Tell us what you are upto in your current campaign - Page 48

Leandros · 02-03-10, 05:56 PM

Patrol 37 Kaleu Eckhardt - U-68 - Dec 16th 1944 14:33

Left Trondheim for kvadrant AL66 on Dec. 8th. Very quiet crossing with calm seas untill we got north of the Shetlands, then the air traffic started. Had a brush with a Catalina. Soon after picked up a passenger/cargo that had been reported via the BdU. The Catalina came back and while our DG was engaging the merchant the flak guys kept the Cat at a distance. After one pass it went home. Eventually we expended our DG ammo - the firing started at long range - but then his speed had gone down so approached him submerged with the help of the schnorkel. Gave him a torp for good measure even if he certainly had gone down sooner or later. Didn't have time to hang around, Coastal Command would return for sure.

The schnorkel has its drawbacks. Using it during daytime is very dangerous, the water streaming around it can obviously be observed by the air patrols. Obs. periscope must be used at all times on such occasions. It's OK to use in the dark but one has to consider that the diesels can be heard much farther away than the electrical power source. Also own detection sensitivity decreases. And the speed shall always be less than when cruising surfaced. With other words - the fuel economy suffers.

We are presently in kvadrant AM12 having been interrupted by a large convoy coming out of the east. Probably a Murmansk-convoy returning. Based on info from the BdU we have been able to position us straight ahead of it. We have picked up some of the escorts on the sonar and some of the first merchants. Among the TI's and TIII's we also have 3 Falke. 2 loaded in the rear tubes and one forward. There were many more available in Trondheim, T5 and T6, too - but, we were not able to scrounge these out of the quartiermeister. Probably earmarked for the new E-boote.

Crew is getting quite rash now, most of them having served with me on my 36 patrols. I am getting hints all the time not to save on torps if the escorts are coming after us. Which they shall. The margins are closing.

frau kaleun · 02-03-10, 10:19 PM

1st Patrol
U-36, U-Flotilla Saltzwedel
LtzS Hans Witte, commanding officer

1 Aug 1939
1809: Departed Wilhelmshaven with orders to proceed to grid BF19 and back for a short shakedown cruise with new boat and crew. Skies clear, visibility moderate, winds negligible.

2 Aug 1939
1817: Grid AN84. Skies clear, visibility moderate, winds 14 m/s. Proceeding SW toward Dover Straits en route to grid BF19.
2111: Grid AN84. Seas increasingly rough; submerged to 25 m. All equipment functioning normally.

3 Aug 1939
0500: Grid AN79. Hydrophone report of ship bearing 357 and closing. Maintained course and depth and allowed ship to pass by very near off our port side. Observed some trepidation on the part of greener crew members at the sound of her passing overhead in fairly close proximity and almost regretted my decision not to alter course; however if my misgivings regarding the current political situation at home and abroad prove well-founded, it may be a sound they are better off getting used to sooner rather than later and under the most innocuous circumstances possible. Ordered periscope depth; sweep revealed Hansa freighter heading away on a northeasterly course. Surfaced 150 m astern of freighter to the apparent delight of her morning watch; much waving and signalling of good wishes from both sides. Skies clear, visibility moderate, winds 6 m/s.
1946: Grid BF32. Continued good weather; proceeding SW through Channel.

4 Aug 1939
0040: Grid BF35. Watch reported ship spotted at long range heading SE, possibly en route to Cherbourg or Le Havre. First ship sighting since passing Hansa freighter yesterday A.M.
0230: Grid BF35. Ship spotted, another Hansa freighter heading NE through Channel.
0628: Grid BF26. Ship spotted, British light cargo heading toward southern English coast. Skies partly cloudy, visibility moderate, no wind; seas exceedingly calm.

5 Aug 1939
0716: Grid BF19. Patrolling assigned grid as ordered; skies clear, visibility moderate, winds negligible. Sounded alarm for crash dive and ordered maximum depth of 120 m; emergency surface ordered after 2 hrs submerged. Performance of crew and boat satisfactory throughout.

7 Aug 1939
0700: Grid BF11. Proceeding NW around southern Irish coast; will return to Wilhelmshaven via northerly route between Iceland and British Isles. Crew and boat still performing to expected standards. Per message received from flotilla HQ I am to be promoted Oberleutnant z. See upon successful return to base and retain command of U-36 for the foreseeable future.

Leandros · 02-04-10, 12:15 PM

Patrol 38 Kaleu Eckhardt - U-68 - Feb. 23rd 1945 09:10

Left Trondheim this morning 08:54. Some quick checks unravelled serious technical problems again. Max speed at surface 10-12 knops. What's worse - we only achieved 3 knots submerged. Looks as if we have to abort mission and return to base.

Patrol 37 almost ended with disaster. The escorts of the convoy we ambushed in AM12 was on us like wild dogs even before we sighted any merchants (extremely bad weather, BTW). Had to use half of our torps to keep them on bay, including the 3 Falkes. 2 of these accounted for 2 Captain I class. Our second try to sneak in resulted in our losing both scopes and the port diesel engine. Was also hit by one Hedgehog bomb, but no serious damage. Luckily, the weather was so bad that it was quite easy to escape their circle at 120 meters depth. The Bold III's seems very effective when used for quick dives and sneak-outs.

On the way back we made a typical mistake. To avoid being detected on radar we started up schnorkel/diesel about 10 nm from the convoy. One destroyer obviously snuck up on us in our blind rear angle - suddenly something was hitting us! We crash-dived and lowered the schnorkel simultaneously. He was so close upon us that we were inside his side-thrown D/C's. Again we could escape at 120 m. Didn't dare go deeper as HI was only 54 %.

The crew doesn't mind us returning to base.

Leandros · 02-04-10, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leandros

Patrol 38 Kaleu Eckhardt - U-68 - Feb. 23rd 1945 09:10

Left Trondheim this morning 08:54. Some quick checks unravelled serious technical problems again. Max speed at surface 10-12 knops. What's worse - we only achieved 3 knots submerged. Looks as if we have to abort mission and return to base.

Patrol 37 almost ended with disaster. The escorts of the convoy we ambushed in AM12 was on us like wild dogs even before we sighted any merchants (extremely bad weather, BTW). Had to use half of our torps to keep them on bay, including the 3 Falkes. 2 of these accounted for 2 Captain I class. Our second try to sneak in resulted in our losing both scopes and the port diesel engine. Was also hit by one Hedgehog bomb, but no serious damage. Luckily, the weather was so bad that it was quite easy to escape their circle at 120 meters depth. The Bold III's seems very effective when used for quick dives and sneak-outs.

On the way back we made a typical mistake. To avoid being detected on radar we started up schnorkel/diesel about 10 nm from the convoy. One destroyer obviously snuck up on us in our blind rear angle - suddenly something was hitting us! We crash-dived and lowered the schnorkel simultaneously. He was so close upon us that we were inside his side-thrown D/C's. Again we could escape at 120 m. Didn't dare go deeper as HI was only 54 %.

The crew doesn't mind us returning to base.

Patrol 40 Kaleu Eckhardt - U-68 - May 8th 1945 09:00

War is over! The engines of U-68 obviously are completely shot. Had to RTB on Patrol 39, too. Before repairs could be made - no spare engines - the war ended. Thank you!

KL-alfman · 02-04-10, 01:16 PM

glad you survived!

Jimbuna · 02-04-10, 01:18 PM

BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!!

Leandros · 02-04-10, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbuna

BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!!

Thank you - I was - untill after october '43 when I had technical problems 6 times in row - till Sept. '44. Lost all my goodwill because I used it to load up with expensive self-seeking torpedoes each time. Which I lost when returning to base. Even got degraded.

While we are at it how do I fix these two minor irritants:

1. When, for example, an aircraft is approaching, a warning/choice fills the screen. When selecting, for example, to stay on the surface or engage the enemy it comes back in a few seconds and asks again. It is very tiresome and interferes with the work. It doesn't help to tick the little square, it still comes back.

2. The other is when on the limit of sighting a vessel - each time it is resighted the X drops to one. Also the annoying voice - vessel sighted. How do I get rid of this. I have been into it once but cannot remember it now.

Be a little agressive to find out about this for me....

Leandros · 02-04-10, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KL-alfman

glad you survived!

Thank you! On it again....

RConch · 02-04-10, 04:20 PM

Eighth war patrol U 564 VIIC heading to BE 94.

Skullcowboy · 02-04-10, 05:04 PM

1st patrol, Sept 1 1939.
We've invaded Poland. Or they have invaded us, depends on who you listen to. The talk is the Tommies and the French will just back down again. I'm not so sure. Time will tell...

Big brass band on the dock, lots of cheering and the crew in high spirits as we pull out. Ahead slow in our new VIIB, we make for the Kiel canal locks. Damnedest thing happens. A small tanker with Esso colors steams into the closed lock gates and explodes! What a mess. Long way round for us it seems.

Some of the crew speak of sabotage. I shut that down straightaway but I can see the lads are shaken. It isn't the best way to start our first outing. Looking forward to deep water. Some emergency drills and mock target runs to set the routine and get their minds on what may come...

Skullcowboy · 02-05-10, 01:43 AM

U-52 continuing patrol, 2 Sept 39. The trip out to the North Sea was uneventful. The Chief playing the 'What is that and what does it do.' game with some of the greener kids, alarm drills and what not. Giving the boat a good going over, it's only a few months old.

At about 2230hrs one of the lookouts spots a ship about 11,000m out approaching at medium speed. Good time for a targeting drill. Quick figuring and damned if we aren't in a perfect spot. We drop to ahead slow and she'll cross our T at about 1500m.

Letting a couple of the pups do the numbers while the WO checks their work we run through the drill, set up a two torp spread, get a good ID... it's a Polish Collier!! I verify the setup and LOS!!! The shot is perfect, one fish hits just after the bow, the other right on the engine room. She goes down in minutes.

We've broken in the boat. Perhaps our start hasn't jinxed us...

KL-alfman · 02-05-10, 03:09 AM

U-110 (Kaleu Artur Stein)
21st, December 1941
still patrols out in the Atlantic, making her way down from Rockall's to the coast of Portugal, looking for less fog and calmer seas.
got a contact report of a large convoy in which we would have liked to spend our remaining 12eels. in our silent run at 90°AOB to the first corner on starboard suddenly the whole convoy turned from sailing north to now north-east.

what a terrible surprise! the leading escort soon pinged us and we only could crash-dive and escape at 160m. some other boats must have attacked earlier, there were two burning freighters. anyway the escorts were really aggressive!:

02-05-10, 03:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leandros

patrol 40 kaleu eckhardt - u-68 - may 8th 1945 09:00

war is over! The engines of u-68 obviously are completely shot. Had to rtb on patrol 39, too. Before repairs could be made - no spare engines - the war ended. Thank you!

T i l l y k k e ! ! !

02-05-10, 04:52 AM

Patrol: 1
Grid: BE61
D. 1.sep.39 til 10.okt.39

D. 3.sep.39. 13.51. Radio Message.
Commense hostilities against England.

D. 17.sep.39. Grid AM78.
Ship spotted.
14.39. Little Merchant (2.343 GRT) sunk.
Daylight submerged attack. 1 x T1 Torpedo.

D. 18.sep.39.
Arrive at Patrol Grid BE61.
No contacts.

D. 22.sep.39. Grid BE39.
Ship spotted.
10.08. Little Merchant (2.336 GRT) sunk.
Daylight submerged attack. 1 x T1 Torpedo.

D 25.sep.39. 14.41 Radio report.
Enemy Large Convoy. AM01. East. 6 knots.

Contact made with convoy.
Course 097. Speed 6+ knots.

D 26.sep.39.
Weather clear. Moon full.
Night submerged attack. 3 x T1 Torpedoes.
00.35. AM29. Coastal Merchant (2.045 GRT) sunk.
C2 Cargo struck by 2 torpedoes, and damaged.
(Fires would made perfect beacon to convoy).
Escort consisted of 1 Flower Class Corvette.
Escaped undetected.

04.30. AM29. Damaged C2 Cargo (6.448 GRT) sunk.
Night submerged attack. 1 x T1 Torpedo.

Daylight submerged attack. 3 x T1 Torpedoes.
3 torpedo impacts heard.
Corvette made numeriouse depth charge drops.
Went from 100 meters til 110, then 120.
No damage to U37.
Disengaged convoy.

Surfaced to trail convoy in search of damaged ships.
16.21. AM51. Damaged T2 Tanker (10.871 GRT) sunk.
No sign of the other struck vessel.

U37 returning to base.
3 encounters with enemy carrier based aircraft enrout.
(Mellem Island og Færøerne).

Patrol Total = 5 ships. 24.043 GRT.
(No external torpedoes carried.
2 external stern tubes without reloads.
12 Torpedoes total.)

Leandros · 02-05-10, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snestorm

T i l l y k k e ! ! !

Takk!

02-03-10, 05:56 PM	#706
Leandros Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Stockholm Posts: 676 Downloads: 17 Uploads: 0	Patrol 37 Kaleu Eckhardt - U-68 - Dec 16th 1944 14:33 Left Trondheim for kvadrant AL66 on Dec. 8th. Very quiet crossing with calm seas untill we got north of the Shetlands, then the air traffic started. Had a brush with a Catalina. Soon after picked up a passenger/cargo that had been reported via the BdU. The Catalina came back and while our DG was engaging the merchant the flak guys kept the Cat at a distance. After one pass it went home. Eventually we expended our DG ammo - the firing started at long range - but then his speed had gone down so approached him submerged with the help of the schnorkel. Gave him a torp for good measure even if he certainly had gone down sooner or later. Didn't have time to hang around, Coastal Command would return for sure. The schnorkel has its drawbacks. Using it during daytime is very dangerous, the water streaming around it can obviously be observed by the air patrols. Obs. periscope must be used at all times on such occasions. It's OK to use in the dark but one has to consider that the diesels can be heard much farther away than the electrical power source. Also own detection sensitivity decreases. And the speed shall always be less than when cruising surfaced. With other words - the fuel economy suffers. We are presently in kvadrant AM12 having been interrupted by a large convoy coming out of the east. Probably a Murmansk-convoy returning. Based on info from the BdU we have been able to position us straight ahead of it. We have picked up some of the escorts on the sonar and some of the first merchants. Among the TI's and TIII's we also have 3 Falke. 2 loaded in the rear tubes and one forward. There were many more available in Trondheim, T5 and T6, too - but, we were not able to scrounge these out of the quartiermeister. Probably earmarked for the new E-boote. Crew is getting quite rash now, most of them having served with me on my 36 patrols. I am getting hints all the time not to save on torps if the escorts are coming after us. Which they shall. The margins are closing.

02-04-10, 12:15 PM	#708
Leandros Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Stockholm Posts: 676 Downloads: 17 Uploads: 0	Patrol 38 Kaleu Eckhardt - U-68 - Feb. 23rd 1945 09:10 Left Trondheim this morning 08:54. Some quick checks unravelled serious technical problems again. Max speed at surface 10-12 knops. What's worse - we only achieved 3 knots submerged. Looks as if we have to abort mission and return to base. Patrol 37 almost ended with disaster. The escorts of the convoy we ambushed in AM12 was on us like wild dogs even before we sighted any merchants (extremely bad weather, BTW). Had to use half of our torps to keep them on bay, including the 3 Falkes. 2 of these accounted for 2 Captain I class. Our second try to sneak in resulted in our losing both scopes and the port diesel engine. Was also hit by one Hedgehog bomb, but no serious damage. Luckily, the weather was so bad that it was quite easy to escape their circle at 120 meters depth. The Bold III's seems very effective when used for quick dives and sneak-outs. On the way back we made a typical mistake. To avoid being detected on radar we started up schnorkel/diesel about 10 nm from the convoy. One destroyer obviously snuck up on us in our blind rear angle - suddenly something was hitting us! We crash-dived and lowered the schnorkel simultaneously. He was so close upon us that we were inside his side-thrown D/C's. Again we could escape at 120 m. Didn't dare go deeper as HI was only 54 %. The crew doesn't mind us returning to base.

02-04-10, 01:16 PM	#710
KL-alfman Grey Wolf Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Weimar Posts: 930 Downloads: 86 Uploads: 0	glad you survived! __________________ Life, Liberty and Property!

02-04-10, 01:18 PM	#711
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 181,122 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!! __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!! GWX3.0 Download Page - Donation/instant access to GWX (Help SubSim)

02-04-10, 04:20 PM	#714
RConch Captain Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: No. Virginia Posts: 618 Downloads: 503 Uploads: 0	Eighth war patrol U 564 VIIC heading to BE 94. __________________ "Noch und Noch" Prowling the Nord Atlantik with GWX 3.0.

02-03-10, 10:19 PM	#707
frau kaleun Rear Admiral Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Skyri--oh who are we kidding, I'm probably at Lowe's. Again. Posts: 12,706 Downloads: 168 Uploads: 0	1st Patrol U-36, U-Flotilla Saltzwedel LtzS Hans Witte, commanding officer 1 Aug 1939 1809: Departed Wilhelmshaven with orders to proceed to grid BF19 and back for a short shakedown cruise with new boat and crew. Skies clear, visibility moderate, winds negligible. 2 Aug 1939 1817: Grid AN84. Skies clear, visibility moderate, winds 14 m/s. Proceeding SW toward Dover Straits en route to grid BF19. 2111: Grid AN84. Seas increasingly rough; submerged to 25 m. All equipment functioning normally. 3 Aug 1939 0500: Grid AN79. Hydrophone report of ship bearing 357 and closing. Maintained course and depth and allowed ship to pass by very near off our port side. Observed some trepidation on the part of greener crew members at the sound of her passing overhead in fairly close proximity and almost regretted my decision not to alter course; however if my misgivings regarding the current political situation at home and abroad prove well-founded, it may be a sound they are better off getting used to sooner rather than later and under the most innocuous circumstances possible. Ordered periscope depth; sweep revealed Hansa freighter heading away on a northeasterly course. Surfaced 150 m astern of freighter to the apparent delight of her morning watch; much waving and signalling of good wishes from both sides. Skies clear, visibility moderate, winds 6 m/s. 1946: Grid BF32. Continued good weather; proceeding SW through Channel. 4 Aug 1939 0040: Grid BF35. Watch reported ship spotted at long range heading SE, possibly en route to Cherbourg or Le Havre. First ship sighting since passing Hansa freighter yesterday A.M. 0230: Grid BF35. Ship spotted, another Hansa freighter heading NE through Channel. 0628: Grid BF26. Ship spotted, British light cargo heading toward southern English coast. Skies partly cloudy, visibility moderate, no wind; seas exceedingly calm. 5 Aug 1939 0716: Grid BF19. Patrolling assigned grid as ordered; skies clear, visibility moderate, winds negligible. Sounded alarm for crash dive and ordered maximum depth of 120 m; emergency surface ordered after 2 hrs submerged. Performance of crew and boat satisfactory throughout. 7 Aug 1939 0700: Grid BF11. Proceeding NW around southern Irish coast; will return to Wilhelmshaven via northerly route between Iceland and British Isles. Crew and boat still performing to expected standards. Per message received from flotilla HQ I am to be promoted Oberleutnant z. See upon successful return to base and retain command of U-36 for the foreseeable future.

02-04-10, 05:04 PM	#715
Skullcowboy Watch Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: United States of TEXAS!!! Posts: 25 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	New to the game... 1st patrol, Sept 1 1939. We've invaded Poland. Or they have invaded us, depends on who you listen to. The talk is the Tommies and the French will just back down again. I'm not so sure. Time will tell... Big brass band on the dock, lots of cheering and the crew in high spirits as we pull out. Ahead slow in our new VIIB, we make for the Kiel canal locks. Damnedest thing happens. A small tanker with Esso colors steams into the closed lock gates and explodes! What a mess. Long way round for us it seems. Some of the crew speak of sabotage. I shut that down straightaway but I can see the lads are shaken. It isn't the best way to start our first outing. Looking forward to deep water. Some emergency drills and mock target runs to set the routine and get their minds on what may come... __________________ Always remember to pillage THEN burn...

02-05-10, 01:43 AM	#716
Skullcowboy Watch Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: United States of TEXAS!!! Posts: 25 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Amazing luck... U-52 continuing patrol, 2 Sept 39. The trip out to the North Sea was uneventful. The Chief playing the 'What is that and what does it do.' game with some of the greener kids, alarm drills and what not. Giving the boat a good going over, it's only a few months old. At about 2230hrs one of the lookouts spots a ship about 11,000m out approaching at medium speed. Good time for a targeting drill. Quick figuring and damned if we aren't in a perfect spot. We drop to ahead slow and she'll cross our T at about 1500m. Letting a couple of the pups do the numbers while the WO checks their work we run through the drill, set up a two torp spread, get a good ID... it's a Polish Collier!! I verify the setup and LOS!!! The shot is perfect, one fish hits just after the bow, the other right on the engine room. She goes down in minutes. We've broken in the boat. Perhaps our start hasn't jinxed us... __________________ Always remember to pillage THEN burn...

02-05-10, 03:09 AM	#717
KL-alfman Grey Wolf Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Weimar Posts: 930 Downloads: 86 Uploads: 0	U-110 (Kaleu Artur Stein) 21st, December 1941 still patrols out in the Atlantic, making her way down from Rockall's to the coast of Portugal, looking for less fog and calmer seas. got a contact report of a large convoy in which we would have liked to spend our remaining 12eels. in our silent run at 90°AOB to the first corner on starboard suddenly the whole convoy turned from sailing north to now north-east. what a terrible surprise! the leading escort soon pinged us and we only could crash-dive and escape at 160m. some other boats must have attacked earlier, there were two burning freighters. anyway the escorts were really aggressive!: __________________ Life, Liberty and Property! Last edited by KL-alfman; 02-05-10 at 05:01 AM.

02-05-10, 04:52 AM	#719
Snestorm Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	U37 IX(A) 2. Flotilla Patrol: 1 Grid: BE61 D. 1.sep.39 til 10.okt.39 D. 3.sep.39. 13.51. Radio Message. Commense hostilities against England. D. 17.sep.39. Grid AM78. Ship spotted. 14.39. Little Merchant (2.343 GRT) sunk. Daylight submerged attack. 1 x T1 Torpedo. D. 18.sep.39. Arrive at Patrol Grid BE61. No contacts. D. 22.sep.39. Grid BE39. Ship spotted. 10.08. Little Merchant (2.336 GRT) sunk. Daylight submerged attack. 1 x T1 Torpedo. D 25.sep.39. 14.41 Radio report. Enemy Large Convoy. AM01. East. 6 knots. Contact made with convoy. Course 097. Speed 6+ knots. D 26.sep.39. Weather clear. Moon full. Night submerged attack. 3 x T1 Torpedoes. 00.35. AM29. Coastal Merchant (2.045 GRT) sunk. C2 Cargo struck by 2 torpedoes, and damaged. (Fires would made perfect beacon to convoy). Escort consisted of 1 Flower Class Corvette. Escaped undetected. 04.30. AM29. Damaged C2 Cargo (6.448 GRT) sunk. Night submerged attack. 1 x T1 Torpedo. Daylight submerged attack. 3 x T1 Torpedoes. 3 torpedo impacts heard. Corvette made numeriouse depth charge drops. Went from 100 meters til 110, then 120. No damage to U37. Disengaged convoy. Surfaced to trail convoy in search of damaged ships. 16.21. AM51. Damaged T2 Tanker (10.871 GRT) sunk. No sign of the other struck vessel. U37 returning to base. 3 encounters with enemy carrier based aircraft enrout. (Mellem Island og Færøerne). Patrol Total = 5 ships. 24.043 GRT. (No external torpedoes carried. 2 external stern tubes without reloads. 12 Torpedoes total.)