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Post by silentwolf on Oct 29, 2023 3:43:39 GMT
1 January 1941
Our flotilla is currently based out of La Rochelle. We have destroyed 393,600 tons of enemy shipping.
We will cut off the supply routes to strangle our enemy into submission!
NOTE: Our flotilla is based out of La Rochelle. Any new Boats entering the game will begin their patrol in Wilhelmshaven but end their patrol in La Rochelle (Last patrol box will be ‘Bay of Biscay’). Once a Boat is in La Rochelle, future patrols will begin and end there (First and last patrol box will be ‘Bay of Biscay’).
God speed and good hunting!
Patrol Assignments:
U-45 (VIIB) KKpt Shroeder - British Isles
U-46 (VIIB) KKpt Hess - British Isles
At Sea:
Active U-Boat Status:
U-28 (VIIA) KKpt Bonhoeffer - Refit, ready Feb 1941
U-39 (IXA) KKpt Borchers - Refit, ready Apr 1941
U-45 (VIIB) KKpt Shroeder - On Patrol
U-46 (VIIB) KKpt Hess - On Patrol
Lost U-boats:
U-37 (IXA) KptLt List - Sunk, Nov 1939
U-38 (IXA) KptLt von Margur - Presumed lost, did not return from Apr-May 1940 patrol
U-52 (VIIB) KptLt Engel - Presumed lost, did not return from May 1940 patrol
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
* Boats overdue for 2 consecutive months will be presumed lost.
End of Patrol Reports for January 1941 due no later than Midnight, November 4th.
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Post by crushedhat on Nov 3, 2023 1:52:59 GMT
30 Jan 1941, La Rochelle, U-45 enters the port of La Rochelle with two pennants flying from the periscope.
U-Boat #: U-45 Patrol Month(s): Jan 41 Patrol Location: British Isles Patrol # for this Kommandant: 8 Successful Patrol (Y/N): Y Number of freighters sunk (This Patrol/Cumulative for this Kommandant): 2/11 Number of Tankers sunk (This Patrol/Cumulative for this Kommandant): 0/1 Number of Capital Ships sunk (This Patrol/Cumulative for this Kommandant): 0/0 Tonnage sunk (This Patrol/Cumulative for this Kommandant): 21,500/74,900 Refit Time: 1 Month standard, ready Mar 1941 Award Requests: None
Narrative:
2 Jan 1941, La Rochelle, France KKpt Albert Shroeder decided it best to give the men a day to recover form their New Year’s revels before putting out to sea. Despite the day of rest, some of the more boisterous hands were moving a bit sluggishly as they moved about U-45’s deck. His own plans to sample the hedonistic pleasures of La Rochelle thwarted when, upon learning of U-45’s extended stay in port Mart suggested Albert spend the holidays with her and the children, Albert personally had no need of a recovery day. The same could not be said for his officers.
Turning to his 1WO, LtzS Rudolph Hintzman, Albert suppresses an amused smile at the younger man’s discomfort. “Alright, No. One, let’s begin this patrol.”
“Yes, Herr Kapitan,” Rudolph replies, turning to begin issuing the orders to cast off.
As the crew sets about their work, Shroeder turns his coat collar up against the cold wind blowing across the harbor.
9 Jan 1941, Off the Irish cost, day Funkobermaat Klaus Kampfe steps across the small hallway separating the radio room from KKpt Albert Shroeder’s cabin to hand him the just decoded message, an expectant grin on Klaus’ face. As Albert reads the message, a matching grin forms on his face. Shroeder hands the message back to Kampfe as he makes his way to the control room.
A short while later, U-45 is lying alongside an unescorted merchantman, the unfortunate ship’s position having been reported by a Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft. Shroeder nods to ObFzS Klaus Lister at the 8cm deck gun and it barks as a deadly shell flies towards the freighter. To the embarrassment of Lister and the gun crew, their shells fall short of the mark and a less than happy Shroeder orders the firing of four torpedoes. The eels prove more effective and the merchantman breaks apart under the onslaught of multiple torpedo hits.
15 Jan 1941, East coast of England, day The men in the control room watch intensely as KKpt Albert Shroeder studies the target through the periscope. Having tracked it for a while now, Shroeder feels he has a good sense of where it is going.
“Rudolph,” Albert summons his 1WO to the plotting table. “I think it is headed here.” Shroeder’s finger taps a location on the chart. “Set a course.”
“We’re not going to attack now, Her Kapitan?” Hintzman quietly questions his superior, it not being every day a 30,000 ton battleship presents itself.
Taking no offense at the question, Albert answers loud enough for those nearby to hear. “I don’t believe a pretty piece of ribbon is worth the lives of 55 men. And, if we attack in daylight, with the bulk of our eels being steam driven, we’ll likely pay a price. “No, Rudolph, we will wait for the cover of darkness.” The men in the control room breath a collective sigh of relief as they look at their Kommandant with a new sense of devotion.
The decision ends up costing U-45 the chance to sink a BB as the target apparently changes course and does not arrive where Shroeder expected. Still, Albert stands by his decision.
22 Jan 1941, English Channel, night The silhouette of the target is barely discernable against the background of the English coast. Perhaps her master thought that would be enough to save him. It wasn’t, thanks to the sharp eyes of Mechanikergefreiter Gunther Schoen.
“She's no battleship,” KKpt Albert Shroeder concedes to his 1WO, LtzS Rudolph Hintzman. “But I’d wager she’s close to 15,000 tons.”
“Aye,” Rudolph agrees as he stands back up form peering through the UZO. “Torpedoes ready, Herr Kapitan.”
“Then let us be at it,” Albert says. Less than a minute later the night is made day as the sound of multiple explosions rolls across the ocean.
26 Jan 1941, near the Channel Islands, night Funkobermaat Klaus Kampfe is not grinning as he hands the most recently decoded message to KKpt Albert Shroeder. Albert scowls as he reads the message, then crumples it. Once more his request for replenishment has been denied.
30 Jan 1941, La Rochelle U-45 enters the harbor with two pennants flying from her periscope. While KKpt Albert Shoroeder would have liked there to be aa third, the BB, the disappointment is softened by the fact that all his men are standing on deck rather than lying on the bottom of the Atlantic.
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Post by silentwolf on Nov 4, 2023 16:07:46 GMT
U-46
Patrol 7 for Kommandant KKpt Niko Hess Patrol Assignment: British Isles Successful Patrol: Yes Freighters sunk: 1/8 Tankers sunk: 1/4 Capital Ships sunk: 0/1 Tonnage sunk: 13,300/105,300 Awards Requested: None
Refit Time: 2 months, ready April 1941
"This patrol was a cake walk... No convoy action, but we encountered two escorted vessels...
Both were quickly sent to the bottom of the sea, and we were able to avoid detection on both occasions....
My boat suffered minimal damage from exceeding test depth a few times....".
- KKpt Niko Hess, KMDT U-46
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Post by silentwolf on Nov 5, 2023 5:33:33 GMT
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