BF15-19 is a very good hunting ground. I personally prefer BE31-39 for early war convoy hunting. I got a tip from someone that BE39 was filled with targets in late '41. Looks like I will be hanging out there for a long time.

The BE grids definitely have more breathing room, plus any convoy going through there isn't likely to change course. Also, no air cover :arrgh!:

On my way out to BE59 in late 39, its my first patrol on this carrer.

hopin to find some nice targets there :arrgh!:

July 17 1940

...have just come back from AN 76/84 area. absolutley lousy patrol. found very little. and when i did torpedos failed or sailed underneath due to bad weather ( or my miscalculations ). with one torpedo left i thought of coming back only to find an Armed Trawler - so i turned on him, had him too, in my sights. he was coming right down my pipe and sent the eel out at just under 500 meters.

it slid beneath him and blew out his engines. i thought he was a gonner but no. he just sat there like a duck - and me, in my canoe, no deck gun, no eels. i surfaced a 1000 meters away and started running he caught me in his sights and started shelling me. took a little damage and dived again. 1500 meters i surfaced again - and again he started with me. i was furious. had nothing to speak of to throw at him. the arrogance of it! only a bloody flak gun.

i eventually got away unharmed, only to be hassled on the tip on Holland by something that didnt like me - another Armed Trawler. i kept running he was chasing and getting closer, but the sea was chopped up pretty bad and he was slowing. didnt like the idea of diving. then out of the blue he was attacked from the air - i think he was struck once, saw some black smoke but he caught the plane and it went down all spectacular into the sea!

by that time i had got a good distance away. i had disengaged the battery charging and went hell for leather hoping i would'nt be found, especially with low batteries and bugger all in the way of attack or defence.

we all returned safely.

now i have been sent to a CF position - cant remeber which one, but CF in a canoe!!

maybe i'll get back alive to tell you more.

IWO H. Standahl

Now that's funny. Cause it's the second time I get an IX and I haven't touched the game since. I don't know why but every time I get an IX I lose interest :shifty:

Longer patrol length? I did 9 patrols in my Type IXB, used it to explore many far off places and sink their ships, but then I became bored with the patrol length. I switched to a Type VIIC and the shorter commitment has helped me to maintain my interest.

I love the Type IX series, but each of the boats have their own advantages.

Oh, Type IX patrols are great... when you set your max TC to 512/1024 :haha: Otherwise I get really bored with them, but early 1942 you can have a blast along the American, if you can wait out the long crossing.

Even that's a bit slow for me. I know it was boring being a Kaleun most of the time but I don't have any physical books :har: I hate reading from my monitor besides I can't even do that while in the game. Planning to up the TC a bit with commander since it was a blast going to New York and blasting that 44k HMT Aquitania, the trip itself was boring though and getting back to port with 2% fuel was a bit scary.

That sucks! Sorry you lost your boat, mate.
Many VII drivers think it gets you out of harms way to drive a IX, but as you experienced, IX country can be just as deadly as VII country. Late war, the IXs can be even worse off. BDU likes to send them to far away coastal grids. They've sent me directly into, or next to, the Capetown grid. It stinks to drive all the way down there, knowing you ain't comming back.
After the 2. flotilla gets closed and relocated to Bergen, one can expect to see grid assignments like BF13. Early war paradise, transformed into late war hell.
Good luck in your next carreer.

That's a rough area to operate in, and those shallow are real shallow.
Waiting on the far side of the shallows in the comparatively safe BC43 has always been my preference (and my favorite IX grid).
On the bright side, at least you got to surface and save your crew. Sorry you lost boat and carreer though. And it was a damn good patrol!
Good luck in your next carreer.

U64 IXB 2. Flotilla Patrol 7 complete.
 

Patrol Grid was BE86 thence northward along the suspected shipping lines.
Patrol dates were 12.OKT.41 to 20.DEC.41.
3 merchants sunk for 6700 GRT.

The patrol ended with 2 separate attacks on the same convoy.
8 torpedoes fired for 7 hits. Only one target sunk!
A final attack on a C2 Cargo with both stern tubes resulted in 2 hits, and 1 unfazed merchant. It didn't even slow him down.
All 14 torpedoes expended for 6700 GRT?! Not good.
At least we did manage to get off 2 separate contact reports on the convoy. The action started in BE61 so somebody should have been able to respond and intercept.
(The second contact report was essential as the convoy had altered course from 022 to 064).

U64's current history:
7 patrols (23.Mar.40 to 20.DEC.41).
20 merchants sunk for 106.319 GRT.

14APR43- End of patrol 5&6
After 83 days at sea (refueling at U-460) U-125 is back to Lorient. 5 ships sunk for 45.925 tons. Light damages.
Things are getting tougher, lots of planes, few contacts, better escorts, zigzaging convoys...
One good news: New types of torpedoes will be boarded on our next patrol

03JUN43-Patrol 7
70km from Lorient got a radar contact, stayed on surface but soon attacked by a catalina and lightly damaged. Patrol aborted heading back to Lorient...Thx to the luftwaffe...

June 43, Type IXC, 215km west of Gibraltar.....two convoys crossing each other as one heads into the Med and the other exits.

Not enough eels to cope with the treasure available and definitely in need of wolfpacks ingame....if only.

Been operating out of Corrientes and wondering why I couldn't get any upgrades for U-boat, now heading back to Kiel early '40 and hoping to get me a VIIB soon, then maybe I'll be able to strike a bit further afield. :yeah:

I did say strike, in the 'attack' sense - obviously not the 'hit' sense! :wah:

Upgrades are only allowed in your home base IIRC :hmmm:

Well, since the Corrientes is a resupply ship and not a naval base, it's unlikely they'd have any upgraded equpment lying around there just for the taking. :D

I think fuel, food, eels, and repairs to the existing equipment are all one can expect at a resupply ship. Upgrading the boat should require a patrol to end at a base where that kind of refit is actually possible.

Yeah, I tried to catch the convoy in a patch of deep water, but when I started taking hits that proved fatal. I tried running at flank speed towards the shallows but then my engines got shaken up and the best I could make was 2 knots, barely enough to maintain depth, much less attempt to evade :nope:

But for your love of Corrientes, I think they,
 

make it into a permanent naval base :O:

Hi,

since it seems that many dedicated players hang around in this thread, I want to ask whether anyone uses the campaign layers from my zigzag mod:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=172566

If yes, I would be very happy about some feedback/experiences for possible improvements. Without any feedback it's quite hard to improve a mod for a single person. Thanks in advance and good hunting :arrgh!:

Cheers, LGN1

I know, I realised that hence my return to Kiel - the long way - and I've only come across one merchant (gottim!) between Corrientes and the Kattegat. Still, I'm home and my crew are hitting the town whilst the refit is underway :D

Early 1940 so I'm sticking around Norway for my next patrol or two :up:

...Bernard, get me a flaggon of the house ale does not mean put a flag on my house sale...