Stories and Patrol Logs + Screenshots and Videos (merged)

[les green01]

Guess I'll Add My Story Here Might Not Be Any Good But Here It Is
Name:Ray Green
Sub:S-36
Base:Manila
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ............
12/09/41 0900 Cast Off All Lines Making Our Way Out Of Harbor At 1/3 Speed For The Old Tub That Is 3 Knots Although The Little Sea Breeze We Have Feel Good Going Be A Hot One All Ready Having Sweat Roll Down The Crack Of Your Butt Got To Feel For The Boys Below Taking A Drag On My Lucky Strike Exhaling It The Japs Really Cream Pearl Way The News Sounded,Then Six Hours Later They Hammer Us Hard Talking About A One Two Punch Maybe The S-36 Will Get Some Licks In If We Ever Get Out Of The Harbor.Anti Shipping Off Halmahera Working our Way There Hope We have No Problems With The Engines 17:55 Decided To Do A Test Dive And Checks For Leaks Went To 100 Feet 150 Feet And 200 No More Leaks Than Normal So No Returning To Base For That.With The Sun Going Down Starting To Get Cold The Body Is Shaking But What A Beautiful Sunset Well Going Go Below Grab A Bite To Eat Our Cook Is Top Rated Got To Feel He Is The Best Cook In The Navy And One Of The Most Important Part Of The Crew.

[Captain Dave]

It was a stormy day today, hunting wasn't very good.

[Rinaldi]

USS Blowfish, a Balao class on her 6th Patrol; it had been a decent hunt in her zone in the South China sea, despite unusually frustrating weather:





Then an ULTRA intercept notifies us of convoys steaming towards the Philippines, Manila bay in particular. We have the fuel and the ammo, so a wild dash to intercept begins.



Success! Its far from ideal conditions but I won't have the fuel to chase for much longer, and the idea of heading to Saipan through the Sibuyan sea on critical fuel is not comforting. We'll have to launch our attack now, rather than stalk until nightfall.

Four fish, 6 degree spread. We're aiming for a tanker in the middle of the convoy, but we don't have time to ID everything and set appropriate depth. They're running at 25ft. No surprise then when the fish hit everything but the tanker!









16, 000 tons in the bag. Our reward is a ferocious four hour depth charging by alternating pairs of escorts.







We're forced lower and lower. The stern gets cut up badly and we begin emergency damage repairs.









That was far from my first rodeo but it was hands down the single worst depth charging I've received. However, we're 16k tons higher on the leaderboard and heading back for home intact. Better be a medal waiting.

[Majestik 909]

Sunday, June 27, 1943 - 2315- a purple sky meets a black sea - making 20 knots surfaced - the crew are in great spirits - from the conning tower, I gaze out across the vast expanse of ocean - it is as if we are the only boat afloat - my tactics shall remain unchanged on this, the U-847's first combat patrol - attack aggressively and resupply as often as possible, staying close to supply sources - the final mission of U-196 consisted of 7 refits - hours pass and thus far, we have seen and heard nothing - always waiting it would seem.

It is s cold and silent, the sea. Such a peaceful place in many respects, broken only by the distant humming of our screws.

It has been weeks since we were home. My beard seems to grow by the hours and the air is humid and warm. "Wie gehts?" asks a commrade. I tilt my head and smile in response.

I often wonder, as I lay in my rack at night, what master do we serve? These vessels, these crews that we engage, do they feel the same as I do???

I recall one day, we surfaced to search for survivors. It was sad that we found none. I often wonder, in the galant struggle for victory, how many lives are lost needlessly?

I smoke. Not because I enjoy it, but because it breaks the monotony. The silence. The stillness...waiting for the next catstrophy.

I wonder how God could make such a being. One that would seek to destroy his own kind with amazing machines. When did we come to see things so differently?

So hard to write sometimes. The words get lost in my insanity of thought. The cold dark waters offer anonymity, but no escape from moral responsibility.

When I try to sleep, I hear the thunderous claps from above. The boat is shaken to its very core. Water seeps from fittings like rain, covering the iron floor.

Sometimes, it goes on for what seems like an eternity. Tempting fate, Deeper still, the only escape. Sometimes I wonder if the boys in Kiel ever imagined she could dive so deep. Water from welded seams, like salty tears, begin to weep.

The smell of sulfur hangs in the air, like a moist cloud, adding to my despair. I wonder why we play this deadly game. In the calmness of the sea, you can almost hear the sound of fear as it echoes against the steel.

As Oberleutnant, I must always be emotionless. Each and every Matrosengefreiter must see me as a man of iron. But in my heart, I miss Jutta and my son, days of fishing on the Elbe.

I must think that this war will end someday, but soon enough for me will it never be. Until then I shall count the days until we finally come home from the sea. Until then, I bow my head in private and recite quietly....

Ewiger Gott,

dessen kreative Hand Urmeere zu Ozeane breit machte und dessen allgegenwärtige Liebe so sein kann, fühlte scharf sich unten wie über ihrer wallend Oberfläche; steigen Sie mit uns jetzt in die leisen Tiefen als unser unfehlbarer Führer ab.

Wir Männer des leisen Services sind dankbar, zu den mit der Aufregung eines Tauchens zu begeistern wenigen, überhaupt, und bloßer Ekstase jeder Oberflächenbearbeitung zu gehören.

Mögen wir nie nach diesen Manövern als bloßes Programm, nach jedem suchen sind eine Erfahrung, die mit Herausforderung und keiner wenig Gefahr frisch ist. Mögen wir auf unsere einzelne Aufgabenverwirklichung überhaupt aufmerksam sein, die soviel von unserem Handeln unserer Aufgabe ohne Störung abhängt.

Mögen wir an das neue Mitglied unserer Mannschaft uns erinnern, die seinen ersten Abfall bilden soll, und atmen ein Gebet, dass er ein guter Matrose auf einem U-Boot ist. Mögen wir, die wissen, was es ist, einem Kurs zu folgen, kennen ihn auch, der " sagte; Ich bin das way." Mögen wir, die eilig in den ersten frischen Lüften schlucken, während es hinunter die Luke hetzt, die jedem Tauchen folgt, kennen auch thy erneuerngeist.

Mögen wir, die die Notwendigkeit für Begleitungfühlen unsere Teilhaberschaft mit thee kennen, wenn die Luken hartnäckig sind und wenn wir für Tauchen in Ordnung gebracht werden. Wenn alles sonst der Oberflächenwelt heraus geschlossen worden ist, können wir glauben thee in jedem Fach, so nahe zu uns als throbbing Maschinen-, pingingsonar und das Zischen von Druckluft.

Und wenn, wie, Matrosen auf einem U-Boot alternd, unsere Seelen in die Tiefen der Ewigkeit, können der abschließende Anruf zu uns sein abgestiegen sind; "Oberfläche, Oberfläche, Oberfläche," im Namen er, der als das ungesehene Mannschaftsmitglied auf jedes Schiff in Meer reitet.

Amen...Meine Brüder...

R.H.v.H - Kommandant U-847

[dashyr]

I reached the area north of midway where I encountered what I thought was a convoy.
I got a big greedy and turned course to intercept. Everything was cool until I hear my sonar operator saying. ''Warship bearing 182 closing fast speed.''. Then I dive at around 280 feet. Then I look at my map and see that the hydrophone contacts are kind of spinning. My first reaction was. What kind of escort keep their convoy in danger? Don't they know they risk being flanked by another fleet boat?

Out of curiosity I used the free cam ( I always do, sometime its fun to look at your boat cruising.) then at my grand surprise... it wasn't a convoy.

Imagine now my terror. Me a noob playing full realism on TMO 2.5 and just have aggroed an entire task force. I fought, or run, with courage! But, they pursued me relentlessly and without mercy. Me and my men died a slow agonizing death as we ran out of oxygen. Probably wasted everything left screaming in terror.

[Leandros]

Originally Posted by Armistead

Some old favorites from years past.

Nice, where did you get those Wildcats from?

Fred

[james_nix]

I have the bonus Narhwal mod with RFB no map contacts.

Last night I was off the coast of Japan and got a contact report. I pinged it to get the distance and plotted it on the map. Waited five minutes, pinged it again to get the course and the speed using the nomograph.

Speed estimate was between 11 or 12 knots. I checked the rec manual for the draft and it said max speed was 10 knots. I guess that is why they call it an estimate!

I fired four torpedoes. One went screwy and decided it wanted to travel it's own course. Two went deep, but one actually hit! Luckily it was right in the engine room so it was enough to take it down.

***

Later that evening with overcast skies I got a contact report coming in hot!

I check the binoculars and it is a 8 ton merchant! I ping it to get distance and plot it, but it is coming in so fast I won't be able to wait five minutes to get a speed estimate and move to get a good angle. The Narwhal isn't the most nimble submarine in the fleet.

So after a minute or so I ping it again to get a rough course estimate.

I go flank at periscope depth to get into a 90 degree shot angle. My idea is to get so close that it's speed won't matter. With my rough course estimate and eyeball I get under 900 yards and fire four torpedoes.

Three miss but one hits and slows it down.

Still at flank I decide to finish it off with my two deck guns, I don't want it to get away. I go decks awash just in case the merchant decides to fire at me and I can submerge quickly.

BOOM! BOOM!

BOOM! BOOM!

My two deck guns tear into the merchant. I have my crew aim at the waterline so even if they shoot high they will hit something. The merchant isn't firing back so I can take my time.

BOOM! BOOM!

BOOM! BOOM!

BOOM! BOOM!

BOOM! BOOM!

8 tons at the bottom of the ocean!

[Leandros]

Originally Posted by Leandros

Nice, where did you get those Wildcats from?

Fred

Oops....see it now - they're actually Buffaloes. Sorry!

Fred

[james_nix]

Sofu Gan

[james_nix]

Another Narwhal shot using a new Reshade preset in RFB.

[Leandros]

Testing out some "art" for my book series....IJN Kirishima sailing into the sunset....(sunrise, actually).......

Fred

[Leandros]

...Japanese ship....

[kolbac]

Thanks to the guys from OM development team, without them - many would have been impossible.

Atlantic, near the English Channel, Admiral Scheer detected the British merchant ship. After warnings - to stop and switch off the engines (to surrender), the british did not respond, the result was violently shot by the german heavy cruiser.

[Leandros]

Nice work, Kolbac - poetic.......

Fred

[AJ94CAP]

I've been away from this forum for quite some time. It's good to be back on deck.

Name: John Calvert Gates
Date: 6-3-1942
Submarine: S-18
Base: Dutch Harbor

S-18 cast off out of Dutch Harbor on the morning of Wednesday, June 6, 1942. The weather was fine for sailing and S-18 made 10 knots to patrol the waters around Attu Islandin the Aluetian chain. The crew were untested but eager for contact with the Japs. There were some doubts about if the enemy would make any appearances, but soon the crew of S-18 would get more than they bargained for. After a little over a week of patrol, in the straight between Attu and Attuga, S-18's sonar man picked up screws making the distinct high pitch whine of a Japanese warship. Captain Gates lined up the old sugar boat for an attack. The warship was sailing alone on calm seas in broad daylight. S-18 inched closer and closer to the lone warship at a depth of 160 feet. At the last moment, S-18 was taken to periscope depth and 3 tubes were opened. With the periscope piercing through the calm sea, Captain Gates had to be quick and accurate. It was a Fubuki class destroyer. He made his measurements twice and decided on a firing solution. Soon after, just as the destroyer passed by the bow at less than 1000 yards, Captain Gates fired three of his old Mk. 10 torpedoes at the doomed ship. They all swam away from S-18 with a tremendous hiss. The seconds ticked away. Soon, an explosion rang out. Secondary explosions followed. Then, a second hit directly under the bridge. The destroyer was blown in half and the two pieces bobbed like corks as black smoke billowed from the fires. S-18, after a brief moment of celebration and relief, dove back down to the depths to evade any other ships that may now be out for blood.

During the rest of the patrol, more destroyers were located by radar and sonar but Captain Gates had become more cautious after one depth charged the sub to no succes. After that incident, the crew of S-18 waited for perfect opportunities in which they would clearly have the upper hand. That perfect chance came as S-18 made its way back to Dutch. On the return trip, roughly 1000 nm west of the harbor, the sonar man called out the screws of three destroyers. They were going fast and headed right down S-18's throat. Three destroyers were headed straight for S-18. The Captain, with little other choices, ordered the sub to be positioned closer to the destroyers, bow to bow. Suddenly, the ominous pings of the enemy sonar could be heard throughout the sub. It was now or never. The Captain fired a salvo of four Mk. 10s before ordering a steep dive to safety. One torp found its mark on the starboard bow of one of the destroyers. It sunk in quick order after an enormous fireball engulfed the stricken warship. A second Mk. 10 hit another destroyer right on the nose. The ship's bow lowered into the water, but the Jap crew managed to keep her afloat.

With S-18 running on fumes, Captain Gates ordered her back to Dutch. She finally made it back on July 13, after 40 days at sea. The crew came back optimistic, having just sunk two enemy warships. But Captain Gates knew better. He knew that S-18 had just played a very dangerous game. If only the destroyer's depth charges had found their mark, S-18's first patrol would have ended at the bottom of the sea rather than Dutch. That was a thought which kept him up at night for some time. But no rest for the wicked - S-18 was ordered back out within a matter of weeks. Captain Gates, now a combat veteran, peered toward the western horizon with caution in his eyes. S-18, he knew, would be playing the game again in due time.