frenzied
10-10-08, 04:42 AM
When I say lucky, I am speaking in terms of contacts.
I'm using RFB + RSRD with 100% realism settings, and just had a rather astounding patrol.
I decided to start a new career from Brisbane in mid-late 1943, and my first mission was to patrol south of Guam. Looking at a convoy map, I see that a convoy lane runs through there, so there should be some good hunting. Starting up the engines, and upping the TC, I head out there.
Entering the patrol area, I've barely started a patrol pattern when a call comes from the Radar operator "Two Contacts to the NorthWest, moving towards us, fast!" I quickly decide to move into position, on the theory that even if it's a pair of destroyers I can evade. The weather is a bit foggy, with night coming on, so I am standing on the bridge looking out, when a ship emerges out of the fog, heading just in front of my sub. Snapping up the Binoculars, I identify them as a pair of Japanese Light Cruisers, and order periscope depth. Very soon they are about to cross my bows, and I launch four fish at the leader, and two at the trailer. The lead CL is hit by three, and the trailer by one, with the lead quickly sinking. I decide to let the trailer go, but as I surface and watch it on radar, it is limping at a bare few knots, so I end around and finish it off with another two fish.
The rest of the Guam patrol is uneventful, but the I am ordered to patrol the Truk region. I head there, and do a quick run through the lagoon, spotting nothing but a few tugboats with guns, and take up position to the west. A couple of nights later, just around midnight, the Radar operator calls out multiple contacts approaching fast! I plot an intercept course, thinking of a night surface attack, when, looking through the binocs, an enourmous ship looms out of the darkness into my view. Ise or Fuso Battleship! Then a second shape looms up behind it, longer and flat, an aircraft carrier! No way am I doing a surface attack with all those guns about, so I dive to periscope depth and hurridly run a plot on the aircraft carrier, identified as a Hiyo class carrier. I fire all six bow torps, and then spin around to fire all 4 stern tubes, there is no way this beast is escaping! I record four hits on the carrier, all along its length, and, strangely, one hit much further away - I must have hit one of the escorting destroyers. The carrier sinks quickly, and the destroyers make a pitiful attempt at finding me, only one depth charge coming within a thousand yards.
Being almost out of torpedoes, I plot a course for home, which has changed to Milne bay. Much to my surprise, we are about halfway home when four fast moving ships are detected on Radar, and I am informed that there are three big ones! Double checking the torpedo situation, I find just what I was expecting - 4 torps in the rear tubes, 1 torp in the bow tubes, and no reloads. I order flank speed to try to set up for a stern shot. Very very soon, the ships come into sight, and I make out two Shokaku class carriers, one escort carrier, and one cruiser - no ASW ships! As I race across their bows, hoping to be undetected, my hopes are dashed when the cruiser opens fire and they start to zig-zag. I crash dive to periscope depth, and set up a solution on one Shokaku. I fire all stern tubes, recording one hit on the bow, and then spin around to fire the bow tube, which also hits the bow. Will two hits be enough? At first it doesn't look like it, as it continues to steam ahead, but the bow gets lower and lower in the water. Suddenly the front of the flight deck dips underwater, and lifeboats start appearing.
This was in October-November 1943, and the final score for the mission was a pair of light cruisers, one Hiyo class carrier, and one Shokaku carrier. This was doubly exciting because I've never so much as seen a carrier or battleship before when using RSRD, and I somehow stumbled across the path of two carrier groups in a single patrol.
I'm using RFB + RSRD with 100% realism settings, and just had a rather astounding patrol.
I decided to start a new career from Brisbane in mid-late 1943, and my first mission was to patrol south of Guam. Looking at a convoy map, I see that a convoy lane runs through there, so there should be some good hunting. Starting up the engines, and upping the TC, I head out there.
Entering the patrol area, I've barely started a patrol pattern when a call comes from the Radar operator "Two Contacts to the NorthWest, moving towards us, fast!" I quickly decide to move into position, on the theory that even if it's a pair of destroyers I can evade. The weather is a bit foggy, with night coming on, so I am standing on the bridge looking out, when a ship emerges out of the fog, heading just in front of my sub. Snapping up the Binoculars, I identify them as a pair of Japanese Light Cruisers, and order periscope depth. Very soon they are about to cross my bows, and I launch four fish at the leader, and two at the trailer. The lead CL is hit by three, and the trailer by one, with the lead quickly sinking. I decide to let the trailer go, but as I surface and watch it on radar, it is limping at a bare few knots, so I end around and finish it off with another two fish.
The rest of the Guam patrol is uneventful, but the I am ordered to patrol the Truk region. I head there, and do a quick run through the lagoon, spotting nothing but a few tugboats with guns, and take up position to the west. A couple of nights later, just around midnight, the Radar operator calls out multiple contacts approaching fast! I plot an intercept course, thinking of a night surface attack, when, looking through the binocs, an enourmous ship looms out of the darkness into my view. Ise or Fuso Battleship! Then a second shape looms up behind it, longer and flat, an aircraft carrier! No way am I doing a surface attack with all those guns about, so I dive to periscope depth and hurridly run a plot on the aircraft carrier, identified as a Hiyo class carrier. I fire all six bow torps, and then spin around to fire all 4 stern tubes, there is no way this beast is escaping! I record four hits on the carrier, all along its length, and, strangely, one hit much further away - I must have hit one of the escorting destroyers. The carrier sinks quickly, and the destroyers make a pitiful attempt at finding me, only one depth charge coming within a thousand yards.
Being almost out of torpedoes, I plot a course for home, which has changed to Milne bay. Much to my surprise, we are about halfway home when four fast moving ships are detected on Radar, and I am informed that there are three big ones! Double checking the torpedo situation, I find just what I was expecting - 4 torps in the rear tubes, 1 torp in the bow tubes, and no reloads. I order flank speed to try to set up for a stern shot. Very very soon, the ships come into sight, and I make out two Shokaku class carriers, one escort carrier, and one cruiser - no ASW ships! As I race across their bows, hoping to be undetected, my hopes are dashed when the cruiser opens fire and they start to zig-zag. I crash dive to periscope depth, and set up a solution on one Shokaku. I fire all stern tubes, recording one hit on the bow, and then spin around to fire the bow tube, which also hits the bow. Will two hits be enough? At first it doesn't look like it, as it continues to steam ahead, but the bow gets lower and lower in the water. Suddenly the front of the flight deck dips underwater, and lifeboats start appearing.
This was in October-November 1943, and the final score for the mission was a pair of light cruisers, one Hiyo class carrier, and one Shokaku carrier. This was doubly exciting because I've never so much as seen a carrier or battleship before when using RSRD, and I somehow stumbled across the path of two carrier groups in a single patrol.