Ula Jolly
08-03-05, 09:05 PM
I'm in my tenth patrol or so, first career, updated to the VIIB. Serving at the 1st Flotilla in Wilhelmshaven, a port from where I have sailed for a long time now - from the first start date to about 6th of June, 1940. I'm at a rather easy difficulty - about 50% - but that's just because I want to get the hang of this before I start going blind. :yep:
I set sail in the start of June. "Patrol grid AN59." BdU says.
Roger. That grid is close to Hartlepool... guess who'll be raiding after his obligatory 24 hours? :|\
My crew and I steam ahead; on the way out, we are accompanied by a commerce raider and some schnellboots, one of which nearly manages to crash into me. That moron. Don't these surface guys know how to use their eyes?
We steam at standard, which is 10 kts with my boat. This is the usual procedure; I don't expect any attacks until close to enemy shore, so I usually spend the whole first day and second - and if heading to Norway, two days and third - on the surface. This allows me to keep my spare crew on stations, so that sonar guys, machinists and etc get time off. Should I encounter anything suspicious en route there, I simply use my reserves for that.
We arrive after apprx two days in AN59. The minute after reaching the grid, I send a patrol report. The weather had been rather fine until then, but as always, the thought crosses my mind, "Don't these Englishmen know how to make good weather?! That's why we're fighting them."
Rain, heavy seas, but not as bad as it could be. Sonarman to his station, watchmen at ease - we go listening.
For twenty hours we listen, criss-crossing the sea by cursor, at speeds from 128 to 1024, three knots during day.
I surface at night, about 2200, to find the weather to have calmed a bit. But only a bit; in not many hours, it would worsen again, and white would top the waves of the Nord See. We set course west, north-west. I want to make an approach on the harbour from the south, just close enough to land to avoid most destroyers. Many, many are the reports I get of sound contacts. Some close, some closer, and some far away. The weather easens again. And my, how it easens!
The clock has not yet struck 5 in the morning, when a contact is brought to my attention. Closing, it says. Closing, it does.
I close as well; it doesn't take an education at a university to know how to treat different lag. We rendesvouz in silent seas; he, me and the eel I wrote his name on. The coastal merchant was scrapped; it was nearly not fun. Actually, it was fun. This was the first time I got to use my 8.8cm, merely for fun. I didn't know how to change ammo, but it was only for show. We didn't hit, but the torpedo certainly did!
A bit of a morale booster, that one was. :arrgh!:
Soon enough, the course is replotted, once again the bow and stern point in opposite directions (:rotfl:, dunno where I heard that).
Warship to my north? Certainly, we follow our course. Warship closing? Ach, the bastard is keeping me from my nap! Periscope up, lousy sailor!
An armed trawler, a mere 3 km away. The seas are excellent now; a G7a would be the direct opposite of what to use. My first test using a G7e in such seas. The test goes well, for everyone except the crew on that trawler. My first kill was also a trawler, so I get a bit melancholic upon killing the bastard! -sniffle-
The hit was so clean, I could have worn it in a wedding.
I sail once again below the surface, here and there are merchants and warships. I don't care anymore, as I don't want to waste more eels before Hartlepool.
Ah... how beautiful a day, I think, popping up my periscope. But then I look in it. It isn't a beautiful day. The seas are again messing about. Damnit.
Not that it ruins my day - not at all, as it's favourable seas for killing off merchants - but I like good weather. Simple as that.
We're getting closer to our target, and so is the darkness. I order a position some km from land, pop up there, and charge all batteries and air. It's a mere 5 o'clock in the morning when we dive, on what is to be the most thrilling day yet. But, of course as it comes with thrill, also the most dangerous.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAARCHKKKKKKKK!!
That is what the ship said. It doesn't take a genious to figure we had run into the bed. Then it repeated itself. It doesn't take a genious to figure we had to get off of the bed.
I ordered some less depth, a halt, and assigned a damage crew to repair stations for the first time yet. It didn't take long for them to get everything under control. Thankfully, we were only down to 99% integrity. Hull and captain.
Anyone heard us? By God, I hope not. We continue. Hartlepool is a mere 5 nm away now, in fact raising the periscope I see the lighthouses. I look forward... I am rather calm, seeing as I know I may come to an empty port, as I have with Bergen and Trondheim.
I use the external cam for fun. I don't want to go there if there isn't anything there. There is something there.
First, I find a C2. Then I find a coastal merchant. Then I find a bloody T3!!!
I make sure my tired crew is released by fresh crew, and sail on at a slightly increased pace. We reach the lighthouses by 10 o'clock, and the day has only just started.
The last time I took out a C2, I thought as I went into the harbour, it sustained three eels. I would have to put these all under the chimney, right on the middle, with all three in one spot.
Raising periscope so the waves won't interfere, and stopping the engine, I assume the tiresome, but without doubt satisfying work of assigning depth, pistol, etc.
Tube one is fired, and I realize I set the speed to low. Half a minute passes, as I fired from about 700 m's range, then I see seawater sent high in the air! Not quite the best shot, that one, so I load up for another, assigning tube two. Similar settings, fast. Firing, BOOM! Nothing. Assigning number three. Firing. BOOM! Nooothing.
What was that on my nav map? Something BEHIND me? Anchored up along the pier of the middlemost lighthouse? THIS is what aft tubes are for!!
On my rear, 300m away, I have a coastal merchant all nicely anchored up! Didn't see that one coming! Well, it never came, as... it was always there. But y'know.
The torp is fired nice'n quick. I should have alarmed most of the destroyers around here, buuuuut oh well... :smug:
The torpedo hits, and at the moment of seeing the little merchant blow nearly in half, creeeecking on the pier (the game keeps stalling it against the wall), the C2 blows as well! And boy, it blows on the middle! All three fishes had hit pretty much the same spot, and BOY did they make it look nice! The water is too shallow, of course, to make it all sink, but seeing the smoke and fire from the harbour really, really looked great.
Now for number three... Hartlepool is a harbour in two pieces, separated by a midsection where you can't get through. The T3 was on the other side of the other ships, so I'd have to get out and blow that up later. But I WOULD!! shoot it up! I've heard so much about the secondaries, I need to screenshoot it. (Is Ctrl+F11 the screenshoot button?)
The third ship is also a coastal merchant... actually, what I am writing now is not really as good as it could be. It's 3:45 here right now, and I'm sleepy as hell from a LONG day. :ping:
The third merchant lies waiting faithfully between two piers... Argh, I have to maneuver into position! Carefully, the approach is made. My sonar man reports an enemy warship closing from the north, and lo, there is smoke on the horizon. ****. Weeeell, going to take my time. As it is, my stern is pointing to the entrance, so that destroyer can come try me if he wants to. :rock:
What is this, you say, Officer Bahn - specialist in gunnery and sanitation? A good opportunity to train the crew in firing?
HELL YES! 400 metres? Makes it more personal.
I position crew on the deck, and start ramming away with AA shots at the bow of the ship. The first three miss, and perhaps seven or eight of twenty fired never made it to the target because of the rolling seas.
The smokestack is down! Hell, what a splendid damage model! So are the fore masts! I keep shooting at this one point in the bow, hoping it'll sink soon. It's not a weak spot, but I can't maneuver much further in. I should have aimed lower, but after a mere twenty to thirty shots, the turd found rest! "Yeeha!" I hear, followed by explosions!
WE MANEUVER out of the southern harbour with periscope up, sub down, one third ahead.
Just as I clear of the middlemost lighthouse, an event window pops up. What's this...?
My boat, or the lighthouse and the ocean?
Seen from above?
Why?
Are those...
Aircraft.
BY GOD, the RAF have gotten their balls together lately! It was a mere twenty minutes since I started the bloody attack! Periscope DOWN, morale follows tight.
I watch the event window as the first bombs drop at least fifty metres away from my position... thank you LORD!
I watch as the third and fourth drop even further away.... Thank all Heaven. Smokestack on the horizon? Oh, yes, that warship... I check the nav map, and figure it has run aground. IDIOT!
****.
Another sound contact. You guessed it: Warship, fast, closing.
I take my time, maneuvering into position to torpedo the tanker.... Boy, is she big... BOY, will she go up in flames?!
One torpedo fired. Woops; reckon all my torpedoes are used up. All the fore, that is. The clock ticks, the clock tocks; BOOM!
It starts burning... smoke rises high and thick, leaving me wondering if I have to waste another eel, or if this will be it.
My thoughts are taken elsewhere.
External camera, turning around to watch the scenery; I can see the clear silhouette of a bloody destroyer! ****!
Periscope up; it's a Tribal. Are those better than V&W? Lord knows.
I realize now that my engine is set for silent. Damnit!
I press the secure from rig for silent. Doesn't work. Press the rig for silent, and reverse. Works. My aft torpedo is once again loaded, and I can be relatively calm. This means I have two torpedoes left. The Tribal is headed towards me, with a slight change in course... and even more change... YES! He's avoiding me. He's going to patrol outside the harbour.
No, wait.
He's not.
The bastard turns. Coming at me now, slightly SE bound.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God. I am on 12 metres, I have ABSOLUTELY no means of turning unless I put myself under him (NO!), the T3 is NOT sunk, and I get ANOTHER warship sound contact.
It's time to refresh the crew.
That being done, I now turn my attention to the destroyer again. Oh God. He's coming nearly directly at me. 300... 250... 200...
He is turning, slightly, as if to parallel our two boats. He's actually heading to the pier. 100 metres now. He's going to crash into the pier!
By that time I was rather happy. He was going to crash into the pier, and perhaps not get loose!! HAHAHA!
HAHAH, take THAT, you SUCKER of a destroyer! HAHAHAHA-
-AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
HE BOUNCED BACK! :huh: :huh: :huh:
OMIGOD THE DISTANCE IS MINIMIZING! Our two boats are nearly parallel now, with him drifting lazily to the pier that is behind him, perhaps 400 metres away from his bow, 250 from his aft.
PUHLEASE STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PLEASE!
If he now turned full starboard rudder, added a bit of engine, OR if he bounced from the other pier in such an angle that he would come slightly closer to me, then.... I would be in trouble.
He closes... he closes... I sit still...
40 metres.
Followed by 20. Followed by 5. Sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooowly.
He's not stopping. You'd think the pier would bounce him off, but NO! The bastard gets STUCK!
NOW, I can LAUGH!
But then something even better happened. Not only did I realize he'd be stuck, but the game now moves the boat as if he was... well, he was moving VERY rapidly back and forth, so I'll avoid saying the exact word for it (though it does start with a "mastu")
:arrgh!:
NOW, it is time for my revenge... oh, wait... the show continues! He catches fire - parts start falling apart - HE BREAKS IN HALF! Needless to say, he is no longer of my worries.
My worry is the third warship, which has not yet shown itself on the horizon.
I saved.
Now I'm here.
I set sail in the start of June. "Patrol grid AN59." BdU says.
Roger. That grid is close to Hartlepool... guess who'll be raiding after his obligatory 24 hours? :|\
My crew and I steam ahead; on the way out, we are accompanied by a commerce raider and some schnellboots, one of which nearly manages to crash into me. That moron. Don't these surface guys know how to use their eyes?
We steam at standard, which is 10 kts with my boat. This is the usual procedure; I don't expect any attacks until close to enemy shore, so I usually spend the whole first day and second - and if heading to Norway, two days and third - on the surface. This allows me to keep my spare crew on stations, so that sonar guys, machinists and etc get time off. Should I encounter anything suspicious en route there, I simply use my reserves for that.
We arrive after apprx two days in AN59. The minute after reaching the grid, I send a patrol report. The weather had been rather fine until then, but as always, the thought crosses my mind, "Don't these Englishmen know how to make good weather?! That's why we're fighting them."
Rain, heavy seas, but not as bad as it could be. Sonarman to his station, watchmen at ease - we go listening.
For twenty hours we listen, criss-crossing the sea by cursor, at speeds from 128 to 1024, three knots during day.
I surface at night, about 2200, to find the weather to have calmed a bit. But only a bit; in not many hours, it would worsen again, and white would top the waves of the Nord See. We set course west, north-west. I want to make an approach on the harbour from the south, just close enough to land to avoid most destroyers. Many, many are the reports I get of sound contacts. Some close, some closer, and some far away. The weather easens again. And my, how it easens!
The clock has not yet struck 5 in the morning, when a contact is brought to my attention. Closing, it says. Closing, it does.
I close as well; it doesn't take an education at a university to know how to treat different lag. We rendesvouz in silent seas; he, me and the eel I wrote his name on. The coastal merchant was scrapped; it was nearly not fun. Actually, it was fun. This was the first time I got to use my 8.8cm, merely for fun. I didn't know how to change ammo, but it was only for show. We didn't hit, but the torpedo certainly did!
A bit of a morale booster, that one was. :arrgh!:
Soon enough, the course is replotted, once again the bow and stern point in opposite directions (:rotfl:, dunno where I heard that).
Warship to my north? Certainly, we follow our course. Warship closing? Ach, the bastard is keeping me from my nap! Periscope up, lousy sailor!
An armed trawler, a mere 3 km away. The seas are excellent now; a G7a would be the direct opposite of what to use. My first test using a G7e in such seas. The test goes well, for everyone except the crew on that trawler. My first kill was also a trawler, so I get a bit melancholic upon killing the bastard! -sniffle-
The hit was so clean, I could have worn it in a wedding.
I sail once again below the surface, here and there are merchants and warships. I don't care anymore, as I don't want to waste more eels before Hartlepool.
Ah... how beautiful a day, I think, popping up my periscope. But then I look in it. It isn't a beautiful day. The seas are again messing about. Damnit.
Not that it ruins my day - not at all, as it's favourable seas for killing off merchants - but I like good weather. Simple as that.
We're getting closer to our target, and so is the darkness. I order a position some km from land, pop up there, and charge all batteries and air. It's a mere 5 o'clock in the morning when we dive, on what is to be the most thrilling day yet. But, of course as it comes with thrill, also the most dangerous.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAARCHKKKKKKKK!!
That is what the ship said. It doesn't take a genious to figure we had run into the bed. Then it repeated itself. It doesn't take a genious to figure we had to get off of the bed.
I ordered some less depth, a halt, and assigned a damage crew to repair stations for the first time yet. It didn't take long for them to get everything under control. Thankfully, we were only down to 99% integrity. Hull and captain.
Anyone heard us? By God, I hope not. We continue. Hartlepool is a mere 5 nm away now, in fact raising the periscope I see the lighthouses. I look forward... I am rather calm, seeing as I know I may come to an empty port, as I have with Bergen and Trondheim.
I use the external cam for fun. I don't want to go there if there isn't anything there. There is something there.
First, I find a C2. Then I find a coastal merchant. Then I find a bloody T3!!!
I make sure my tired crew is released by fresh crew, and sail on at a slightly increased pace. We reach the lighthouses by 10 o'clock, and the day has only just started.
The last time I took out a C2, I thought as I went into the harbour, it sustained three eels. I would have to put these all under the chimney, right on the middle, with all three in one spot.
Raising periscope so the waves won't interfere, and stopping the engine, I assume the tiresome, but without doubt satisfying work of assigning depth, pistol, etc.
Tube one is fired, and I realize I set the speed to low. Half a minute passes, as I fired from about 700 m's range, then I see seawater sent high in the air! Not quite the best shot, that one, so I load up for another, assigning tube two. Similar settings, fast. Firing, BOOM! Nothing. Assigning number three. Firing. BOOM! Nooothing.
What was that on my nav map? Something BEHIND me? Anchored up along the pier of the middlemost lighthouse? THIS is what aft tubes are for!!
On my rear, 300m away, I have a coastal merchant all nicely anchored up! Didn't see that one coming! Well, it never came, as... it was always there. But y'know.
The torp is fired nice'n quick. I should have alarmed most of the destroyers around here, buuuuut oh well... :smug:
The torpedo hits, and at the moment of seeing the little merchant blow nearly in half, creeeecking on the pier (the game keeps stalling it against the wall), the C2 blows as well! And boy, it blows on the middle! All three fishes had hit pretty much the same spot, and BOY did they make it look nice! The water is too shallow, of course, to make it all sink, but seeing the smoke and fire from the harbour really, really looked great.
Now for number three... Hartlepool is a harbour in two pieces, separated by a midsection where you can't get through. The T3 was on the other side of the other ships, so I'd have to get out and blow that up later. But I WOULD!! shoot it up! I've heard so much about the secondaries, I need to screenshoot it. (Is Ctrl+F11 the screenshoot button?)
The third ship is also a coastal merchant... actually, what I am writing now is not really as good as it could be. It's 3:45 here right now, and I'm sleepy as hell from a LONG day. :ping:
The third merchant lies waiting faithfully between two piers... Argh, I have to maneuver into position! Carefully, the approach is made. My sonar man reports an enemy warship closing from the north, and lo, there is smoke on the horizon. ****. Weeeell, going to take my time. As it is, my stern is pointing to the entrance, so that destroyer can come try me if he wants to. :rock:
What is this, you say, Officer Bahn - specialist in gunnery and sanitation? A good opportunity to train the crew in firing?
HELL YES! 400 metres? Makes it more personal.
I position crew on the deck, and start ramming away with AA shots at the bow of the ship. The first three miss, and perhaps seven or eight of twenty fired never made it to the target because of the rolling seas.
The smokestack is down! Hell, what a splendid damage model! So are the fore masts! I keep shooting at this one point in the bow, hoping it'll sink soon. It's not a weak spot, but I can't maneuver much further in. I should have aimed lower, but after a mere twenty to thirty shots, the turd found rest! "Yeeha!" I hear, followed by explosions!
WE MANEUVER out of the southern harbour with periscope up, sub down, one third ahead.
Just as I clear of the middlemost lighthouse, an event window pops up. What's this...?
My boat, or the lighthouse and the ocean?
Seen from above?
Why?
Are those...
Aircraft.
BY GOD, the RAF have gotten their balls together lately! It was a mere twenty minutes since I started the bloody attack! Periscope DOWN, morale follows tight.
I watch the event window as the first bombs drop at least fifty metres away from my position... thank you LORD!
I watch as the third and fourth drop even further away.... Thank all Heaven. Smokestack on the horizon? Oh, yes, that warship... I check the nav map, and figure it has run aground. IDIOT!
****.
Another sound contact. You guessed it: Warship, fast, closing.
I take my time, maneuvering into position to torpedo the tanker.... Boy, is she big... BOY, will she go up in flames?!
One torpedo fired. Woops; reckon all my torpedoes are used up. All the fore, that is. The clock ticks, the clock tocks; BOOM!
It starts burning... smoke rises high and thick, leaving me wondering if I have to waste another eel, or if this will be it.
My thoughts are taken elsewhere.
External camera, turning around to watch the scenery; I can see the clear silhouette of a bloody destroyer! ****!
Periscope up; it's a Tribal. Are those better than V&W? Lord knows.
I realize now that my engine is set for silent. Damnit!
I press the secure from rig for silent. Doesn't work. Press the rig for silent, and reverse. Works. My aft torpedo is once again loaded, and I can be relatively calm. This means I have two torpedoes left. The Tribal is headed towards me, with a slight change in course... and even more change... YES! He's avoiding me. He's going to patrol outside the harbour.
No, wait.
He's not.
The bastard turns. Coming at me now, slightly SE bound.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God. I am on 12 metres, I have ABSOLUTELY no means of turning unless I put myself under him (NO!), the T3 is NOT sunk, and I get ANOTHER warship sound contact.
It's time to refresh the crew.
That being done, I now turn my attention to the destroyer again. Oh God. He's coming nearly directly at me. 300... 250... 200...
He is turning, slightly, as if to parallel our two boats. He's actually heading to the pier. 100 metres now. He's going to crash into the pier!
By that time I was rather happy. He was going to crash into the pier, and perhaps not get loose!! HAHAHA!
HAHAH, take THAT, you SUCKER of a destroyer! HAHAHAHA-
-AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
HE BOUNCED BACK! :huh: :huh: :huh:
OMIGOD THE DISTANCE IS MINIMIZING! Our two boats are nearly parallel now, with him drifting lazily to the pier that is behind him, perhaps 400 metres away from his bow, 250 from his aft.
PUHLEASE STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PLEASE!
If he now turned full starboard rudder, added a bit of engine, OR if he bounced from the other pier in such an angle that he would come slightly closer to me, then.... I would be in trouble.
He closes... he closes... I sit still...
40 metres.
Followed by 20. Followed by 5. Sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooowly.
He's not stopping. You'd think the pier would bounce him off, but NO! The bastard gets STUCK!
NOW, I can LAUGH!
But then something even better happened. Not only did I realize he'd be stuck, but the game now moves the boat as if he was... well, he was moving VERY rapidly back and forth, so I'll avoid saying the exact word for it (though it does start with a "mastu")
:arrgh!:
NOW, it is time for my revenge... oh, wait... the show continues! He catches fire - parts start falling apart - HE BREAKS IN HALF! Needless to say, he is no longer of my worries.
My worry is the third warship, which has not yet shown itself on the horizon.
I saved.
Now I'm here.