Task Force

[Schlageter-JG26]

I'm in the middle of a fun patrol. For this career, it is the 2nd patrol and we are in Feb of '42. We set sail from Pearl on assignment to photo recon one of the ports on Kyushu. We accomplished this without incident and I decided to check out Tokyo since we were close. Set depth a little higher than periscope for fear of running aground, but managed to sneak all through the assorted ports there and recon for my attack. Many assorted freighters and planes and whatnot, but I decided to wait until two large tankers got to the neck area heading out before I initiated my attack on two heavy cruisers I found in port. Sunk the cruisers and followed the tankers out to sea..... where I promptly whipped punched some holes in their keel once we were away from the shore batteries. :rock:

With 9 torpedos remaining... 2 loaded aft, 6 loaded fore and 1 in forward reserve... I'm just trolling southwest along the Nippon coast looking for juicy shots I see a report come in ID'ing a large task force returning from the Formosa area. Given time and the path I knew she was following (I chart positions and take screen shots so I know all the travel routes.... at least for 41 into early 42)... I knew I had only a slight chance of catching them. I plotted an intercept and actually went flank for 2.5 days. Day 2 sucked when we were spotted by search planes. My adept gun crews fought the first wave off. The second wave involved a pair of float planes which attacked in formation. My gunner nailed the second aircraft, which kept diving straight down as #1 pulled up into him.... they flipped in the air and slammed down hard. It was beautiful and that gunner is SO getting promoted when I get to base!

So we got into the position I plotted and sat in wait, crossing our fingers and nervously watching the radar and scanning the horizon as it got dark. For hours I sat there.... until I finally decided to move a bit. We moved north for half an hour and had our first lick on the radar. Watched them a while to determine direction and corrected our own position to be sure to park ourselves dead ahead. We've gotten in position now and gone to silent running. Watched the lead defensive screen approach and watched the shadows behind it willing ourselves to find out what she's defending...... yes.... yes, those look like tall stacks... oh, that is definitely an Ise in the lead! :yep:

If only the AI were more impressive, I'd feel much more excited about what I am about to attempt. The second and third BBs in line are both Fusos and I am going to split my remaining torps and fire 3 fish at each and then assess how best to finish them. Ought to be a good spot to pick it up when I get home tonight! I'll let you know if we make it or not.

[Schlageter-JG26]

Any targeting tips for the BBs? I usually aim to crack the keels on merchants under the fuel bunkers. It might be more successful to aim under the ammo bunkers on the BBs.

Anyone have experience with this? I'm trying to get the best bang for the buck from my remaining torps. If I can manage to hold onto one or two, I'll feel better about trying to slip out past the guard dogs after I rattle the cage.

[Dizoak]

i havent had much luck with BB's, the two times ive done the Battle Off Samar QM i've had VASTLY different results. the first time i hit the lead Kongo with two torps, one of which lit up her forward ammo bunker, the other hit her starboard props and stopped her.
Likewise, in that same first mission, i lit the Yamato up BADLY with my remaining torps.

the second time i did it, exact same set up and torp allocation and the kongo just took the hits, went a little low in the water and kept on going. similarly, the yamato took several torps and didnt even show damage.

[Schlageter-JG26]

I just played through it. We managed to nail the Fuso because I fired on her until she lit up. The Ise took two hits and started a minor fire midship. And the aft crew was able to blow the crap out of Takao that snuck up behind me (didn't see him coming in all the excitement). Waited until it was 90 angle from the back and fired both torps - 1 midship and one just behind the nose... same solution, slightly different timing since the first tube was already open before I fired.

After that, I just dove to 100 and set the screws spinning while under silent running and made a 160 angle away from the task force's heading. Done!

..... and then a seaplane nailed me. Doh! The bugger got me dead center on his 6th pass. I couldn't believe I couldn't hit him. :dead: