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Post by crushedhat on May 1, 2022 16:23:04 GMT
November 1940 Patrol Status
NOTE: With the fall of France, BdU will be moving operations into French ports. The 15th Flotilla will be based out of St. Nazaire. Any Boats currently in Wilhelmshaven, as well as any new Boats entering the game, will begin their patrol in Wilhelmshaven but end their patrol in St. Nazaire (Last patrol box will be ‘Bay of Biscay’). Once a Boat is in St. Nazaire, future patrols will begin and end there (First and last patrol box will be ‘Bay of Biscay’).
Nov Events: 7th, Ireland refuses to allow basing of British Naval forces 11th, British sink Italian Fleet at Taranto 19th, Greeks having success against the Italians 20th, Hungary joins the Axis 23rd, Romania joins Axis 24th, Slovak Republic joins Axis 29-30th, Large bombing raids on Liverpool & Southampton
U-Boat Status for month (Type IX patrols are two months long, Reports due the end of the second month) U# Type Rank Kommandant Player Patrol Assignment 37 IXA KKpt Siegmund von Margur Siegmund Oct-Nov British Isles 41 IXA KKpt Wilhelm Schultze ChefEd Nov-Dec British Isles 46 VIIB KptLt Willi Gering Donitz Refit 48 VIIB KKpt Til Werthner silentwolf Nov British Isles (M) 50 VIIB KKpt Joachim Helmert crushedhat Nov British Isles (A) (M) is a mining mission. (A) is agent insertion mission.
Lost Boats: U-39, did not return from Dec 39- Jan 40 patrol (British Isles (M)) U-45, did not return from May 40 patrol (British Isles (M)) U-99, did not return from Sep 40 patrol (Atlantic)
Required information for end of Patrol Report: U-Boat # Patrol Month(s) Patrol Location Patrol # for this Kommandant Successful Patrol (Y/N) Number of freighters sunk (This Patrol/Cumulative for this Kommandant) Number of Tankers sunk (This Patrol/Cumulative for this Kommandant) Number of Capital Ships sunk (This Patrol/Cumulative for this Kommandant) Tonnage sunk (This Patrol/Cumulative for this Kommandant) Refit Time Award Requests
Optional information for End of Patrol Report: Patrol narrative
End of Patrol Reports for Nov 40 due no later than Midnight, 7 May 2022 your time.
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Post by crushedhat on May 4, 2022 4:43:01 GMT
U-50 enters the harbor at St. Nazaire, no pennants flying from the periscope.
Patrol Report U-Boat #: U-50 Patrol Month(s): Nov 40 Patrol Location: British Isles (Agent Insertion) Patrol # for this Kommandant: 8 Successful Patrol (Y/N): Y Number of freighters sunk (This Patrol/Cumulative for this Kommandant): 0/8 Number of Tankers sunk (This Patrol/Cumulative for this Kommandant): 0/6 Number of Capital Ships sunk (This Patrol/Cumulative for this Kommandant): 0/0 Tonnage sunk (This Patrol/Cumulative for this Kommandant): 0/106,100 Refit Time: 1 month, ready Jan 1941 Award Requests: None
Narrative:
31 October 1940, St. Nazaire, France, Office of 15th Flotilla XO “The Kommodore wished to see me.” KKpt Joachim Helmert stood before the desk of the 15th Flotilla’s XO’s secretary. “An attractive woman,” he thought as Helferin Gertrude Stein locked up at him. She smiled upon seeing the Knight’s Cross on Joachim’s uniform.
“I’ll let the Kommodore know you are here,” Gertrude tells the U-Boat officer. Rising from her desk, she purposely takes a moment to straighten out her skirt, knowing that the decorated officer is watching. She then proceeds to the door bearing the name, ‘Kommodore Lucas Aus den Birken’ and knocks. “KKpt Helmert is here, Herr Kommodore,” she responds to the query from beyond the door. Opening the door, she smiles at Joachim and says, “The Kommodore will see you now.”
“Help yourself to a drink.” The XO indicates a small table with several bottles and glasses. As Joachim moves to the table he is aware of another presence in the room, there being a faint scent of perfume. Aus den Birken gestures toward a dark corner and a figure emerges; a Woman to rival the Helferin Joachim met outside.
“This is Fraulein…Miss, “the XO corrects himself, “Colleen Donnaught. She will be your assignment. To be more precise, setting her ashore on Ireland will be your assignment.”
Joachim barely hears the Kommodore’s words, his focus on the woman. When they finally sink in, his first thought is, “It’s bad luck to have a woman onboard.” Still, orders are orders, and bad luck should look so tempting her reflects. “Yes, Herr Kommodore,” is Joachim’s reply. Colleen Donnaught smiles, a confident expression.
3 November 1940, the Atlantic “Tell me, Miss Donnaught, Why are we putting an agent ashore in Ireland? It is my understanding that Irelands is neutral.”
“It is,” Colleen answers, a hint of amusement in her voice. “My job is make sure it remains so.” While she can see that Joachim is curious as to how, he does not ask. Smiling what has already become, to Joachim, her vexing confidence, she answers his unspoken question. “I will make sure that enough leaders have a reason not to change their minds.” To his next unasked question she adds, “They are men after all. And I’m a women.” Joachim blushes as her eyes seem to be laughing at him.
4 November 1940, the Irish Atlantic coast, night There was no problem getting volunteers to row Colleen Donnaught ashore. While KKpt Joachim Helmert would have liked to led the effort himself, protocol dictates that pleasure fall to one of his officers. Standing beside the ladder up to U-50’s tiny bridge, Joachim steps aside to allow Colleen Donnaught to ascend first.
“Gallantry, Herr KKpt?” Once more she graces him with her amused confident smile. “I think I know the real reason you’re letting me go first.” Joachim once more blushes, but still watches her legs as she climbs the ladder.
25 November 1940, Atlantic, night After depositing the agent, Miss Colleen Donnaught, ashore on the 4th, the remainder of the patrol proves uneventful. While it provides time for KKpt Joachim Helmert to put thoughts of the attractive agent from his mind, he lack of enemy contact also promotes a certain laxity among the crew. Therefore, it is not all that surprising that the first indication of a nearby patrol aircraft is when the night sky is lit up by a flare. Fortunately, the crew of the patrol bomber are inexperienced and drop the flare wide of its intended mark.
The cry of, “ALARM!” instills a proper sense of urgency in the recently complacent crewmen and U-50 slips unseen beneath the waves.
30 November 1940, St. Nazire U-50 enters the harbor with no pennant flying from the periscope and her Kommandant trying not to think about a certain woman while feeling guilty about another in Wilhelmshaven to whom he should write.
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Post by silentwolf on May 7, 2022 17:32:04 GMT
U-48 Patrol 6 for Kommandant KKpt Til Werthner Patrol Assignment: British Isles (M) Successful Patrol: Yes Freighters sunk: 2/8 Tankers sunk: 0/1 Capital Ships sunk: 0/0 Tonnage sunk: 14,600/68,400 Refit Time: 1 months, ready January 1941
Awards Requested: none
November 6th, 1940
KKpt Til Werthner stands on the conning tower deck along with the boat's lookouts.
High winds and seas require the men to tether themselves to the boat with safety harnesses.
"Cold day, Kapitan" , a lookout says while observing the horizon, he is ready for his watch to be over and to seek refuge below deck, but he keeps that to himself.
Werthner continues to press his binoculars against his face. He replies,
"Ja. Sunset is coming soon, it's only going to get colder."
Suddenly, a voice can be heard shouting from below deck. It is 1WO Phillipp Heiner.
"Kapitan, You may want to take a look at this! We've received a radio transmission....".
Werther makes his way below deck and to the radio room. The radio operator hands him a piece of parchment with the decoded transmission written on it.
It reads,
"LUFTWAFFE RECON UPDATE - A LONG RANGE RECONNAISSANCE PLANE HAS LOCATED AN UNESCORTED FREIGHTER NEAR YOUR POSITION.....".
Werthner takes a moment to analyze the situation. His mission orders are to deploy mines. It's not the most difficult task, and He could easily complete another successful patrol.
Should he choose to move to intercept, He would be limited to use of the deck gun only, as the torpedo tubes were currently loaded with mines.
He also would run the risk of a mission failure if the freighter sent out a distress call and alerted the Tommies to his presence.....
All eyes seemed to be on Werthner as the crew awaited his decision.....
"Make turns for 3-4-0. Flank speed."
The eyes of the crew men light up with excitement and delight.
"We've got an easy kill boys, we're not letting this one slip away. We'll intercept her just before dawn...."
November 7th, 1940 05.30
U-48 has intercepted and identified the unescorted freighter, "Port Hardy".
Werthner moves his boat to close range and the attack commences. The gunnery crew unleashes a volley of shells towards the 8900 ton freighter.
The darkness and high seas make this a difficult task, but approximately fifty percent of the shells find their mark and inflict a moderate amount of damage on the target.
Werthner closes distance.
The sun begins to rise in the Eastern sky as the gunnery crew prepares for another attack.
It is then that a lookout spots a tiny black dot in front of the rising sun.
The lookout shouts, "ALAAAAARM!"
The men quickly clear the deck and U-48 makes a speedy crash dive below the surface to avoid being spotted by the approaching enemy aircraft.
"Werdampt. They sent out an SOS call.", Werthner mutters to himself.....
Werthner orders the periscope up and carefully makes a sweep. He observes the enemy aircraft dissappear from sight far away to the West.
"Bring her up! I want you men on that deck gun seconds after we breach the surface! We don't have time to play around! Tighten up the pattern and land some hits! Let's sink that damn freighter and get out of here before any escorts arrive!"
U-48 surfaces and a second attack is made. This time the gunnery crew scores several hits and inflicts a severe amount of damage, sending "Port Hardy" to the bottom of the sea.
"Set a course for the operations area. We have special cargo for Tommie, let's go and deliver it...."
November 10th, 1940
U-48 successfully deploys her mines in the shallow waters near the coast of Wales.
November 16th, 1940 11.30
After nearly a week with no contacts, U-48 locates and intercepts the unescorted, 5,700 ton freighter "Steel Engineer".
A close range, surface attack is made with four torpedos. All hit and detonate.
"Steel Engineer" quickly sinks.
November 19th, 1940
Wanting to put his remaining torpedos to good use, Werthner makes a request for a refuel at sea. His request is denied.
November 24th, 1940
U-48 sails into the harbor of Saint Nazaire with 2 victory pennants on display.
While at sea, the boat's medic, Johan Rader, spent most of his downtime reading medical books. He has now advanced to EXPERTE status.
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Siegmund
Komandant
https://gyazo.com/02a30ba9c4d6048eb8d7f26644bfa8a2.png
Posts: 50
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Post by Siegmund on May 16, 2022 12:12:29 GMT
U-Boat: # 37 Type: IXa Patrol: # 4 Patrol Assignment: British Isles Successful Patrol: Yes Number of Freighters Sank: 3 (Arosso 11300, Carabule 5000, Madjerda 4400) Number of Tankers Sank: 0 Number of Capital Ships Sank:0 Total Tonnage Destroyed: 20700 (108500) Refit Time: 1 months Crew: Veteran Capitan: KLt Siegmund von Margur KC 1WO LtzS Otto Schulz 2WO ObfzS Andreas Abracham (Eng)Lt (Ing) Hans Braun Doctor Sanitatsmaat Andreas Holzmann Request 02.10.40 During the long vacation, the crew members gained strength and underwent additional training, which, coupled with previous experience, gives them the right to be called veterans. Full of hope, we leave Saint-Nazaire, so fond of us in recent days. 07.10.40 The transition to the patrol site went smoothly. Although the autumn storms badly battered us, the enemy planes were not up to us either. 13.10.40 Long days of rocking and rain seem to never end. 14.10.40 1734 Enemy convoy detected! 1850 Taking advantage of the onset of darkness, I managed to bring the boat to a minimum distance. I'm going to attack from the surface with all torpedo tubes. 4 torpedoes from the bow tubes are sent to the large ship, and two torpedoes from the stern tubes are sent to the smaller one. 1858 Two torpedoes hit the target. After the first hit, the ship lost its speed, and the second hit caused a strong fire, and the crew began to leave the ship. Both torpedoes from the stern tubes also hit the target, and the second ship stopped and began to sink. Great attack! Now you need to hide from the enemy escort. 1930 The enemy escort made several circles and dropped depth charges away from our boat. Looks like we managed to fool them. Ascending to periscope depth, we recorded two sinking ships, one of which was engulfed in flames. Now we need to pursue the convoy.
15.10.40 0640 As a result of the chase at dawn, we managed to catch up with several more ships of the convoy. This time the targets were fat, two tankers and a large merchant ship. 0725 While trying to approach the intended victims, we were discovered by an enemy destroyer and violently attacked us. Fortunately, we managed to avoid being hit by depth charges, but the enemy convoy managed to break away from us. 23.10.40 1245 Single enemy ship detected. We rush to intercept. After several warning shots, the ship slows down and the crew abandons the ship. Our gunners calmly send the ship to the bottom. 19.11.40 We haven't seen a single source for almost a month. Possibly the bad weather is to blame. Well, despite the large supply of torpedoes, we have to return. 16.11.40 Without incident, we arrived at the hospitable harbor of Saint-Nazaire.
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