[OM] War Patrols of U-47

[Threadfin]

After being temporarily sunk on our eleventh patrol, I decided to take a transfer to the 29th Flotilla based at La Spezia on the northwest coast of Italy. I spent a lot of time based in the Mediterranean in SH3, and wanted to give it a go in OM. The Med in 1942 has the advantage of being surrounded mostly by German controlled territory, aside the from eastern end, Malta and Gibraltar. Though we of course could not know this, the Torch landings will begin in November, and this 'German Lake' will slowly become the property of the Allies, but in May 1942 the situation is favorable for boats patrolling here. In SH3 I had a great deal of success patrolling the bottleneck between Sardinia and Tunisia. In that sim, this was essentially a task force highway, and many battleships and cruisers were sunk here.

One shortcoming of Silent Hunter is the inability of the program to shift patrol objectives immediately following a transfer. Your objective is assigned when you return to base, and subsequently transferring does not change your patrol objective grid assignment. So it was that U-47 was to set sail from La Spezia with the objective of patrolling BF15 south of Ireland. We decided to ignore those orders and would try to cover as much of the Mediterranean as we could, to get a feel for our new environs to hopefully allow us to focus on most profitable areas in later patrols. In addition, I hoped to get a feel for those areas that the enemy could cover by air, or were patrolling with surface units.

U-47 set sail from La Spezia on May 28th, 1942. The T III version of the G7e was now available, and would prove to be a marvelous weapon, a huge upgrade over the T II we had become accustomed to. After leaving base we headed for the bottleneck between Sardinia and Tunis. Soon after arriving on station, we began to receive rapid radio reports of task force positions and courses. Most of them were reported traveling east soon after departing or passing through Gibraltar. Positioned in the bottleneck, I was certain we would make contact soon. However it became evident that these were either not passing by, or more likely were hugging the north African coast, passing just out of range to our south. I shifted to patrol closer to the coast and soon made contact with a task force consisting of many destroyers, at least one light cruiser and troopships.

As we attempted to get in on this force we were detected and the escorts charged. We were forced deep and the TGB as we crept away. This repeated itself twice more. I am finding it almost impossible to get in on TF's and convoys any longer. The escorts certainly have radar, and their ability to detect U-47 submerged is remarkable.

After several failed attempts I gave it up as a bad job and decided to head east to see what we could find and essentially attempt to reconnoiter the Med. I also planned to stick our nose in to Valetta on Malta and see what we might stir up. The next day the watch spotted a ship and we went to battle stations and began the plot. But it soon was apparent the ship was lying to in the middle of the Med. Closer inspection revealed it to be a C&D class destroyer. It seemed a trap and we crept closer, scanning the horizon for any surprises. But there were none. The ship was just stopped and we moved to 2000 meters off her starboard beam. One of the new T III's was fired with the mag/contact pistol and struck the DD amidships. The destroyer was lifted out of the water and exploded in a flash, sinking on an even keel in less than a minute.

We cleared to the east and approached Valetta in darkness. I wanted to be in position for a dawn look in to the harbor, because if we were to be held down for any length of time, I wanted it to be during daylight, so we would have the full night for recharging. As we neared the harbor I could see many cargo ships and destroyers moored offshore and in the quays.

We continued on submerged to get inside the 5000 meter circle that is the max range of our torpedoes. I selected two freighters near one another as targets and fired two torpedoes at each. I didn't know if there might be torpedo nets and I began to reverse course to head for deep water. After a long run the torpedoes began to hit. The first target exploded and the second absorbed both torpedoes and began to settle. I fired the stern torpedo and this also hit, sinking the ship but she grounded without exploding and in Silent Hunter you get no credit for that.

The two target ships, we were credited with the one on the right



This alerted the destroyers who got underway and we cleared to the north. Because of the extreme firing range and the fact our torpedoes are wakeless, they had no idea where we were and never got close. After moving well out of range we surfaced and headed for the U-Boat base in Salamis, Greece for a reload and to top off the tanks. After leaving Salamis, we headed further east, to patrol the waters between Crete and Cyprus and perhaps have a look into Alexandria.

As we patrolled here, we began making contact with lone merchants once again. I began to call this area the Mediterranean Air Gap, and it was like 1940 all over again, except now the targets flew Turkish and Palestinian flags. In the course of the next two weeks we sent six lone merchants to the bottom. One was a small 1800-tonner, and the rest were all the same exact type of ship, what is known in OM as M-KF-M (E), 5000 tons.

The new torpedoes were remarkable, as much for their reliability as for the destruction they wrought. I used the magnetic/impact pistol and set depth for impact, usually at around 3 meters. When these torpedoes hit, the ships were often lifted from the water, broken in two and followed by secondary explosions. We did have one dud, and of course it was the one time I fired a single. After seeing how effective these weapons were, I thought it safe to fire just one, and of course it did not explode. But overall, they were fantastic torpedoes, and I was very pleased after three years of firing unreliable torpedoes.

Here are some shots of a typical attack. On August 6th a 5000 ton Turkish cargo ship was spotted emerging from the fog making 8 knots. Making our normal approach, we set up the attack as she came on.



Here, the first torpedo hits the below the stack



The second torpedo hit below the after mast



I really like the Operation Monsun Mod, lurker did a great job with it. But there are a few wrinkles. One is the fact that when submerged, the watch crew is not automatically moved to the interior of the sub. As a result, you can cruise around below the surface with your crew members exposed as though they were still on the bridge, though they are not shown on the bridge, but are considered to still be there from a damage and danger perspective. Further, it isn't only the crew members on watch at that time, but all three watches are considered exposed. When there is a possibility of counterattack, I place each of them inside the boat, with six going to the conning tower and the rest in the crew's berth. But I admit I don't do this when attacking lone merchants, as I don't expect depth charges, though if a plane happened by they would be in serious peril. And I paid the price for this laziness.

As I watched through the scope waiting for this ship to sink, the gun crew on the fantail spotted my feather and opened up with small caliber fire killing my XO! and wounding the rest. He was easily my best watch officer, with a watch rating of 103. I was devastated. We had now lost three crew members killed and many wounded in the past two patrols. I admit it was entirely my fault, but moving the crew one by one gets old and I didn't do it.

After this the ship suddenly exploded. And not just any explosion. A massive blast that broke the ship in three!



After the ship exploded we headed for the barn, with many watch crew wounded, I didn't want to risk losing any more of these men I had worked so hard to train up to the level they were now.

Here are my poor watchmen doubled over in pain after being wounded.



The remnants of the Turkish freighter that killed my XO



U-47 put in to La Spezia on August 15th having put 8 ships including the destroyer on the bottom of the Mediterranean. In a sense it was a patrol back in time. It was a good not to be hunted and hounded constantly, but I know this too won't last.

Here is a shot of the eastern Med, and you can see the location of our base at La Spezia as well as those at Messina and at Salamis, of the destroyer sinking near Sardinia, and the area east of Crete/south of Rhodes that became a Turkish ship graveyard.

[Threadfin]

Niklas Baumann and U-47 continued to patrol the Mediterranean. Patrols twelve, thirteen and fourteen were all successful. Patrol twelve left La Spezia in late May 1942, and U-47 returned from patrol fourteen in March of 1943. I am quite pleased to have survived this far, and transferring to the Mediterranean has certainly had a large role to play in that. After the Torch landings by the Allies in November of 1942, there has been a marked increase in Allied air patrols, but during refit before war patrol twelve, U-47 received an upgrade that may prove to be the most important of the war, the Metox radar detector.

The Metox proved invaluable time and again, giving advanced warning of approaching destroyers and aircraft, giving us ample time to dive and avoid, or get in better position. I can't say whether the enemy will employ radar wavelengths not detectable by the Metox, so we cannot rely on it exclusively, but the value of the warning it gives of approaching aircraft is beyond measure. Very happy to have it mounted it on our boat.

War patrol twelve saw U-47 return to the waters between Crete and Cyprus, patrol thirteen was largely conducted in the Aegean Sea near the southern approach to the Dardenelles Strait, and patrol fourteen was actually conducted in the Black Sea. Patrolling in the Mediterranean and Black Seas offers several advantages, not least of which is the relatively restricted area means that using aircraft as scouts is effective and useful. In the open Atlantic, scouts aren't very practical, in part becasue one tends to patrol so far from any German air bases. But in the Med, patrols are often well within range, and I found that utilizing the scouting system was very beneficial.


Here you see the numerous contacts that the scout has revealed for us. The scout is the black dot just west of U-47




The combination of the scouting planes and the lack of enemy ASW in this area along the Turkish Black Sea Coast meant the Happy Times returned for U-47. In a matter of just 2 or 3 weeks, eight merchants went to the bottom.




In this shot you can get a feel for the size of the search circle for the airborne scouts (500 km radius). Here, a patrol from Crete flies out over the sea in support of U-47



Other highlights of these three patrols include a look into Gibraltar during the twelfth patrol. Our assigned grid was off the Moroccan coast, and after completing it we set course for Gibraltar, hoping to catch units of the Royal Navy at anchor. And we certainly did! We had to dodge patrols and dive to avoid planes, but we slowly made our way toward the anchorage. A daylight periscope approach revealed two battleships, a fleet carrier, two heavy cruisers, and two light cruisers. U-47 made an approach to 2300 meters, and prepared to fire torpedoes at a Revenge class battleship and an Illustrious class fleet carrier. As they were at a zero angle to our boat, I planned to fire two torpedoes at each with depth set to run under with magnetic pistols. This type of attack had served me well in SH3 in Loch Ewe and Scapa Flow, but as we were ready to fire, U-47 bumped into the sub net protecting the harbor. I could have attempted to search for an opening, but felt that was an omen, and with patrols in the area we made for the open Mediterranean.


Here you can see our periscope picture just prior to running in to the sub net. On the right is the Revenge and the Illustrious is on the left.



At dawn the next morning we made contact with a large convoy that had just passed through the strait. As chance would have it, this convoy was unescorted. We got in to ideal position and toredoed three ships. One 5000 ton freighter went down immediately, and a large tanker and another medium freighter continued on damaged, but slowly falling behind their friends. AFter reloading the torpoedoes, we surfaced and ran end arounds on each straggler, sinking them both, though interrupted by radar equipped aircraft several times which forced us to dive.


Here U-47 reaches ideal position off the starboard beam of two overlapping freighters. The near ship was the first out of this convoy to go down. The far ship was damaged and sunk later that day in a follow up attack after an end around.



On December 9th, after the thirteenth patrol, Niklas Baumann was promoted to Fregattenkapitän.

As we enter mid-1943 I realize that our time in the Mediterranean is nearing an end. The enemy are slowly closing the ring around the Sea, and their ASW effort is increasing quickly. It won't be long before our base at La Spezia is no longer tenable, and eventually we will be forced back to the north, likely to Bergen if we survive that long. But this transfer has been a reprieve, and I have enjoyed the respite. It will only become more difficult from here, but the end of the war is in sight, if still a long way off. Quite frankly, I did not expect to survive this long, and as detailed earlier, we came very close to the end on more than one occasion. If we do return to the Atlantic, I will do all I can to make it to the end, though it may not be entirely up to me!

[Threadfin]

I've been playing submarine sims for almost 25 years. The first one I can remember was Silent Service around 1990. Various early PC sims, like Aces of the Deep, Nintendo and Sega titles followed, and then in '96 Silent Hunter was released. Blown. Away.

Almost 5 years would go by before SH2 was released. In the interim I devoted my time to flight sims, titles like Falcon 4, EAW, MiG Alley. And shooters like Half-Life, Operation Flashpoint, and Deus Ex. Strategy games, tactical games and even surface sims like Destroyer Command. But through it all submarine sims remained my first love. SH2 introduced me to the fascinating world of German U-Boat Operations. Pacific Aces brought me back to the Pacific (still hard to believe that PA was 144 MB!). And of course SH3 was for me a seminal moment in the course of my sub sim odyssey. Now I play SH4, and with all of the fantastic mods we've talked about in this thread, it's as though all of those titles that have come before are forged in to one great sim.

I don't know if I can pinpoint it, but I tend to be drawn to games where I am alone and hidden, stealthy, sneaking. I like to play the sniper, the Apache pilot, the Thief, the Black Ops man invisible behind the lines until it's time to strike. Of course this is the essence of submarine warfare, and this is a large part of the allure of the Silent Hunter series for me and submarine warfare in general.

One aspect of submarine sims that I find appealing is you never know what will happen when you set sail on a war patrol. It could be fantastically successful, with ships seeming to go down by your mere presence. It could be a slog, with contacts scarce, and endless storms, and little or no success after months at sea. It could result in a battleship falling to your torpedoes, or it could end after being hounded for hours when depth charges finally find your boat.

When I set sail on U-47's fifteenth war patrol on March 31st, 1943 it would prove to be the shortest war patrol I've ever conducted in sub sims and survived. The actual shortest patrol was in SH3 when my boat was sunk by an aircraft less than an hour after leaving Brest. But U-47's fifteenth last all of eleven days port to port.

U-47 left La Spezia on March 31st, with a full load of TIII electrics and the trusty Metox. Our objective grid was off the Algerian coast just to the north of Algiers. This is dead on the convoy route from Gibraltar, and I was sure we would make some contacts, expecting that the Metox would be our first indicator that one was approaching.

As we passed off the southern tip of Sardinia, the weather closed in and a raging storm tossed our boat and reduced visibility to less than 1500 meters. In this weather, the radar detector is even more valuable than usual, and I waited for the first contact. The storm raged for a week, then suddenly the skies cleared, the seas moderated and a light fog opened visibility to 3500 meters.


Here the the watch crew keeps vigil in the heavy weather



Shortly after dawn on April 8th, during a routine trim dive and sound sweep, we detected merchant screws closing from the west. A convoy was closing, and the hydrophones revealed the bearings were constant. We were right in their path. No warship screws were heard, and we surfaced to see if the Metox detected any radar. It did not. This convoy had no escorts. Soon the first merchant appeared in the fog and we began a plot, clocking the convoy's speed at 8.5 knots. U-47 submerged and got between the oncoming center and starboard columns. I planned to fire bow and stern torpedoes at the same time. One thing I really like about OM is the behavior of convoys after they are aware of an attack. The ships scatter in all directions, it isn't like SH3 was as the ships start constant helming and parade past your periscope. So therefore the attacks need to be swift and as many torpedoes should be in the water at one time as possible.

So we tried to identify a good target forward, and would also fire at whichever target was abreast in the starboard column with our stern torpedo. The first ship to emerge in the center column was a medium 5000 tons freighter, and then I saw the third ship in the same column was a T3.

I haven't seen a T3 since my SH3 days. In the 15 patrols in this career, at 13000 tons this is the largest merchant I have seen aside from the two liners that were accompanied by Repulse and Argus off Portugal in 1941 during our eighth patrol.


The T3 tanker emerges from the fog.



We set up the shot, planning to fire two torpedoes at this ship and the stern at a 6000 ton freighter that would pass astern at the same time. Both shots would be 500 meters, and as the T3 crossed the wire the fish were fired, and I quickly spun the scope and the dials to send the stern torpedo on it's way. As I swung back to the T3 both torpedoes hit and it burst into flame from bow to stern.


The tanker is aflame and the spots the torpedoes struck are visible along the waterline.



I then spun the scope back to the ship astern and saw the torpedo explode below the leading edge of the superstructure. But as I realized my sound man did not report 'Torpedo Impact!', I realized it was a premature that exploded so close to the target that I thought it was a hit.

Swinging the periscope back to the front, and again resetting the TDC as quickly as I could, a single torpedo was fired at an American cargo ship of about 3300 tons from 800 meters. She had begun to turn away, but this torpedo struck near the after mast and soon she would be dead in the water with a slight list but not showing any sign of sinking. As we moved to fire a coup de grace, tubes one and 5 were reloaded. I maneuvered to shoot bow tubes at another medium freighter that happened to cross our bow, but as I fired she saw my periscope, opened fire with machine guns, and combed the tracks causing both torpedoes to miss. We then got in position to fire the stern tube at the stopped American and sent her to the bottom.

In a furious span of about 30 minutes we had fired seven torpedoes for 4 hits, 2 misses and one premature, but with only two ships sunk for about 16,000 tons. I secured from battle stations and waited for the ships to go over the hill and surfaced for an end around.

After surfacing we kept a sharp eye for aircraft and bent on flank speed for an end around as the convoy reformed. I kept U-47 about 4000 meters off the port side of the convoy, where the ships were just visible in the fog, but far enough away that we remained unsighted.
Here you can see one of the columns as U-47 dashed ahead at 17 knots for another attack.




Five hours after the last attack, we submerged once again and torpedoed a big 9000 ton freighter which blew up and went down in minutes in the last light of the day. I swung the scope and the dials to fire at another ship off the bow, but inexplicably set the scope to 010 but the bearing dial to 350, introducing a 20 degree error and of course missed with both torpedoes. Could have kicked myself, but that's how it goes sometimes. As darkness fell, we surfaced once again and ran ahead. Eleven hours and 120 kilometers after the first attack against the T3, we again positioned the boat between oncoming columns, the last stern torpedo was fired at another big 9000 ton merchant which blew up, and the final bow torpedoes were fired at an 8400 ton tanker. Both hit and the ship assumed a port list and fell to 2 knots as the rest of the convoy went over the hill. In the darkness we surfaced and I ordered battle stations guns. The crew fired about 30 rounds and the tanker exploded with flames a hundred feet in the air. Out of torpedoes, U-47 headed for the barn, having fired all 14 torpedoes in 11 hours, for 9 hits, 4 misses and one premature, sinking five good ships for 42k, and returned to La Spezia after just 11 days at sea.


U-47 ties up at La Spezia

[iambecomelife]

Nice patrols. May I ask what medals and promotions you've received, and when you got them? I've never completed an OM career. In my opinion, some of the supermods for the American campaign don't seem to award quite enough of the more prestigious medals (I keep getting the silver star) - Just wondering if Monsun has a better award/promotion system.

Thanks a lot.

[Threadfin]

Thanks very much. I don't think I have been satisfied with the awards system in any version of Silent Hunter that I've played. For example in TMO, if I sink 40k in the first patrol, I should be getting a Navy Cross, but the sim insists on starting you at the lowest award and working up.

In Operation Monsun it isn't as bad, but the awards for U-Boat skippers should include the Knight's Cross, then with Oak Leaves, then Swords, then Diamonds and finally the Golden Oak Leaves Swords and Diamonds. The Knight's Cross is awarded in OM, but the succeeding grades are not represented. However, the actual medal as shown in the sim is indeed the Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. But there is no progression of each grade, and it is described as simply the Knight's Cross. In addition, you can win it repeatedly.


Here is a breakdown of each of the 15 completed patrols in this career so far with starting and end dates, ships sunk/tonnage (with capital ship sunk), rank advancement if applicable and award.


Patrol 1 (Kiel) -- Sept 3, 1939 to Oct 22, 1939
7/57,305 (Illustrious Fleet Carrier)
Oberleutnant zur See (starting rank)
Knight's Cross

Patrol 2 -- (Kiel) -- Nov 6, 1939 to Dec 18, 1939
7/35,585
Knight's Cross

Patrol 3 -- (Kiel) -- Jan 16, 1940 to Mar 6,1940
8/56,417
Kapitänleutnant
Knight's Cross

Patrol 4 -- (Kiel) -- Apr 10, 1940 to May 22, 1940
5/33,220
Iron Cross 2nd Class

Patrol 5 -- (Kiel) -- Jun 26, 1940 to Aug 25, 1940
9/97,115 (HMS Hood Battlecruiser)
Knight's Cross

Patrol 6 -- (Kiel) -- Sep 15, 1940 to Nov 9, 1940
8/44,655
Korvettenkapitän
Knight's Cross

Patrol 7 -- (St Nazaire) -- Dec 14, 1940 to Feb 23, 1941
5/31,365
Knight's Cross

Patrol 8 -- (St Nazaire) -- Mar 12, 1941 to May 13, 1941
3/42,340 (Queen Elizabeth Battleship)
Iron Cross 1st Class

Patrol 9 -- (St Nazaire) -- Jun 21,1941 to Aug 24, 1941
5/25,685
Knight's Cross

Patrol 10 -- (St Nazaire) -- Sep 28, 1941 to Nov 23, 1941
5/56,315 (HMS Rodney Battleship)
Iron Cross 1st Class

Patrol 11 -- (St Nazaire) -- Dec 26, 1941 to Apr 24, 1942
3/23,975
No Award

Patrol 12 -- (La Spezia) -- May 28, 1942 to Aug 15, 1942
8/33,279
Knight's Cross

Patrol 13 -- (La Spezia) -- Sep 20, 1942 to Dec 8, 1942
9/46,600
Fregattenkapitän
Knight's Cross

Patrol 14 -- (La Spezia) -- Jan 12, 1943 to Mar 16, 1943
14/68,960
Iron Cross 1st Class

Patrol 15 -- (La Spezia) -- Mar 31, 1943 to Apr 10, 1943
5/40,835
Iron Cross 2nd Class


So the awards are a bit unpredictable. The Iron Cross on patrol 14 is a bit puzzling as it was the most ships sunk during any patrol and the second-most tonnage. Patrol 10 was considerably better than patrol 9, but the award much lower. And I would prefer to have the Knight's Cross be awarded in grade, as opposed to it being awarded again and again. It appears the German Cross is not in OM, or perhaps I just haven't qualified at any point for this medium-grade award.

There is one rank I have not attained, Kapitän zur See.

[iambecomelife]

Thank you for that detailed reply; it was more than I expected. I am trying to see if the German or American award progression system would be best for my World War I mod (Wolves of the Kaiser).

[Threadfin]

No problem, hope it helps. I have been following the progress of your mod and would like to add my voice to the encouragement. It looks great and I will definitely give it a go.

[Threadfin]

Originally Posted by Threadfin

For example in TMO, if I sink 40k in the first patrol, I should be getting a Navy Cross, but the sim insists on starting you at the lowest award and working up.

I am back in the Pacific in TMO, and got three straight Navy Crosses to begin the career, so the quote above is clearly incorrect! Of course the mod soup will have some effect depending on what is installed.

[pdiddy]

Great post Threadfin.

I'm getting the feeling that OM is the seldom loved, often misunderstood middle-kid of the SH family. It really deserves more attention than it gets!