Decided to try to dock with a support ship and it got bombed.
 

I'm not really playing with all the hardcore settings most people are playing with in here however yesterday while playing my campaign (GWX 3.0 gold) with the type IXB I'm in mid 1941 and my patrol grid is in the neighborhood of the Gibraltar strait.

I decide to do some hunting there and I've exhausted most of my fish so I head back to Lorient I notice on the map there's a small ship in a nearby harbor I can dock with to refuel and since I've never tried it before I sneak into the harbor and come up right along side of it (in the ship cam we really are parked side by side almost against each other) at periscope depth.

I decide to stay like that until night fall so I time compress and all of a sudden the max compression goes down and the ship comes under attack by bombers while I'm just feet away from it underwater. I order back emergency and slowly back out while all hell breaks lose above in extremely shallow water.


Somehow I manage to escape with only minor damage, sneak back out. and head for home.

Most intense thing that I've been through so far in this game.

Welcome to SubSim wschaub :salute:

Sinking all alive !:salute:
It's not so important what kind of mod, it is important for you to like

Friendly meeting in ocean

http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/253...xAy_sredna.bmp

Welcome a board :salute:

Welcome aboard!
 

Finally... The Nelson has fallen!
 

According to my steam library, i have played SH3 for 332 hours. And since i had very few in-game hours i have been looking to sink the Nelson Battleship. Why? I dunno, but for some reason i have allways wanted his bones! :arrgh!:
But after several careers, in vanilla, GWX, and LSH3 (none of them finished to the end), i have never found it.

Then a few days ago, "inteligence reports" told me i could only find it from Nov. 1939 to very early 1940 (Jan). So i started a new career in 1939, 1st flotilla, using Vanilla sh3 + an enhancement mod i made called "Enhanced Vanilla" (it doesnt touch campaing files, just adds some elements from GWX, LSH, and some fixes of my own).

1st patrol, on my TypeII i nailed a couple of small merchants, nothing fancy. Its only september, so i dont expect to find it yet.

2nd patrol, intel reports of a battleship on scapa flow, Not November yet, but still a Battleship is allways a juicy target. I dont know how wise it is to try to infiltrate Scapa flow on a TypeIIA, but its still early war, so i go there, and find the HMS Revenge. 3 eels (all my tubes!) on her port, and down she goes. (Sorry, i did take some pics, but i must have deleted them by mistake :stare:). I got detected on the way out, deptcharged, escaped by a hair.

3rd patrol, November 10. By now i have been given an iron cross (for sinking the revenge), and the TypeVIIB is now available, plus i got the renow to get it so i do. After leaving port, my intel tells me of Battleships reported on Loch Ewe (AM38), report is:
:o:woot::rock::rotfl2:

Needless to say, i hauled butt to that location. Oh boy it was a nightmare to infiltrate. I did time my arrival to be @ about 1900hrs, but i only managed to get inside the port after 0300hrs and after a couple of close calls! It was crawling with destroyers and patrol boats.
But oh boy was it worth it...

[IMG]https://s26.postimg.org/azd0mlvd5/onsight.jpgsubir foto[/IMG]

He was in a position where i had to "circle" arround it to get it at a good angle, wich took aditional time. The other battleship BTW was inside the dock, nearly impossible to attack it unless firing directly at its keel @ an AOB of about 5º (eels will most likely bounce off) so i dint even try.

So i decided to send all my forward eels to the Nelson, slow speed, impact pistons, distributed to hit it in diferent places mostly on its mid and rear portside.
And off they go!
Its not looking good for the Nelson!
[IMG]https://s26.postimg.org/icselkfex/eelsontheway.jpghosting imagenes[/IMG]

As the eels start they journey i start my escape. Silent mode, 3knots (noone nearby), all the long way back to the entrance.
Then...
Boom! "torpedo impact!", Boom! "torpedo impact!", Boom! "torpedo impact!", Boom! "torpedo impact!"

HAH! i bet he is on its way to the (Shallow) bottom by now!
I go to periscope depth (was @ 14m) and take a quick peek thru the periscope. He is smoldering, smoke coming out but I dont see it sinking yet. :o
What i do see, is a destroyer "staring" at me as he approaches. He has seen me. :o

Several minutes and a multitude of manouvers and close calls later, i manage to avoid them. I go further away from the nearest destroyer and take another peak. Nelson is still not sinking!
Not only im i not in a position for a frontal attack (im on my way out, facing the opposite direction fo the nelson), but my forward tubes are not loaded either. I couldnt order loading due to silent mode. :nope:
But i do have my aft tube loaded! and i only need to turn about 15º to get him on my 180.
Range is now about 4.5km, excellent! Fire 5!
As i continue my exit, event cam pops up, the eel is about to hit. Then the crappiest of toughts comes to my mind "oh boy, i hope its not a dud!"...
Do i need to say what happened next? :/\\!!

I will sink this thing, even if i die trying!!!

And besides, no one notices and/or cares about the dud eel.
All Stop, Secure from silent mode, crew, get your behinds to the aft torpedo room and load 5, NOW!
About 12min. later.... Fire 5!
I do continue my exit, hoping i dont get two duds in a row, some time later Boom!...
Now thats better!
[IMG]https://s26.postimg.org/6oycr0qa1/goingdown.jpghosting imagenes[/IMG]

After cheering along with my crew i continued my exit, and noticed two of the destroyers patroling the area had rammed into the shore!!?? the weather was good, i dont know what happened, but oh well ill take it!

After leaving Loch Ewe i still proceeded to my designated patrol area, and managed to sink a C2, then i finally returned to port to be given an iron cross (1st class this time), promotions for my crew, and quite a bit of renow. :rock:

While this wasnt my most "profitable" patrol in regards to tonnage (that was one i reported here a few pages back, when i sank a carrier, +100,000 tons total), i think this was my most... "intense" and rewarding one of all the time ibe played SH3.
Thank you HMS Nelson for the great time!

Awesome patrol, cheers :cool:

My 1WO thinks that I've never seen a plane, and instead commanded "Alaarm", tells me that he saw the plane :D
http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/253...Za3_sredna.bmp

http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/253...8uW_sredna.bmp

Well we passed only with repair of diesel and ballast tanks .....:o
http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/253...OWg_sredna.bmp

https://www.nariba.com/forum/images/smilies/017.gifObviously aircraftcareer is nearby

http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/253...BYC_sredna.bmp

Thanks Ivanov! Yours are very cool as well! :up:

Edit:
I forgot to ask...
Your pictures look very nice! What enviroment/visual mods are you using?

I use:
GWX 3.0
EnvSimAct_10
Foam 512x512
Racerboy_SH4_Effects_for_SH3_2_03
Fahnenbohn's Environment Mod - on the top

During a patrol in quadrant AN 41, east of Scapa Flow, while we were in an underwater position, acoustics report on the peleng, the target is moving fast
I raised the periscope and noticed task force group moving fast
The formation consisted of five destroyers
One of them seemed to me a little lonely, I could not resist and drove him a torpedo Yes,but to others contracted sharply left and headed toward me
The next few hours were straight nightmarish - the water boiled, straight me with hedgehogs and waserbombs
The depth was about 140 meters, I was able to maneuver
There was a battle of life and death
When the situation became intolerable, I decided to went on the attack

Emergence to periscope depth full swing, maneuvering between blasts ....
http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/254...mjx_sredna.bmp

Finally, it was just me and him .... Who who
http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/254...NOu_sredna.bmp

http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/254...2DB_sredna.bmp

Thanks Ivanov.
I just installed EnvSimAct, weather is much more realistic now!
But i couldnt find anything on Foam512x512, what is it?

Look here http://www.subsim.com/radioroom//sho...=149689&page=4
,post 51

My latest patrol went well (my best so far) in the AM41 section (Dec. 1940/Jan. 1941). 18 ships including a destroyer for a total of 58,489 tons. I even sank a fishing boat (deck gun) to deny Churchill his Fish & Chips. I should've had 19 but my last torpedo couldn't sink a C3. I was out of ammo for my deck gun except the Star Shells. I used everyone of them to try to set it ablaze but in the end I just blew stuff up on the deck.

I wonder when these merchants start shooting back? I may have to find out the hard way...yikes!

Captain Coward

Try it in 43 th and 44 th, 45 th will not comment :D

Welcome a board :salute:

Just finished the fastest mission I think I'll ever have:

February 5th to the 17th 1941, section BE22. I used up all but one torpedo on the way there thanks to a convoy I stumbled upon. Nine ships totaling 45,711 tons. Would have been more but the weather prevented me from using the deck gun and of course I had an electric torpedo malfunction. Sheesh.

Hunting down these convoys has been an interesting & frustrating endeavor, more on that later. Also my first time taking damage from depth charges (minor), something tells me I will need to get used to it.

Off to Section BE91, departing on St. Patricks Day with my trusty U-52!

Captain Coward

Note: I just realized I can put an emblem on the conning tower. Went with the Lachen Sawfish. I'll have to Google to figure out the meaning.

I have returned to SH3 after a seven year absence. After a few weeks of making realism tweaks with SH3 Commander, I have begun careers in each of the three start-of-war flotillas available in-game.

The first of these careers is Kapitänleutnant Alfred Ahrens, whose first war patrol was significant.

Alfred Ahrens was born in Heilbronn on 1910/02/04. He joined the Reichsmarine as an officer candidate in 1928 and was made a Leutnant zur See in 1932, serving on the light cruiser Leipzig. Ahrens was promoted to Oberleutnant zur See and transferred to the new u-boat force in 1935. He served as IWO under KptLt. Heinrich Liebe on U-2, a type II A boat. In late 1937 Ahrens was promoted to Kapitänleutnant and took over command from KptLt. Hans Cohausz of U-15, a type II B.

On the 22nd day of August, 1939, Ahrens was ordered to take U-15 to sea and patrol grid square AN44 off the east coast of Scotland, about halfway between the Royal Navy bases at Scapa Flow and the Firth of Forth. He was to report any naval movements and merchant traffic. Ahrens was also secretly warned that there was a risk of an outbreak of war with England at or after the beginning of September. In the event of war, he was to sink any Britsh merchant shipping he encountered, but to do so in accordance with the Prize Rules of 1936. He was told to avoid detection, especially once he left the Skagerrak.

U-15 left the Skagerrak on August 25. The next day, Ahrens had to alter course to avoid being seen by a ship that had been sighted by one of the other u-boats that put to sea at about the same time. On the day after that, U-15 altered course to avoid a ship detected by U-15's own lookouts.

At 19:40 on August 28, U-15 arrived at the NW corner of its designated patrol grid square. U-15 patrolled AN44 without seeing any ships from August 28 to September 2. The crew heard the news of the German invasion of Poland on September 1. At 08:53 on September 3, while submerged on a southerly course in AN4417, U-15's hydrophone operator heard faint sounds of distant propellers. Ahrens ordered the boat to be surfaced and set a course to intecept for a visual appraisal of the contact. At 9:07, shortly after U-15 had sighted the contact - a 2,800 ton British coastal merchant - U-15 was surprised by a British aircraft, and even more surprised when the aircraft dropped a bomb near them, causing minor damage, including disabling the wireless equipment. U-15 dived but maintained a course towards the ship. Ahrens assumed that the attack on his boat meant that war had begun, but that he had missed notification while he was submerged. He further surmised that the ship had summoned the aircraft, and was therefore itself a legitimate target.

At 09:30, Ahrens surfaced and took U-15 on a long loop to get ahead of the ship, to the port side of its course. He then submerged with U-15 pointed perpendicular to the ship's course. At 11:15 Ahrens fired one T I torpedo at fast speed, depth 8m with magnetic fusing, from a range of 500m. The torpedo detonated under the target's keel, breaking the ship's back. Thus Ahrens claimed the first sinking of the war. Coincidentally, the attack came just as Neville Chamberlain was giving his speech declaring that Britain was at war with Germany. Shortly after the attack, the Funkmaat was able to repair the wireless, in time to receive Doenitz's message to commence operations against British shipping. The receipt of this message, about 3.5 hours after they sank their target, caused much consternation among U-15's crew.

Fourteen minutes after the sinking, U-15's lookouts spotted two approaching aircraft. U-15 dived and was apparently not detected. U-15 remained on patrol in AN44 for another 15 hours until, running low on fuel, Ahrens decided to return to base. At 05:07 on September 4, while leaving AN4445, U-15 was attacked by three British aircraft and crash-dived. Three explosions were heard, but no damage was done.

U-15 completed its first war patrol by docking in Kiel's sub pen 12 at 10:30 on September 12. When it was confirmed that Ahrens' attack on the British ship had taken place 15 minutes after the British war ultimatum had expired, he was commended for his initiative, rather than being disciplined for creating a potential international incident. Ahrens was Gemany's official leading submarine ace for just two days, until September 5, when Herbert Schultze sank the 4,853 ton Royal Scepter. (Julius Lemp's sinking of the Athenia on September 3 was not officially acknowledged.)

U-15 was in port for 10 days, being checked for damage and reprovisioned. Ahrens' second patrol was in grid square AN16, which includes Scapa Flow, but Ahrens stayed clear of the naval base and its patrolling destroyers. On the way to its patrol area, U-15 stopped and inspected a ship off the Norwegian coast near Bergen that seemed to be headed towards Scotland, but it proved to be a Norwegian coastal merchant trying to put some distance between itself and the lee shore. U-15 patrolled AN16 for three days, On the evening of the second day, a British coastal merchant was detected by hydrophone. As Ahrens was guiding U-15 closer to the target, a British destroyer was sighted on an intersecting course. U-15 dove and successfully evaded the warship, then resurfaced and sank the merchant with a single torpedo. U-15 returned to Kiel on October 8 with dry diesel tanks, after sixteen days at sea.

Before leaving on it's third war patrol, U-15's crew members were awarded the u-boat war badge.

U-15's third war patrol assignment was to AN34, SW of the southern tip of Norway. U-15 detected and sank two British cargo ships of about 4930 tons each, and intercepted a Norwegian fishing vessel. Having expended all its torpedoes, U-15 returned to Kiel after only 9 days at sea.

Upon his return to Kiel, Ahrens was awarded the Iron Cross Second Class, was promoted to Korvettenkapitän, and given command of the 5th Flotilla. When that Flotilla was disbanded in 1940, Ahrens was made commander of the First Division at the Murwik Naval Academy.

KptLt A. Ahrens War Patrol Summary:
Number of war patrols: 3
Days at sea: 46
Torpedos fired: 7
Torpedos detonating on target: 7
Ships sunk: 4
Tonnage sunk: 14,978

During a storm condition, watchcrew spoted large transport, moving at high speed,backboard We went to his rapprochement and we stuck a torpedo After the blast, dropped his speed and finally completely stopped
Our weapon officer finished him off with the second torpedo
http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/260...0TW_sredna.bmp

Emitting clouds of steam, he went to the bottom
http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/260...FD1_sredna.bmp

Weather clears
And with good weather slowly emerges from the horizon silhouette of convoy
http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/260...xAc_sredna.bmp

http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/260...nyw_sredna.bmp

http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/260...bue_sredna.bmp

Good hunt !