Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the WEST 1943-45

Discussions on all (non-biographical) aspects of the Kriegsmarine except those dealing with the U-Boat forces.
kgvm
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Re: Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the WEST 1943-45

#16

Post by kgvm » 20 Jul 2008, 19:16

According to Rohwer's Chronik des Seekrieges 1939 - 1945 there was a simultaneous attack against the ports of Aruba by U 156, Curacao by U 67 and Maracaibo by U 502 (Operation Neuland). He doesn't mention any results :(
http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/42-02.htm

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Simon K
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Re: Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the WEST 1943-45

#17

Post by Simon K » 21 Jul 2008, 02:35

That also ties up with Hartensteins briefing,that it was a group of 3 Unterseeboote engaged in the area. Good work.

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Carl Schwamberger
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Re: Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the WEST 1943-45

#18

Post by Carl Schwamberger » 21 Jul 2008, 05:29

kgvm wrote:According to Rohwer's Chronik des Seekrieges 1939 - 1945 there was a simultaneous attack against the ports of Aruba by U 156, Curacao by U 67 and Maracaibo by U 502 (Operation Neuland). He doesn't mention any results :(
http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/42-02.htm
Now I wonder if this operation was directly related to 'Drumbeat' on the US east coast, or something added on and uncoordinated with it?

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Simon K
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Re: Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the WEST 1943-45

#19

Post by Simon K » 21 Jul 2008, 18:15

I have come across references to U Boats in the Caribbean and the Gulf, at least until mid 1942. I think the original Drumbeat areas of operations i.e close offshore the east coast & Florida was becoming untenable, due to increased US Navy ASW and convoy measures. Also the MK1Xs were too large to operate safely in that area. Do read Hirschfeld - The secret diary of a U Boat - Cassell military paperbacks (my edition) 2002. Hirschfeld was the sound man on U 109 and the mysterious U 234. Excellent accounts of Drumbeat operations of the Carolinas. Excellent read. BTW i love playing Silent Hunter 3 ( a first class U Boat sim) and i have difficulty crash diving my MK1X at 20 metres off Cape Fear!!

Simon K

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trapperP
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Re: Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the WEST 1943-45

#20

Post by trapperP » 23 Jul 2008, 20:11

I just joined in on this thread but did indeed find some info re the U 156 and shore bombardment:
"Men lost from the boat"
16 Feb, 1942
U 156 began to shell the oil refinery at Aruba in the Caribbean, but the gun crew forgot to remove the water plug from the barrel, causing an explosion that killed one man [Matrosengefreiter Heinrich Büssinger]. The gunnery officer [II WO Leutnant zur See Dietrich von dem Borne, see right] lost his right leg in this incident, and so had to be put ashore into captivity at Martinique on 21 February. The commander decided to saw off the ruined portion of the gun barrel, and using this shorter barrel, on 27 February U 156 sank a 2,498-ton British steamer.
Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -
And for credit, this was borrowed from the Uboat.net website. Tons and tons of good info there, some of which I have never see listed elsewhere. And we do see where he sank a ship wuith the gun after cholling off a portion of the barrel!
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Simon K
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Re: Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the WEST 1943-45

#21

Post by Simon K » 23 Jul 2008, 20:29

Yes it is an excellent site. Check out the entry on U boat provisioning!
Full of good stuff
BTW the officer drank most of a bottle of brandy in one hit before having the leg removed below deck, according to my source (see my above posts) 8O
No morphine or analgesics on board?
Simon K

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trapperP
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Re: Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the WEST 1943-45

#22

Post by trapperP » 24 Jul 2008, 14:10

"BTW the officer drank most of a bottle of brandy in one hit before having the leg removed below deck, according to my source (see my above posts)
No morphine or analgesics on board?
Simon K"
Now that would be an interesting topic! What exactly did the WWII U-boot have onboard for medical supplies, personnel, etc.? Reasonably sure they did not carry a doctor but can anyone shed light on this with quotes, sources, etc.? I’m sure everyone is aware of the case where an appendectomy was performed onboard a US sub during WWII by a pharmacist mate receiving instructions over the radio. A pharmacist mate, not even a corpsman or a hospitalman as they are now known.
Any further info here, even after straying this far away and totally hijacking the thread?
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Simon K
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Re: Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the WEST 1943-45

#23

Post by Simon K » 24 Jul 2008, 19:09

Hirschfeld ( U 109) talks about a short lived strategy where U boats were encouraged, if in groups of two or three, to stay surfaced and fight it out with allied aircraft with flak. For this purpose a doctor was assigned to the U 109 (presumably to treat casualties from strafing), but the man had never been to sea and was crippled with seasickness.
No info about equipment, drugs etc is given. Hirschfeld as sound/radio man, was deputed to be the boats medic in normal times.

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mslater
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Re: Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the WEST 1943-45

#24

Post by mslater » 23 Nov 2008, 13:25

I can tell you a little more about this. Royal Navy records show that HM destroyers Meteor and Lookout were on patrol in the Ligurian Sea and intercepted three German torpedo boats, TA 24 and TA 29, and sank both. My father was Chief Petty Officer on the Meteor and acting as ship's navigator. He plotted the interception course that led to the action. For this, he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre 2nd Class.

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Simon K
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Re: Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the WEST 1943-45

#25

Post by Simon K » 24 Nov 2008, 02:56

Hi mate welcome to the forum.
So your dad was involved in the action described at the opening of the thread?

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crolick
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Re: Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the WEST 1943-45

#26

Post by crolick » 24 Nov 2008, 14:11

Apart of HMS METEOR and HMS LOOKOUT in the engagement of 18 III 1945 there were also involved French destroyers TEMPETE (Bourrasque class) an BASQUE (L'Adroit class).
Though as far as I know METEOR sunk TA 24 while LOOKOUT TA 29.
British and French picked up over 200 survivors.

Edward L. Hsiao
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Re: Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the WEST 1943-45

#27

Post by Edward L. Hsiao » 21 Jul 2019, 23:27

Anymore examples that you can think of Kriegsmarine shore bombardments against the west?

Edward L. Hsiao

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