[Niume]

Originally Posted by R.S

Thought I would join the community after reading the threads for so long! Very recently got GWX - can't believe I never bothered after years of playing the vanilla game!

Started a new career from 1942 with the 10th out of L'Orient.

April 1st and I'm currently heading towards my patrol grid CA57 in U-166, my Type IXC. In real life this boat never made it back from its first full patrol, having been sunk off the Mississippi Delta with 4 confirmed kills. Made a beeline for the US Coast going across the top of BE and BD, sticking near to the HX convoy routes. Didn't encounter anything apart from terrible weather, was down to 5 or 6 knots max at 1/3 for most of the way.

Would most of you captains sailing from France for the US coast head over a similar route or would you head up past Rockall Bank and then past Iceland? I can't imagine the weather is better as a rule on that route, but this is my first trip over to the US so I can't speak from experience.

BDU sent out a report of a large convoy beginning it's journey over the Atlantic at 8 knots just east of St.Johns. Found the convoy on hydrophone and to say it was large was an understatement! Around 30 or 40 ships (although I didn't count). The convoy seemed to split into two, with one part heading south of my position and the other heading on the NE course I assumed they would all be heading.

It was looking like a day attack on the top portion of the convoy. I moved ahead at periscope depth and was preparing to give the order for all stop and let the convoy come right to me from the west.

Alas it would not be that simple! My XO tells me we are being pinged...

In my exuberance I have missed one of the escorts appearing to circle round N of me and now coming in from 20 degrees fast.

I crash dive to 90 metres and alter course. On my way down two charges catch me aft, causing minor flooding to the diesel, aft battery and stern torpedo sections, with some minor hull damage. Nothing too serious...

I evade the escort with relative ease and bring myself back up to periscope depth hoping to still be in a favourable firing position. Given the poor visibility I have decided to come up inside the columns - firing from these sorts of positions isn't something I have much practice with. I usually shoot from the outside.

My periscope comes up into Dreamland. Two modern tankers on parallel courses fore and aft of me. The fore tanker seems around 300m at around 35 starboard AOB, which seems too close for an impact pistol to detonate by the time he comes in front of me. I order back emergency to put some distance between us. I then order all stop and quickly fire four T2s, 2 forward and 2 back.

The back tanker goes straight down from the two eels. But there wasn't enough distance between me and the front target. I now regret wasting 2 torps on such an unlikely hit. In hindsight I wish I had not side shot with impact pistols and instead come up behind the front tanker and shot a magnetic down the length of it.

Opening tubes III and IV, I put a T2 and a fast T1 into a large cargo on the next column over. By this point it's clear I'm not the only Type IX at the party as I hear explosions in the distance.

After circling round to starboard and a quick reload of Tube I, I put a single T2 into another Large Cargo from less than 500m and it goes down to the depths below. A quick check of the map reveals another 6 sunk by the Wolfpack along with my 3 for around 28000 GRT.

All in all not bad for less than 20 minutes work.

Onwards to CA57!

How did you saw the wolfpacks kills?