U-51 Kapitänleutnant Hans Felix Hartmann

[CPTLTJASON]

10/9/1939 EH 2427 Central Atlantic 101st day at sea

Ship 35 has been proceeding slowly along the shipping routes in search of more targets. Hartmann plans to remain in the Central Atlantic until November 1st. The tanker Ermland is expected to depart Kiel on October 11th and we will meet her at Point Andalusia in December. On October 7th , several changes have been made to Ship 35 Hartmann decided to change the disguise to a Greek freighter for this the following changes were made,
-4 Single post derricks taken down (2 between the funnel and bridge and 2 deck house aft)
-Peeling paint was not touched up as Greek freighters are not maintained well. the white line will remain, and since Greece is neutral, 6 Greek flags were painted on the hull, 3 on each side.
-The word “Greece” was painted 4 times on the hull 2 on each side
Ship 35 is now the Greek freighter ZEUS 8,800 grt (AMMZ). If we are Questioned when going from S to N we will be loaded with Misc. cargo from Karachi to Piraeus when going from N to S we will be in ballast from Piraeus to Durban. Today at 23:38 the port lookout on the Bridge OStrm Witterhold spotted a smoke column bearing 039T range 11.400m this was confirmed by the lookouts on the crosstrees who should have sighted it earlier nevertheless battle stations were called and soon Ship 35 closed the range at 23:56 the ship decamouflaged and opened fire on the ships which turned out to be a two stack liner, tanker, and small cargo ship. 181 HE 5.9 inch shells sent all three ships to the bottom. Hartmann ordered the motor launch and 4 lifeboats to rescue the survivors. A total of 204 were picked up from the 3 ships only the master of the tanker survived. All prisoners were searched and then sent to the prisoner hold and Hold No.6 the wounded were treated in the ship’s hospital. We now have a total of 536. Ship 35 is now seriously overcrowded so the next ship that is sighted will have to be taken intact. Proceeding NNW speed 12 knots.
All ships departed in convoy from Southampton, England to Singapore All ships were British,
-CRUSADER 17,957 grt loaded with stores for the army and misc. cargo. Ship belonged to the Ellerman Line
-ULISES 10,028 grt loaded with 11,900 tons of gasoline. Tanker belonged to the British Tanker Co.
-WACOSTA 2,192 grt loaded with aircraft engines and propellers. Freighter belonged to the Smith Shipping Co.
So far Ship 35 has sunk 7 ships for 51,847 grt




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[CPTLTJASON]

10/12/1939 DR 2814 Central Atlantic 103rd day at sea.

Ship 35’s search for a suitable ship to take prize came to an end. At 22:25 Lookouts on the bridge sighted navigation lights bearing 257°T range 3300m Hartmann turned Ship 35 around, decamouflaged, and fired a warning shot with the 3.7 cm the liner, a Portuguese, stopped and switched on its mast lights. A boarding party under L.z.S Schmidt boarded the ship and discovered that she had in fact been sold to the Hugh Shipping Co. Ltd, Southampton and that the transfer of ownership had taken place in Rio and was now sailing under control of the British company. The liner was travelling in Ballast from Rio to Clydebank for conversion into a troopship. Hartmann took the liner prize putting Oblt.z.S.d.R Burkhard von Muller in command he was given a crew of 2 officers, 8 petty officers, and 30 ratings. During the next 5 hours the prisoners except Captains, engineering officers, and radio personnel were transferred to the Meridian 9,988 grt (DMNL). The liner was renamed Marsburg and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine as a supply ship. She has room for about 800. Food and supplies were later transferred. The Marsburg is instructed to proceed to DF 70 via the Green Route and wait there until Ship 35 returns. Both ships parted ways at dawn.

[CPTLTJASON]

Preview:
3/13/1938 38th day at sea Baltic Sea Training Square A

Schiff 35 underway during trials. I’ve been planning a very detailed and complex operation for Schiff 35 it’s a mishmash of the cruises of the Wolf, Möwe, Atlantis, and Pinguin. I’ll go into more detail in the next post.

[CPTLTJASON]

https://www.facebook.com/HKSchiff35

Started a facebook page dedicated to Schiff 35 here I will post behind the scenes content as well as the logbook, charts, plans for minelaying, etc. Of course I will be posting here as well

[CPTLTJASON]

Working on Schiff 35's departure. she will depart Kiel via the Great Belt, Kattegat, and Skagerrak but before all this Schiff 35 will proceed into the Baltic to be disguised as a soviet freighter and only then begin the trek northward.

[CPTLTJASON]

For this patrol I will use the 2 versions of the Ehrenfels Class freighters that are available in the game, one being the Pinguin for battle scenes and the other for the static shots during the cruise.

[CPTLTJASON]

April 16, 1939 08:00 hrs. Bremerhaven, Germany 1st day at sea

After successfully completing 4 months of training Schiff 35 arrived at Bremerhaven on March 31, 1939 here she will take on 4000 cm3 of fuel, 1300 t of coal, 1450 t of water, and several tons of provisions. Fregattenkapitän Hartmann plans to make for the North Sea, camouflage the ship as a Soviet, then proceed to Kiel via the Skagerrak to take on the remaining supplies.

Schiff 35 will depart today on the 16th at noon.