Tell us what you're up to in current campaign (lets get this one going lol)

[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by Kapitän

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Saturday, 01 August 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

Boats are equipped with the new FuMB System R-600 (new generation of Metox Receivers, also called "Biscay Cross").

Tuesday, 18 August - Wednesday, 19 August 1942

Operation 'Jubilee' - Attack on Dieppe

Lord Louis Mountbatten, Chief of Combined Operations, wanted to finally strike continental Europe and perhaps even cause Germany to reinforce the French coast with troops destined for the Eastern Front, therefore alleviating pressure off of the Soviet troops.

The Operation Jubilee, called for a landing at Dieppe on the French coast, hold beach head for 12 hours while commando units attacked a nearby German HQ and bring back German officers for interrogation, and then the entire force would retreat back to England.

On 18 Aug 1942, 237 ships left various ports in Britain for the Dieppe area, including eight destroyers but no battleships (the Admiralty did not wish to risk losing any heavy ships). The convoy carried 5,000 Canadian, 1,000 British, and 50 American troops; it was escorted by 74 squadrons of aircraft. A stroke of bad luck brought the Allied fleet in the path of a German convoy; the convoy was quickly driven off, but German defenses were alerted.

80% of the Allied fleet were destroyed by the alerted German coastal defenses. Only a few commandos reached their landing spots on 19 Aug, but they were able to improvise their plans; instead of destroying the coastal artillery, they managed to kill many of the gun crews by sniper fire and disabled the artillery nevertheless.

The Canadian landing at Puys failed completely, the well-placed German forces drove off the Canadian landing, killing roughly half the landing force (225) and captured the other half (264), allowing only 33 to escape back to England.

At Pourville, Canadian and British troops made their landing, but were quickly driven back to the sea by fierce German defenses after losing 141 men.

As for the main assault, some of the landing forces were held at the beach by heavy fire, while some of the tanks either did not make it to the shore or were disabled by anti-tank traps. The reserve forces were also committed too early due to communications problems.

In all, the operation met with failure due to a number of reasons. However, if the 1,027 men lost (900 of whom were Canadian) and 2,340 captured (again, with a bulk being Canadian) had achieved one objective, it was giving Allied command a valuable, if costly, lesson on amphibious operations.

Mountbatten himself will later say that "for every soldier who died at Dieppe, ten were saved on D-Day". While this statement may be out of Mountbatten's attempt to save his credibility, it indeed will give the United States valuable lesson of the difficulty of assaulting a defended port, as it might even directly influence General Eisenhower's decision to strike at other beaches, e.g., at Normandy, instead of the nearby port city of Cherbourg (or other targets).

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff officer)

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Friday, 04 September 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

Today marks the last sinking by one of our boats in the Gulf of Mexico (U 171, Kptlt. Günther Pfeffer; Mexican Steam Tanker 'Amatlan", about 60 miles off Tampico, Mexico; 10 torpedoes were expended on this attack!).

The coast of Guyana, South America, has been added to the operational areas of our boats.

Last month, the Allies have introduced a High Frequency Direction Finder device, called 'Huff-Duff'. With this technology, the enemy escorts are able to get a much more accurate fix on our transmitting U-boats, by means of simple triangulation. Often times, the boats in question are only a few miles from a convoy, yet perhaps out of radar range, but if two or more escorts have HF/DF contact, they are able get a quite accurate fix on the U-boat's position, at least good enough to considerably reducing the area needing to be to searched.
This new technical development is heavily affecting our wolfpack tactics, as the radio communications are essentiel to gather the group into position, and imposing more strict radio silence will make the forming of wolfpacks a lot harder.

The Bluie West Nine auxiliary station at Cruncher Island (Simiutak), Greenland, begins operations. It is guiding incoming aircraft toward Bluie West Eight airfield, and provides meteorological reports for the US Army Air Forces, patrolling the Atlantic.

Today, 251 British bombers (98 Wellington, 76 Lancaster, 41 Halifax, and 36 Stirling) attacked Bremen, damaging or destroying 71 industrial buildings and 1,821 houses; Our Flak shot down 12 bombers.

In Egypt, the New Zealand 5th Brigade and British 132nd Brigade, attacked our retreating Afrika Korps.

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff officer)

[quickening58]

Started SH4 a few months ago. WOW!! Been wondering for quite some time on what was available in WW2 Pacific sub ops. I was a big fan of the Silent Service series....almost 40 years ago?? Did some SH4 training this summer between other life commitments....and now have a slow fall winter ahead of me. Perfect
Finally started a career in Jan44 with a Gato. I posted this short story to anothers comment on shore batteries in the forum. Thought I'de post it here as my first patrol report. Of Patrol 3

"I'v seen and felt the shore batteries bite....it was a shocking surprise for sure" .....and a good newbie story

It was a wet and stormy night as we patrolled outside of Bungo Suido. Finally,with nothing coming out of the Bungo, we headed in at 8-9knots, cause we saw occasional radar returns up inside.
Kinda figured they were fishing boats.....but we had plenty of time to go in,and egress back out in deep water by sunrise. The rain and wind helped the insert trip,too.
Long story short, once up inside the "Big Lake", after sinking a small lonely tramper, then getting involved with chasing down one of many singles we had on radar, we found out our planned 12-14kt egress wasn't going to cut it, broke off the chase and started romping out of there out at 19-21kts No charging needed.. Passing the island guarding the entrance to the inner sanctum.....and damn if we weren't taking fire AND getting hit!! Took a few minutes to figure out where it was coming from. Still wet and windy---low viz, but I guess they could see our rooster tail Sure didn't see those batteries on the way in. Alot of zig zagging and off course turns later,we made it out ok Spent extra time on the surface attending to some damage when we got out.
Later...found a small convoy to play with and got Dc'd pretty good. Found out shortly afterwards with another convoy encounter, that you don't stay at 300ft for very long with 48% hull damage....and expect to come back up. Didn't make it home Its been an enlightening learning curve.

As my buddy Arne would say......I'll be back

[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by Kapitän

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Friday, 04 September 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

Today marks the last sinking by one of our boats in the Gulf of Mexico (U 171, Kptlt. Günther Pfeffer; Mexican Steam Tanker 'Amatlan", about 60 miles off Tampico, Mexico; 10 torpedoes were expended on this attack!).

The coast of Guyana, South America, has been added to the operational areas of our boats.

Last month, the Allies have introduced a High Frequency Direction Finder device, called 'Huff-Duff'. With this technology, the enemy escorts are able to get a much more accurate fix on our transmitting U-boats, by means of simple triangulation. Often times, the boats in question are only a few miles from a convoy, yet perhaps out of radar range, but if two or more escorts have HF/DF contact, they are able get a quite accurate fix on the U-boat's position, at least good enough to considerably reducing the area needing to be to searched.
This new technical development is heavily affecting our wolfpack tactics, as the radio communications are essentiel to gather the group into position, and imposing more strict radio silence will make the forming of wolfpacks a lot harder.

The Bluie West Nine auxiliary station at Cruncher Island (Simiutak), Greenland, begins operations. It is guiding incoming aircraft toward Bluie West Eight airfield, and provides meteorological reports for the US Army Air Forces, patrolling the Atlantic.

Today, 251 British bombers (98 Wellington, 76 Lancaster, 41 Halifax, and 36 Stirling) attacked Bremen, damaging or destroying 71 industrial buildings and 1,821 houses; Our Flak shot down 12 bombers.

In Egypt, the New Zealand 5th Brigade and British 132nd Brigade, attacked our retreating Afrika Korps.

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff officer)

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Saturday, 12 September 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

U 156 (Hartenstein) sank the British "Laconia" (19,695 GRT) at 0110 in FF 7721, course 3100. After torpedoing her, boat discovered that the ship had 1500 Italian prisoners of war on board. Group "Eisbär", including "Milk Cow" U 459 (von Wilamowitz-Möllendorf), and U 506 (Würdemann) and U 507 (Schacht), are ordered to proceed to the scene at once at high speed. An Italian boat (Cappellini) in the vicinity is also directed there. It is intended to make for "Bingerville" (French Ivory Coast) in the first place with the survivors. Meanwhile U 156 has taken 193 persons on board, including 21 British. Further orders will be given.

Today, Prince Emanuel Galitzine, great grandson of Russian emperor Paul I, in a specially modified Spitfire IX fighter, intercepted a high-flying pressurized Junkers Ju 86 over the Solent in southern England, at an altitude of over 42,000 feet, far higher than any other RAF fighter could attain. After evading four attempts by Galitzine to shoot down the intruder, the German bomber, expertly flown by Oberfeldwebel Horst Goetz, jettisoned its 550-pound bomb and escaped to land at Caen, France with only one cannon hole in its wing.

The 6th Army under General Friedrich Paulus, began a fresh offensive toward Stalingrad, with artillery and aerial bombardments.The ground troops then reached the strategically vital hill 102 of Mamayev Kurgan, which overlooks the city. This hill, an important line of defence for centuries, will now see a bloody struggle by both sides, as it allows our troops to control the entire river, across which all Soviet supplies have to travel. By the end of today, the Soviet 62nd Army will have been reduced to 90 tanks, 700 mortars and 20,000 men.

Our troops in the Caucasus region, report the first snow of winter.

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff officer

[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by Kapitän

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Saturday, 12 September 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

U 156 (Hartenstein) sank the British "Laconia" (19,695 GRT) at 0110 in FF 7721, course 3100. After torpedoing her, boat discovered that the ship had 1500 Italian prisoners of war on board. Group "Eisbär", including "Milk Cow" U 459 (von Wilamowitz-Möllendorf), and U 506 (Würdemann) and U 507 (Schacht), are ordered to proceed to the scene at once at high speed. An Italian boat (Cappellini) in the vicinity is also directed there. It is intended to make for "Bingerville" (French Ivory Coast) in the first place with the survivors. Meanwhile U 156 has taken 193 persons on board, including 21 British. Further orders will be given.

Today, Prince Emanuel Galitzine, great grandson of Russian emperor Paul I, in a specially modified Spitfire IX fighter, intercepted a high-flying pressurized Junkers Ju 86 over the Solent in southern England, at an altitude of over 42,000 feet, far higher than any other RAF fighter could attain. After evading four attempts by Galitzine to shoot down the intruder, the German bomber, expertly flown by Oberfeldwebel Horst Goetz, jettisoned its 550-pound bomb and escaped to land at Caen, France with only one cannon hole in its wing.

The 6th Army under General Friedrich Paulus, began a fresh offensive toward Stalingrad, with artillery and aerial bombardments.The ground troops then reached the strategically vital hill 102 of Mamayev Kurgan, which overlooks the city. This hill, an important line of defence for centuries, will now see a bloody struggle by both sides, as it allows our troops to control the entire river, across which all Soviet supplies have to travel. By the end of today, the Soviet 62nd Army will have been reduced to 90 tanks, 700 mortars and 20,000 men.

Our troops in the Caucasus region, report the first snow of winter.

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff officer

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Sunday, 13 September 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

On Sept.12, 2222h, "Laconia" had sent the following radio on the 600 meters-frequency: "SSS SSS 0434 South / 1125 West Laconia torpedoed."

Today, at 0125h, U 156 sent the following radio message:
"Sunk by Hartenstein British "Laconia". Grid FF 7721 310 degrees. Unfortunately with 1,500 Italian POW's. Till now 90 fished. 157 cubic meters (oil). 19 eels (torpedoes), trade wind, ask for orders.", and again ...

... at 0600h, the uncoded message on the 25 meters-frequency:
"If any ship will assist the ship-wrecked 'Laconia'-crew, I will not attack providing I am not being attacked by ship or air forces. I picked up 193 men. 4, 53 South, 11, 26 West. - German submarine."

U 156 (Hartenstein) has been ordered to remain at the position of the sinking. U 506 (Würdemann) and U 507 (Schacht) are making for there at maximum speed to take over survivors. Fast French ships have left Bingerville and Dakar, to take over survivors which are in the U-boats or still in lifeboats. Remaining boats of Group "Eisbär" are continuing their passage south.

Today, 446 British bombers attacked Bremen, damaging the Lloyd dynamo works, the Focke-Wulf factory, 7 historical buildings, 6 schools, and 2 hospitals; 70 civilians were killed; 21 enemy bombers were shot down.

At Stalingrad, the Soviet 13th Guards Rifle Division attacked our postitions in heavy fighting at Mamayev Hill and Railway Station No. 1, and will lose a third of its strength in the fighting.

Allied troops conducted an amphibious landing near Tobruk, Libya, for a raiding mission. Meanwhile, about 50 kilometers to the northeast, raiders of the British Long Range Desert Group, have begun to launch a raid against Barce, Libya.

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff office

[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by Kapitän

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Sunday, 13 September 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

On Sept.12, 2222h, "Laconia" had sent the following radio on the 600 meters-frequency: "SSS SSS 0434 South / 1125 West Laconia torpedoed."

Today, at 0125h, U 156 sent the following radio message:
"Sunk by Hartenstein British "Laconia". Grid FF 7721 310 degrees. Unfortunately with 1,500 Italian POW's. Till now 90 fished. 157 cubic meters (oil). 19 eels (torpedoes), trade wind, ask for orders.", and again ...

... at 0600h, the uncoded message on the 25 meters-frequency:
"If any ship will assist the ship-wrecked 'Laconia'-crew, I will not attack providing I am not being attacked by ship or air forces. I picked up 193 men. 4, 53 South, 11, 26 West. - German submarine."

U 156 (Hartenstein) has been ordered to remain at the position of the sinking. U 506 (Würdemann) and U 507 (Schacht) are making for there at maximum speed to take over survivors. Fast French ships have left Bingerville and Dakar, to take over survivors which are in the U-boats or still in lifeboats. Remaining boats of Group "Eisbär" are continuing their passage south.

Today, 446 British bombers attacked Bremen, damaging the Lloyd dynamo works, the Focke-Wulf factory, 7 historical buildings, 6 schools, and 2 hospitals; 70 civilians were killed; 21 enemy bombers were shot down.

At Stalingrad, the Soviet 13th Guards Rifle Division attacked our postitions in heavy fighting at Mamayev Hill and Railway Station No. 1, and will lose a third of its strength in the fighting.

Allied troops conducted an amphibious landing near Tobruk, Libya, for a raiding mission. Meanwhile, about 50 kilometers to the northeast, raiders of the British Long Range Desert Group, have begun to launch a raid against Barce, Libya.

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff office

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Tuesday, 15 September 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

At 1130h, U 506 (Würdemann), U 507 (Schacht) and "Cappellini", have taken over survivors from U 156 (Hartenstein), and have lifeboats in tow, including some Englishmen and Poles. Boats were ordered to cut the lifeboats with the Englishmen and Poles loose. A position check showed that AF 7752 was the point where "Laconia" sank. New rendezvous with French ships in FE 9695 on 17.9.
U 159 (Witte) will join Group "Eisbär" instead of U 156 (Hartenstein). It is intended to supply this group in CG 1999 from 22 Sept.

12 British Boston bombers attack Cherbourg, France, sinking whaling factory ship "Solglint" in the harbor.

French submarine "Junon" lands 10 British commandos and 2 Norwegian soldiers at the village of Glomfjord, Norway, at 2115 hours.

Italian frogmen enter Gibraltar harbor and attach limpet mines on British ship "Ravens Point", causing her to sink in shallow water shortly after.

Allied forces attack Jalo, Libya, after sun down; Our tropps, who had learned of this attack, repulse the initial attack with ease.
Hans-Joachim Marseille shoots down four P-40 fighters and three Hurricane fighters between 1651 and 1702 hours, southwest of El Alamein, Egypt, bringing his score up to 151 kills.

Our troops make repeated assaults at the Mamayev Kurgan hill in Stalingrad; Heavy fighting causes heavy casualties on both sides. Elsewhere in the city, our infantry advance down the Tsaritsa River gorge, toward the Volga River.

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff office)

[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by Kapitän

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Tuesday, 15 September 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

At 1130h, U 506 (Würdemann), U 507 (Schacht) and "Cappellini", have taken over survivors from U 156 (Hartenstein), and have lifeboats in tow, including some Englishmen and Poles. Boats were ordered to cut the lifeboats with the Englishmen and Poles loose. A position check showed that AF 7752 was the point where "Laconia" sank. New rendezvous with French ships in FE 9695 on 17.9.
U 159 (Witte) will join Group "Eisbär" instead of U 156 (Hartenstein). It is intended to supply this group in CG 1999 from 22 Sept.

12 British Boston bombers attack Cherbourg, France, sinking whaling factory ship "Solglint" in the harbor.

French submarine "Junon" lands 10 British commandos and 2 Norwegian soldiers at the village of Glomfjord, Norway, at 2115 hours.

Italian frogmen enter Gibraltar harbor and attach limpet mines on British ship "Ravens Point", causing her to sink in shallow water shortly after.

Allied forces attack Jalo, Libya, after sun down; Our tropps, who had learned of this attack, repulse the initial attack with ease.
Hans-Joachim Marseille shoots down four P-40 fighters and three Hurricane fighters between 1651 and 1702 hours, southwest of El Alamein, Egypt, bringing his score up to 151 kills.

Our troops make repeated assaults at the Mamayev Kurgan hill in Stalingrad; Heavy fighting causes heavy casualties on both sides. Elsewhere in the city, our infantry advance down the Tsaritsa River gorge, toward the Volga River.

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff office)

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Wednesday, 16 September 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

Despite large Red Cross flag, U 156 (Hartenstein) was bombed five times by an American "Liberator" type plane, while towing 4 full life boats. Both periscopes temporarily out of order. Submarine stopped rescue work and transferred all survivors to the boats. She was ordered to render no further assistance in any rescue attempts.
Once again, all submarines have been told that the safety of our own boats must not be endangered in any circumstances. If necessary, take any steps, even breaking off all rescue work. Only Italians are to be taken on board and they are to be handed over to the French at the pre-arranged rendezvous points.
As shown by the report from U 156, the Commanding Officer did not believe that the enemy would attack once he saw the Red Cross flag and the rescue attempts. This opinion is hard to understand. It must be assumed, that he was influenced by seeing hundreds of survivors fighting for their lives.

Japanese submarine I-29 sank British ship "Ocean Honour" in the mouth of the Gulf of Aden; 20 were killed, 33 survived.

369 British bombers attacked the Ruhr industrial region of Germany, damaging buildings (incl. a Krupp factory in Essen; 47 civilians killed), Bochum, Wuppertal, Herne and Cochem; 39 bombers were shot down during this night.

In Stalingrad, the Soviet NKVD rifle battalion stationed on Mamayev Kurgan hill, continues to fight off our attempts to take this high point.

Our 502nd Tank Battalion, stationed near Leningrad, receives the first batch of Tiger I tanks.

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff office)

[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by Kapitän

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Wednesday, 16 September 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

Despite large Red Cross flag, U 156 (Hartenstein) was bombed five times by an American "Liberator" type plane, while towing 4 full life boats. Both periscopes temporarily out of order. Submarine stopped rescue work and transferred all survivors to the boats. She was ordered to render no further assistance in any rescue attempts.
Once again, all submarines have been told that the safety of our own boats must not be endangered in any circumstances. If necessary, take any steps, even breaking off all rescue work. Only Italians are to be taken on board and they are to be handed over to the French at the pre-arranged rendezvous points.
As shown by the report from U 156, the Commanding Officer did not believe that the enemy would attack once he saw the Red Cross flag and the rescue attempts. This opinion is hard to understand. It must be assumed, that he was influenced by seeing hundreds of survivors fighting for their lives.

Japanese submarine I-29 sank British ship "Ocean Honour" in the mouth of the Gulf of Aden; 20 were killed, 33 survived.

369 British bombers attacked the Ruhr industrial region of Germany, damaging buildings (incl. a Krupp factory in Essen; 47 civilians killed), Bochum, Wuppertal, Herne and Cochem; 39 bombers were shot down during this night.

In Stalingrad, the Soviet NKVD rifle battalion stationed on Mamayev Kurgan hill, continues to fight off our attempts to take this high point.

Our 502nd Tank Battalion, stationed near Leningrad, receives the first batch of Tiger I tanks.

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff office)

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Thursday, 17 September 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

U 506 (Würdemann) and U 507 (Schacht) transferred 415 Italian and 668 Allied survivors to the French cruiser "Gloire", sloop "Annamite", and sloop "Dumont d'Urville". U 507 is returning on 17 Sept. U 506 was bombed at mid-day by the same Ascension Island-based US B-24 Liberator bomber, that attacked on the previous day, forcing U-506 to dive while 142 survivors were still on the deck. Boat is operationally serviceable and is continuing to operate in the same area.

All Commanding Officers are again reminded that attempts to rescue the crews of ships sunk are in direct contradiction to the most primitive rules of warfare after sinking enemy ships and their crews. Orders dealing with bringing captains and chief engineers back remain unchanged.

"Laconia-Order", issued by B.d.U.:

1. Every attempt to save survivors of sunken ships, also the fishing up of swimming men and putting them on board lifeboats, the setup right of overturned lifeboats, the handing over of food and water have be discontinued. These rescues contradict the primitive demands of warfare, esp., the destruction of enemy ships and their crews.
2. The orders concerning the bringing in of skippers and chief engineers stay in effect.
3. Survivors are only to rescue, if their statements are important for the boat.
4. Stay hard. Don't forget, that the enemy didn't take any regard for women and children when bombarding German cities.

In Stalingrad, our troops engage the Soviets in heavy fighting at the Mamayev Kurgan hill, the Central Station, the grain elevator, and the apartment building soon to be named "Pavlov's House". Also in the city, our troops continue to advance along the Tsaritsa River toward the banks of the Volga River, where Soviet reinforcements are arriving from the other side.

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff office)

[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by Kapitän

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Thursday, 17 September 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

U 506 (Würdemann) and U 507 (Schacht) transferred 415 Italian and 668 Allied survivors to the French cruiser "Gloire", sloop "Annamite", and sloop "Dumont d'Urville". U 507 is returning on 17 Sept. U 506 was bombed at mid-day by the same Ascension Island-based US B-24 Liberator bomber, that attacked on the previous day, forcing U-506 to dive while 142 survivors were still on the deck. Boat is operationally serviceable and is continuing to operate in the same area.

All Commanding Officers are again reminded that attempts to rescue the crews of ships sunk are in direct contradiction to the most primitive rules of warfare after sinking enemy ships and their crews. Orders dealing with bringing captains and chief engineers back remain unchanged.

"Laconia-Order", issued by B.d.U.:

1. Every attempt to save survivors of sunken ships, also the fishing up of swimming men and putting them on board lifeboats, the setup right of overturned lifeboats, the handing over of food and water have be discontinued. These rescues contradict the primitive demands of warfare, esp., the destruction of enemy ships and their crews.
2. The orders concerning the bringing in of skippers and chief engineers stay in effect.
3. Survivors are only to rescue, if their statements are important for the boat.
4. Stay hard. Don't forget, that the enemy didn't take any regard for women and children when bombarding German cities.

In Stalingrad, our troops engage the Soviets in heavy fighting at the Mamayev Kurgan hill, the Central Station, the grain elevator, and the apartment building soon to be named "Pavlov's House". Also in the city, our troops continue to advance along the Tsaritsa River toward the banks of the Volga River, where Soviet reinforcements are arriving from the other side.

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff office)

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

+++++++

Sunday, 20 September 1942 - Paris, Avenue Maréchal Maunoury

U 68 (Merten) is taking over from U 156 (Hartenstein) in Group "Eisbär". U 68 will be replaced by U 159 (Witte), a new boat joining the group! The boats have been informed.

As of today, the American Liberty Ship production, will exceed the rate of sinkings by our boats.

In Stalingrad, our troops engage the Soviets in heavy fighting at the Mamayev Kurgan hill, the Central Station and the grain elevator.
In the Caucasus region, our Army Group A, captured Terek.

Yesterday, 118 British bombers (72 Wellington, 41 Halifax, 5 Stirling) attacked Saarbrücken, generally missing military targets and instead destroying 13 houses and killing 1 civilian; The enemy lost 5 bombers on this mission.
Also yesterday, 68 Lancaster bombers and 21 Stirling bombers attacked München, 6 enemy bombers were shot down.

RST

KvtKpt.& A I op
(convoy staff office)

[Rhodes]

TMO Update BH V2.0+patches

USS Paddle - The last patrol April 1945.

Destination: Luzon Straits for patrolling and anti-shipping operation with freedom of manoeuvre.



The last patrol of the USS Paddle (gato class) began with a normal voyage, from the new Harbour base.

The straits where empty for several days, only 2 merchants were detected, attacked and sunk.

After that, area 11 was the next stop, also only very light traffic.

After returning, the old submarine was delegated for trainning duties and I received a new command (was expecting a brand new Tench, but the Navy said they were out of stock, got a fairly new Balao class).



USS Capelin - First patrol, May/June 1945
Destination: Area 9 patrolling and anti-shipping operation with freedom of manoeuvre.


After a quick voyage, the patrol area was reached. No traffic besides some tasks forces of trawlers and subchacers.

A few days in, ULTRA reported a convoy heading to Singapore. 48h later, a report of the position.

Intercept course and detection was made. Decided for a submerge attack; 2 ships sunk.

After that, several hours of depth charges. Light damage when they got near, after 475ft, they began to loose contact.

At 500ft, the uss capelin escaped.

After sunset and with all the tubes loaded and all damage repaired, surfaced and tried to regain contact.

Convoy detected and night surface attack at 1am, local time; 2 ships (one troop transport) sunk.



All torpedoes used, return to base.



USS Capelin - 2nd patrol, 27th July/15 August 1945
Destination: East China Sea, deliver a agent to a fishing ship.



Voyage to the mission coordinates went good, agent deliver, no incidents.

After that, patrol area 11 for 20 days.

Only one tanker detected after several days, engaged and sunk.

Type I submarine spotted a few days after, at surface, night. Error on speed estimation, torpedos passed in front of target. Deck gun duel, but after taking light damage, emergency dive and enemy sub escaped.

After, patrol area extended to Nagasaki bay, only 2 merchants detected after several days, besides patrols.

One ship sunk.

War Ended during the return voyage, crew was happy and in party.