Lehmann" coincidences.

The actual U-205 was ordered to sail into the Mediterranean on 7 November 1941, under the command of Franz-Georg Reschke. This order came to Reschke after sailing out of Lorient while a part of 3rd Flotille.

At any rate... I'll follow the orders and risk my neck running the Straits... but I ain't gonna like it... AND I'm gonna blow up the phones in St. Nazaire finagling my way back to the Atlantic!

Whatever happens... running the Straits of Gibralter should make for an interesting time.

Will head for Vigo tomorrow afternoon. For now... I'm giving the crew an extra beer.

I'll drop around to 'comfort' your widow. :D

Sailor Steve, I'll let Mrs. Lehmann know you are at the head of the line that is forming! :Kaleun_Salivating::arrgh!:

Otherwise, it is good to see you matey!

Here's an intelligence exerpt to help you on the way from Bdu's war diaries from the 23rd of November, 1941:

d)" From the latest reconnaissance line reports it appears that the Straits of Gibraltar are protected by 3 patrol lines. 1st line: Ceuta-Cape Spartel, 2nd line: Ceuta - Europa Point, 3rd line: Ceuta-Tarifa. The strongest patrol is on the middle line. "

I passed the straits in August 1941 and I also had the feeling there were three lines. Check my report for the grid information here:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...=151090&page=2

(It's the report titled: U-331, patrol 4, the 11th of August, 1941.)

BdU's war diaries mention Gibraltar again on the 7th of December, 1941:

VI.General: Patrol of the Mediterranean by U-boats at present is again quite unsatisfactory. There are: in the eastern Mediterranean, U 431, 565 in the western Mediterranean, U 652 underway from the western to the eastern Mediterranean, U 557, 562. Seven of the boats scheduled are out of action: U 95, 206, 433 certainly or probably lost. U 71, 96, 558 and 563 have had to turn back owing to engine trouble or damage by aircraft bombs. For other boats there has been a delay owing to the increased patrols in the Straits of Gibraltar. Attempts are being made to increase the numbers in the Mediterranean as soon as possible, thereby taking into account that boats on their first operational run must be expected to pass the Straits of Gibraltar.

and again December 1941 :

3)Up to now passage through the Straits of Gibraltar, after sinking of the "Ark Royal" has cost 33% losses. From 24 U-boats which were sent into the Mediterranean after the sinking of the "Ark Royal", 4 were lost in the Straits of Gibraltar, 4 turned back owing to bomb damage and only 16 got through into the Mediterranean. The transfer of 11 further boats into the Mediterranean, therefore, entails sending 17 U-boats for this purpose, since 5 U-boats must be expected to be lost or damaged in the passage through the Straits.



and finally on the 18th of December, 1941 warning that it might be one-way trip even if one passes successfully:

2)Passage through the Straits of Gibraltar to the West is considerably more difficult since it is against the current. When, after completion of operations in the Mediterranean, most of the U-boats will return into the Atlantic, considerably stronger patrols off Gibraltar are probable. Extensive losses will probably result. 3)Operations by U-boats in the Mediterranean are at the moment absolutely necessary. However, there is danger that the U-boats may become trapped there one day and excluded from the battle of the Atlantic. A solution of this question must, however, be held up pending further developments.


So it might well be that even if you get through the straits, Sailor Steve will eventually be consoling your widow too - and mine as well, since I'm stuck in the Mediterranean now. I hope Sailor Steve has enough stamina to keep consoling all these widows :D

This is why I keep my IX out of there! Hehe...:D

Kommodore Von Harris, with all due respect, the 23. Flottille's home port is Salamis, Greece. Right close where your home and wife is. And there are these rest and refit times when all these Mediterranean Kaleuns are ready to console your wife who is badly missing you when you are on those type IX months long patrol trips :salute:

Ah , I was expecting something like this!
This is why there is a pernament SS guard there......
And if I ever catch one of these Kaleuns ... there is always an empty space in the Eastern front .......:D:D
OR
an empty torpedo tube in my IX .....

So many widows, so little time. *sigh* :sunny:

Ah. Now we must learn the virtue of patience or we will never get to all the widows in time. You cant be everywhere at once. :Kaleun_Wink:

Thanks for the intel, sublynx. I totally enjoy such details of history, and I will plot the locations of the defensive layers you mention prior to going in. Clay Blair's books have been getting a good workout here too lately.

From what I can still recall of GWX development several years ago... we did all we could do to mirror history within the limitations of the game, (and the layers of Allied defensive measures) relating to the Straits of Gibralter.

I've never sailed through there in "Career Campaign Mode" but personally did a lot of testing there. IIRC, at one point we had to do a fair bit of editing to prevent destroyers overhead from tangling in a hopeless traffic jam. In such conditions, they can fail to launch any meaningful ASW attacks altogether.

That being said, we did sort out the worst problems and ended with the Straits of Gibralter being one of the deadliest locations in GWX. (If not THE MOST dangerous.)

Enough time has passed that I've forgotten the particulars of Gibralter's defenses... and as a result... I am a little nervous about my impending passage through the Straits, as I play DiD.

I am in fact glad that I've forgotten the details. Knowing everything in advance makes for a boring patrol.

Currently I am making my way towards Vigo... in the heaviest seas I think I've ever seen in the game.

~SALUTE!~ From U-205 to U-331.:salute:

Well you obviously made a damn good job planning the defense of Gibraltar. I was amazed reading BdU's war reports and feeling that the system in the game felt so similar to what the historical paper said. :up:

I'm glad I didn't know that beforehand :D Good luck with the passing :arrgh!:

Good luck Kpt Lehmann! Remember, get in close, dive, and let the current carry you through.:03:

:salute:

Well, In '41 the K-Ships weren't there yet as I recall.
Don't think the first 2 got there until sometime in 1944.
One less thing to worry about.

Cheers! sublynx!

Will do HW3.

That's good to hear, Privateer old mate!

-----------------------
Sunk an 1800 ton British coastal freighter approximately 350 km northwest of Vigo as we were headed there.

The crew is exhausted, but fresh cigarettes, a half beer each, and a hot meal made from the stores we loaded on board from the Bessel, raises their spirits somewhat.

Dawn isn't far away now.

Except for docking alongside the Bessel today, we've been at sea for 60 days now. It is hard to not feel sick at heart.

U-205 departing Vigo.

I'll second that. :yep:

I mean, what could possibly go wrong, right? :O: