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Zosimus · 06-24-14, 10:35 AM

December 1939–so far it's all too easy. The only real problem is the weather. I saw my first convoy during this outing and ventured in. Rather lamely I must admit that despite the wealth of targets around me I fired one torpedo at one cargo ship and dived. I'm using steam-powered torpedoes and not more than 3 minutes after the torpedo explosion four annoyed destroyers showed up and started pinging me. I took my fine boat down to 140m with no problems and eventually slunk away. The cargo ship eventually sunk (gray), which I believe means a combination of weather and torpedo damage. I was unable to determine whether I got credit for that, but I've seen gray sinkings before and they showed up on my radio report home, so I assume so.

Not more than 3 hours later I ran into another warship and sensibly went to 25m but then I got a hydrophone contact on first one merchant than two more. Sensing another convoy I crept in, found a cargo ship, and measured his speed at 8 knots. Just as I was setting up a 3500m shot on him I spotted a tanker somewhere beyond him and I switched targets faster than you can say "Mush!" Even though I'd had no previous experience with salvos, I went for a 1-4 salvo at 0º and I am pleased to say I scored two direct hits at somewhere between 4500-5500m and the ship sunk(red) less than a minute later. I also fired two torpedoes at two separate cargo ships and scored on each of them. One sunk(red) about 20 minutes later, but the other one must have limped its way into port somewhere. I had only one torpedo left and I didn't follow up further on the convoy.

Heading for home I ran into another tanker and with one aft torpedo and a pounding heart I decided to go for a surface deck gun assault with the torpedo as backup in case she didn't sink. Sadly she was well-lit and sporting a US flag so I let her go and rounded England to the North Sea where I got the chance to fire my last torpedo. I flubbed the shot and it bounced off of the hull so I closed in to point blank range with deck guns ready only to find myself face-to-face with some irritated Danish. My Danish is a bit rusty, but I gather they were saying something about my mother, so I slunk of into the night after another hydrophone contact, which turned out to be a second Danish ship no more than 4 kilometers off the coast of England. Curse the luck!

I ran into a pair of Norwegian ships on the way home and no sooner did they spot me but they turned on every light they had to illuminate their flag. It took me several minutes in the books to figure out who they were, but I eventually had to let them go too.

On final approach to Wilhelmshaven a German patrol craft opened fire on me, and I went to periscope depth for repairs before finally slinking into port to cheering throngs of people. With 50,000 tons sunk, I got enough U-boat badges to give one to everybody, and I decorated the deck gunner and the hydrophone operator for work well done.

After almost 4 weeks at sea with no change of clothes and no chance to take a bath, my wife refused to let me in the house. I had to hose myself down in the garden in December! The dog didn't seem to mind my smell though–at least someone was happy to see me back in port.

06-24-14, 10:35 AM	#4635
Zosimus XO Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Chorrillos, Lima, Peru Posts: 401 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	December 1939 December 1939–so far it's all too easy. The only real problem is the weather. I saw my first convoy during this outing and ventured in. Rather lamely I must admit that despite the wealth of targets around me I fired one torpedo at one cargo ship and dived. I'm using steam-powered torpedoes and not more than 3 minutes after the torpedo explosion four annoyed destroyers showed up and started pinging me. I took my fine boat down to 140m with no problems and eventually slunk away. The cargo ship eventually sunk (gray), which I believe means a combination of weather and torpedo damage. I was unable to determine whether I got credit for that, but I've seen gray sinkings before and they showed up on my radio report home, so I assume so. Not more than 3 hours later I ran into another warship and sensibly went to 25m but then I got a hydrophone contact on first one merchant than two more. Sensing another convoy I crept in, found a cargo ship, and measured his speed at 8 knots. Just as I was setting up a 3500m shot on him I spotted a tanker somewhere beyond him and I switched targets faster than you can say "Mush!" Even though I'd had no previous experience with salvos, I went for a 1-4 salvo at 0º and I am pleased to say I scored two direct hits at somewhere between 4500-5500m and the ship sunk(red) less than a minute later. I also fired two torpedoes at two separate cargo ships and scored on each of them. One sunk(red) about 20 minutes later, but the other one must have limped its way into port somewhere. I had only one torpedo left and I didn't follow up further on the convoy. Heading for home I ran into another tanker and with one aft torpedo and a pounding heart I decided to go for a surface deck gun assault with the torpedo as backup in case she didn't sink. Sadly she was well-lit and sporting a US flag so I let her go and rounded England to the North Sea where I got the chance to fire my last torpedo. I flubbed the shot and it bounced off of the hull so I closed in to point blank range with deck guns ready only to find myself face-to-face with some irritated Danish. My Danish is a bit rusty, but I gather they were saying something about my mother, so I slunk of into the night after another hydrophone contact, which turned out to be a second Danish ship no more than 4 kilometers off the coast of England. Curse the luck! I ran into a pair of Norwegian ships on the way home and no sooner did they spot me but they turned on every light they had to illuminate their flag. It took me several minutes in the books to figure out who they were, but I eventually had to let them go too. On final approach to Wilhelmshaven a German patrol craft opened fire on me, and I went to periscope depth for repairs before finally slinking into port to cheering throngs of people. With 50,000 tons sunk, I got enough U-boat badges to give one to everybody, and I decorated the deck gunner and the hydrophone operator for work well done. After almost 4 weeks at sea with no change of clothes and no chance to take a bath, my wife refused to let me in the house. I had to hose myself down in the garden in December! The dog didn't seem to mind my smell though–at least someone was happy to see me back in port.