Stories and Patrol Logs + Screenshots and Videos (merged) - Page 298

Clean Sweep · 08-06-13, 09:36 AM

I also apologize for the many spelling errors, I'm using my phone.

larsonboram · 08-06-13, 12:45 PM

experimenting with Improved Environmental Effects 3.0

larsonboram · 08-06-13, 01:21 PM

This one is with RFB_2.0 and RSDC_RFB2.0

in_vino_vomitus · 08-06-13, 02:41 PM

Good work

c13Garrison · 08-06-13, 04:39 PM

The fates have favored you! Well done.

Whenever I try to bull-rush a convoy I usually get damaged And my torpedoes miss...

c13Garrison · 08-08-13, 03:45 PM

22 January 1942
Lt.Cmdr. Gael Glenn, USS Narwhal

Departed Pearl afternoon of 12/7 with orders to park off of Tokyo Bay and conduct unrestricted anti-shipping operations. Arrived in theater Christmas day.

Stayed on station for roughly 108 hours, no contacts reported excepting for a distant warship contact that disappeared, likely the furthermost edge of the Tokyo Bay patrol screen. Elected to enter Tokyo Bay seeking targets.

On entry must have been spotted by shore observers, sonar contact had 1 slow target approaching then joined by a fast contact approaching. Set torpedoes shallow, but upon sighting targets were a Small Subchaser and a Minelayer. Not deeming these torpedo worthy we went deep to 200' and continued in at 1-2 knots. Subchaser passed directly overhead without detecting us. We continued on for about 6000 yards, then surfaced to press further in. Unsighted shore batteries soon opened fire, roughly 1/2 way through the neck of the passage. Before we could dive the forward 6" mount was hit, destroying it. Seamen 3rd Class Vincent Fitzpatrick and Dilbert Rosencrans were killed, 3 others wounded. Slight damage to hull. We continued in submerged at Slow Ahead for about 2 hours.

On entering the Bay we stopped 1000 yards WNW north of the first Yokohama lighthouse, steering SSE. No sonar contacts were reported.

Periscope revealed 2 Heavy Cruisers lying at anchor to the west, a Fuso class battleship alongside dock in the harbor, and a light carrier 1200 yards astern of us. Only active contacts were distant and placid, so we commenced an attack.

T1 Fuso 20feet Magnetic; Premature
T2 Fuso 20feet Magnetic; Keel Impact
T3 Fuso 20feet Magnetic; Keel Impact
T4 Fuso 20feet Magnetic; Keel Impact

Target began a noticeable list within 5 minutes, within 15 it had rolled past 60*. By action's end the starboard edge of her conning tower was touching the water, total list about 85*. No fire, conclude sunk by flooding.

T5 & 6 Taiyo 20feet Magnetic; Deeprun
T7 & 8 Taiyo 12feet Magnetic; Keel Impact

T9 Furutaka HC 12feet Magnetic; Premature
T10 F Heavy Cr 12feet Magnetic; Deeprun

T11 & 12 Taiyo 8feet Magnetic; Keel Impact

Carrier, only marginally settling on an even keel from first 2 hits, immediately suffered large explosion from shot 12, explosions then began stem to stern, planes parked on deck being tossed about and overboard by the blasts. Settled on an even keel within 15 minutes. Sunk by Magazine/AvGas fire & flooding.

T13 & 14 Furutaka 12feet Magnetic; Premature/Deeprun
T15 & 16 Furutaka 12feet Magnetic; Premature
T17 & 18 Takao 8feet; KeelKill/Keel

First torpedo detonated under forward magazines, igniting them and destroying the ship. Second torpedo detonated under engine spaces but was insult to injury. Sunk by catastrophic magazine explosion.

T19 Furutaka 8feet Magnetic; Deeprun
T20 Furutaka 3feet Magnetic; Premature

Observations.

Furutaka Class target aside, 9 of 12 torpedoes fired hit, doing great damage. All 8 fired at Furutaka failed or ran deep. Great damage was caused, but taken as a whole more than 50% failed. The Mk14 is an excellent torpedo, but something with the Furutaka's harbourage was clearly in play. Perhaps the Japanese have some kind of active electromagnetic torpedo defense installed on Furutaka?

Return trip conducted survey of Johnston & Christmas Islands, report clear.

GG

iyiskipper · 08-08-13, 03:59 PM

had a bit of fun Test Tweaking how to add upack turrets in TemplateMod =)

Bubblehead1980 · 08-09-13, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by c13Garrison

22 January 1942
Lt.Cmdr. Gael Glenn, USS Narwhal

Departed Pearl afternoon of 12/7 with orders to park off of Tokyo Bay and conduct unrestricted anti-shipping operations. Arrived in theater Christmas day.

Stayed on station for roughly 108 hours, no contacts reported excepting for a distant warship contact that disappeared, likely the furthermost edge of the Tokyo Bay patrol screen. Elected to enter Tokyo Bay seeking targets.

On entry must have been spotted by shore observers, sonar contact had 1 slow target approaching then joined by a fast contact approaching. Set torpedoes shallow, but upon sighting targets were a Small Subchaser and a Minelayer. Not deeming these torpedo worthy we went deep to 200' and continued in at 1-2 knots. Subchaser passed directly overhead without detecting us. We continued on for about 6000 yards, then surfaced to press further in. Unsighted shore batteries soon opened fire, roughly 1/2 way through the neck of the passage. Before we could dive the forward 6" mount was hit, destroying it. Seamen 3rd Class Vincent Fitzpatrick and Dilbert Rosencrans were killed, 3 others wounded. Slight damage to hull. We continued in submerged at Slow Ahead for about 2 hours.

On entering the Bay we stopped 1000 yards WNW north of the first Yokohama lighthouse, steering SSE. No sonar contacts were reported.

Periscope revealed 2 Heavy Cruisers lying at anchor to the west, a Fuso class battleship alongside dock in the harbor, and a light carrier 1200 yards astern of us. Only active contacts were distant and placid, so we commenced an attack.

T1 Fuso 20feet Magnetic; Premature
T2 Fuso 20feet Magnetic; Keel Impact
T3 Fuso 20feet Magnetic; Keel Impact
T4 Fuso 20feet Magnetic; Keel Impact

Target began a noticeable list within 5 minutes, within 15 it had rolled past 60*. By action's end the starboard edge of her conning tower was touching the water, total list about 85*. No fire, conclude sunk by flooding.

T5 & 6 Taiyo 20feet Magnetic; Deeprun
T7 & 8 Taiyo 12feet Magnetic; Keel Impact

T9 Furutaka HC 12feet Magnetic; Premature
T10 F Heavy Cr 12feet Magnetic; Deeprun

T11 & 12 Taiyo 8feet Magnetic; Keel Impact

Carrier, only marginally settling on an even keel from first 2 hits, immediately suffered large explosion from shot 12, explosions then began stem to stern, planes parked on deck being tossed about and overboard by the blasts. Settled on an even keel within 15 minutes. Sunk by Magazine/AvGas fire & flooding.

T13 & 14 Furutaka 12feet Magnetic; Premature/Deeprun
T15 & 16 Furutaka 12feet Magnetic; Premature
T17 & 18 Takao 8feet; KeelKill/Keel

First torpedo detonated under forward magazines, igniting them and destroying the ship. Second torpedo detonated under engine spaces but was insult to injury. Sunk by catastrophic magazine explosion.

T19 Furutaka 8feet Magnetic; Deeprun
T20 Furutaka 3feet Magnetic; Premature

Observations.

Furutaka Class target aside, 9 of 12 torpedoes fired hit, doing great damage. All 8 fired at Furutaka failed or ran deep. Great damage was caused, but taken as a whole more than 50% failed. The Mk14 is an excellent torpedo, but something with the Furutaka's harbourage was clearly in play. Perhaps the Japanese have some kind of active electromagnetic torpedo defense installed on Furutaka?

Return trip conducted survey of Johnston & Christmas Islands, report clear.

GG

Ah, gotta love early war patrols.

Bubblehead1980 · 08-09-13, 08:56 AM

USS Gudgeon Second Patrol out of Pearl Harbor Feb-April 1942

Departed on the evening of February 9, 1942 for Patrol Area in the Bismark Archipelago. Arrived off Kavieng on 25 February and moved in the next morning to reconnoiter the area submerged.Encountered multiple planes, including one that spotted me in the clear water, dropping a few close bombs, no damage.Moved out in the area and conducted daytime submerged patrol, spotting heavy smoke once on Feb 28, but was unable to make contact as it was almost dusk, nightfall concealed the possible merchant.After surfacing, headed into Bismark Sea and continued patrol, submerged to avoid the heavy air traffic.Around noon on March 4, 1942 in middle of Bismark Sea, sound picked up heavy screws, closed submerged and by 1300, had a task force of three heavy cruisers.

Set up an attack to fire from 1000 yards, the 4 miles at flank speed left battery power low, but seemed worth it.Fired six torpedoes at middle heavy cruiser from 900 yards.Torpedo 1 ran number 2, prematurely exploded, number ran normal, as did four and five.Six seemed to run normal as well. The CA's were alerted by the prematurely exploding fish and just barely able to avoid the salvo.Suddenly a thud was heard against the hull of my ship, and the report of a dud torpedo was reported.Apparently, torpedo number six circled back and hit my sub, must have been running much deeper than set also.The erratic movement was not detected until we heard it hit the hull(most likely conning tower.External cam off so not sure) A hard turn to starboard had my stern tubes now on the third CA with a great set up, fired all four fish as she zigged at 12 knots, fired from 700 yards, all four prematurely detonated.The TF moved out of sight as we surfaced to reload, charge batters and move ahead for an end around.

The cruisers must have launched their float planes as soon multiple single engine float planes were coming in from their direction, forcing us to dive 6 times.

By late afternoon, was ahead of the TF again, assuming it resumed base course.Before long the cruisers came back of the horizon. We closed to attack but a zig ruined my set up, could not fire from 5,400 yards.We surfaced after they sped out of sight, dodged another floatplane and as dusk was settling, they came back, out guess that they were indeed heading for Rabaul was correct.Closed in and at dusk, fired six torpedoes at the lead heavy cruiser.

No prematures so far, the first torpedo hit in the bow area, another hit amidships, then suddenly, the next two prematurely detonated.Then, the next two hit aft, setting off aft magazine apparently as a loud, massive explosion went off , the entire ship from bow to stern was on fire and listing, the other cruisers now zigging, put their spotlights on my scope and began to fire.I ordered 80 feet, then back to scope depth in time to see the cruiser we hit capsizize and let out one more giant explosion before she disappeared. By this time my after tubes were on the other cruiser, I fired all four, they all ran underneath the keel without exploding, two prematurely exploded 30 seconds apart about 100 yards from the cruiser, after passing under.Soon an aircraft became visible in my scope as the sun was disappearing on the horizon, We went to 100 feet and were unharmed by the bombs that fell.

Surfacing an hour later, all the remained was the burning oil slick and debris of from the cruiser.We attempted to move along their anticipated track for a dawn scope attack as they entered Rabaul, but never regained contact.Resumed patrol in area.On the morning of March 9, 1942, now on a patrol in the south channel off Rabaul.Encountered a TF of heavy and light cruiser, surprisingly unescorted, heading my way.Fired four torpedoes from 1200 yards(closest get get in time) all four run hot, straight, and normal but the cruiser's lookouts were on alert, they spotted them in time and evaded all four.The last two missing the bow just by inches, so close the magnetic detonator was set off, no damage seemed to be done to the ca however.

Out of torpedoes, continued to patrol channel for rest of the day then to send contact reports if any more task forces left Rabaul, then headed to Pearl Harbor, arriving April 1, 1942.

c13Garrison · 08-09-13, 12:43 PM

That is a gripping, painful patrol. So much energy expended; I feel your pain! - and that #6 that circled back on you, that's incredible. I almost hope that happens to me sometime! Almost.

I was about to write a summary of Captain Glenn's 2nd & 3rd patrols, but ironically he would be praising the torpedoes. My Mk 1's have had about a 75% success rate over those 2 patrols, and 3 ships (DD/HC/Maru) were sunk by single shots.

It could be a very amusing write-up as he appeals to the B.O. not to mess around with a very successful torpedo. - He's still convinced that the 8 failures on Furutaka were due to some experimental defensive magnetic device...

I've also decided prematures are less frustrating for me than a dud. Yes, they might alert the enemy, but at least I can immediately decide what to do next, rather than holding my breath for 90-120 seconds only to hear a dull 'thud'.

in_vino_vomitus · 08-09-13, 04:10 PM

Gripping report Captain - Especially the circle runner - congrats on the cruiser

I prefer duds to prematures, since it confirms the solution works - kind of like a consolation prize

Looking forward to Cmdr Glenn's next report

pstein · 08-10-13, 02:35 AM

New guy here. I've lurked for awhile and finally joined.

Anyway, here we go:

Lt. Cdr. P. Stein, USS Tambor (SS-198) 5th War Patrol

Based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Patrol started 24 April, 1942, orders were to deploy to East China Sea, engage Japanese merchant shipping.

Load out was following: 24 Mk. 14 Torpedoes with Mark 6 Magnetic exploder disabled (apparently doesn't exist in Steam version of SH4).

War Diary follows:

000 24th April: Departure from Pearl. Only Navigator, XO, and I are privy to station. At least until we reach the midway point.

1200 29th April: Continuing towards station. Sporadic contact reports. Have passed Wake Island, with surprising lack of air attack.

0500 1 May: Have sighted Medium European Composite off of starboard bow. Crew has been brought to battle stations.

0510: European composite has opened fire. Diving to periscope depth.

0515: Have reached firing position. Firing Tubes 1-4.

0517: One hit of four. Reloading tubes.

0530: Two more misses. Turning about to use stern tubes. Freighter is settling by the stern.

0600: Finally in position for stern tubes. Fired one torpedo, and one hit. Enemy destroyed: European Composite of approx. 6000 tons. No life raft sighted, but shot was taken from over 3000 yards. Continuing on course.

1500: Alarm, enemy aircraft spotted on SD radar. Diving to periscope depth.

2000: Have finally surfaced, and nearly on station.

6 May 1942: Corregidor has surrendered. Luckily, Trout was able to obtain much of the gold bullion on the island.

Nothing nearby for last 4 days. Now steaming at flank speed to intercept task force.

0300: Have sighted large enemy task force, with one Fuso-Class battleship, at least one Kongo-Class Battlecruiser, and at least one Takeo-Class Heavy Cruiser. Range is approx. 9000 yards.

0315: In position to fire on Fuso-Class Battleship.

0318: Takeo-Class Heavy Cruiser is shielding Fuso-Class. I cannot wait any longer. Destroyers are closing in; it's now or never. Tubes 1-6 fired. New depth of 160 ft ordered, all engines ahead one-third. Range approx. 5000 yards.

0325: 5 hits of 6. Takeo Class heavy cruiser destroyed. Approximately 16000 tons.

0400: Going back to periscope depth. Examination reveals enemy destroyers still searching. Task force about 9000 yards away. Shot is impractical.

1200: Finally surfaced. Destroyer finally gave up around 0700. Heading for home.

14 May 1942: Have returned to Pearl. Received Patrol Star for actions.

Total score was 2 ships for roughly 22000 tons. That makes it 10 ships for about 75000 tons through my five patrols. First patrol was a wash, but all others have been very successful.

There seems to be a depth-keeping issue with the Mk. 14. I set it to explode at 10 ft, but it missed the target completely. This seems to be in keeping with issues that other skippers have had, namely Lt. Cdr. Warder of Seawolf and Lt. Cdr. Jacobs of Sargo. Also, quality of Japanese merchant gunners seems to be rather low, but advise keeping in position where you can't get hit.

in_vino_vomitus · 08-10-13, 03:23 AM

Welcome aboard

- Congratulations on the cruiser - Looking forward to reading about the next one

in_vino_vomitus · 08-11-13, 06:10 AM

Back from our fourth voyage to the Eastern Atlantic. It was very much the same as the last one. Ships travel either alone or in convoy; Most lone vessels are neutral, convoys are obviously belligerent, and travel in two directions; North or South, plus or minus ten degrees; Get ahead of them, submerge and, depending on the sea state, get below fifty meters and you can go underneath the front escorts, come to periscope depth in the midst of the convoy, select your targets and fire with impunity. it's hard to imagine how any convoy could make it from Gibraltar to the 'Kanal, when it's so easy to put torpedoes into their ships. We carry twenty-six torpedoes. In theory every one of them can sink a ship. This patrol we fired twenty-four torpedoes and sank three - One of those, we finished with Die Pistole.

Some of this is our fault. Our eels don't like acute angles. If they don't hit within twenty degees of the beam, then the chances are they won't explode. This shouldn't matter, since they have a device to set them off if they only pass under the ship - a marvel of science. Most of the time using this means the eel doesn't even reach the ship it's meant for, before it explodes, announcing our presence to the world.

Anyway, the number of ships we fired at, is the number of ships we hit, misses notwithstanding - and yet of the ships we hit, we sank three. What is going wrong? As you can imagine it's affecting morale. For all that it's an honour to give one's life for one's country, nobody wants to lose ones life over a faulty torpedo. To die in battle is what sailors, and battles are for, but for lives to be wasted is a crime.....

However, after firing at three ships and sinking one, we were creeping away, listening to the escorts killing fish behind us, when Dieter picked up a faint contact, well behind the convoy. One of the ships we'd fired at, had had one torpedo miss, but the other had detonated. We were hoping we'd hear it breaking up at some point, which happens more often than not, but we never did. Anyway Dieter picked it up, dead in the water. We headed towards it and saw the smoke from well over the horizon. The escorts were still too close for us to surface, so we approached submerged, surfaced, and finished her off with Die Pistole. I took a picture....

The only other thing of note was on the return. We were in the 'Kanal at night, making about 14 knots, when an explosion came from nowhere. We dived, but found we were taking on water from the forward torpedo room, and were unable to maintain depth control. We were in sixty meters of water at the time, and before you could say it, we were sitting on the bottom. Dieter was unable to hear anything, which doesn't mean it wasn't a surface vessel, but it strongly suggests otherwise. Anyway, I hate to ruin the suspense, but we made repairs and were able to surface, but it was a sobering experience to be sent to the bottom and have no idea what put us there. I usually hate sailing through the 'Kanal - too narrow and too shallow, but this time at least I was glad of the second...

Your obedient nephew

Philipp

Clean Sweep · 08-11-13, 02:13 PM

Thought I'd share this eerie encounter I just had. Currently on my third war patrol aboard the Tang. In the Philippine Sea east of Luzon. Was running on the surface during a storm in the middle of the night. No stars, no moon, just black skies and white caps rolling... Then off to my port came an apparition, three lights that looked to make an outline of a boat as if one light was forward, one aft, and one on a mast. Couldn't physically see a vessel but the positioning of the lights made it appear none other than a ship. Thinking I came into a Japanese convoy without my crew knowing, I ran to the sonar and surface radar but nothing was picking up. Went back out on deck and watch as the lights slowly faded away into the rain squalls... So creepy!

08-06-13, 02:41 PM	#4459
in_vino_vomitus XO Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Preston, Lancs, UK Posts: 418 Downloads: 137 Uploads: 0	Good work __________________ Forget death - I'll take dishonour! [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] TMO 2.5 1.5 Optical Targeting Correction 031312 for TMO 2.5 1.5 OTC Realistic Scopes for TMO TheDarkWraith_DC_Water_Disturbance_v2_0_SH4 Improved Stock environment v3_TMO&RFB TMO_Alt_engine-sounds TMO_Alternate_JS_Radar_performance TMO17_19_different_smoke

08-08-13, 03:45 PM	#4461
c13Garrison Ensign Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Chicago-ish, USA Posts: 223 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	Patrol 1 Torpedo Report, Narwhal 22 January 1942 Lt.Cmdr. Gael Glenn, USS Narwhal Departed Pearl afternoon of 12/7 with orders to park off of Tokyo Bay and conduct unrestricted anti-shipping operations. Arrived in theater Christmas day. Stayed on station for roughly 108 hours, no contacts reported excepting for a distant warship contact that disappeared, likely the furthermost edge of the Tokyo Bay patrol screen. Elected to enter Tokyo Bay seeking targets. On entry must have been spotted by shore observers, sonar contact had 1 slow target approaching then joined by a fast contact approaching. Set torpedoes shallow, but upon sighting targets were a Small Subchaser and a Minelayer. Not deeming these torpedo worthy we went deep to 200' and continued in at 1-2 knots. Subchaser passed directly overhead without detecting us. We continued on for about 6000 yards, then surfaced to press further in. Unsighted shore batteries soon opened fire, roughly 1/2 way through the neck of the passage. Before we could dive the forward 6" mount was hit, destroying it. Seamen 3rd Class Vincent Fitzpatrick and Dilbert Rosencrans were killed, 3 others wounded. Slight damage to hull. We continued in submerged at Slow Ahead for about 2 hours. On entering the Bay we stopped 1000 yards WNW north of the first Yokohama lighthouse, steering SSE. No sonar contacts were reported. Periscope revealed 2 Heavy Cruisers lying at anchor to the west, a Fuso class battleship alongside dock in the harbor, and a light carrier 1200 yards astern of us. Only active contacts were distant and placid, so we commenced an attack. T1 Fuso 20feet Magnetic; Premature T2 Fuso 20feet Magnetic; Keel Impact T3 Fuso 20feet Magnetic; Keel Impact T4 Fuso 20feet Magnetic; Keel Impact Target began a noticeable list within 5 minutes, within 15 it had rolled past 60. By action's end the starboard edge of her conning tower was touching the water, total list about 85. No fire, conclude sunk by flooding. T5 & 6 Taiyo 20feet Magnetic; Deeprun T7 & 8 Taiyo 12feet Magnetic; Keel Impact T9 Furutaka HC 12feet Magnetic; Premature T10 F Heavy Cr 12feet Magnetic; Deeprun T11 & 12 Taiyo 8feet Magnetic; Keel Impact Carrier, only marginally settling on an even keel from first 2 hits, immediately suffered large explosion from shot 12, explosions then began stem to stern, planes parked on deck being tossed about and overboard by the blasts. Settled on an even keel within 15 minutes. Sunk by Magazine/AvGas fire & flooding. T13 & 14 Furutaka 12feet Magnetic; Premature/Deeprun T15 & 16 Furutaka 12feet Magnetic; Premature T17 & 18 Takao 8feet; KeelKill/Keel First torpedo detonated under forward magazines, igniting them and destroying the ship. Second torpedo detonated under engine spaces but was insult to injury. Sunk by catastrophic magazine explosion. T19 Furutaka 8feet Magnetic; Deeprun T20 Furutaka 3feet Magnetic; Premature Observations. Furutaka Class target aside, 9 of 12 torpedoes fired hit, doing great damage. All 8 fired at Furutaka failed or ran deep. Great damage was caused, but taken as a whole more than 50% failed. The Mk14 is an excellent torpedo, but something with the Furutaka's harbourage was clearly in play. Perhaps the Japanese have some kind of active electromagnetic torpedo defense installed on Furutaka? Return trip conducted survey of Johnston & Christmas Islands, report clear. GG

08-08-13, 03:59 PM	#4462
iyiskipper Seaman Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 34 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	USS Cachalot Secret Sub had a bit of fun Test Tweaking how to add upack turrets in TemplateMod =) __________________

08-09-13, 08:56 AM	#4464
Bubblehead1980 Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Florida USA Posts: 6,922 Downloads: 550 Uploads: 42	Third time is the charm.... USS Gudgeon Second Patrol out of Pearl Harbor Feb-April 1942 Departed on the evening of February 9, 1942 for Patrol Area in the Bismark Archipelago. Arrived off Kavieng on 25 February and moved in the next morning to reconnoiter the area submerged.Encountered multiple planes, including one that spotted me in the clear water, dropping a few close bombs, no damage.Moved out in the area and conducted daytime submerged patrol, spotting heavy smoke once on Feb 28, but was unable to make contact as it was almost dusk, nightfall concealed the possible merchant.After surfacing, headed into Bismark Sea and continued patrol, submerged to avoid the heavy air traffic.Around noon on March 4, 1942 in middle of Bismark Sea, sound picked up heavy screws, closed submerged and by 1300, had a task force of three heavy cruisers. Set up an attack to fire from 1000 yards, the 4 miles at flank speed left battery power low, but seemed worth it.Fired six torpedoes at middle heavy cruiser from 900 yards.Torpedo 1 ran number 2, prematurely exploded, number ran normal, as did four and five.Six seemed to run normal as well. The CA's were alerted by the prematurely exploding fish and just barely able to avoid the salvo.Suddenly a thud was heard against the hull of my ship, and the report of a dud torpedo was reported.Apparently, torpedo number six circled back and hit my sub, must have been running much deeper than set also.The erratic movement was not detected until we heard it hit the hull(most likely conning tower.External cam off so not sure) A hard turn to starboard had my stern tubes now on the third CA with a great set up, fired all four fish as she zigged at 12 knots, fired from 700 yards, all four prematurely detonated.The TF moved out of sight as we surfaced to reload, charge batters and move ahead for an end around. The cruisers must have launched their float planes as soon multiple single engine float planes were coming in from their direction, forcing us to dive 6 times. By late afternoon, was ahead of the TF again, assuming it resumed base course.Before long the cruisers came back of the horizon. We closed to attack but a zig ruined my set up, could not fire from 5,400 yards.We surfaced after they sped out of sight, dodged another floatplane and as dusk was settling, they came back, out guess that they were indeed heading for Rabaul was correct.Closed in and at dusk, fired six torpedoes at the lead heavy cruiser. No prematures so far, the first torpedo hit in the bow area, another hit amidships, then suddenly, the next two prematurely detonated.Then, the next two hit aft, setting off aft magazine apparently as a loud, massive explosion went off , the entire ship from bow to stern was on fire and listing, the other cruisers now zigging, put their spotlights on my scope and began to fire.I ordered 80 feet, then back to scope depth in time to see the cruiser we hit capsizize and let out one more giant explosion before she disappeared. By this time my after tubes were on the other cruiser, I fired all four, they all ran underneath the keel without exploding, two prematurely exploded 30 seconds apart about 100 yards from the cruiser, after passing under.Soon an aircraft became visible in my scope as the sun was disappearing on the horizon, We went to 100 feet and were unharmed by the bombs that fell. Surfacing an hour later, all the remained was the burning oil slick and debris of from the cruiser.We attempted to move along their anticipated track for a dawn scope attack as they entered Rabaul, but never regained contact.Resumed patrol in area.On the morning of March 9, 1942, now on a patrol in the south channel off Rabaul.Encountered a TF of heavy and light cruiser, surprisingly unescorted, heading my way.Fired four torpedoes from 1200 yards(closest get get in time) all four run hot, straight, and normal but the cruiser's lookouts were on alert, they spotted them in time and evaded all four.The last two missing the bow just by inches, so close the magnetic detonator was set off, no damage seemed to be done to the ca however. Out of torpedoes, continued to patrol channel for rest of the day then to send contact reports if any more task forces left Rabaul, then headed to Pearl Harbor, arriving April 1, 1942.

08-09-13, 04:10 PM	#4466
in_vino_vomitus XO Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Preston, Lancs, UK Posts: 418 Downloads: 137 Uploads: 0	Gripping report Captain - Especially the circle runner - congrats on the cruiser I prefer duds to prematures, since it confirms the solution works - kind of like a consolation prize Looking forward to Cmdr Glenn's next report __________________ Forget death - I'll take dishonour! [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] TMO 2.5 1.5 Optical Targeting Correction 031312 for TMO 2.5 1.5 OTC Realistic Scopes for TMO TheDarkWraith_DC_Water_Disturbance_v2_0_SH4 Improved Stock environment v3_TMO&RFB TMO_Alt_engine-sounds TMO_Alternate_JS_Radar_performance TMO17_19_different_smoke

08-06-13, 09:36 AM	#4456
Clean Sweep Seaman Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Louisiana Posts: 35 Downloads: 51 Uploads: 0	I also apologize for the many spelling errors, I'm using my phone.

08-06-13, 12:45 PM	#4457
larsonboram Bosun Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 66 Downloads: 78 Uploads: 0	experimenting with Improved Environmental Effects 3.0

08-06-13, 01:21 PM	#4458
larsonboram Bosun Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 66 Downloads: 78 Uploads: 0	This one is with RFB_2.0 and RSDC_RFB2.0

08-06-13, 04:39 PM	#4460
c13Garrison Ensign Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Chicago-ish, USA Posts: 223 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	The fates have favored you! Well done. Whenever I try to bull-rush a convoy I usually get damaged And my torpedoes miss...

08-09-13, 12:43 PM	#4465
c13Garrison Ensign Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Chicago-ish, USA Posts: 223 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	That is a gripping, painful patrol. So much energy expended; I feel your pain! - and that #6 that circled back on you, that's incredible. I almost hope that happens to me sometime! Almost. I was about to write a summary of Captain Glenn's 2nd & 3rd patrols, but ironically he would be praising the torpedoes. My Mk 1's have had about a 75% success rate over those 2 patrols, and 3 ships (DD/HC/Maru) were sunk by single shots. It could be a very amusing write-up as he appeals to the B.O. *not* to mess around with a very successful torpedo. - He's still convinced that the 8 failures on Furutaka were due to some experimental defensive magnetic device... I've also decided prematures are less frustrating for me than a dud. Yes, they might alert the enemy, but at least I can immediately decide what to do next, rather than holding my breath for 90-120 seconds only to hear a dull 'thud'.

08-10-13, 02:35 AM	#4467
pstein Swabbie Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 14 Downloads: 7 Uploads: 0	New here... first post New guy here. I've lurked for awhile and finally joined. Anyway, here we go: Lt. Cdr. P. Stein, USS Tambor (SS-198) 5th War Patrol Based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Patrol started 24 April, 1942, orders were to deploy to East China Sea, engage Japanese merchant shipping. Load out was following: 24 Mk. 14 Torpedoes with Mark 6 Magnetic exploder disabled (apparently doesn't exist in Steam version of SH4). War Diary follows: 000 24th April: Departure from Pearl. Only Navigator, XO, and I are privy to station. At least until we reach the midway point. 1200 29th April: Continuing towards station. Sporadic contact reports. Have passed Wake Island, with surprising lack of air attack. 0500 1 May: Have sighted Medium European Composite off of starboard bow. Crew has been brought to battle stations. 0510: European composite has opened fire. Diving to periscope depth. 0515: Have reached firing position. Firing Tubes 1-4. 0517: One hit of four. Reloading tubes. 0530: Two more misses. Turning about to use stern tubes. Freighter is settling by the stern. 0600: Finally in position for stern tubes. Fired one torpedo, and one hit. Enemy destroyed: European Composite of approx. 6000 tons. No life raft sighted, but shot was taken from over 3000 yards. Continuing on course. 1500: Alarm, enemy aircraft spotted on SD radar. Diving to periscope depth. 2000: Have finally surfaced, and nearly on station. 6 May 1942: Corregidor has surrendered. Luckily, Trout was able to obtain much of the gold bullion on the island. Nothing nearby for last 4 days. Now steaming at flank speed to intercept task force. 0300: Have sighted large enemy task force, with one Fuso-Class battleship, at least one Kongo-Class Battlecruiser, and at least one Takeo-Class Heavy Cruiser. Range is approx. 9000 yards. 0315: In position to fire on Fuso-Class Battleship. 0318: Takeo-Class Heavy Cruiser is shielding Fuso-Class. I cannot wait any longer. Destroyers are closing in; it's now or never. Tubes 1-6 fired. New depth of 160 ft ordered, all engines ahead one-third. Range approx. 5000 yards. 0325: 5 hits of 6. Takeo Class heavy cruiser destroyed. Approximately 16000 tons. 0400: Going back to periscope depth. Examination reveals enemy destroyers still searching. Task force about 9000 yards away. Shot is impractical. 1200: Finally surfaced. Destroyer finally gave up around 0700. Heading for home. 14 May 1942: Have returned to Pearl. Received Patrol Star for actions. Total score was 2 ships for roughly 22000 tons. That makes it 10 ships for about 75000 tons through my five patrols. First patrol was a wash, but all others have been very successful. There seems to be a depth-keeping issue with the Mk. 14. I set it to explode at 10 ft, but it missed the target completely. This seems to be in keeping with issues that other skippers have had, namely Lt. Cdr. Warder of Seawolf and Lt. Cdr. Jacobs of Sargo. Also, quality of Japanese merchant gunners seems to be rather low, but advise keeping in position where you can't get hit.

08-10-13, 03:23 AM	#4468
in_vino_vomitus XO Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Preston, Lancs, UK Posts: 418 Downloads: 137 Uploads: 0	Welcome aboard - Congratulations on the cruiser - Looking forward to reading about the next one __________________ Forget death - I'll take dishonour! [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] TMO 2.5 1.5 Optical Targeting Correction 031312 for TMO 2.5 1.5 OTC Realistic Scopes for TMO TheDarkWraith_DC_Water_Disturbance_v2_0_SH4 Improved Stock environment v3_TMO&RFB TMO_Alt_engine-sounds TMO_Alternate_JS_Radar_performance TMO17_19_different_smoke

08-11-13, 06:10 AM	#4469
in_vino_vomitus XO Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Preston, Lancs, UK Posts: 418 Downloads: 137 Uploads: 0	Dear Aunt Grethe Back from our fourth voyage to the Eastern Atlantic. It was very much the same as the last one. Ships travel either alone or in convoy; Most lone vessels are neutral, convoys are obviously belligerent, and travel in two directions; North or South, plus or minus ten degrees; Get ahead of them, submerge and, depending on the sea state, get below fifty meters and you can go underneath the front escorts, come to periscope depth in the midst of the convoy, select your targets and fire with impunity. it's hard to imagine how any convoy could make it from Gibraltar to the 'Kanal, when it's so easy to put torpedoes into their ships. We carry twenty-six torpedoes. In theory every one of them can sink a ship. This patrol we fired twenty-four torpedoes and sank three - One of those, we finished with Die Pistole. Some of this is our fault. Our eels don't like acute angles. If they don't hit within twenty degees of the beam, then the chances are they won't explode. This shouldn't matter, since they have a device to set them off if they only pass under the ship - a marvel of science. Most of the time using this means the eel doesn't even reach the ship it's meant for, before it explodes, announcing our presence to the world. Anyway, the number of ships we fired at, is the number of ships we hit, misses notwithstanding - and yet of the ships we hit, we sank three. What is going wrong? As you can imagine it's affecting morale. For all that it's an honour to give one's life for one's country, nobody wants to lose ones life over a faulty torpedo. To die in battle is what sailors, and battles are for, but for lives to be wasted is a crime..... However, after firing at three ships and sinking one, we were creeping away, listening to the escorts killing fish behind us, when Dieter picked up a faint contact, well behind the convoy. One of the ships we'd fired at, had had one torpedo miss, but the other had detonated. We were hoping we'd hear it breaking up at some point, which happens more often than not, but we never did. Anyway Dieter picked it up, dead in the water. We headed towards it and saw the smoke from well over the horizon. The escorts were still too close for us to surface, so we approached submerged, surfaced, and finished her off with Die Pistole. I took a picture.... The only other thing of note was on the return. We were in the 'Kanal at night, making about 14 knots, when an explosion came from nowhere. We dived, but found we were taking on water from the forward torpedo room, and were unable to maintain depth control. We were in sixty meters of water at the time, and before you could say it, we were sitting on the bottom. Dieter was unable to hear anything, which doesn't mean it wasn't a surface vessel, but it strongly suggests otherwise. Anyway, I hate to ruin the suspense, but we made repairs and were able to surface, but it was a sobering experience to be sent to the bottom and have no idea what put us there. I usually hate sailing through the 'Kanal - too narrow and too shallow, but this time at least I was glad of the second... Your obedient nephew Philipp __________________ Forget death - I'll take dishonour! [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] TMO 2.5 1.5 Optical Targeting Correction 031312 for TMO 2.5 1.5 OTC Realistic Scopes for TMO TheDarkWraith_DC_Water_Disturbance_v2_0_SH4 Improved Stock environment v3_TMO&RFB TMO_Alt_engine-sounds TMO_Alternate_JS_Radar_performance TMO17_19_different_smoke

08-11-13, 02:13 PM	#4470
Clean Sweep Seaman Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Louisiana Posts: 35 Downloads: 51 Uploads: 0	Thought I'd share this eerie encounter I just had. Currently on my third war patrol aboard the Tang. In the Philippine Sea east of Luzon. Was running on the surface during a storm in the middle of the night. No stars, no moon, just black skies and white caps rolling... Then off to my port came an apparition, three lights that looked to make an outline of a boat as if one light was forward, one aft, and one on a mast. Couldn't physically see a vessel but the positioning of the lights made it appear none other than a ship. Thinking I came into a Japanese convoy without my crew knowing, I ran to the sonar and surface radar but nothing was picking up. Went back out on deck and watch as the lights slowly faded away into the rain squalls... So creepy!