Tell us what you are upto in your current campaign

[don1reed]

17:48/1.8.1939

Liaison Office, 2.flot. Kiel
I have been placed in charge of four UBoots. Two "Canoe's" out of Kiel and two 7b's out of Wilhelmshaven. My staff consists of, Obersteuermann Thomas Auer: A retread from the "Great War", but, a very capable veteran. Seecadet Walter Koch: Runner/Gofor; and, Funkmaat Georg Freund.

We've been stuffed into a basement office beneath the Central Issue facility (CIF), about one half block E. of Pier One. We have a secure telephone (direct twisted-pair to the Schwatemacher's office), two desks w/chairs, charts, a typewriter, and a coffee maker. And we're open for business.

We've been informed that the two 7b's have just commenced patrol. U48, commanded by (codename) "Achilles" under W.A.C. protocol, has been assigned to grid: Anton Oscar 44; and, U27, commanded by (codename) "Ajax" under GWX protocol, assigned to grid: Bruno Fritz 17. The skippers for U4 and U8 are commanded by (Alpha and Omega)protocols LSH and NYG respectively. Both of the "Canoe's are still out in the Baltic undergoing sea trials. Scanning the medicals and training records, this lot is a bunch of kids fresh out of subschool. Both, Achilles and Ajax, however, have seen service during the Spanish dust-up.

Sparrow sends.

Nothing Follows xxxx

[VONHARRIS]

Patrol No7
Orders : Patrol Grid ES69 and then patrol the general area off Freetown. Freedom of attack is granted.
Avoid any engagements with American ships.

30 March 1941
08:34 hours U-103 left Lorient

02 April 1941
Grid CG24
23:31 hours SS Nabob (Large Cargo type 1) , 6839 tons. Cargo: Steel. Crew: 37. Crew lost: 7. She was unarmed and unescorted.

12 April 1941
Grid EK11
18:30 hours SS Statesman (Large Merchant), 8956 tons. Cargo: Grain. Crew: 84. Crew lost: 38. She was hit by 2 bow torpedoes and finished off by gunfire from a range of 1500m. She was armed.

23 April 1941
Grid ET37
16:38 hours Crash dived to acoid PBY Catalina.

24 April 1941
Grid ET29 - Convoy battle
20:59 hours SS Fort Nisqually (Empire-type Freighter), 7781 tons. Cargo: Foodstuffs. Crew: 63. Crew lost: 59
21:06 hours SS Katerina (Nipiwan Park-type Tanker), 2476 tons. Cargo: Gasoline. Crew: 21. Crew lost: 7
21:10 hours SS Kelso (Medium Merchant 17), 4020 tons. Cargo: General Cargo. Crew: 32. Crew lost: 30
22:20 hours MV Adellen (Tanker 07), 7661 tons. Cargo: Aviation Fuel. Crew: 25. Crew lost: 19

11 May 1941
Grid ET65 - Small convoy battle
17:43 hours HMS Kelantan (Small Freighter), 2233 tons. Cargo: Timber. Crew: 27. Crew lost: 12
17:51 hours SS Priam (Troop Transport), 6700 tons. Cargo: Troops. Crew: 197. Crew lost: 108

U-103 started her return trip to Loreint.
On the way back , she rushed to grids BE to assist the DKM Bismark but she made no contact.

01 June 1941
Grid BF18 - Convoy battle
23:54 hours HMS Actaeon (Black Swan class), 1250 tons. Crew: 216. Crew lost: 86 . The torpedo was aimed at a large tanker but the frigate got in the way.
23:54 hours SS Trebartha (Medium Merchant 06), 5174 tons. Cargo: Textiles. Crew: 60. Crew lost: 48
23:55 hours MV Asperity (Coastal Freighter), 1869 tons. Cargo: Military Stores. Crew: 28. Crew lost: 24. Collateral damage as she was hit by a torpedo not aimed at her.

04 June 1941
22:33 hours U-103 docked at Lorient
67 days at sea - longest patrol in this career
11 ships sunk
54959 tons
No casualties or damages
21 torpedoes fired - 16 hits scored + 5 missed or duds
1 torpedo not used
64 10,5 cm rounds fired
No 2 cm rounds used

[Nerazzurri]

4hrs 19mins parked next to a medium cargo waiting on it going down! No torpedos left and the weather too bad to put gun crew out - just had to to sit there waiting. Fortunately the RAF didn't turn up.

[roadrage]

Geez, just realized I've finished four patrols since the last post.

Oberleutnant z. S. Erwin Wulf commanding U-19.

CAPTAIN'S LOG

6.6.40. 0841 Patrol 7
U-19, 1st Flotilla
Left at: June 6, 1940, 08:41
From: Wilhelmshaven
Mission Orders: Patrol grid AN73
9.6.40. 1143 Grid AN 73 Ship sunk! SS Sue Lykes (C2 Cargo), 6446 tons. Cargo: Textiles. Crew: 49. Crew lost: 43
1340 Grid AN 73 Ship sunk! SS Great Lakes (C3 Cargo), 7909 tons. Cargo: Bauxite. Crew: 38. Crew lost: 22
12.6.40. 0133 Patrol results
Crew losses: 0
Ships sunk: 2
Aircraft destroyed: 0
Patrol tonage: 14355 tons


23.6.40. 0808 Patrol 8
U-19, 1st Flotilla
Left at: June 23, 1940, 08:08
From: Wilhelmshaven
Mission Orders: Patrol grid AN51
26.6.40. 0806 Grid AN 56 Aircraft destroyed! HurricaneMkII Fighter Bomber
1258 Grid AN 56 Ship sunk! SS National Eagle (C2 Cargo), 6446 tons. Cargo: Coal. Crew: 49. Crew lost: 42
1.7.40. 1936 Patrol results
Crew losses: 0
Ships sunk: 1
Aircraft destroyed: 1
Patrol tonage: 6446 tons


6.7.40. 0055 Patrol 9
U-19, 1st Flotilla
Left at: July 6, 1940, 00:55
From: Wilhelmshaven
Mission Orders: Patrol grid AN44
10.7.40. 1230 Grid AN 44 Ship sunk! HMCS Ottowa (C Class Destroyer), 1375 tons. Crew: 169. Crew lost: 27
15.7.40. 0804 Grid AN 44 Ship sunk! SS Coringa (C2 Cargo), 6446 tons. Cargo: Coal. Crew: 43. Crew lost: 25
20.7.40. 0228 Patrol results
Crew losses: 0
Ships sunk: 2
Aircraft destroyed: 0
Patrol tonage: 7821 tons

And now for the great Wilhelmshaven to Brest transfer. Through the channel in a type IIA! What were they thinking?
22.8.40. 1929 Patrol 10
U-19, 1st Flotilla
Left at: August 22, 1940, 19:29
From: Wilhelmshaven
30.8.40. 1132 Grid BF 25 Ship sunk! SS Katingo Hajipatera (Small Merchant), 2343 tons. Cargo: Grain. Crew: 48. Crew lost: 37
2121 Grid BF 25 Ship sunk! HMS Vimy (V&W Destroyer), 1188 tons. Crew: 120. Crew lost: 80
31.8.40. 0837 Patrol results
Crew losses: 0
Ships sunk: 2
Aircraft destroyed: 0
Patrol tonage: 3531 tons

[Fish In The Water]

Originally Posted by Nerazzurri

4hrs 19mins parked next to a medium cargo waiting on it going down! No torpedos left and the weather too bad to put gun crew out...

Throw rocks!

[VONHARRIS]

Patrol 8
Orders: Patrol grid ET21 and the the general area off Freetown.

04 July 1941
04:43 hours U-103 left Lorient

07 July 1941
Grid BF74
Encountered small convoy but did not engage.

09 July 1941
Grid CG42
06:17 hours SS Hatasu (Medium Merchant 11), 3129 tons. Cargo: Trucks. Crew: 25. Crew lost: 20. ! bow torpedeo fired - 1 hit scored

23 July 1941
Grid ET26 - poor visibility - heavy rain
02:23 hours Surprised on the surface by enemy destroyer. Took shell hits causing flooding in the stern compartments. Crash dived
05:21 hours Surfaced. Medium scale damages to hull - maximum safe depth : 60m
Requested orders from BdU
10:20 hours Orders came in to continue patrol

29 July 1941
Grid ET65
20:21 hours HMS Ardent (A&B classes), 1350 tons. Crew: 180. Crew lost: 172. Hit by 2 stern torpedoes
20:28 hours SS Dick Lykes (Medium Cargo), 4432 tons. Cargo: Military Stores. Crew: 56. Crew lost: 56 Hit by 2 bow torpedoes.

Started return trip

15 August 1941
09:38 hours Reached Lorient avoiding any contact on the way home.
43 days at sea
3 ships sunk
8911 tons
5 torpedoes fired - 5 hits scored
No casualties
U-boat damaged (H.I. 67.96%)

Took command of the U-157 IXC with orders to patrol off Capetown.

[Nerazzurri]

Torpedoed a ship with a darkened flag, surfaced to man the gun and then seen why it had been darkened - was one of ours

Finished her off and left the survivors swimming in a blazing oil slick, obviously

Got the little rubber boat out and paddled to Scotland. When the war's over I'll take another identity and visit my family in Germany.

[VONHARRIS]

Originally Posted by Nerazzurri

Torpedoed a ship with a darkened flag, surfaced to man the gun and then seen why it had been darkened - was one of ours

Finished her off and left the survivors swimming in a blazing oil slick, obviously

Got the little rubber boat out and paddled to Scotland. When the war's over I'll take another identity and visit my family in Germany.

You will never be safe!
Grossadmiral Doenitz will find you , bring you back in the Fatherland and a place in the Eastern Front is reserved for you!

Tough luck Herr Kaleun

[eschemschnuz]

Dear Uncle Karl,

Now, I know that you had to give me special dispensation in Kriegsmarine Akademie because I flunked Torpedoing 101, but you will be pleased to note that I actually used the TDC for the first time this patrol - with success!

Again, bad weather blighted much of my trip, but one day my intermittently-working radar was able to pick up a lone ship. Dove and got my sonar to work out its heading. Closed in to about 2000m and waited. Then, for some reason, I said to my 1WO: "Step aside - let the amateur handle this".

Turned on the manual switch, switched to salvo for the first time ever, fiddled with some knobs and pretended like I know what they did. And as the sound man was about to blurt out: "merchant, bearing zero", I pressed the red button.

Some 90-odd seconds later, BOOM!

U-87 Type VIIB, 29th Flotilla reporting from Patrol 23.
Realism @ 50%, original game specs.
8-day cruise.

Over and out.

[roadrage]

Chief says U-19 is showing her age. I have to agree. She's turning into a rustbucket. Rumor has it she'll be retired to training duty soon. I just hope I won't be retired with her.

Oberleutnant z. S. Erwin Wulf commanding U-19

CAPTAIN'S LOG

4.10.40. 0919 Patrol 11
U-19, 1st Flotilla
Left at: October 4, 1940, 09:19
From: Brest
Mission Orders: Patrol grid AN23
6.10.40. 1543 Grid BF 12 Ship sunk! HMS Defender (C Class Destroyer), 1375 tons. Crew: 182. Crew lost: 101
7.10.40. 1930 Grid BF 16 Ship sunk! SS Clitie (C3 Cargo), 7909 tons. Cargo: Explosives. Crew: 50. Crew lost: 49
8.10.40. 0745 Grid BF 27 Aircraft destroyed! HurricaneMkII Fighter Bomber
1029 Grid BF 28 Aircraft destroyed! HurricaneMkII Fighter Bomber
1029 Grid BF 28 Aircraft destroyed! HurricaneMkII Fighter Bomber
1146 Grid BF 52 Aircraft destroyed! HurricaneMkII Fighter Bomber
1151 Grid BF 52 Aircraft destroyed! HurricaneMkII Fighter Bomber
1152 Grid BF 52 Aircraft destroyed! HurricaneMkII Fighter Bomber
1505 Patrol results
Crew losses: 0
Ships sunk: 2
Aircraft destroyed: 6
Patrol tonage: 9284 tons

Transferred to 2nd Flotilla, and lost my flak gunner.

16.10.40. 1635 Patrol 12
U-19, 2nd Flotilla
Left at: October 16, 1940, 16:35
From: Lorient
Mission Orders: Patrol grid AM79
20.10.40. 0814 Grid BF 15 Ship sunk! HMS Nootka (Tribal Destroyer), 1850 tons. Crew: 273. Crew lost: 182
25.10.40. 0749 Grid BF 17 Ship sunk! SS Hampton (C3 Cargo), 7949 tons. Cargo: Military Stores. Crew: 63. Crew lost: 34
29.10.40. 0200 Patrol results
Crew losses: 0
Ships sunk: 2
Aircraft destroyed: 0
Patrol tonage: 9799 tons

Got back to base to find orders to report to Kiel for training duty immediately. Time to get on the horn with BdU and stir up a fuss.

[Fish In The Water]

Originally Posted by Nerazzurri

Got the little rubber boat out and paddled to Scotland.

Hope you enjoy the haggis and the bagpipes!

[VONHARRIS]

New orders : U-157 is to patrol to grid CG89

21 October 1941
02:40 hours U-157 left Lorient

29 October 1941
Grid CG97
13:15 hours Aircraft destroyed! Vought OS2U-3 Kingfisher
15:25 hours An other Kingfisher spotted. Being very confident from the previous engagement I decided to fight this one too. But this pilot was good. My flak gunner was killed and U-157 took damages. From now on , crash dive every time.

30 October 1941
Grid CG95
15:12 hours Crash dived to avoid aircraft - damaged by DCs
17:30 hours Crash dived to avoid aircraft

31 October 1941
Grid CG94
08:12 hours Crash dived to avoid aircraft
12:15 hours Crash dived to avoid aircraft - damaged by DCs

09 November 1941
Grid CG94
08:54 hours Crash dived to avoid aircraft.
Upon surfacing , new orders were requested as we had no ship contacts and the area was filled with planes.
Orders : Move to grids AM52 , AM02 to take the place of U-565

14:39 hours USS Atlas (Convoy repair ship), 5215 tons. Crew: 153. Crew lost: 30. The ship was flying RN colors and she was armed.
3 bow torpedoes fired - 3 hits scored
17:54 hours SS Serafin Topic (Medium Merchant 25), 4350 tons. Cargo: Iron Ore. Crew: 51. Crew lost: 2.
2 stern torpedoes fired - 2 hits scored

10 November 1941
Grid CG85
16:18 hours Crash dived to avoid aircraft.

22 November 1941
Grid AM02 - convoy battle - poor visibility - rain
Attacked from with in the convoy columns
05:10 hours Medium Merchant 11 (Medium Merchant 11), 3132 tons. Cargo: Iron Ore. Crew: 38. Crew lost: 21
05:12 hours MV James J. Maguire (Large Tanker), 12331 tons. Cargo: Crude Oil. Crew: 36. Crew lost: 33
05:13 hours MV Naranio (Motor Tanker), 6987 tons. Cargo: Gasoline. Crew: 48. Crew lost: 10
4 bow + 2 stern torpedoes fired - 5 hits scored

The weather was awful during the whole patrol. It looked like that the storm was following U-157.
30 November 1941
15:20 hours Docked at Lorient
41 days at sea
1 man dead
U-boat damaged (H.I. 91.61%)
5 ships sunk
32015 tons
11 torpedoes fired - 10 hits scored + 1 missed or dud
3 internal torpedoes not used
No externals used due to weather
500 2cm rounds used

[Nerazzurri]

Originally Posted by Fish In The Water

Hope you enjoy the haggis and the bagpipes!

I've had a kilt made, Doenitz will never find me!

Originally Posted by VONHARRIS

My flak gunner was killed and U-157 took damages. From now on , crash dive every time.

I never try - crash dive every time.

Although roadrage had good results fighting them

[roadrage]

Somehow, between screaming and cursing, managed to convince BdU to keep me on the front lines.

Oberleutnant z. S. Erwin Wulf commanding U-19.

CAPTAIN'S LOG

10.11.40. 2039 Patrol 13
U-19, 2nd Flotilla
Left at: November 10, 1940, 20:39
From: Lorient
Mission Orders: Patrol grid BF14
13.11.40. 1328 Grid BF 15 Ship sunk! SS Atlantic Trader (Coastal Merchant), 2042 tons. Cargo: Coal. Crew: 24. Crew lost: 21
17.11.40. 1648 Patrol results
Crew losses: 0
Ships sunk: 1
Aircraft destroyed: 0
Patrol tonage: 2042 tons

Ran into a T2 tanker, 4 eels and she didn't sink. I need a deck gun!
On another note, Chief says it's not a good idea to tangle with a destroyer when we have no eels left, and with the U-19 in her rusted and beaten condition. I simply answered with "We got away, didn't we?" He doesn't think it's funny.


8.12.40. 1608 Patrol 14
U-19, 2nd Flotilla
Left at: December 8, 1940, 16:08
From: Lorient
Mission Orders: Patrol grid BE39
10.12.40. 1356 Grid BF 43 Ship sunk! SS Carolus (Coastal Merchant), 2042 tons. Cargo: Mail/Packages. Crew: 32. Crew lost: 21
12.12.40. 1512 Grid BE 39 Ship sunk! MV Empire Norseman (T3 Tanker), 11653 tons. Cargo: Gasoline. Crew: 48. Crew lost: 3
14.12.40. 0508 Grid BE 39 Ship sunk! SS City of Lichfield (Small Merchant), 2343 tons. Cargo: Scrap Metal. Crew: 68. Crew lost: 8
18.12.40. 1222 Patrol results
Crew losses: 0
Ships sunk: 3
Aircraft destroyed: 0
Patrol tonage: 16038 tons

Got word from the flotilla commander that "unofficially" there's a new type IXC with my name on it coming, and U-19 is headed for Keil. Chief says it would be nice to have a cup of coffee without rust and paint chips falling into it.

[Nerazzurri]

Originally Posted by roadrage

Chief says it would be nice to have a cup of coffee without rust and paint chips falling into it.
[/FONT]

He should be glad of the extra iron in his diet