What's worth more - a liner or a cruiser?

duce_de_zoop · 04-28-24, 10:45 AM

Bit of a quandary I had last night.

I was patrolling in my favorite early-war spot, just west of Scapa Flow, when I suddenly a ran into a small task force of a Southampton Class, an auxiliary cruiser, and the HMS Queen of Bermuda ocean liner. Unbelievable luck with 30% fuel left. It was broad daylight, I was directly perpendicular to them, and they were zoomin', so by the time I dived and repositioned I had about a couple minutes to pick a target, grab a solution and fire off my torps.

My great dilemma - I wasn't sure whether I should hit the cruiser or the liner. They were too big, too fast, and too spread out to try to hit both, especially if I had any duds. In the end, I figured I had already sunk a cruiser - an extremely lucky magazine hit on HMS Manchester on my first patrol. So I went with the liner.

My fears were right - one dud, one miss, but two good hits on the bow. I tailed the liner for a bit before it flopped on its nose and sank. Honestly, surprised it only took two. Used my stern tube to take a pot shot at the auxiliary cruiser but missed

Anyway. On the way back I wondered - was that the right move? Like, humor me here, but for the war effort. Should I have sunk the big, juicy ocean liner just cause it looked big and juicy? Or was the cruiser a more practical target? In raw tonnage the liner is certainly bigger, but Wikipedia says it was serving as an auxiliary cruiser in the time I sunk it. Was the Southampton a bigger threat? Did I make the wrong move Kaleuns? What would Donitz think? ;_;

04-28-24, 10:45 AM	#1
duce_de_zoop Swabbie Join Date: Dec 2020 Location: Cleveland Posts: 10 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	What's worth more - a liner or a cruiser? Bit of a quandary I had last night. I was patrolling in my favorite early-war spot, just west of Scapa Flow, when I suddenly a ran into a small task force of a Southampton Class, an auxiliary cruiser, and the HMS Queen of Bermuda ocean liner. Unbelievable luck with 30% fuel left. It was broad daylight, I was directly perpendicular to them, and they were zoomin', so by the time I dived and repositioned I had about a couple minutes to pick a target, grab a solution and fire off my torps. My great dilemma - I wasn't sure whether I should hit the cruiser or the liner. They were too big, too fast, and too spread out to try to hit both, especially if I had any duds. In the end, I figured I had already sunk a cruiser - an extremely lucky magazine hit on HMS Manchester on my first patrol. So I went with the liner. My fears were right - one dud, one miss, but two good hits on the bow. I tailed the liner for a bit before it flopped on its nose and sank. Honestly, surprised it only took two. Used my stern tube to take a pot shot at the auxiliary cruiser but missed Anyway. On the way back I wondered - was that the right move? Like, humor me here, but for the war effort. Should I have sunk the big, juicy ocean liner just cause it looked big and juicy? Or was the cruiser a more practical target? In raw tonnage the liner is certainly bigger, but Wikipedia says it was serving as an auxiliary cruiser in the time I sunk it. Was the Southampton a bigger threat? Did I make the wrong move Kaleuns? What would Donitz think? ;_;