Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Riley
Latest Events (only important events recorded now)
13th Nov 1942
Day 8
09:30
AL24
Attacked by group of 3 PBY fighter bombers based at Iceland.Caught on the surface and unable to man guns or crash dive in time,forced to run at high speed outrunning the first attack run,managed to dive shortly afterwards,no damage.
This has forced us to change our tactics in this area now,submerging throughout the entire day,surfacing only at night to recharge.
14th Nov
Day 9
AL31
03:26
Looks like weather is starting to deteriorate as waves are picking up at 7mps,still clear however.
23:45
Finally entered our assigned patrol area.Patrol ends at 23:45 on the 15th November,after which we head for our 2nd patrol in the Denmark Strait,to intercept any traffic on its way to Russia,my primary objective.
15th Nov
Day 10
11:47
Picked up a merchant sound contact while patrolling our area.Preparing to shadow submerged in daylight,ready for a night surface attack.If waves calm down we may go in for the kill submerged at close range,if not or they worsen then it will have to be a surfaced attack at medium range (2500-3000m)
Merchant course seems steady at 335 degrees.
Will attempt to run decks awash in daylight at 10kts,with sound checks every 15mins.Merchant also appears to be moving not much faster than us as we still have good sound contact on it as sound strength (volume) still sounds quite strong.
12:59
Bomber formation suddenly appeared ahead of us while running decks awash,immediately dived without delay,bombs way off,no damage.
14:17
Another Bomber attack,this time they were almost above us,then opened up with MG fire on the rim of the conning tower,frantically dived again,no damage,bombs landing quite close this time.
There is a blessing however to all this chaos with the planes,the more we have to endure them the more we understand and begin to hate them.We are getting the better of them slowly but surely.
16:21
While stalking our current contact we pick up another contact,this time moving much slower and sounds heavier,making it our new target,breaking off from our current pursuit.
Decided to run decks awash for 30mins,then submerge for 30mins,hoping to lessen chance of air attack considerably while still allowing us to make vital ground using the diesels,taking the stress out of draining the batteries too soon...could be an excellent tactic.
Tactic is working very well,making good ground on target,who is now steady bearing east,and appears to be heading away from us.
Looks like we may have our first contact with some Russian shipping after all 
16:50
Almost sundown,after which we will recharge our batteries while running at high speed on the surface to intercept our new target.
The men are in high spirits now after realizing our new tactic when having to shadow targets submerged,all the while being in dangeous (air attacks) areas like this one.
End of report
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So far so good
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Events in the last 3 or 4 hrs real time
19:00
Finally black up top now,safe to make our interception proper now.Proceeding towards target at high speed while recharging.Making about 12kts,which seems adequate.We expect visual contact any time after 20:00
19:59
Finally made visual contact on target.Looks like a Coastal,heading from Iceland to GB.Making initial course observations from directly behind target for approx 30mins.
Target vessel is heading on course 115deg at about 6kts.
Proceeding to move up onto the port flank keeping at a distance of between 2500-3000m,ship just about visible through the binoculars,that is close enough.
Drew up level with ship and monitored his speed for a final 30mins.Target is confirmed at 6kts.
Prepared an ETorp for 1st attack,range 2500m,impact,depth 3.Also made meticulous preparations this time with the ETorp,due to our disappointing result with the last attack made with them.
All settings finally ready for attack.
20:52
Fired 1,AOB 90,aiming point just forward of centre.Torpedo makes its slow crawl to the ship,crew can barely look at the stopwatch,seconds later BOOM!,torpedo slams into the bow of the ship causing fires on the deck.An EXCELLENT shot!
Ship however still afloat after about 30mins,meaning we will need to send another to finish it off.Will wait 1 hour for ship to finish zig zagging,allowing us another perfect opportunity.
22:00
As planned ship has returned to original course.As we have already set our speed to his crippled speed of 5kts we already have most of our settings ready for the attack.
New range - 2600m,chose steam torp in order to save our dwindling supply of ETorps,depth 1m in order to try and cause more fires nearer to the ones already blazing.
22:14
Aiming point - forward masts.Tube 2 fire! Seconds later again another huge explosion,this time ripping the ship into 3 seperate parts,going to the bottom in seconds.
Patrol report sent in just before diving to 50m and returning to previous contact spot of last engagement.We could spend a few days,even 1 week in this spot,hoping of course that ships will in fact sail past this spot again.
Tonnage - 2.620
Total so far - 2 small merchants for 5.238 tonnes.
7 torpedoes remain (5 steam,2 ETorps) + 3 Falkes for emergency/and or rare opportunities against important warships,like BBs etc,which I have yet to encounter in my career.
End of report
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Finally a great result from the ETorp at medium range.As this was a perfect shot it has definitely lifted my confidence using them.
Shame about the low tonnage so far.
Will try our best to get as much use out of the deck gun as possible on the remainder of this mission.