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F1RacerDan · 04-19-13, 02:28 PM

Claus Korth U-93 Patrol 1 Update

7th October 1940 1500

Its been a long patrol and an extremely tough one at that, however im afraid to say not for the right reasons. the only enemies we have encountered have not been in the form of juicy merchant ship but bad weather, and when i say bad i mean bad! its like the storm seems to be following our U boat on our patrol, visibility is minimal, the rain is relentless and the waves are rocking the boat to the level of madness. This has played its toll on the crew as the fatigue levels are dropping much rapidly due to bad weather. I may have to spend a night submerged to allow the guys to rest without being thrown out the beds! Oh and the other enemy i was talking about was BOREDOM! after arriving at BE99 we took up a zig zag route and found nothing, went submerged and did hydrophone checks every hour and NOTHING! after our patrol was complete of grid BE99 we changed course and headed for the Liverpool-Gibralter route, lets hope it proves more fruitful than our patrol grid.

9th October 1940 - 2200

We'd been receiving several messages from BDU regarding a convoy in AL and several other Uboats were joining the fight, yet all we are doing in sailing in a storm in an area the British dont seem to be! the crew are getting restless and this storm is taking its toll now. both my watch crews are fatigued and i worry the British will sail right past us in this weather. Ive also given our radioman Karl Heinz a break from sitting listening to the empty seas. frustration is an understatement. I mustnt let this show to the crew, and will be sure to get a better grid when we return to port.

10th October 1940 - 0900

Finally we have hit some luck! the weather has settled drastically and its a calm as some of the old lakes i used to visit as a child.. The crew seemed to have lifted a little dispite no contacts in other a week since we left St Nazaire!

1500

CONTACT REPORT! Just as we started to give up hope and turn for home with a belly full of eels! First watch officer Lt Hans Kindler (my trusted first watch officer) screamed 'Ship Spotted' and i have never seen a crew so excited to hear those words. We were way down in the convoy shipping lane heading into Gibralter and were heading north back up the west coast of Spain and wed only stumbled into a large convoy heading straight for us. Now my only concern was with this beautiful clear weather had we been seen? I ordered the boat to periscope depth and made a slight adjustment to our course so the convoy would pass us on the perfect 90 degree angle so we could pick our targets well. From what i could tell there was one destroyer at the front of convoy and one to the side, luckily the other side from were looking on, I remember thinking to myself as i was looking through the periscope 'we deserve this luck' after a grulling week with nothing to show for, literally the moment that thought left my head, Karl Heinz shouted for my attention with a face of fear. one of the escorts had broken rank and was headed towards us, i turned the uboat towards the nearest merchant and released three torpedoes, front, back and rear. I was adement i was taking something down. We was forced to dive fast and not wait around to see the show. We heard all 3 eels hit the merchant hard as we dived to 160 metres and went to silent running.We turned hard to our left hoping the destroyer had gone past us ... This didnt work! they was pinging us and not long after she was right on top of us with an attack run of depth charges. The crew braced and the first explosion was a big one. luckily we suffered minor damage to the deck gun and conning tower, i ordered hard to port at full speed and tried to stay behind the escort but then 'PING PING' those damm british had the other escort come and do there dirty work, again tried turning hard to port as another barrage of depth charges hit us HARD!, suffering some damage to the hull, diesel engines and the pumps. We came a little higher to around 100 metres to keep them guessing and it seemed to work so far we have counter over 20 explosions but none have done anymore than rock our Uboat! the damage doesnt seem too bad but unfixable until we shake them. weve took on a little water also and bouyancy is now an issue! if we go any slower than 4 knots we start sinking, yet going any faster than 4 knots and the destroyers hear us move, I remember now thinking how lucky we was to hit this convoy and with a small merchant sunk was it really worth it! its been a few hours submerged with pretty much constant barrages of depth charges. I ordered a heading of east the opposite way the convoy was heading and im not going to lie, the bouyancy issue was a little worrying and shallower water meant we could at least settle on the seabed and make zero noise hoping we'd lose contact, that was the plan!

2150
After over 6 hours of the hunter being the hunted its seems the destroyers have given up after giving it another hour we will surface and assess the damage.

2300

Finally we surface, the cold night air is a welcome after that torrid few hours, i send my chief engineer, my trusty loyal Willfreid Felsmann set about the repairs and i ordered minimal work stations to allow the crew som proper shut eye, we will head to St Nazaire to finish our patrol.

18th October 1940

8 days later we arrive safely at St Nazaire with a few bashes and bruises but in one piece, all that for a small merchant of 2397 tons! Was it my fault? had the long haul of seeing nothing made me to eager and not as sharp! i know i need to rest and make sure im 110% for our next patrol. i only hope our turnaround at port isnt too long i want the crew to keep there wits about them and not be drinking in the french bars for too long! also i want to talk to my superiors in order of a more fruitful grid position.

Claus Korth

04-19-13, 02:28 PM	#5
F1RacerDan Watch Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 29 Downloads: 62 Uploads: 0	Claus Korth U-93 Patrol 1 Update 7th October 1940 1500 Its been a long patrol and an extremely tough one at that, however im afraid to say not for the right reasons. the only enemies we have encountered have not been in the form of juicy merchant ship but bad weather, and when i say bad i mean bad! its like the storm seems to be following our U boat on our patrol, visibility is minimal, the rain is relentless and the waves are rocking the boat to the level of madness. This has played its toll on the crew as the fatigue levels are dropping much rapidly due to bad weather. I may have to spend a night submerged to allow the guys to rest without being thrown out the beds! Oh and the other enemy i was talking about was BOREDOM! after arriving at BE99 we took up a zig zag route and found nothing, went submerged and did hydrophone checks every hour and NOTHING! after our patrol was complete of grid BE99 we changed course and headed for the Liverpool-Gibralter route, lets hope it proves more fruitful than our patrol grid. 9th October 1940 - 2200 We'd been receiving several messages from BDU regarding a convoy in AL and several other Uboats were joining the fight, yet all we are doing in sailing in a storm in an area the British dont seem to be! the crew are getting restless and this storm is taking its toll now. both my watch crews are fatigued and i worry the British will sail right past us in this weather. Ive also given our radioman Karl Heinz a break from sitting listening to the empty seas. frustration is an understatement. I mustnt let this show to the crew, and will be sure to get a better grid when we return to port. 10th October 1940 - 0900 Finally we have hit some luck! the weather has settled drastically and its a calm as some of the old lakes i used to visit as a child.. The crew seemed to have lifted a little dispite no contacts in other a week since we left St Nazaire! 1500 CONTACT REPORT! Just as we started to give up hope and turn for home with a belly full of eels! First watch officer Lt Hans Kindler (my trusted first watch officer) screamed 'Ship Spotted' and i have never seen a crew so excited to hear those words. We were way down in the convoy shipping lane heading into Gibralter and were heading north back up the west coast of Spain and wed only stumbled into a large convoy heading straight for us. Now my only concern was with this beautiful clear weather had we been seen? I ordered the boat to periscope depth and made a slight adjustment to our course so the convoy would pass us on the perfect 90 degree angle so we could pick our targets well. From what i could tell there was one destroyer at the front of convoy and one to the side, luckily the other side from were looking on, I remember thinking to myself as i was looking through the periscope 'we deserve this luck' after a grulling week with nothing to show for, literally the moment that thought left my head, Karl Heinz shouted for my attention with a face of fear. one of the escorts had broken rank and was headed towards us, i turned the uboat towards the nearest merchant and released three torpedoes, front, back and rear. I was adement i was taking something down. We was forced to dive fast and not wait around to see the show. We heard all 3 eels hit the merchant hard as we dived to 160 metres and went to silent running.We turned hard to our left hoping the destroyer had gone past us ... This didnt work! they was pinging us and not long after she was right on top of us with an attack run of depth charges. The crew braced and the first explosion was a big one. luckily we suffered minor damage to the deck gun and conning tower, i ordered hard to port at full speed and tried to stay behind the escort but then 'PING PING' those damm british had the other escort come and do there dirty work, again tried turning hard to port as another barrage of depth charges hit us HARD!, suffering some damage to the hull, diesel engines and the pumps. We came a little higher to around 100 metres to keep them guessing and it seemed to work so far we have counter over 20 explosions but none have done anymore than rock our Uboat! the damage doesnt seem too bad but unfixable until we shake them. weve took on a little water also and bouyancy is now an issue! if we go any slower than 4 knots we start sinking, yet going any faster than 4 knots and the destroyers hear us move, I remember now thinking how lucky we was to hit this convoy and with a small merchant sunk was it really worth it! its been a few hours submerged with pretty much constant barrages of depth charges. I ordered a heading of east the opposite way the convoy was heading and im not going to lie, the bouyancy issue was a little worrying and shallower water meant we could at least settle on the seabed and make zero noise hoping we'd lose contact, that was the plan! 2150 After over 6 hours of the hunter being the hunted its seems the destroyers have given up after giving it another hour we will surface and assess the damage. 2300 Finally we surface, the cold night air is a welcome after that torrid few hours, i send my chief engineer, my trusty loyal Willfreid Felsmann set about the repairs and i ordered minimal work stations to allow the crew som proper shut eye, we will head to St Nazaire to finish our patrol. 18th October 1940 8 days later we arrive safely at St Nazaire with a few bashes and bruises but in one piece, all that for a small merchant of 2397 tons! Was it my fault? had the long haul of seeing nothing made me to eager and not as sharp! i know i need to rest and make sure im 110% for our next patrol. i only hope our turnaround at port isnt too long i want the crew to keep there wits about them and not be drinking in the french bars for too long! also i want to talk to my superiors in order of a more fruitful grid position. Claus Korth Last edited by F1RacerDan; 04-19-13 at 02:48 PM.