My first career... ever...
Hello all,
A beginner captain here playing my first career. I'm running SH3+GWX3. All I've played thus far are the training mission/exams. Realism is 90%. I have external view, so I can watch my targets sink up close. I also have map contact update. I chose 1st Flotilla, based at Kiel in Aug. 1939. I'm given U-5 a Type IIA with a load of 5 type I torpedos. First patrol begins 1 Aug '39. I reach patrol area off the Shetlands and patrol several days until fuel becomes an issue and I have to head home. A big goose egg for a score. The war starts a few days after my return... Second patrol begins 6 Sep '39. I reach my patrol area and patrol 24 hours. Just at the end of the 24 hours a beautiful Ore Carrier shows up... First time manual targeting. I fumble through and shoot 2. Both miss aft (I botched the speed I think) and I hurriedly reset and shoot 1... miss. I turn south thoroughly bummed... Reloading my last 2 torpedos. Further south along the east coast of England I encounter a small cargo ship. I setup, shoot 2 and both hit. On the board with 2245 tons. I head to port as all 5 of my torpedos are gone. I get the U- boat front clasp., as well as some of my crew, Third patrol begins 11 Oct '39. I reach my patrol area off the middle east coast of England. I quickly (within my 24 hour patrol time) get 2 ships totaling 9788 tons one after the other, very near to each other. Shot 2 at each with all hits. Shortly after another target showed up and I missed with my final torpedo. Still learning the manual targeting thing... Medals were earned by my crew. I got promoted. Fourth patrol begins 12 Nov '39. I reach my patrol area off the Shetlands (1 block south of my first patrol area) and at the end of the 24 hours I get a contact. It's inky black and I can't see my hand in front of my face let alone some ship off in the distance. I set a intercept with hydrophone only. Track and shoot 1 torpedo without ever seeing the guy other that a darker mark in the blackness. 1 shot hits. I surface and parallel his course for over 5 hours. He's listing and catches fire over 12 times but the waves are so big they keep putting the fire out... I'm getting concerned about warships coming, so I shoot 1 more using the uzo and his fire to line up on. Hit and immediately sinks. 2396 tons in the books. I submerge and set a course to patrol gap between Orkneys and Shetland... Immediately detect 5 warships medium and high speeds. I avoid them. Patrol the gap... nothing. Head south along east coast of England. Finally get another contact. I setup and shoot blind again cause it's still inky black and high seas. Shoot 1 and I guess it misses??? Looked like a perfect run on targeting chart... I set another quick shot and los... about halfway through that run well before it should hit the target blows up and sinks (red mark on map) but I don't get credit??? WTF??? Game glitch??? Second shot misses... Another contact right away. I setup and shoot another blind shot. It's still total blackness out there... My first magnetic attempt ever as everything prior was impact. Ran true but no explosion... I've no idea for sure if it hit but it looked true on the targeting chart... I head for Kiel thoroughly frustrated. My crew earned some medals. I received the German Cross. Currently, about to start patrol 5 around 1 Dec '39. Still in the Type IIA. Current tonnage total 14,429. Edit: Just looked the German Cross up... It wasn't issued until 1941. How am I getting one now in 1939??? Early access??? |
Started patrol 5 on about 6 December, 1939. Sailed to the designated box for my 24 hour period.
At the end of the 24 hours I sighted, tracked, shot two torpedos at, hit and sunk a big 10,000 tonner!! My biggest kill to date playing this game!! I was very excited!!! Creeping away from that kill, I came across a convoy. My first convoy. I set up an intercept and chose a medium and another smaller cargo following behind in the middle of the convoy. Two torpedos at the first ship and then a quick one at the trailer. The convoy had destroyers, so I immediately dove and started creeping away. I heard 3 hits. The destroyers pounced and depth charged me for several hours, with no real damage suffered. External view showed 4 destroyers hunting me in teams of two. Eventually two left. Then the other two started to leave. I crept up to periscope depth. Took a peek and there was a ship dead in the water but not sinking. I figured to creep over and shoot it up with my flak gun. Got a bit over eager and surfaced too soon... shots immediately flew in from the destroyers who pulled a u-turn and returned to kill me. I hid under the crippled ship Til the destroyers left again. This time I waited Til I couldn't see them at all. I surfaced near the crippled ship with it between me and the last known area of destroyers. Manned the flak gun. Shot several magazines worth into the ship which started to burn... started to move away from the ship, then... BOOM!!!! The whole ship exploded and severely damaged my sub and killed all deck crew. I tried to do damage control but it was no bueno... I sunk. I was way to close... A stupid mistake cost me my sub and crew... |
Just got on station at AM28 in Type VIIC U-762. Took a few days to get on station, had to avoid a handful of aircraft attacks getting there. Running my campaign starting in April 1940 in a VIIC with GWX.
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1942 2nd of march
U-BOAT 160 reached the Caribbean sea where he patrolled around the coast of Miami first kill of the patrol. Attacked with deck gun. http://www.part.lt/img/fc219d353553f...851852d365.bmp http://www.part.lt/img/2d60e2ec4c457...c8ae773420.bmp. After 5 days Attacked US Somers class destroyer http://www.part.lt/img/5239438ac0676...687cc7e945.bmp 8th of March my inexperienced watch crew somehow spotted aircraft before he did. After we crashed dived heard explosions after about 10 mins at periscope depth raised observation scope and saw American PBY catalina. http://www.part.lt/img/c5d355f90dd89...2234c26684.bmp 1/3 of patrol logs were lost in the accident from the kitchen fire. The Cook got punishment for slacking on duty. His punishment was to clean filthy toilets of my U BOAT. Returning to Lorient with 69241 tons of merchant shipping. This is the first time what I sunk so much tonnage. |
Yesterday evening, in my campaign (the first one), i was in March 1941, 7th flotilla, type VII b.
I patrol near Ireland, near the convoy northern route. A few escort ships, and a lot af innocent victims... Some ASDIC pings, but no real danger at this time. This is first patrol i take down some planes (as the kept turning around like bloody flies). An important detail: realism is low (29%), because it's my first attempt to build a carrier. I know it's less classy than the ones that play full realism, but... i'm a noob. |
U75 Kpltn Mohr on patrol off Norway. June 9,1940 Sunk one Norweigan Cargo ship 4350 tons. 1st patrol. Looking for retrating British task forces returning from Norwegan waters.
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welcome back!
johnnyseven!:Kaleun_Salute: after precisely a six year silent run!
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A Warm Welcome Back To The Subsim Community > johnnyseven
Subsim <> How To Donate <> See The Benefits <> Support The Community :salute: |
Welcome back to the surface johnny :salute:
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Yesterday evening, 30d patrol from my vey first campaign.
It's 23 december of 1942. I'm wainting for type IX, but it's prety cool with my VIIb. my crews are a great team, as a family: seems that we gonna be at sea for Xmas. As it's my very first campaign, i play stock SH3, no mod, and 29% realism (the lower). So it's far easiest than the way you play. But it's the best way to learn slowly. My second campaign wil be harder i think...:arrgh!: |
Two months in drydock and:k_confused:
Patrol 9 U-452, 7th Flotilla Left at: April 22, 1942, 01:50 From: St. Nazaire Mission Orders: Patrol grid DC22 11.5.1942 11:45 Radio message to BdU:/Arrived patrol area. Position DC2233./ 15.5.1942 03:42 Radio message from BdU:/Estimated position of enemy convoy at grid DC1625, course NW, speed 6/ 03:34 Radio message to BdU:/My position DC1368. Contact in two hours./ 08:16 Radio message to BdU:/Convoy at grid 1289, s 6, h NE/ 09:27 Radio message from BdU:/Shadow convoy and send hourly reports./ 12:04 Radio message from BdU:/Strand inform status and position of the boat/ 15:12 Radio message from BdU:/Strand inform status and position of the boat/ No, no, no, no, no:wah: |
Began in Wilhelmshaven with the U-21, and so far:
First mission I didn't sink anything. 1 coastal merchant damaged. Fired 3 torpedoes at that one two. First ran too shallow, second was a dud, and the last one did the damaging hit that didn't sink it. Second mission I sank a single destroyer. I got lucky and he was headed almost straight for me, but didn't know where I was. I even killed it forgetting to set my steamy (during the day, no less) to fast. Still killed it. Currently on my fourth, fifth, or sixth mission. Year is 1940, and up to this point every mission has been a consistent 2 merchant ships sunk, and I don't even remember how many planes shot down. Running SH3 commander, no other mods. 54% realism. |
I have never posted on this thread before. But since I really enjoy reading everyone's tales I thought it only fair that I contribute.
12-15-40, 9th patrol for Captain Gerhard Kupferschmidt in U-65, a well built IXB. After 3 weeks on patrol and not a torpedo fired yet the crew is getting restless and emergency diving drills and boat maintenance is all that keeps them from getting lazy. We have seen ships, but one was a hospital ship and 4 were American tankers. It's so hard to let the tankers go knowing they are supplying England but BDU is explicit..don't shoot. But if the Americans ever enter the war they will pay the price. We are 250km northwest of Casablanca when the radio operator gets a report of a large enemy convoy just north of our position on a northeasterly heading. Franz Link-Stier, our navigator plots an intercept and announces we will make contact in 3 hours. When the crew hears this all the past monotony is forgotten as they each jump to action at their respective stations. In only mere minutes U-65 is racing towards the convoy with enough speed that the watch crew is forced to put on their full face caps to prevent frostbite in the wind. The spray is flying over the conning tower and freezing on everyone but as I look at one of the men who only has his cap over his forehead I see him smile as he hopes for contact. No one is feeling the cold. 3 hours later U-65 arrives at the intercept point and I order a dive to 20 meters to have a listen. When the hydrophone operator calls out multiple screws at long range I see the chief engineer pat the navigator on the back for doing his job so well. Now its a matter of listening and fine tuning our position for the attack. Finally at 10:57 I raise the observation scope and see smoke, lots of individual plumes of smoke. This is a big one. It also has 4 escorts, front, back left and right. This is going to be nerve wracking! Too far away to get an identification on the merchants yet but our position looks good so we go to all stop and rig the boat for silent running. Down scope and now we wait, listening to the nearest escorts. The lead escort doesn't seem like it's going to be a problem but the one on the convoys right flank could be trouble before this is all over. Finally it's time for another peek through the scope. Up scope just enough to clear the surface. Oh yes! Almost close enough now to start gathering attack information. The ship I will use to plot speed and AOB appears to be a whale factory ship but still too far away to be sure so I swing the scope to the front escort and see it's a Black Swan. Ugh! Swing the scope the other direction to look at the starboard escort. A Hunt class, not quite so bad. Down scope and wait and listen a few more minutes. Ok, raise the scope again. It's a good thing I didn't ID the ship as a whale factory because it's actually a large cargo. Check the escorts again to be sure they are still unaware. They are in their normal pattern so no problems. Lower the observation scope and raise the attack scope. Position the scope and start the stop watch. The radio report said 8 knots. Stop the stop watch. Since I use the OLC GUI mod for manual targeting I lower the rings and following the procedure I find the true speed is 7.5 knots. I enter the speed in the TDC and move on to determine range to target. Range is 2600 meters. Enter that into TDC. Now for the AOB. Just as I am adjusting the rings on the AOB finder on the scope the quiet is shattered by the sound of active sonar pinging through the submarine. "Herr Kaleun, we've been detected" shouts the hydrophone operator! I quickly scan the escorts and see that it is the starboard flank escort that found us and is picking up speed and turning towards us. I feel he is far enough away for me to finish calculating the AOB so I quickly lock onto the large cargo and get his AOB. CRASH DIVE!!!!! Lower the scope and immediately get the attack wheel out and use the bearing and AOB to plot the convoys course. This attack is foiled but if we survive we can use this information to set up for another attack later tonight hopefully. I give the command to make the depth 180 meters and the boat points down and at flank speed we plummet into the black water, all the while listening to the creaks and groans of the pressure hull and the incessant pinging of the onrushing destroyer. We reach 165 meters and I order all slow, a direction change and rig for silent running again and use our speed to take us down to 180 meters. By now the hydrophone is telling us that the Hunt class is almost on us and the Black Swan is racing over to assist in their attack. Our direction change seems to have worked because as the Hunt class goes over he drops 4 depth charges and they detonate behind us. Now the hydrophone operator reports that a 3rd escort is coming to join the attack against us! A few minutes later, after things have been quiet, pinging begins again, loud and fast. Suddenly throughout the submarine we can hear propellers racing over our heads and the sonar man is frantic as he calls out "Depth charges in the water"! FLANK SPEED AND DIRECTION CHANGE AND MAKE NEW DEPTH 200 METERS!!!!! Without warning explosions begin, 7 of them in quick succession, so close the boat is rocking almost uncontrollably. We hear noise from the aft of the boat and find out that sailor Jorg Bauer broke from the strain of the near misses and petty officer Hass had to forcibly subdue him to quiet him and prevent his panic from spreading. By now the boat has reached 200 meters depth and the depth charge attacks continued for almost 2 hours until the 3 escorts left to rejoin the convoy. In the 2 hours the attack lasted I counted 86 depth charges, none so close as the ones that rocked the boat early in the attack. When the sound of the escorts diminished enough we took the boat up to periscope depth and looked around. Safe to surface again. We will use the convoy track we were able to plot to do a flanking move and renew the attack at dusk tonight. This is a hair raising business we are in. I make a note to have sailor Bauer removed from the crew once the patrol is over but I have no bad feelings towards him because I was on the verge of panic myself. How I hid it I don't know. I did all of this attack in real time with no time compression (yep, I sat there for over 2 hours evading DC's. It's good to be retired..LOL) and no external view and 100% realism and it sure was fun. |
April 5th 1940, U48 is off the coast of Bergen, Norway at the start of Operation Harmut. One contact so far, which after moving into position at periscope depth turned out to be a large merchant sailing under a friendly flag. The weather is clear and after completing my 24 hr. patrol I'm wondering where to go..
Do I stay on my assigned grid or move north to Trondheim or Narvik? Where is the best hunting during the Norway campaign? Should I play my U48 in the manner of the real U48 during Op. Harmut? |
So I went north to Trondheim where I was able to sink 2 tramp steamers at anchor after the invasion began. I was able to watch a few friendly warships steam into the harbor not long after. The rest of the patrol consisted of chasing task force contacts to no avail and trying to set ambushes near contested Norwegian ports.
My following patrol had me back in the waters off of Bergen. There was no action to be had so I crossed the North Sea and sailed south down the coast of England. Got a tanker off of Dover and haven't been able to play since due to work etc. |
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