Quote:
Originally Posted by aj906
U-67, Typ IXC
18 June 1944
Assigned to patrol AM97: St George's Channel
Left Bergen 30 May 1944 and skirt the Irish coast, sinking seven ships for a total of 29,360 BRT. Was able to sink two with the deck gun - both large trawlers - while I bagged a large tanker just entering the St George's Channel.
Constant diving for aircraft - thankful for the snorkel, but even motionless at night this isn't much of a help having been DC'd by aircraft with Leigh Lights.
I was on the surface at night reloading the stern tube when I was caught by an aircraft (although I didn't get a radar warning). I had approximately five minutes left of reloading so the gunners had a nice blatt at the Sunderland which did a little bit of damage. Just as I get underway and am about to order us to periscope depth my lookout screams enemy spotted. Turns out to be at least six sets of smoke closing at high speed. I swing the boat around and fire my last remaining acoustic torpedo in the general direction and then crash dive.
I jettison a decoy and get a depth check only to find we have 84 metres below the keel. I then spent three hours and, by my own count, 103 explosions from either DC or hedgehog before finally slipping the noose.
Damage:
attack and observation periscope damage
radio destroyed
radar destroyed
hydrophone damaged
stern torpedo - 1 damaged, the other destroyed
both engines damaged
deck and flak guns destroyed
seven members of the crew wounded
Have 14 torpedoes remaining so am going to sit out another 48 hours in this grid and then head back to Bergen...
|
So having survived the St George's channel, I turn tail and head for home. I find two medium tankers that don't put up too much resistance on the 20th.
In the Western Approaches I blunder into a hunter-killer group in absolutely foul weather (my own fault, I was surfaced with no radar even though I had a working snorkel): rain, high seas, visibility limited to under 400 metres. I get absolutely pasted before finally being able to use the weather to my advantage and escape.
Damage is:
both stern tubes now out of action; hydrophone kaput, attack periscope destroyed, one engine for the scrap heap and two further injuries to the crew.
As I am heading home north of the Shetlands I pick up smoke on the horizon in clear weather at dusk that turns out to be the Nelson escorted by only three destroyers and a Fiji Class vessel. I still have 11 eels but decide discretion is the better part of valour as test dives below 25 metres had brought nothing but damage and flooding.
I was in the best position for an attack on the Nelson and the Fiji at some 3,300 metres: two torps each to slow them down and then a slow tracking of their positions while the escort stuffed around looking for me, a reload and then another go to finish them off (assuming my first two didn't do the job). Mind you, that was all in my head.
I don't have hull integrity showing in game but later after I return to port and check patrol results via Commander I find was down to 7.62%
Given my patrol resulted in a smear over 50K tonnage I'm pretty happy, but another 50K with these two ships combined should have seen me promoted to God. However, playing dead is dead, at least my crew and U-67 are still around to have another go. Now that is being more aggressive - making sure you live long enough to keep on hitting the enemy rather than going out in a blaze of glory.
