U-19 Mayday!

Kielhauler1961 · 11-16-14, 05:41 AM

Kameraden,

Following a radio contact report U-19 (Type II) has intercepted not one, not two but THREE convoys in grid AN55 on 26th January, 1940.

She has sunk two Empire freighters and two destroyers from one convoy and a third destroyer from the second, so all torpedoes are expended.

Problem: Two very good destroyers and one not quite so hot corvette have now been hunting the boat for over twelve hours and my kaleun is getting a bit desperate. Both destroyers have used all their depth charges but the corvette still has some left but luckily his aim if off. They are in almost constant sonar contact and making repeated dummy runs. There was the sound of gunfire at one point but I have no idea what was going on up there because I don't have the free camera enabled. I've lost track of how many depth charges they have dropped, must be over 150 although the corvette is only dropping one or two at a time.

It's dark, my battery is down to 30 and CO2 level has hit 3. I've tried everything - fast, slow, twisting, going silent - but nothing seems to throw them off for more than a few minutes. I've thought about surfacing and trying to escape that way but there is always one hunter within 500 metres guiding the others in.

Anyone got any ideas?

KH

Zosimus · 11-16-14, 07:00 AM

Set a specific escape route, let's say north by north east, if that's a convenient way. Doesn't matter exactly. Set a waypoint out there.

Then pick a direction approximately 50 degrees either port or starboard of the way you're going and kick the engine up to standard. Turn off silent running. The destroyers will immediately hear you and begin to follow. Once you're sure they have your new trail resume your previous course and watch your rudder. Once it hits 40–meaning that the wheel is hard over, run silent.

Go as deep as you possibly can. If you are in shallow water, you should be no more than 5 meters off the floor. If you are in deep water, then you need to go as deep as your ship can take it. I don't know exactly how deep your boat can go, but I normally dive until the crew complains that we're nearing critical depth. Then I go about 5 meters below that.

danasan · 11-16-14, 08:28 AM

And set your speed manually to 1 (one) knot, that should help...

Kielhauler1961 · 11-16-14, 08:53 AM

Danke, Mein kameraden,

I'll try the solution proposed by Zosimus (great handle) and Danesan, I have been at less than 50 revolutions for most of this torment. Believe you me, these guys won't be shaken off...

I'm fed up with the constant PINGING....Enemy is pinging us, Sir,.......PINGING.....aaarrrrggggghhh!

I estimate the air will last about another two hours before the people start fainting and the battery is good for a bit longer.

U-19 out.

KH

danasan · 11-16-14, 09:47 AM

Are you running GWX? There aren't that many options left without any eels. But don't give up! You never know. You could go directly into the direction of one of the escorts, WHEN it make a run on you. When it is above you, go ahead flank for a minute or so to try and get some distance from the DD screen, then return to 50 RPM or even ZERO and wait what will happen.

BTW: Pinging doesn't always mean that they have you in their cone, but they are searching.

Kielhauler1961 · 11-16-14, 11:18 AM

@ Danesan,

Yes, GWX but no mods enabled.

I've tried turning towards my tormentors, turning on the opposite course as they shoot past. Running fast in one direction then turning away and going slow. Nothing will shake the J&K DD and I'm fresh out of stratagems. Nearly 13 hours submerged now and my crew are looking a bit pale...

These two DD's (J&K and a Tribal I think, I can only judge by his screws) have the the persistence of Jehovah.

Some DD's are classed as Elite, my bad for finding two of them in one hit.

KH

UKönig · 11-16-14, 11:21 AM

I am thinking that this little sortie of yours is not going to have a happy ending...
I'm pullin' for you though!

danasan · 11-16-14, 11:32 AM

Just in case you don't make it. Give me your crews' details and I'll do you the favour...

Kielhauler1961 · 11-16-14, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UKönig

I am thinking that this little sortie of yours is not going to have a happy ending...
I'm pullin' for you though!

Yes, I think you're right but thanks for the support - appreciated

.

Berth 3 at Wilhelsmhaven will be vacant soon, get your bids in now.

I'm doomed....

KH

UKönig · 11-16-14, 11:59 AM

If you have pulled every trick that you know of, then you have pulled every trick that *I* know of. I don't think I have much left except that since you said this is 1940, that means you have 1 thing that might work. If you can put 160m over your heads, then you should be able to escape the DCs. Make as much noise as you want, they will never reach you. Hopefully, with enough time, they will lose interest as they have to catch up to their convoy before it gets too far away. The main question then becomes, how much air remains...i.e. how long can you last...

danasan · 11-18-14, 10:18 AM

So, how did this story end?

Jimbuna · 11-18-14, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danasan

Just in case you don't make it. Give me your crews' details and I'll do you the favour...

LOL

Kielhauler1961 · 11-18-14, 11:42 AM

Sorry, didn't realise people were following this. I've only just resumed the patrol today knowing what I was in for. My bad.

U-19 has now been down since 10:22 on 26th January, 1940.

The time now (last save) is 01:39 on the following day - over 15 hours and all of that at x1 TC. I keep telling myself I play this game because I enjoy it...

Battery is at about 15%, CO2 just above 4 - into the amber zone. Crew are taking longer to recover from fatigue but no casualties yet. Observation 'scope was damaged in one of the last DC attacks but is serviceable although its movement is jerky and keeps jamming. I don't want to risk lowering it as it may not rise again and I only have the attack 'scope left for my escape.

There is no let-up from Tommy. Dummy runs right overhead every few minutes and almost constant ASDIC contact. The corvette has also run out of DC's but he's not letting go either.

There hasn't been a gap between "Enemy is pinging us, Sir" for more than three minutes in the whole of this attack. At any one time, one of the two DD's is standing off and vectoring the others onto my position. They seem to be taking turns to do this and one of them even reversed engines from a high-speed run once he was overhead to maintain contact. I've don't remember encountering that kind of expertise before.

Worst of all, the Smutje informs me we're out of coffee due to an 'incident' with the coffee tin. I won't go into details but the 'Head' is out of bounds under silent routine...

The boat is now over 16km from where this action began, depth of sea floor is about 50m but positive buoyancy is making hugging the seabed difficult, we keep rising at speed below 2kts. Anything above 50 revolutions attracts attention from you know who.

I've got to try something new, maybe go to periscope depth and look for a gap in which to surface?

I'm also going to Google 'Walker, RN' to find out where he was in late January 1940. It wouldn't surprise me if GWX has put him in command of one of those DD's upstairs...

KH

danasan · 11-18-14, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kielhauler1961

I'm also going to Google 'Walker, RN' to find out where he was in late January 1940. It wouldn't surprise me if GWX has put him in command of one of those DD's upstairs...

KH

I think there are a lot of Walker - class - DD - captains in GWX, I once met one of them even in early Sept. '39, 200 miles east of the Orkneys. Maybe it was he himself and he learned his skills there and then, with me as a victim

.

It was a great pleasure to play that at TC 1x ( in 3 sessions of 6 hours each ). Very immersive playing at night in the dark.

Edit: It's still dark, hopefully. Surface the boat now, decks awash, to get some fresh air in. Dive again in one piece, hopefully.

Zosimus · 11-19-14, 11:20 AM

I think you might be dead. 50 m of water isn't enough really. If these are convoy escorts head directly away from the convoy at one third. Forget about depth–they're out of depth charges–just go to something between 25-40 meters. If the escorts get far enough away from their convoy they will abandon the attack and rejoin the convoy.

Don't surface. You can outrun a corvette, but you have no chance against destroyers. A 30 second surface will not provide you with more oxygen.

11-16-14, 05:41 AM	#1
Kielhauler1961 中国水兵 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: East of the Firth of Forth Posts: 273 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	U-19 Mayday! Kameraden, Following a radio contact report U-19 (Type II) has intercepted not one, not two but THREE convoys in grid AN55 on 26th January, 1940. She has sunk two Empire freighters and two destroyers from one convoy and a third destroyer from the second, so all torpedoes are expended. Problem: Two very good destroyers and one not quite so hot corvette have now been hunting the boat for over twelve hours and my kaleun is getting a bit desperate. Both destroyers have used all their depth charges but the corvette still has some left but luckily his aim if off. They are in almost constant sonar contact and making repeated dummy runs. There was the sound of gunfire at one point but I have no idea what was going on up there because I don't have the free camera enabled. I've lost track of how many depth charges they have dropped, must be over 150 although the corvette is only dropping one or two at a time. It's dark, my battery is down to 30 and CO2 level has hit 3. I've tried everything - fast, slow, twisting, going silent - but nothing seems to throw them off for more than a few minutes. I've thought about surfacing and trying to escape that way but there is always one hunter within 500 metres guiding the others in. Anyone got any ideas? KH

11-16-14, 08:28 AM	#3
danasan Elite Spam Hunter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Flensburg / Germany Posts: 1,141 Downloads: 39 Uploads: 0	And set your speed manually to 1 (one) knot, that should help... __________________ "I invite you to go inside this submergible hole in the water where you can nicely hide from destroyers."

11-16-14, 09:47 AM	#5
danasan Elite Spam Hunter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Flensburg / Germany Posts: 1,141 Downloads: 39 Uploads: 0	Are you running GWX? There aren't that many options left without any eels. But don't give up! You never know. You could go directly into the direction of one of the escorts, WHEN it make a run on you. When it is above you, go ahead flank for a minute or so to try and get some distance from the DD screen, then return to 50 RPM or even ZERO and wait what will happen. BTW: Pinging doesn't always mean that they have you in their cone, but they are searching. __________________ "I invite you to go inside this submergible hole in the water where you can nicely hide from destroyers."

11-16-14, 11:21 AM	#7
UKönig Captain Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Posts: 495 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	I am thinking that this little sortie of yours is not going to have a happy ending... I'm pullin' for you though! __________________ Because I'm the captain, that's why!

11-16-14, 11:32 AM	#8
danasan Elite Spam Hunter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Flensburg / Germany Posts: 1,141 Downloads: 39 Uploads: 0	Just in case you don't make it. Give me your crews' details and I'll do you the favour... __________________ "I invite you to go inside this submergible hole in the water where you can nicely hide from destroyers."

11-16-14, 07:00 AM	#2
Zosimus XO Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Chorrillos, Lima, Peru Posts: 401 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	Set a specific escape route, let's say north by north east, if that's a convenient way. Doesn't matter exactly. Set a waypoint out there. Then pick a direction approximately 50 degrees either port or starboard of the way you're going and kick the engine up to standard. Turn off silent running. The destroyers will immediately hear you and begin to follow. Once you're sure they have your new trail resume your previous course and watch your rudder. Once it hits 40–meaning that the wheel is hard over, run silent. Go as deep as you possibly can. If you are in shallow water, you should be no more than 5 meters off the floor. If you are in deep water, then you need to go as deep as your ship can take it. I don't know exactly how deep your boat can go, but I normally dive until the crew complains that we're nearing critical depth. Then I go about 5 meters below that.

11-16-14, 08:53 AM	#4
Kielhauler1961 中国水兵 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: East of the Firth of Forth Posts: 273 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Danke, Mein kameraden, I'll try the solution proposed by Zosimus (great handle) and Danesan, I have been at less than 50 revolutions for most of this torment. Believe you me, these guys won't be shaken off... I'm fed up with the constant PINGING....Enemy is pinging us, Sir,.......PINGING.....aaarrrrggggghhh! I estimate the air will last about another two hours before the people start fainting and the battery is good for a bit longer. U-19 out. KH

11-16-14, 11:18 AM	#6
Kielhauler1961 中国水兵 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: East of the Firth of Forth Posts: 273 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	@ Danesan, Yes, GWX but no mods enabled. I've tried turning towards my tormentors, turning on the opposite course as they shoot past. Running fast in one direction then turning away and going slow. Nothing will shake the J&K DD and I'm fresh out of stratagems. Nearly 13 hours submerged now and my crew are looking a bit pale... These two DD's (J&K and a Tribal I think, I can only judge by his screws) have the the persistence of Jehovah. Some DD's are classed as Elite, my bad for finding two of them in one hit. KH

11-16-14, 11:59 AM	#10
UKönig Captain Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Posts: 495 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	If you have pulled every trick that you know of, then you have pulled every trick that I know of. I don't think I have much left except that since you said this is 1940, that means you have 1 thing that might work. If you can put 160m over your heads, then you should be able to escape the DCs. Make as much noise as you want, they will never reach you. Hopefully, with enough time, they will lose interest as they have to catch up to their convoy before it gets too far away. The main question then becomes, how much air remains...i.e. how long can you last... __________________ Because I'm the captain, that's why!

11-18-14, 10:18 AM	#11
danasan Elite Spam Hunter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Flensburg / Germany Posts: 1,141 Downloads: 39 Uploads: 0	So, how did this story end? __________________ "I invite you to go inside this submergible hole in the water where you can nicely hide from destroyers."

11-18-14, 11:42 AM	#13
Kielhauler1961 中国水兵 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: East of the Firth of Forth Posts: 273 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Sorry, didn't realise people were following this. I've only just resumed the patrol today knowing what I was in for. My bad. U-19 has now been down since 10:22 on 26th January, 1940. The time now (last save) is 01:39 on the following day - over 15 hours and all of that at x1 TC. I keep telling myself I play this game because I enjoy it... Battery is at about 15%, CO2 just above 4 - into the amber zone. Crew are taking longer to recover from fatigue but no casualties yet. Observation 'scope was damaged in one of the last DC attacks but is serviceable although its movement is jerky and keeps jamming. I don't want to risk lowering it as it may not rise again and I only have the attack 'scope left for my escape. There is no let-up from Tommy. Dummy runs right overhead every few minutes and almost constant ASDIC contact. The corvette has also run out of DC's but he's not letting go either. There hasn't been a gap between "Enemy is pinging us, Sir" for more than three minutes in the whole of this attack. At any one time, one of the two DD's is standing off and vectoring the others onto my position. They seem to be taking turns to do this and one of them even reversed engines from a high-speed run once he was overhead to maintain contact. I've don't remember encountering that kind of expertise before. Worst of all, the Smutje informs me we're out of coffee due to an 'incident' with the coffee tin. I won't go into details but the 'Head' is out of bounds under silent routine... The boat is now over 16km from where this action began, depth of sea floor is about 50m but positive buoyancy is making hugging the seabed difficult, we keep rising at speed below 2kts. Anything above 50 revolutions attracts attention from you know who. I've got to try something new, maybe go to periscope depth and look for a gap in which to surface? I'm also going to Google 'Walker, RN' to find out where he was in late January 1940. It wouldn't surprise me if GWX has put him in command of one of those DD's upstairs... KH

11-19-14, 11:20 AM	#15
Zosimus XO Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Chorrillos, Lima, Peru Posts: 401 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	I think you might be dead. 50 m of water isn't enough really. If these are convoy escorts head directly away from the convoy at one third. Forget about depth–they're out of depth charges–just go to something between 25-40 meters. If the escorts get far enough away from their convoy they will abandon the attack and rejoin the convoy. Don't surface. You can outrun a corvette, but you have no chance against destroyers. A 30 second surface will not provide you with more oxygen.