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Really enjoying the game. Had a couple of crew either offed by partisans or arrested for drunkenness. Just an incredibly immersive game. I still haven't gone to manual torpedo calculations, but fun just the same. Currently sniping a large convoy in a IXB.
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U-53
It's a long one!
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U-53
Short and sweet...
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June 5, 1942
Two days into the first partrol of U-465. We set sail from Norway on the 4th, orders to patrol the Iceland-England gap. Shortly after arriving in our AO, we got a report of a large convoy heading south towards Scapa Flow. We changed course to intercept; Estimated intercept is 15:45 Hrs. Approximately 3000m off the predicted course, we went to periscope depth and waited. After waiting about an hour, our sonarman notified us of approaching sound contacts. He identified multiple merchants and a few escorts at which point I directed our weapons officer to raise attack scope. I scanned the horizon and saw approximately 20 plumes of smoke from the merchants, the nearest of which appeared to be aflame. I saw the lead escort, a V&W class on a course of about 180 that would take it past us at an estimated 6000m. Once the lead escort passed, I chose my targets and set up for an attack. The first target was to be a large merchant, calculated to be at a range of 4500m on a course of 170. Due to moderate seas, we set depth of our two loaded Type 1s to 4m, pistols set for impact. Tube doors were opened and two torps were let loose set for minimum spread. The second target was identified as a medium merchant. We set one TIII for impact detonation at a depth of 4m and let it loose. The third target was a second V&W class at approximately 2500m tracking 185. Our last bow tube containing a TIII was set for magnetic detonation, depth 3m and let loose; timed so it should detonate at the same time as the first two torps. All torpedoes were running hot, straight, and normal according to our sonarman and stopwatches were set as we set course to 270, depth 40m so we could withdraw to shadow the convoy and reload bow tubes. After five minutes, the boat fell completely silent. The only noise coming from the heavy breathing of the crew in anticipation of the telltale *thud* from the torpedoes detonating. Time slowed down as we hit the eight minute mark. My weapons officer leaned over to me and said "they should have hit by now". I told him to wait and that our watches could be off. After ten minutes, we still heard nothing. At that point, our sonarman called me back to his station. "Sir, screws increasing in speed, I think they saw the torpedos." I cursed under my breath and told him to monitor the escorts. After fifteen minutes we heard the telltale thud of the torpedos detonating. But it didn't sound like it should have. There was no secondary explosions, nor screeching of metal. Our torpedos completely missed and the thud we heard was them detonating after running out of fuel. Everyone looked at one another, some of them cursing the torpedoes, others questioning if they did anything wrong while setting up the torpedos for attack. Before we could start assessing what went wrong, we heard the telltale *ping* of the escort's sonar. I ordered our depth 90m and hoped that the escorts would not find us. After 5 agonizing minutes, we heard one of the escorts hit home. We were being pinged and our sonarman told us that he was approaching fast. We changed course to 300 in hopes that, if he was setting up for a run, he would miss. We heard the escort go right over us and heard the *plop* of charges being dropped. "hold fast men!" I said, "These will be close!" And boy, were they close. The first charge detonated off our port side, rocking the boat violently. Valves burst open from the pressure and the lights flickered. The second charge burst off of our starboard side, shattering lights and throwing everyone off of their feet. We heard the third charge bounce off of the top of our boat and roll down the side. "My god this is it" my helmsman muttered. The third charge never went off and we breathed a sigh of relief. While the escort was setting up for another run, I called for a damage report, and change of course to 195, hoping to keep us in the escorts baffles. The damage report came back and was better than I expected. We had minor damage to the fore batteries; leaking water was shorting out one of the banks, and my electricians were fast at work to fix it. The Bow torpedo tube seals were leaking as well and were being worked on. My sonarman quietly called out "two more escorts closing fast!" "Hold on boys, this is going to be a rough ride" I said to my crew. The two escorts crossed over us and dropped their charges. These had to be experienced crews, because those two runs almost did us in. My navigator was thrown up against a bulkhead, knocking him out cold, several other crew members were also severely injured. Damage reports came in from all over our boat. Port electric engine was out of action, our diesels were knocked off of their mounts, port and starboard driveshaft seals were leaking badly, aft battery bank was knocked out and was leaking acid, aft dive planes were jammed, flooding reported in bow torpedo room and crew quarters, aft battery room and engine room. Two of our torpedos were knocked loose from their storage and crushed the legs of one of my torpedo men. We started to lose depth control and began to sink. As my crew worked feverishly to control the flooding and regain depth control, I watched the depth gauge plummet. 100m, 125m, 180m, 200m; It seemed as if this would be the end. Creaking and groaning of steel began to fill the air as we hit 230m. I ordered to blow ballast. Our boat kept sinking. "Blow ballast!" I shouted again. We kept filling the tanks with air until the pressure gauge was in the red. After what seemed like an eternity, we started to rise after hitting 300m. I told our sonarman to find those escorts. Amazingly, our hydrophone was still working and he reported that the escorts were moving away, back towards the convoy! We managed to slow our ascent and leveled off at 50m, waiting for the convoy to move out of range, hoping that all three escorts went with them. I ordered periscope depth, and we hobbled our way there only to find that both attack and observations scopes were flooded. I took the gamble and ordered to surface. The horizon was clear and we began to assess the external damage. Our boat looked like a VW in a hailstorm with all of the crumpled metal. Our deck gun was hanging off of it's mount and our AA gun was gone. We managed to get the batteries working enough for some slow maneuvering and signaled an SOS. After 20 hours of working to restore what systems remained to operational status, we were met by U-451 and were towed back to home waters. Upon arrival at base, the dock crews stared in awe of the damage we sustained and were seen muttering among themselves and pointing. Our boat was scrapped and I was summoned to the admirals quarters for the whipping of a lifetime. *Moral of the story, this game can really be cruel for a new crew and always leaves me coming back for more! Nothing is better than a game that provides great suspense and the ability for the player to use his/her imagination! |
Encounter'd six vessel convoy/w 3 escorts-all destroyers. Sank four incl one tanker. Two dud eels. Just off continental shelf of NW Ireland. Heavy Sunderland air-cover and destroyer escorts are alert. Shifting to S. of Ireland through Irish Sea West of Isle of Man for reported convoy traffic. Six eels left. No damage.
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U-221
Happy times indeed! Our first patrol in a new VIIC.
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U 802 encountered an American task force consisting of 1 'casablanca' escort carrier and 4 'buckley' destroyer escorts, just south of Iceland.
Two DE broke off from the carrier to intercept U 802 and with 2 lucky shots, we sunk both. Broke the surface to take up pursuit, and one of the remaining DE picked us up on radar and turned back to engage. Quickly dove to PD again and fired a shot from tube 3, which missed. But the escort made a fatal mistake as he was passing on our port side which put him directly in line with our only seeking torpedo. 3 escorts down. Tubes being frantically reloaded. Surfaced again to take up pursuit. The 4th and final DE turned to engage. Dove to PD for the 3rd time in 15 minutes (starting to feel like a dolphin here), and when the moment was right, let him have it. No escorts remain. Surfaced again to deal with the carrier. Torpedo loaders out on deck trying to get our fish from the external lockers. Hanging back a bit from the carrier, working out what his next move will be. Got into range and managed to score a hit, but only on the portside prop. As soon as we hit him, he cranked up the speed to about 14 knots on the remaining shaft. Played porpoise with the carrier for a few minutes. He scored a few hits on our boat with his aft mounted cannon which discouraged us from surface pursuit. But when he turned into the wind and launched his fighters, we decided at that point to abandon the chase as it had become far too dangerous. In the end, we (wisely, bitterly) let him go. U 802 now has some serious leaks owing to damage of the pressure hull. Deep diving is out of the question, and our further combat worthiness is in some doubt. We are currently approaching the convoy lanes off of Newfoundland, but with battle damage and few torpedoes, the decision to return to base is looking more attractive by the hour. The hunt continues (but not for long, methinks)... |
South East of Greenland. Beaconing convoy to alert 'rake" of U-boots further east to close in. Large Halifax convoy with at least six escorts incl two destroyers appear very alert. The Need to communicate position not helping my 'Itchy neck sydrome'! Convoy commander must be new or inept; several merchantmen and tankers are straggling, failing to keep formation and are easy targets. Seas are heavy; I will have to approach submerged to avoid eels broaching and steady the cross hairs, I am at port rear of convoy on base of course 80. New VIIC handling well: minor engine repair.:salute: Visibility is low under 4,000 meters. Rake is slim following previous wolfpack operations; only 3 boots on station; one is reportedly Kretschmer; so hope for success-I can 'play up' under the master's eye perhaps; When cleared by BdU of beacon-duty, will try to head the convoy an commence eel launchs. Those two destroyers are worrisome.
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U-221
A close call...
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5th March, 1941 - 21:03 - BF 6462
My first command and wartime patrol. U-221, a new Type VIIC boat. Thankfully my crew is made up of mostly experienced men, some of whom have several patrols under their belts. We left St. Nazaire at 18:30. Ideal as it means we have the cover of darkness to help us get out. We're zigzagging all the same - there's been a lot of Tommy submarine activity lately, especially up near Lorient. We're going at full speed while we clear the shallow waters and after that we'll cruise at around 10 knots. Our mean course is 235°. Our orders are to go to AL95 - apparently it's an area where several merchant and convoy routes either merge or cross paths, so we should get plenty of traffic. Weather is clear, visibility is good. Winds 2 NE, sea 1. 8th March, 1941 - 18:30 - BE 6372 We've just received word of a convoy in BE 39, about 130km away from us, heading ENE at 7 knots. Mettin, our navigator, has plotted an intercept course that should get us in range in around 10 hours. If all goes well we'll arrive just ahead of them with them off our port side. Now heading 052° at G.F. 9th March, 1941 - 02:38 - BF 1747 The closer we get to our intercept point the worse the weather seems to become. Winds 5-6 W, sea 6, very heavy swell. Our speed is reduced and our visibility is somewhat reduced by the spray. Attacking is going to be a lot harder if we find them, especially with torpedoes apparently running deep as it is. 07:09 - BF 1479 We did it, we sank our first ship! A large tanker for a juicy 13,752GRT. We were lucky and managed to intercept the convoy right where we wanted while it was still dark, allowing us to slip the front and starboard escorts with relative ease. We dived and managed to work our way into the middle of the convoy. After sighting the tanker we picked it as our target and moved into an attack position. All four bow tubes flooded and ready, though I only planned on firing two at her. We fired our first two from 950m, bow angle of 090°. Perfect positioning, in theory. Both of them appeared to hit but we couldn't observe any damage to her. I took the decision to fire our remaining two, the angle 100° or so. They both hit her too. The third hit exploded under her keel, breaking her back and splitting her in half - what a sight! We then turned our attention to potential targets aft of us. Our initial target was going to be a nice, fat ore carrier but the convoy had started to zigzag and we calculated her range to be 2,220m. Not a chance. I had to settle for a small merchant instead. Fired our stern torpedo from 700m, bow angle 080°. We waited well over a minute... Nothing. "Time's up. Did it miss?! Surely not at this range!" quipped my 2 WO. Torpedo failure perhaps? The calculations should have been right. Maybe it failed to explode, or it ran too deep as so many have been reported to do. "Nothing we can do now." I said, before ordering we dive to 40m and turn to 270°. The escorts had finally woken up and were beginning to hunt for us. Not fully awake, it would seem, as after an hour of them circling we heard them turn away and move back towards the convoy. We're currently reloading our torpedoes but as the convoy is in shallower waters and zigzagging I've decided not to press any further attack. Surfacing in around an hour if there are no further incidents. We were able to get a photo through the periscope of our unsuspecting victim while moving into position. http://i.imgur.com/iRb8qSs.png |
I think we have some budding authors here, judging by the highly entertaining patrol reports I read here. :salute:
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I agree!
I can't personally explain the appeal of the U-boat and the Atlantic war, except that maybe in a past life.... In any event, I grew up in a Navy family and my hometown of Halifax was heavily involved in operations against the Germans, in both world wars. For me, I take a kind of 'perverse pleasure' in fighting for the other side, as it were. I said before a few years ago that in NS, we were raised to regard the Germans as traditional enemies, not with outright hatred exactly, but with extreme distrust, so for me, joining the virtual Kriegsmarine is a stab at that animosity. As is my half-German wife. Like most of us here on this forum, we seem to have an unhealthy devotion to the subject matter, and as such, I try to write my patrols into quasi-sounding real life events, because it is so involving. Just my 2 bits. |
:salute: Writing things up makes the game a lot more entertaining for me, it feels like I can immerse myself in the role of a u-boat skipper to a much greater degree too.
I was inspired by this thread to give it a go and I've spent the last few weeks writing patrols up in different ways to try and strike the right balance. I think I've found it now, styling it more as a Kaleun's personal journal with key events instead of a KTB with something for every single day of the patrol, not to mention the occasional photo! Either way as long as I'm still playing SH3 and people are still reading them, I'll still be writing them up and posting them. It's great being able to contribute to this fantastic community :) :subsim: |
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11th March, 1941 - 20:07 - AL 9597
Arrived in our assigned grid. No activity as of yet and no change in the weather. 16th March, 1941 - 11:37 - AL 9582 Fifth day in our patrol area. No contacts. Nothing. Winds 6 E, sea 7. 18th March, 1941 - 08:01 - AL 9581 Finally received new orders - head NW to AK51. Weather is partially cloudy, excellent visibility, winds 5 N, sea 2. 20th March, 1941 - 05:06 - AL 7133 Sunk our second ship! This time it was a coastal freighter for 1,869GRT. We thought it odd to find such a small vessel this far out. Unescorted, too. Straggler from a convoy? Maybe. We approached her at full speed on the surface before slowing to engage her with the deck gun. We scored 8 hits above and below the waterline. I ordered a temporary ceasefire to allow them time to evacuate the ship before continuing to fire. After another 10 rounds there were several massive explosions wiping out the bridge and most of the upper deck. She sank within minutes after. We saw a single lifeboat drifting in the water but despite my ability to speak English, we did not engage with them. Continuing to our new patrol area. 22nd March, 1941 - 21:26 - AK 5199 Arrived in new patrol grid. Heavy rain, visibility is poor. Wind 2 ENE, sea 3. 23rd March, 1941 - 00:08 - AK 5168 Received two reports of convoys - on in AK 01 heading ENE and the other in AK 29 heading WSW. As the second convoy is closer and heading in our direction I have decided to attempt to intercept it in spite of bad weather. 03:26 - AK5132 Improvement in the weather. Visibility is now up to around 7km. 08:40 - AK 5135 Attacked the enemy convoy at around 04:30. We began by sneaking into the centre columns and firing at a ceramic-type liner, followed immediately by another large tanker. Our luck was in, all four torpedoes found their mark. Both began to sink quickly. Shortly after we attacked an ore carrier with our stern torpedo, again scoring a hit. Aware that one hit on such a vessel was not enough I ordered our remaining bow torpedoes to be reloaded while moving us into position for a second attack. With one of the torpedoes reloaded a short time later we fired at the ore carrier. Another hit, we couldn't believe our luck! As we got our last bow eel loaded we attempted to target another tanker, since they catch fire so easily. To our disappointment this one failed to explode. I ordered us to dive to 80m and we managed to give the escorts the slip yet again. We have 2 reserve torpedoes left but we're waiting for better conditions before we can reload them. Ship tonnages were 12,392 (liner), 12,959 (tanker) and 9,108 (ore carrier). Adding this to our previous kills takes our total so far to 50,090 - phenomenal! I've decided to begin our return passage to St. Nazaire, provided BdU do not have other ideas for us. |
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