The Diary of U389 (Warning Lots of photos)

[ETsd4]

Originally Posted by mia389

The photos I am using Virtual Photographer plugin and it has lots of Old B/W effects. The one I am using is called WW2.

So you need Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop elements.

3/25/41, in the afternoon, watch crew of U-389 in the Biscaya.


Used this conversion-tool: http://labs.wanokoto.jp/olds

[mia389]

That looks great! Maybe I will start using that. I use IrfanView with the virtual photographer plugin. I am all for "free" lol

[mia389]

Finally got some ingame time and finished my first patrol with U389.

Saturday, April 05, 1941
07:03 Performed daily trim dive.
07:23 Maybe today we will find some ships to sink.
07:23 Emil is getting celestial fix.
16:13 At least the airplanes are not coming way out here. Neither are the ships though.
23:56 Fuel is getting low. Will not hunt this route anymore. We are returning to base.
23:58 New course 72.


Sunday, April 06, 1941
00:03 New speed 13 knots.
00:06 ETA St. Nazaire 4/10/41 7:30am
07:27 Performed daily trim dive.
09:18 Sent radio message of our return.
14:25 Traveled submerged last two hours. Surfaced boat at 14:25
16:51 All stop.
16:51 Letting Olaf do some fishing for 1 hour. Be nice to have some decent food.
17:34 Olaf actually caught some fish. Guess we are eating good tonight. Crew is now jumping and cleaning themselves.
17:51 Set speed 12 knots.
17:51 We are now one hour behind eta of 7:30 4-10-41
20:11 Josef has gotten ill from the fish. I thought it was good.


Monday, April 07, 1941
06:33 Performed daily trim dive.
11:17 Gyro compass has broken. Joesef is trying to fix it. Its in a million small pieces.
14:19 Fuel down to 25%
17:19 Josef and Willi managed to fix gyro compass. Emil is now getting new celestial fix.
17:57 Still 1400km away from home.


Tuesday, April 08, 1941
06:44 Performed daily trim dive.
07:50 Heavy seas have increased our fuel burn a bit. We will be very close on fuel.
18:32 965km away from home. I cant wait for a shower and 24 hours of sleep.
18:34 Set speed 12 knots.
18:34 We are just above the NW tip of Spain.
23:40 Smoke on the Horizon! B353.
23:40 New course 062!
23:41 2 ships!
23:41 New course 049. Shut dam radio off! Man Battle stations!
23:41 Ahead Flank!
23:42 New course 026! They are fast movers!
23:45 Set speed 12 knots. Course 071. They are friendly escorts..


Wednesday, April 09, 1941
05:42 Watch crew broke our Biscay cross again. This time we wont fix it. We are only a day away from home.
06:49 Performed daily trim dive.
10:40 Emil is getting our position via a celestial fix.
20:35 Set speed 14 knots.
20:52 Emil updating me with our position.
21:17 New course 065
21:18 We should be in our sub pen by 1130 tomorrow!


Thursday, April 10, 1941
05:49 Ship spotted B042! Sure its friendly.
06:40 Fog has set in. We must be getting close land. This will make our approach much harder to harbor.
08:13 Having Emil get a fix. We are only a couple of hours out.
08:27 Tide has brought us in faster. We are ahead of our last ETA. We are only 1 hour and 24 minutes out.
09:32 We are very close now. Can hear seagulls but see no land yet. This fog is thick!
09:34 Found a buoy on starboard side! Finally
09:38 Second buoy spotted starboard side. Merchant close B020
09:40 Set speed 6 knots.
09:45 New course 035. This will put us west of wharf entrance. We will then head east to entrance. That the plan anyway.
09:48 Another buoy spotted.
09:55 Land spotted B360
09:59 Light house spotted! We made it!
10:18 Parked in sub pen at St. Nazaire. Patrol 1 complete.
10:19 4 ships sunk for 41,000 Tons. 1 Airplane destroyed.
This was taken about when entering the bay. Could see nothing buy seagulls.

Picture of a merchant appearing out of the fog.

I kept this picture in real color so you could see what I was seeing when I found the light from light house. I was looking all over for it and sure enough it appeared strait ahead. I was expecting it to be off right a bit more. Love real navigation!

This was taken shortly after picture above. Wharf is coming into view now.

Picture taken from the docks while U389 was entering.

U389 coming into a full sub pen.

Finally home after 21 days at sea.

[mia389]

Finally got some time in to start my next patrol. Boat was in dry docks for major repairs. We had over a month off
Patrol 2

Thursday, May 22, 1941 6:22:00 AM
06:22 Captain Werner reporting on U389. U389 departure will be at 1300 hours.
06:23 Happy to see my boat has new Flak guns. Boat has been in dry docks and has had major overhaul done.
08:20 Seeing some new faces. BDU has taken a few of my men and replaced them with fresh green horns.
09:39 Boat is almost ready for patrol. Just getting last of food onboard.
10:35 Asked BDU if we can depart early. All crew is onboard and boat is ready
10:47 Permission was granted.
10:47 Set speed 8 knots! Patrol 2 is underway!
11:07 Set speed 12 knots
11:22 New course 270
11:31 Next turn tomorrow 1230
11:36 Told crew of our plans to hunt the west side of Great Britian
12:53 Good to back at sea!
22:33 Weather: Skys Clear, Seas Calm, Percipitiaon None
Overhauled U389 and Crew

Taken by Emils wife as we were leaving St. Nazaire.

Final Good byes to land

Plotted course and patrol area for our patrol

[Loganrocks7]

What mod gives you a crew? I was looking around for that for a while and couldn't ever find it.

[mia389]

Sorry that was not in my mod list. Added now as more crew. Can get link in my signature.

[Sartoris]

Nice diary, keep it up!

I was wondering, do you ever get any CTDs? They sometimes interrupt my patrols, so I was wondering if that ever happens to you.

[mia389]

Originally Posted by Sartoris

Nice diary, keep it up!

I was wondering, do you ever get any CTDs? They sometimes interrupt my patrols, so I was wondering if that ever happens to you.

I did when I was using OHII Full. Now using Base and enviroment version I never get CTDs.

My pc
E8500 OC 3.7
4gb ddr3
Windows 7 64bit pro
Nvidia 560TI

[mobucks]

this is awesome man keep it up!

[Loganrocks7]

this reminds me a lot of the movie Das Boot and I'm sure everyone has seen that :P Nice work man, I enjoyed reading it. Hope there's more!

[Sartoris]

Originally Posted by mia389

I did when I was using OHII Full. Now using Base and enviroment version I never get CTDs.

My pc
E8500 OC 3.7
4gb ddr3
Windows 7 64bit pro
Nvidia 560TI

Thanks. I have a very similar pc and I followed your advice on installing base + environment version, so I hope the CTDs won't happen this time.

[mia389]

Friday, May 23, 1941
00:20 Officer Roster for patrol: X.O Erich, Cheif Josef, Navigator Emil, W.O Dieter, M.O Willi, Sonarman Benno, Torpedoman Kurt, Gunner Matt, Cook Olat
00:30 Sent position report to BDU.
00:30 Wili my Motor Officer has reported diesel engines are in great shape. He is very confident about them.
02:18 Dieter has reported seas have turned to moderate.
07:12 Emil is getting our position.
07:50 Weather: Sky - Overcast, Fog - light, Precip - none, Seas - moderate
07:50 New Depth 30m
07:50 Performed daily trim dive.
07:53 Ahead 1/3
08:01 Surface boat.
08:34 Depth under keel
08:35 Chief Josef reports depth under keel is 536 meters
09:23 Crash Dive!!!
09:23 Set depth 130
09:25 Was a little slow. We will do more drills in the future.
09:46 Surface the boat.
09:48 Set speed 12 knots.
09:52 Recharge batteries
11:54 Crash Dive!!!
11:54 New course 300!
11:55 Set depth 50m. Course 270
11:56 New helmsman is doing good. Need work on our Crashs dives though.
12:02 Surface the boat.
12:04 Set speed 12 knots. Recharge batteries
12:05 Emil is getting our position. We should be close to turn point (N2)
12:21 Training maneuvers slowed us down. 7 hours from N2. ETA 1920
12:59 Crash Dive !!!
12:59 Set depth 60m
13:10 Much better! Surface the boat
13:13 Speed 12 knots, Recharge batteries.
15:09 Olat has made a great meal
15:16 Battery fully charged.
17:43 Dieter reports seas have turned to calm. Fog has vanished.
19:24 New course 320
19:25 618km to turn point 2 (N3)
19:26 ETA N3 Tomorrow (24th) at 2300
20:06 Crash Dive!!!
20:07 Make depth 80m
20:10 Ahead 1/3
20:20 Surface the boat.
20:23 Make speed 12knots. Recharge batteries.
21:08 Batteries fully recharged.
21:08 Crew has greatly improved with maneuvers. I think they are all back in to "sea"mode.
23:33 Emil is getting our position.

Taken 5/23/41 after coming to surface from a crashdive.

Taken evening of 23rd. Shortly after Dieter reported calm seas.

[mobucks]

keep those boys sharp!

Could you for the future give us details on BDU orders given for each patrol?

[mia389]

Originally Posted by mobucks

keep those boys sharp!

Could you for the future give us details on BDU orders given for each patrol?

Sure, Current patrol I am heading to my patrol area in the circle I have plotted in the last photo above "May 22 photos". My navigation marks N2,N3 are also shown there. I am working on the British Supplies Objective.

We will be operating close to the mainland so I am a bit concerned about aircraft. Good thing I was fitted with 2 flak guns for this patrol. Aircraft from my first patrol almost put us to the bottom. Was the reason for our 6 week leave as well. Pesky aircraft make me nervous now.

[mia389]

Saturday, May 24, 1941
05:46 Emil is getting navigation fix.
07:17 New depth 30m
07:17 Performed daily trim dive.
07:21 Surface boat. Speed 12 knots
07:51 Dieter has food poisoning. Erich is taking up W.O duties.
09:33 Weather: Sky - Overcast, Fog - light, Precip - none, Seas - moderate
12:01 Received radio message from BDU that the Bismark has sunk the mighty HMS HOOD! This is a great vicotory for our navy.
12:01 Olat preparing special meal for the occasion.
12:02 Fog has turned to medium now.
14:43 Fog has lifted a bit now. Fog is light
14:44 Emil is getting updated fix
14:58 5 hours 40 mins until next turn. (N3) ETA 20:40
19:44 Sent position report to BDU
20:40 New course 360. We have reached turn point (N3)
20:41 17 hours45mins until reach patrol area. ETA 5/25 14:36
22:30 Getting messaged from BDU about Bismark owning the Atlantic. She is making history.



Sunday, May 25, 1941
00:12 Dieter is feeling better. Put him back up on watch. Erich is getting shut eye after pulling double duty.
00:13 Fog has lifted.
04:34 Wolfram has intercepted SOS from Dutch freighter.
07:19 New depth 30m.
07:27 Performed daily trim dive.
07:27 Surface the boat. Speed 12 knots
07:28 Weather: Sky - partly cloudy, Fog - none, Precip - none, Seas - moderate.
07:28 I have a good feeling about today.
08:18 Emil is getting celestial fix.
09:17 We have drifted off course. We are way more to the east than planned. Currents must of been much stronger than predicted.
09:17 We are 60km off course.
09:18 I think my helmsman has made a mistake.
09:19 New course 330
09:19 Will take us 2 hours 40 mins to get back on course.
11:24 New depth 30m for sonar check. Dieter swears he smells smoke.
11:26 All stop
11:27 Nothing on sonar. Surface the boat. Speed 12 knots
11:59 New course 360
14:36 We are getting close to our patrol area.
16:52 Have entered our patrol area. Starting patrol pattern.
18:44 Thought today we would have some action. Crew is ready for it. Maybe tomorrow.
19:51 Received message that Bismark has been damaged by torpedo.
20:55 Ahead Flank!
20:55 New course 221
20:55 We have received orders to proceed to BE29. The Bismark is in trouble.
20:56 We are 18 hours away at full speed.
20:56 ETA 14:48 tomorrow.