SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post - Mark-10 Circular Run? RFB 1.4 1941

Contemplative Flame · 11-12-21, 01:43 PM

So I haven't gotten on or played much in ages but I felt the need recently. Started up a December 1, 1941 start with a 0 renown S-boat out of the Asiatic Fleet, all stock men and equipment (as far as RFB 1.4 is concerned). I manage to come across a freighter heading south past Luzon once war breaks out. 4 torps, 2 hits, finished with the gun. About 50nm north of this encounter while heading towards the Luzon Strait, I see a second merchant.

It was still dark so I tried to repeat another night surface run. This one must have had better lookouts though because he started to dodge. I get into a stern chase which is NOT fun in an S-boat because of the low speed (at least the gun is bow-mounted for all the good it does). I set up a nice spread, 2 torps, one will be starboard of him, one port.

The first goes off, not supposed to be a hit, but just block him in. Then I launch the one to his port, and it turns....and turns....and TURNS! By the point I fully realized what I was looking at, it was mostly too late. I sounded crash dive and all the bells started going off as I swung the rudder all the way over, but sadly to no avail.

The Mark-10 hit just on the rear of the hull, right before where it slopes down to the shafts proper and narrows. In other words it was the last of the hull it could have hit, and if it came by just a couple yards further back it would have passed harmlessly between the hull and the tail.

There was some flooding of course, and the bulkhead was damaged, but worst of all was the propeller shaft damage. Maybe it was my fault for not going All Stop immediately, but shortly after impact and initial repairs, they jumped to .92 damaged.

Naturally at this point I had to suspend chasing/shelling the now-burning and frantically zig-zagging merchantman who probably couldn't believe his luck. The bulkhead gave way a little more and we started slightly going down by the stern. Buuuut the plucky engine room crew got the bulkhead sealed and the room pumped. Good news!

All told after hours of repair work dead in the water, the only lasting damage was...the two propeller shafts....which you can't seem to do any work on while patrolling. Bad news...and worse. I could only manage 3-4 knots, and that was at Full. I didn't want to risk Flank and ruining them altogether just to get stranded in the middle of the sea. But the creme de la creme is coming....

Manila just got bombed and they called off all their boats, redirecting us to Surabaya, Java. That would normally be fine...except when I'm riiiight off Luzon and in desperate need of prop shaft repairs. So...off I go tooling towards Surabaya at a few knots. A loooong way to go indeed. Pretty uneventful too...until it wasn't.

About halfway between Borneo and Singapore chugging south, don't I just have to stumble upon a pair of destroyers and a gunboat in the pitch black? I can't go very fast so turning away and running isn't an option. I dive to periscope depth and hope there aren't any leaks from the damage. I don't know if they saw me slip under or heard me on passive, but either way they saw me and started pinging with active.

To make a long, sad story short, they missed many depth charge attacks, setting them too deep, but not matter how long or far or where I turned, they kept on me. I just wasn't fast enough. When one passed right over my conning tower and his keel ripped off my periscopes and partially destroyed the deck gun, I knew I had only one option left, dive.

Now you know where this is going. 80 ft? No problem. Still getting pinged. 100? A-ok. 120, 150, 170...hull is still good...but can't lose em. My men are going nuts getting pinged. Well, screw it 200...and something gives. I immediately go flank speed dive planes up but like the damned torpedo that started all this, it was already too late by the time I noticed what was going on. All the bulkheads started to leak and we lost the boat in the dark night somewhere between Borneo and Malaya, not even a month into the war.

Which brings me to the real question: Has anyone ever had a Mark-10, NOT a Mark-14, circular run before (any mod or stock for that matter)? I HAVE seen Mark-14s do it, and I'm always edgy with them early war and keep a sharp eye out when I launch. But the 10? I thought I was good. I wasn't paying as much attention. At first I thought I messed up and had my gyro angle wrong. But then it kept going and going, and when I realized the situation it was a forgone conclusion but for dumb luck.

11-12-21, 01:43 PM	#1
Contemplative Flame Watchman Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: USA Posts: 20 Downloads: 35 Uploads: 0	Mark-10 Circular Run? RFB 1.4 1941 So I haven't gotten on or played much in ages but I felt the need recently. Started up a December 1, 1941 start with a 0 renown S-boat out of the Asiatic Fleet, all stock men and equipment (as far as RFB 1.4 is concerned). I manage to come across a freighter heading south past Luzon once war breaks out. 4 torps, 2 hits, finished with the gun. About 50nm north of this encounter while heading towards the Luzon Strait, I see a second merchant. It was still dark so I tried to repeat another night surface run. This one must have had better lookouts though because he started to dodge. I get into a stern chase which is NOT fun in an S-boat because of the low speed (at least the gun is bow-mounted for all the good it does). I set up a nice spread, 2 torps, one will be starboard of him, one port. The first goes off, not supposed to be a hit, but just block him in. Then I launch the one to his port, and it turns....and turns....and TURNS! By the point I fully realized what I was looking at, it was mostly too late. I sounded crash dive and all the bells started going off as I swung the rudder all the way over, but sadly to no avail. The Mark-10 hit just on the rear of the hull, right before where it slopes down to the shafts proper and narrows. In other words it was the last of the hull it could have hit, and if it came by just a couple yards further back it would have passed harmlessly between the hull and the tail. There was some flooding of course, and the bulkhead was damaged, but worst of all was the propeller shaft damage. Maybe it was my fault for not going All Stop immediately, but shortly after impact and initial repairs, they jumped to .92 damaged. Naturally at this point I had to suspend chasing/shelling the now-burning and frantically zig-zagging merchantman who probably couldn't believe his luck. The bulkhead gave way a little more and we started slightly going down by the stern. Buuuut the plucky engine room crew got the bulkhead sealed and the room pumped. Good news! All told after hours of repair work dead in the water, the only lasting damage was...the two propeller shafts....which you can't seem to do any work on while patrolling. Bad news...and worse. I could only manage 3-4 knots, and that was at Full. I didn't want to risk Flank and ruining them altogether just to get stranded in the middle of the sea. But the creme de la creme is coming.... Manila just got bombed and they called off all their boats, redirecting us to Surabaya, Java. That would normally be fine...except when I'm riiiight off Luzon and in desperate need of prop shaft repairs. So...off I go tooling towards Surabaya at a few knots. A loooong way to go indeed. Pretty uneventful too...until it wasn't. About halfway between Borneo and Singapore chugging south, don't I just have to stumble upon a pair of destroyers and a gunboat in the pitch black? I can't go very fast so turning away and running isn't an option. I dive to periscope depth and hope there aren't any leaks from the damage. I don't know if they saw me slip under or heard me on passive, but either way they saw me and started pinging with active. To make a long, sad story short, they missed many depth charge attacks, setting them too deep, but not matter how long or far or where I turned, they kept on me. I just wasn't fast enough. When one passed right over my conning tower and his keel ripped off my periscopes and partially destroyed the deck gun, I knew I had only one option left, dive. Now you know where this is going. 80 ft? No problem. Still getting pinged. 100? A-ok. 120, 150, 170...hull is still good...but can't lose em. My men are going nuts getting pinged. Well, screw it 200...and something gives. I immediately go flank speed dive planes up but like the damned torpedo that started all this, it was already too late by the time I noticed what was going on. All the bulkheads started to leak and we lost the boat in the dark night somewhere between Borneo and Malaya, not even a month into the war. Which brings me to the real question: Has anyone ever had a Mark-10, NOT a Mark-14, circular run before (any mod or stock for that matter)? I HAVE seen Mark-14s do it, and I'm always edgy with them early war and keep a sharp eye out when I launch. But the 10? I thought I was good. I wasn't paying as much attention. At first I thought I messed up and had my gyro angle wrong. But then it kept going and going, and when I realized the situation it was a forgone conclusion but for dumb luck. Last edited by Contemplative Flame; 11-12-21 at 02:02 PM.