Stories and Patrol Logs + Screenshots and Videos (merged)

USS Tuna
East China Sea
Feb 26, 1942

I've been cruising around the East China Sea area for a while and have scored some pretty sweet hits; but this is probably the most primo of all.

I'm sitting at periscope depth outside Itoman harbor on the southwest side of Okinawa. It's pitch black outside with nice, calm water. I've already taken out a fishing boat and an auxiliary gunboat on my way in. And to what do I see before me?? Four tankers (an old, a medium and TWO larges) along with three or four freighters, a tied-up seaplane & another auxiliary gunboat. All of them guarded by one lonely little subchaser who's only got 10 more seconds to live. I've already got a fish headed his way.

I've got a full compliment of torpedoes (having just made a quick run to Surybaya(?) to rearm) less the one heading out to the subchaser. Can you say "fish in a barrel"? I knew that you could! I'll see if I can get some pics of the carnage!

[Hotmanandre]

The Light Cruiser "Red Ukraine"

[MaddogK]

U-47
1Nov39
Op Monsoon

A little side trip enroute to patrol area AM1, a bit late but ran the Scapa Flow raid as the real U-47 did, in thru the narrow channel on the east, around the sub nets and between the sunken ships blocking the channel @ 12m depth. The British PT boat had me nervous for a while, and passed 3 DD's anchored in the harbor with 1 blowing smoke but stationary. Passed on all these targets looking for the anchored battleship. Was about 10 miles west of where she was in R/L but no matter. Took all day to position myself for the kill but was ready around 1700 hrs and launched 2 electric and 2 steam torpedoes from 5500 yards, and turned to launch the kill shot from the rear tubes.

1 dead Repulse Battlecruiser, never found the Royal oak but the PT boat and destroyer never came close. Exited the harbor toward the south and will head over to assigned patrol area for a bit of rest (I hope).

[tomoose]

13 Mar 42, 0440hr, Long 125 50'E Lat 27 49'N
Japanese Merchant sunk: Hakusika Maru 8184tons.

Description:
On patrol in designated area of East China Sea. At 0400hr sonar picked up merchant closing at high speed. 0415hr sighted merchant bearing 035 on a course that would take her across our bow. I adjusted course to achieve as close to a 90 degree attack angle as possible.
Sounded GQ and went to periscope depth increasing to flank.
Once in posn, went to ahead slow, readied forward tubes 1 & 2. I was having difficulty nailing down the speed using manual TD so adjusted fish 2 to a few degrees left.
Waited for the target to close and at 1200yds I let loose.
1st torp nailed the target in the bow area but torp 2 missed the bow fwd by a hair.
The ship had slowed somewhat but I didn't want to waste any more torps so I surfaced and manned the deck gun. The bugger didn't want to go without a fight and their machine gun raked my boat despite my gun crew getting 4 good hits with the deck gun. As the target wasn't going anywhere soon I decided to avoid risking my crew and went to periscope depth and trailed the target as it zig-zagged in an attempt to flee. She was slightly down by the bow and making about 7kts so I let the crew load up 1 & 2 again while pacing the target and judging the time between zig and zag.
Once the word was given that they were reloaded I tried to time my fish to catch the ship on one of it's zigs. My first torp went behind but my second caught her midships as she turned to starboard. The merch crew wasted no time in getting to the lifeboat (we only saw one) and in a couple of minutes there was nothing left but debris. I stood down from GQ and resumed course on the surface and enjoyed the sunrise. I knew the enemy air patrols would be out soon so wanted to enjoy the daylight while I could.
First torp on its way;


2nd torp up the arse on the zig.


That settled the matter.....

....Crew getting the helloutta Dodge.....


...down she goes.....



...leaving little to mark the spot.


USS Pompano at sunrise the same morning. Enemy aircraft will probably cut short the scenic trip.


Last but not least, screwing around with GoogleEarth and the .kml file.

[Jack Cutter]

Captain's Log
Lt. Commander Jack Cutter
USS Sturgeon (Salmon Class)


First Patrol: June 12, 1942 Departure from Perth-Freemantle at 14:00 Hours

Order to patrol the Celebes Sea. Crew is on first mission, many are new and some are plain un-trusting of me. Luckily there are experienced officers on board to help keep the new crew members in line. Ahead standard out of Freemantle. Open sea is calm.
Nothing to report.


June 18, 1942 02:40 Hours: Deck watch and radar officers report a small ship, very slow speeds. Single contact. Sound officer reports nothing on the hydrophones. For the past couple of days we have been nearing the coast of Borneo and are nearing our designated patrol sector. Many contacts have been reported but all have been civilian fishing boats. I maintain surface running and continue onward, not wanting to waste anytime.


03:00 Hours: Contact is maintaining course as well, and the radar officer reports that, since having closed the range on the contact it is quite large. I was dead wrong...As I am contemplating diving to periscope depth, deck watch alerts me that a ship has been spotted, just under a nautical mile off the port side. If it is a vessel with guns, I have just endangered my ship, and more importantly my crew. I run topside with my binoculars and spot the vessel in the dark night—a lone Japanese Old Tanker. I frantically scan its decks for guns, and find that it pleasantly has none. I breathe a sigh of relief and call crew to battle stations. The poor sailors are shaken from their racks to the jarring alarm. I take up an intercept course, remaining on the surface while my tired gunners are arming the bow-mounted deck gun with high explosive shells.
The Japanese tanker has begun to zigzag, her crew clearly having spotted us. I order to commence firing on the command deck, and watch as my skilled gunners pick apart the un-escorted tanker like rabid wolves.


03:19 Hours: A high explosive shell scores a massively successful hit, erupting the tanker's bridge in a brilliant bright orange flash. Debris rains down into the ocean, sending up columns of water. I order for the crew to aim at the waterline of the hulking tanker, now that her crew members are now without critical officers. Loading in armor piercing shells, six more rounds flash hits, reflecting off the smooth, dark water. On the 7th shot, a lucky strike is made. Landing amidships, the round set off a chain of explosions, all erupting into flaming mushroom clouds that cast shadows on the Sturgeon. The Japanese tanker lists heavily to her starboard, and slips beneath the dark ocean waves stern-first. We remain at all stopped to survey the scene. Only smoke and some flames alight by burning oil mark where the 4,804 ton vessel used to be. None of the watch can spot rafts. Many of the crew rejoice, some remain silent, seemingly aware of the lives lost. I too remain silent.


03:22 Hours: Crew is relieved from battle stations, and the tired men stumble back to their racks. I follow them. We are again back on course to Celebes Sea patrol area.
June 20, 1942 20:12 Hours: I am in the middle of a high-stakes poker game, about to lose several packs of cigarettes, when suddenly a loud crash sounds, and water rockets high into the air. Screaming echoes through the belly of the ship. I run to the tower, just in time to see the last of my deck watch men come funneling through the hatch. No one is hurt, but they're scared witless, as am I. A Japanese gunboat and a subchaser have both begun running us down, firing wildly. Why my radar man did not alert me and what the hell the deck watch was actually doing to where they did not see these vessels approaching us at flank speeds is beyond me, but I have no time to throttle them. The shelling is continuing, and the rounds are bursting into the water around us. Shrapnel damages our deck gun. I order a crash dive, and an evasive maneuver to port. Midway through the jarring turn, I deploy decoys and then maneuver again to starboard. I order the Sturgeon to 300ft depth, and crew to battle stations. We rig for silent running.


20:20 Hours: Above us the subchaser must be dropping depth charges. Thankfully they are exploding far behind us. We maintain course creeping along as the sound officer listens to see where the ships are circling.


20:48 Hours: It seems like my panicked evasive actions have actually paid off, as the sound officer reports that both vessels are still running a search pattern about 800+ yards to our stern. The subchaser is still blinding dropping charges, its crew intent on seeing our blood an oil floating on the sea. The crew is partly angered, and very shaken. It goes without saying we want our revenge. I order us to periscope depth and begin to plot out the best firing calculations. Sadly, I am no math genius, and this work is excruciating. My second in command, however, is adept at his job and does most of the calculations. By the time the slow ascent is complete, we have possible courses of action in mind. The periscope shows me the gunboat is aiding the subchaser as best as possible by running zig-zagging search patterns, pinging the hell out of everything under the surface. Both stern tubes open on my orders, and with help from my second officer, the calculations for two torps to find home are made ASAP.


20:52 Hours: Firing of two torpedoes from the stern tubes shakes the Sturgeon as the deadly projectiles cut through the waters like sleek, deadly sharks. Moments tick by as suddenly the gunboat begins a hard to port maneuver. Either a well-trained Japanese solider sees the torps, or their soundman heard the roaring death coming, but luckily their efforts proved worthless. The first torpedo crashed hard into the bow of the vessel, rocking her hard on her axis and nearly tipping her onto her port side. I was amazed to see that the ship literally leapt up into the air, and crashed back down into the sea. Crewmen were thrown into the water from her railings, and a huge fire erupted from the vessel's stack. Shells must've began to cook off as several smaller explosions rippled through the vessel. She was already taking on huge amounts of water when the second torpedo ripped greedily into her hull just forward of her props. Again the Japanese gunboat flew into the air and set back down. This time she did capsize onto her port side, finally rolling all the way over, putting her bridge underneath the waves. With her steel underbelly exposed, the gunboat dipped into the sea, bow-first. 900 Tons was now the Sturgeon's and the crews, if we could survive the fight with the subchaser that was now bearing down on us at Flank Speed.


20:53 Hours: Again I order a crash dive to 300ft and collapse the periscope. I add hard to starboard maneuvering and straighten out my course while dropping another decoy tube. Already I can hear the splash as heavy depth charges drop into the water after us. Explosions rock our ship, and some gauges' glass breaks. We hold together. We pass the thermal layer and cut the engines completely. More depth charges explode. They churn up the water and our stomachs, but aren't close enough to harm us.
Again I am lucky as it seems the Japanese subchaser is dropping charges right where our decoy is. I thank that tube for his service to his country and order us ahead 1/3 as quietly as possible. I want to add some distance between us and that blasted subchaser.


21:00 Hours: The shelling is intense, but thankfully it's far away from us. Sadly, that didn't last long... In the few minutes we had been moving forward at 1 knot, the subchaser actually sped overhead, throwing charges to its port and starboard sides after passing us. They exploded loudly, and we could feel their concussions, but either they were launching them far, or we were just deep enough. I decide to cut engines while the subchaser speeds several hundred yards in front of us. I chance a periscope depth, with the engines still cut and the crew eerily silent. The slow climb is agonizing. Fear boils my insides as I wonder if we'll be spotted. Once we reach the mark I raise scope and see that the subchaser is about 400 yards away, still dropping charges in a search pattern. The vessels' port side is broad-side to me. That was the only invitation I needed. I ready the first and second tubes, and again we quickly calculate a firing solution.


21:15 Hours: “Torpedo in the water!”. I feel the Sturgeon shudder as the deadly missile churns through the water. Ahead the subchaser still seems unaware. A second hiss permeates the sub as the last torp begins its deadly journey. The stop watch ticks incessantly and suddenly a loud blast rings our ears. I already lowered the scope and was in the process of diving again for that wonderful thermal layer. Another few seconds passed, and another loud explosion reported. We were only about 85 feet down when my sound officer reported the creaking, groaning metal of what must've been that damn destroyer going under. I chanced a return visit to scope depth. The depth man gave me a glare and brought us back up. What can I say? My curiosity is bad. I'm also in a large wager with another captain for tonnage. When I was able to return to scope depth nothing graced my crosshairs but some burning oil on the surface of the waves. Add 438 Tons to my men's tally.


21:17 Hours: We surface and greedily inhale sweet, fresh air. Continuing objective, Ahead Standard. Smooth seas, no additional contacts. Men relieved from battle stations. Some go to the rack, most chatter excitedly. I have a few friends now, but I'm still unsure if most of the crew trusts me or not.


June 22, 1942 12:00 Hours: We reach our objective. Comsubpac orders us to patrol the area. We run a full day in search. Air contact is minimal, and we mostly run on the surface. No contacts.


June 23-June-24, 1942: No contacts in patrol sector. Diesel reserves are nearing limit. We have enough fuel to return to Perth-Freemantle. We plot our course following back-tracking our path.


June 29, 1942 03:24 Hours: We happily return to home harbor. I feel I should have done more, but I am glad I was able to keep my crew safe. The lights of the harbor look beautiful.

[Dignan]

Nice work CAPT Cutter. Very engaging read.

[Jack Cutter]

Originally Posted by Dignan

Nice work CAPT Cutter. Very engaging read.

Thanks! I'll have my second patrol posted sometime this afternoon

[Dignan]

Just got done with a patrol.

OP MONSUN MOd
June 1940
Type IIV Uboat

I was assigned a sector to patrol west of Ireland. Never got there because I came across a single merchant which I made attack after attack on. Did a few "end arounds" to keep attacking it. Why did I repeat this attack you ask??? Because I expended ALL torpedoes and ALL torpedoes either prematurely exploded or were duds against the hull.

I've NEVER had this happen before but it was frustrating to say the least. Only thing I can think of is that seas were very heavy. I tried magnetic and impact settings. I tried gas and electric torpedoes. NOTHING. WOw. I've got some explaining to do to my commander.

[Jack Cutter]

Originally Posted by Dignan

Just got done with a patrol.

OP MONSUN MOd
June 1940
Type IIV Uboat

I was assigned a sector to patrol west of Ireland. Never got there because I came across a single merchant which I made attack after attack on. Did a few "end arounds" to keep attacking it. Why did I repeat this attack you ask??? Because I expended ALL torpedoes and ALL torpedoes either prematurely exploded or were duds against the hull.

I've NEVER had this happen before but it was frustrating to say the least. Only thing I can think of is that seas were very heavy. I tried magnetic and impact settings. I tried gas and electric torpedoes. NOTHING. WOw. I've got some explaining to do to my commander.

I'd look at the commanding officer with the straightest face possible and tell him...I dunno what went wrong. This kind of thing has never happened to me before. LOL

[MaddogK]

Originally Posted by Dignan

Just got done with a patrol.

OP MONSUN MOd
June 1940
Type IIV Uboat

I was assigned a sector to patrol west of Ireland. Never got there because I came across a single merchant which I made attack after attack on. Did a few "end arounds" to keep attacking it. Why did I repeat this attack you ask??? Because I expended ALL torpedoes and ALL torpedoes either prematurely exploded or were duds against the hull.

I've NEVER had this happen before but it was frustrating to say the least. Only thing I can think of is that seas were very heavy. I tried magnetic and impact settings. I tried gas and electric torpedoes. NOTHING. WOw. I've got some explaining to do to my commander.

You sure it was a merchant ? I recently had to put 3 fish and about 40 HE shots into a modern passenger/freighter to sink her, and found larger ships easier to sink. Some sink VERY slowly with the stock OM install.

[Dogfish40]

I finally made it in to Midway for a much needed refit. After loading up, I noticed that my empty tubes were stealing from the new stock of torpedoes I had just gotten. Anyway, that was corrected by simply hitting the refit button again and the missing torpedoes were now all there. That was not the weird thing.
While my tubes were loading and we were just getting underway, (I was below decks plotting a course) my WO calls out "Plane spotted, 370 degrees!". With all the other 'Ship spotted!' calls, I didn't think much about it....till I heard the explosion . I headed for the bridge and ordered battle stations, but that was it...no other sounds. All the ships in the harbor were quiet as if nothing had happened. Well, I finally spotted some smoke coming from some trees near the airfield and so I took off in my external camera to see what the heck exploded.
There turned out to be a B-24 liberator, (4 engines, dual tail rudders, it must've been a liberator) flipped upside-down near the water's edge. No personnel around, no activity, just weird!! Anyway, I got the heck outta' there. I really have to agree with another post I read about Midway being too busy as there are way too many big ships there at most anytime. If you have any midway experiences I'd like to hear them.
Good Hunting
D40/USS Drum

[Dignan]

Originally Posted by MaddogK

You sure it was a merchant ? I recently had to put 3 fish and about 40 HE shots into a modern passenger/freighter to sink her, and found larger ships easier to sink. Some sink VERY slowly with the stock OM install.

You are right about some ships sinking slowly. However, this is not the problem I had. ALL of my torpedoes were duds so I never inflicted any damage on the target. Very frustrating but realistic I suppose.

[ShadowWolf Kell]

Originally Posted by Dignan

You are right about some ships sinking slowly. However, this is not the problem I had. ALL of my torpedoes were duds so I never inflicted any damage on the target. Very frustrating but realistic I suppose.

Locational damage is very important in OM. Ideally you want to use magnetic detonators and break the keel just in front of, or below the funnel(s). Sometimes sea conditions don't permit that though, so the best way to handle that is to use contact fuses. To dramatically reduce duds, get as close to a 90 angle shot as possible and set the depth to the minimum (this works in TMO and RFB too.) Keep in mind that 90 degree angle is for the torpedo run itself. You basically want to make a T shaped attack for the topedo leg. You can use the gyro angle to your advantage to ensure this happens, but it'll also make targetting more difficult if you're doing realistic aiming.

A lot of ship hulls start to curve along the waterline which almost always will cause your torpedo to dud. The idea is to hit above the curvature so that the contact fuse hits a flat surface dead on. Magnetic detonators get around this by actually blowing up under the target.

What caused the duds was the firing pins getting bent at odd angles and all the SH4 mods simulate this. Some moreso than others.


My last OM game back in April was with the U-47. Good to see she's still giving the Tommies hell.

Currently putting RFB 2.0 through it's paces so I'll post something for the USS Silversides soon.

[Elektroniikka-Asentaja]

Originally Posted by Rilder

Messing with various files to try and increase graphics I decided to do this... seems like ramming doesn't work as well in SH4; I rammed that cruiser about 3 times.... :rotfl:

Ramming works in case you are above the cruiser, I mean of course it doesn't work as your sub can't climb on the cruiser and as your enemy weights about 7000 tons more than you..

I've managed to sink a cruiser by hitting a torpedo on it so it was bit easier to get on it, ahead flank and crash boom bang, eventually I managed to crawl over the cruiser xD They sunk but it caused a nice damage to my sub too so I don't recommend to try in convoy attacks

screenshot fail..

I was going to post a picture about mushroom-cloud-exploding fishing ship but I cleaned my screenies folder and it seems that pic was deleted too =(

[Jan Kyster]

Black back in Blue...



Why. Won't. You. Just. Sink.

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