Hilfskreuzer Schiff 44 (HSK-16) “Afrika”

[CPTLTJASON]

15.9.1940 South Atlantic 200km North of Tristian da Cunha 228th day at sea

After an uneventful voyage south, the Wolf meets the naval tanker Altmark in position 35°25’S, 12°17’W. The raider took aboard 800 x 15cm shells, 100 x 7.5cm shells, 12000 x 2cm shells, 3 torpedoes, 2200 cbm3 of diesel fuel, 2000 t of water, 1000 cbm3 of lubricating oils, 7 months’ worth of stores, 1 Arado Ar 196 A-1 aircraft stored in 5 ton crates. During the resupply the currently used Arado is launched carrying out daily reconnaissance flights in a 250km radius of the ships. The Wolf also took aboard 10 prize officers and another 100 petty officers and ratings for use as prize crews as well as 1 officer and 10 petty officers and ratings specializing in EMC mines.

Considering that Schiff 16 is operating in the mid Indian ocean and Schiff 33 off Madagascar, having sunk 3 ships, and heading east Kapitan.z.S Hartmann plans to repeat the mining operations carried out by the ship’s namesake. Hartmann, the first officer, and the navigation officer plan to lay 8 minefields off the approaches to Cape Town. Kapitan.z.S Hartmann plans to depart for the Cape Town area on the 20th.

[CPTLTJASON]

Unfortunately, due to some technical difficulties with SH5 in which I had to reinstall the game therefore making the last savegames unusable therefore I have to conclude the war cruise of the Wolf. Hopefully in future I can get a proper Hilfskreuzer war cruise going.

[Rwearjr]

Sad to hear this, was enjoying reading of the Wolf's exploits against allied shipping. May she sail again soon.

[CPTLTJASON]

Originally Posted by Rwearjr

Sad to hear this, was enjoying reading of the Wolf's exploits against allied shipping. May she sail again soon.

It's quite frustrating but then again its SH5.

[CPTLTJASON]

Currently working out the storyline for the new raider patrol. I plan to make this into another unrealistic mega patrol which will take the raider from 1935-1945. Hopefully I can get this going by late October so stay tuned.

[Rwearjr]

[CPTLTJASON]

I took down the posts due some inaccuracies and in my search for information on commerce warfare in the Spanish Civil War I found a book by Michael Alpert "The Spanish Civil War at Sea" and just by reading a preview I learned partly how ships were secretly sent to Spain this will add to the accuracy to the story of Schiff 30 with that being said I will have to edit the storyline once again, so it makes sense.

I know in the past I had great success with U-293/U-838 unfortunately not so much with the Hilfskreuzer side as I continue to study the operations and tactics of these vessels I am not a fan of posting then deleting stuff but the story albeit fictional has to make sense and in the end this is a hobby, So the ship will return to port for a short period of time while I get the storyline sorted out.

[CPTLTJASON]

First off I appreciate all the interest y'all have in this project I'm glad that folks are enjoying the adventures of the Hilfskreuzer.

Currently working on the appearance of the ship and the storyline, for the storyline the recent book i got has been helpful (In my opinion its more of a what if? book for the Spanish Republican Navy) but it works.

Here is the final draft of Schiff 30's appearance
Dimensions of Schiff Nr. 30
Length: 600ft
Beam: 65ft
Draft: 36ft

I am aware that there were few vessels that were not ocean liners to be over 580ft if they aren't Whale factory ships, tankers, etc. during the interwar years and WWII. I also plan on keeping a Kriegstagebuch even though they are of the same format as uboat KTBs the wording is of course much different I'm currently using a translated version of the Kriegstagebuch of the raider Atlantis as a guide for the kriegstagebuch of Schiff 30. With that being said hopefully in a few weeks time I'll finish rewriting the part of the storyline that covers the ship's early history I feel that's been quite vague.

[Rwearjr]

Sounds like even better tales of "Afrika" are soon to come CptLtJason. Looking forward to hearing more........sink 'em all.

[CPTLTJASON]

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Update:

Finalizing the storyline for the early history of the ship, as for the appearance of the ship, this has been finalized after researching the war diaries and experience reports of Schiff 16 and Schiff 33.

The only thing of course is that these call for smaller faster vessels, which the “Weserfels” at 600ft ain’t meeting that criteria!, but the recommendations for higher speeds (25.5 knots), more modern guns (10 X 15cm Tbts C/36), radar (modified version of Seetakt/De-Telegraph), improved rangefinder placement (3m), Armor (on the hull and decks), Leichte Schnellboote (which won’t come aboard until much later), aircraft catapult (on the extended boat deck), cabins, bunks, etc. (as noted in the experience report of Schiff 33) were made of wood and therefore flammable so all these aboard are of metal construction etc. more detailed list of improvements will be published later.

[propbeanie]

Definitely looking forward to the first sailing day, even if it is just a shake-down cruise.

[CPTLTJASON]

Merry Christmas to all!

[Rwearjr]

Merry Christmas CPTLTJASON.

[CPTLTJASON]

Kiel Harbor, Naval Fitting Out and Ordnance Depot

The O.K.M. instructed Hartmann to turn the ship around and return to Bremen and await further instructions. At noon, the ship turned around in Rendsburg and sailed for Bremen, arriving in the early morning of the 15th. The ship docked at Freihafen IV and took aboard some of the equipment from Kiel which arrived via the Reichsbahn on 2 Sonderzüge.

The ship was shifted to the Naval Fitting Out Depot where she remained until the 18th. During this time 8 Offiziere, 31 Uffz, and 100 Mannschaften of the Heer come aboard under Hptm Fredrich Deutsch. In Stettin tanks, vehicles, and equipment will be taken aboard. With this she will have all three branches of the Wehrmacht aboard.

On the evening of the 19th. orders came in instructing that Schiff 30 put to sea and make for the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak, Kattegat, Great Belt, and put into Kiel Harbor.

At 08:00 hrs. on the 20th., Korv.Kpt. Hartmann ordered Schiff 30 to put to sea in accordance with the operational orders. At 06:00 hrs. on the 24th. the ship arrived at Kiel without further incident and moored at the Kiel Naval fitting out and Ordnance Depot. Here she began outfitting for her training cruises.

The raider was photographed from the dock on which the light cruiser “Karlsruhe” was moored at.

[CPTLTJASON]

Baltic, Kiel.

Schiff 30 is ready for her test cruises. While in port and During the night the following was carried out: adjustment of the torpedo tubes, compensation of the compass, and determination of the radio load. At Scheerhafen Fresh water, provisions and coal were supplied and the tanks for aircraft fuel were filled at Kiel-Holtenau. 3 Heinkel He 60 aircraft and aircraft parts were taken on board. The following test cruises were carried out in the following sequence:

25.7.-26.7. Howachtbucht Proceeded with bow protection gear and cutter for mines.
27.7-1.8. Eckenforder Bay Small and large caliber weapons shooting.
2.8.-5.8. Kiel Bay T.E.K. Torpedo shooting.
6.8.-8.8. Kiel Bay Torpedo shooting.
9.8.-10.8. Lübecker Bay Anti-aircraft weapons shooting.
11.8. Kiel Bay Practice launching and recovering the embarked aircraft and use of the onboard catapult.
12.8. Kiel Bay Engine measured mile
13.8.-15.8. Kiel Bay During these cruises further training of the crew in boat drills and combat exercises. Repeated launch and recovery of the embarked aircraft on the catapult and trial fitting of the disguise mechanisms.
16.8. Kiel Bay Training for searchlight crews and the boarding and demolition commandos

On 17.8 the Kommandant, Freg.Kpt. Hartmann reported the ship and crew ready for combat. That evening the Kommandant was recalled to Berlin and informed that the ship would sail on 1.Sep. at midnight. He arrived early on the 18th. and immediately began preparations be begin the final outfitting of the ship. Hartmann had less than 15 days to outfit his ship, an impossible task reported the Administrative and supply officers, but impossible was not in Freg.Kpt. Hartmann’s vocabulary.

Soon Schiff 30 returned to the Naval Fitting Depot and began taking aboard, ammunition, torpedoes, and her cargo which brings us to her operational orders: Sail from Kiel to Yokohama via Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Punta Arenas, and Valparaiso. On arrival to Yokohama the raider is to disembark her cargo for the Naval Attache and Ambassador in Yokohama then cruise the Pacific for suitable Islands to be used for rendezvous points for raiders in times of war, among other tasks. The ship is scheduled to depart Kiel for Stettin on the morning of the 22nd. and be back in Kiel by midnight.


Now I will pause for a few days to begin writing the Kriegstagebuch. I initially will write it by hand as I've always done with the uboat patrols then type a final copy of which will now include attachments such as combat sketches, radio reports, reports from different ships divisions, etc.


(Picture shows Schiff 30 back at the Kiel Ordnance Depot)