"Realistic" transfer to Mediterranean

[meduza]

Originally Posted by Sockeye

Paraphrasing Alec Baldwin in Glenngarry Glen Ross: "It takes brass balls to [sail through Gibraltar]."

Well, I'm still far from Gibraltar.

-------------------------
07:00 We're clear. The escorts are gone. Surfacing and continuing to follow the convoy. Course 350 @6kt. Weather still lousy.

Feb 2
15:25 I'm still shadowing he convoy, heading NNW @6kt. Visibility is still zero. The convoy is about 15-20km to starboard. I'm doing regular hourly sound checks in case it changes course.
The crew, and me, are already sick and tired of the weather. Hope it clears soon. If it doesn't within a day or two, I'll abandon the convoy.

19:10 Lost contact with convoy. Searching.

20:35 Reestablished contact. Course NE.

Feb 3
08:08 The weather got even worst! Visibility zero, south wind, 11m/s.

(to be continued...)

[nikbear]

Dear sweet jeebus Meduza,that DD was close!!!!!Hope the weather clears up soon,best of luck

[meduza]

Thanks, mate!
That was realy some scary encounter. They were probably less then 100m away when I dived. I was expecting to see gunfire eny moment. I wonder did they see me at all? Or maybe they just had a radar signal, but not visual? I was thinking to make a hard turn to move away from their path, but was affraid that they'll spot me if I turn my broadside.

Anyway...


Feb 5
12:26 The weather has not cleared yet.
I will certainly have to abandon the convoy within two days, because in that time, with the current speed and course, we'll reach England.:rotfl:
Current position BE6683.

21:56
We were surprised by an escort again! This time without any warning. Suddenly there were sunds of gunfire, water sprays all around and flashes of light coming from behind. As we dived, several shells hit our stern, and some depthcharges exploded nearby, heavily shaking the boat.
Massive floodings in all aft compartments. The boat quickly sank to 110m, but the crew managed to pump the water out. Not knowing the condition of the hull, i did not dare to take the boat any deeper.

22:41
There are three or four escorts above, throwing large amounts of depthcharges. Hedgehogs, I suspect. So far we are doing OK. And the sounds of explosions are getting more and more distant.

23:08
The escorts gave up and returned to the convoy.
Now I have to decide what to do next. I'm affraid that the hull is badly damaged and that it may not survive another eventual attack.

(to be continued...)

[meduza]

Feb 6
08:30 After surfacing and making detailed inspection of the boat, I decided it's impossible to continue the mission.
We will sail to El Ferrol, Spain, to meet with Max Albrecht to resupply and repair the damage. Hopefully we will be able to resume the original mission as planed.

The visibility is still poor, heavy rain with 11 m/s south wind.
Current possition BF44.


Damage caused by destroyer's gun fire.

Feb 7
11:02 We entered El Ferrol harbor. I had to wait most of the night in front of it due to lack of any navigational lights in the narrow channel before it. Must send my objections to the Spanish government.
We met with the supply ship and will hopefully continue our voyage tomorrow, after painting the boat .
Of course, it is still raining.

(to be continued...)

[Lzs von swe]

Make sure to drill your Flak crew extra hard before entering the Med

I have lost all my boats in there to planes

[meduza]

Originally Posted by Lzs von swe

Make sure to drill your Flak crew extra hard before entering the Med

I have lost all my boats in there to planes

Thanks for the advice, I'll watch out. Sorry to hear about your loss.
To be honest, when it comes to the planes, I relly more on my watchmen then on my flaks.




March 29 1942
20:11 The repairs took a lot more time than expected, but we're finaly ready to go. In the meantime, my highly experienced WO, Oberleutnant Kurt Gottscheu, had to leave and was replaced by oberfahnrich Josef Brandt, a man without any combat experience.

20:23 The weather is fine, the sea is calm. We are finaly sailing out of the El Farrel harbor, which has been our home for the past month.

March 30
04:18 BF78. Ship spotted. It's a liner, lit up, and I'll asume it's Spanish. Continuing on our course.

18:24 CG24. We're entering the area under Allied air cover. Hopefully they won't bother us until morning.

March 31
04:25 Aircraft spoted! I didn't even saw it, but I could hear it. We crash dived and we were not attacked.
05:42 Back to surface. Probably not for long. The sun just came up.
05:45 Another aircraft! They were far away and didn't spot us. Staying on surface, increasing the speed to 14kt.
11:11 Aircraft spotted, heading in our direction. We crash dived. At 50m we sustained a hit. Probably only minor damage. I decided to stay submerged until sundown, going ahead slow to preserve the batteries.
18:23 We surfaced. The weather s unchanged, visibilty 10km, north wind 4m/s. Current position CG55. We have at least three days to Gibraltar.
18:48 Another aircraft. We crash dived, but still received a minor damage.
19:31 Surfaced.
20:41 Received a convoy report. It's to far north, going away, and we'll not going after it.


April 1
05:50 The wind got stronger - 15 m/s S. Visibility is still 10km. It's dawning and I can expect air attacks soon. I guess this area became a lot more dangerous since my last visit, at the end of 1941.
Current position CG58.
20:45 Haven't seen a single aircraft the whole day. Maybe RAF had a day off . Haven't seen anything actually. We dived for a regular sound check. Nothing. At the moment our greatest enemy is boredom.

April 2
07:42 Aircraft spotted. Crash dived. Light damage from bombs.
14:24 Contact! Faint sound, bearing 332. Surfacing to intercept. Position CG9574.
14:57 It's a Spanish liner... Returning to previous course. Diving.

21:35 Surfacing. I'm about 50 km from the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. I'm going to stay in the area untill tomorrow night. There should be a lot of merchants there. Then I'll try to break through the Strait, full speed on surface. I should be through in few hours.

April 3
03:00 Contact bearing 352. It sounds like destroyer, patroling the entrance. We''ll stay submerged.
03:25 I calculated that the destroyer will pass only a few km from us, and I was getting ready to sink it. Then it changed course and I let it go. I don't usualy waste eels on destroyers, but kind of regret this one. It would have been one less patrol to worry about.

04:29 Contact bearing 200! It's a merchant. Surfacing to intercept.
05:00 I can't belive it! Another neutral ship. That's 5 days without seeing a valid target.




06:27 Aircraft spotted, crash dive.



(to be continued...)

[meduza]

11:21 We're entering the Strait. Current position 15km NW from Tanger. I can see the coast through the scope. It looks like the winds have calmed. Still no contacts. I'll proceed submerged until dark, and then surface for the break through the narrow part of the Strait.

14:13 Contact. warship moving fast. Bearing 002. Closing. Long range.
15:27 I have a contact with two warships guarding the Strait. Adjusting my course further south to evade.
16:05 Four warships on our way. One is getting dangerously close. Going deeper.
16:58 Slowing down to minimal speed that can maintain depth. CO2 level is raising. Waiting the night to surface. Still four hours.
19:49 Periscope depth. It looks dark enough to surface. There is one patrol far away, bearing 300, and another one closer, bearing 200. I'll take my chance. Current position 16 km NE of Tanger, 5 km from coast. I'll try to stay close to it.

19:57 On surface. Visibility 10km, wind 6 m/s. Visual contact with destroyer, bearing 191 distance 8km.
20:23 No visual contacts. Course 90, speed 15kt. 40km from Mediterranean.



(to be continued...)