Hello John, The boat carried 5 torpedoes all loaded in the tubes. Lemp fired 4 bow torpedoes at the battleship formation from target angle 80, range 3000 meters. Two pistols set for zone 0 and two for zone 4. One detonation was heard after 300 seconds. The boat still had one torpedo in the stern tube after the attack. Best regards, Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Marko, information on the POW cipher with an example message can be seen at Cheers, Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Hi Gerry, According to the boat's KTB on 24 June 1944 the boat was in square EL 2239 (10 15N, 80 15W north of Colon). U-539 observed a group of 12 patrol craft between 24 June 20.10 and 25 June 04.04. There was no attack on the boat and no mention of any tanker or destroyer. PM or e-mail me for more. Cheers, Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Hi Phillip, the only U-boat in the area (CA5) was U-89 and that boat made no mention of aircraft sightings or attacks in its KTB. It is possible that U-89 was sighted by a CAP aircraft but the attack in question was against a non submarine target. Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Hi Ragnar, it translates "A destroyer with sharp target angle comes in sight bearing 110 degrees true." Just to be clear when the destroyer was sighted it was bow on and the bearing was not relative to the boat but true. Good luck with the KTB. Cheers, Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Hi Arnold, Here are a couple of clues from KTBs. In the KTB for U-37's 2nd war patrol (see ) the CO says in his final report "The number of binoculars aboard has to be increased to at least 12, because some of them are temporarily out of order due to wetness. The waterproof Leitz binoculars are not suited for use at night." On in the KTB for U-96's (see ) the CO, in describ
Forum: General Discussions

Hi Denis, Looking at the other HAI boat's KTBs on 20 February at 00.11 U-256 shot two T5s in BE 1843, matching the entry in the BdU KTB exactly except that the time was 00.11 on the 20th instead of 20.11. It looks like BdU made an error in his KTB. Best regards, Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Hi Dennis, I have checked the ONI translation against the German and there is no typo here. Yet U-764's KTB makes no mention of any attack on 20 Feb 1944. I am looking at the other Group Hai boats to see if another boat made this attack. Best wishes, Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Hi John, The KTB say's "1828 Hit in the foreship. Steamer settles forward quickly deeper and sinks after 3 minutes over the forestem. 1842 Surfaced. 23 survivors on rafts and wreckage. Boats are destroyed. By the statement of the crew members it was the English freighter "Toronto City" 2486 GRT. In ballast en route to Neufoundland. So not in convoy. Comes from Bristol.&
Forum: General Discussions

Hi Hohn, from the KTB Bootsmann Wagner Matr.Gefr. Otten Wilhelm Bootsmaat d.R. Behrens St.Ob. Steuermann Ibelshäuser Masch.Gefr. Möller Send me an e-mail if you need more. Cheers, Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Hi John and Mark, ER 3911 = 8 39N 28 51W Cheers, Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Hi Ken, there is no mention of a personnel transfer that I can see in the U-boat KTBs. You have mail, Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Hi, at the U-boat Archive website there is a set of pages on torpedo firing technology and terminology. General information can be found at and specific information on firing reports with examples can be found at I hope that these pages and the other Note pages accessible from the main KTB Project page help with your translation. All the KTB Note pages are works in progress as we learn fro
Forum: Technology and Operations

Hi, Aptierung = model (air or electric), Pi = Pistol and Dez = is 10 degrees. In this case the firing report says the type, number and model of the torpedoes were G7e (inferred by the torpedo serial numbers 9898 and 8192). The pistols were most likely Pi 1 (inferred by the pistol serial numbers 6326 and 4087) (AZ or MZ is not clear but from the depth setting (3 meters), the date and the lack of
Forum: Technology and Operations

Hi, it was possible on a type IX but I cannot say for sure other classes of boats. This was done by U-507 on 11 September 1952 for purposes of trim. The torpedo was transferred from the stern room to the bow room by passing it up through the aft torpedo loading hatch, moving it forward along the track in the over deck on the wheeled loading cradle, and then down through the forward torpedo load
Forum: Technology and Operations

Hi all, I suspect this tube is used to store spare gun barrels for the 3.7 cm gun. U-505 had a similar tube mounted on the starboard side. Cheers, Jerry
Forum: Modeling and schematics

Hi Brian and Platon, I have checked my paper copy of the translated BdU KTB posted on the U-boat Archive website (translated by ONI just after the war ended) against the German original (on microfilm) and they match. That is to say,the date in the U-90 entry is 28-7-42 and the date of the U-576 entry is 23-7-42. Of course, as thorough and exacting as the Germans were, there are plenty of typos
Forum: General Discussions

Brian, The boat referred to in the 4 August BDU KTB is U-598. I have corrected my transcribing error on the website. Sorry for the confusion and thanks for pointing this out. Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Sid, on the hand grenade issue. Hand grenades were not part of the designed ammunition load for U-boats but are often mentioned POW interrogation reports so it can be assumed that they were carried aboard U-172. The KTB uses the words "Handgranaten neben die Bordwand geworfen." It is clear they are talking about throwing a hand grenade and not firing a shell. Also, the sea state was
Forum: General Discussions

Hi Sid, here is a rough translation of the KTB. Regards, Jerry (www.uboatarchive.net) 23.06.42 16.00 EB 8226 17.10 2-masted schooner in sight bearing 110°T, turned toward, small freight sailing vessel without flag and neutrality markings. Sets a flag after the first 2-cm shots, not distinguishable. Transmits on the 600-meter wave consequently fired again. Drew near. Nothing se
Forum: General Discussions

Hi, you are correct it should say extended instead of lowered. The manual is titled Naval Service Manual 381 - U-Boat Training for U-Boat Type VII C. Contact me by e-mail at jerry@uboatarchive.net and we can chat about it. Cheers, Jerry
Forum: Technology and Operations

Hi all, I checked the original and can confirm that the text in the U-570 report is not a typo; however it does appear to be reversed. A German manual on the type VII gives the following figures: Top of attack periscope above conning tower fairing = 5266 mm Top of search periscope above conning tower fairing = 2602 mm Top of conning tower above keel = 9397 mm (translator's note: this is
Forum: Technology and Operations

Brian, from the boat's KTB: Albert F. Paul was sunk at 0722 MESZ/CEST in approximately CA8673 (the boat's 0800 position) (using MQK converter = 36° 11'N, 72° 12'W) Trepca was sunk at 1838 in CA8654 (using MQK = 35° 59'N, 72° 20'W). You may contact me by e-mail if you have other questions. Cheers, Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Thomas, I wanted to let you know I have posted the USN Design Study on the type XXI boat referred to in the replies above on my website at I am in touch with two veterans who served in the USN crew of U-2513. They both spoke very highly of the boat and reported that initially, during its time as a target for ASW exercises, the boat would easily evade its pursuers using its high underwater spe
Forum: Technology and Operations

Nebraska, Type VII screws have the following dimensions: Diameter 1620 mm (5.31 feet), Pitch 1540 mm, Total area 0.93 m2, Projected area 0.81 m2, Material Special casting brass grade B. Cheers, Jerry
Forum: Modeling and schematics

Mark, contact me at jerry@uboatarchive.net and I will try to help. Cheers, Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Mark, U-60 did attack a convoy at that position at approximately that date/time. Contact me at jerry@uboatarchive.net for more information. Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

Steve, Ken and Rainer, this would seem to match ASW Incident #653, an attack by a Coast Guard aircraft at 16:29 (probably GMT), at 36 20N/74 57W. The attack was assessed as "D" Probably seriously damaged (so as to have to return to base). This information is from a list of early ASW Incidents from the records of the US 10th Fleet from the US National Archives at College Park. Cheers,
Forum: General Discussions

Dan, taking another look at the example page in my previous post, I believe you are correct. The boat is reporting its own true course and the true bearing of the Condor. I appreciate your correcting me. I am always learning from the many experts on this forum. Would you please send me an e-mail. Thanks, Jerry
Forum: General Discussions

JR, see the KTB Note on Time and Sky for more on the time kept aboard U-Boats This information was kindly provided by Ranier Kolbicz of Uboat.net Jerry
Forum: General Discussions