Reverie
08-23-07, 12:34 AM
Running with GWX, it’s May 1940, and for the second time this year our VIIB has been ordered to the Northwest point of AF. And for the first time I’ve come up against my counterpart, an "S" Class. We were both on the top in Sea State Two with overcast late afternoon skies, but my lookouts were sharper. Moving at our usual travelling speed of one third, we were fresh from the Straits out of Kiel heading North in a line West of Kristiansand. The "S" was slow, guns manned, and angled for the Skagerrak. We dove undetected to periscope depth.
With our recent torpedo dilemma, and orders from Bdu to restrict ourselves to contact pistols, we set our TIs in Tubes One and Two for high speed, shallow impact. An error in the Target Speed calculation forced us to move the e-motors into Reverse. That action got us noticed. Target Speed jumped ahead noticeably, and the "S" began to zigzag. Instead of a single shot, both Tubes were opened and let loose to compensate for the targets erratic behavior. The first struck square on her beam after the run of 850 meters with a satisfying bang and tumultuous spray. Sadly we watched the second eel make for the targets stern then zigzag of its own accord, the sight brought into view on the uplift of a swell with the torpedo wake very clear; further weapon discrepancy to ponder as it happened too fast for a screen shot.
The single hit was lethal as the "S" quickly went down with the settling spray, but her tower and aft deck resurfaced, defiant. Glimpsed sparingly through the Attack Scope while our depth keeping became a chore, the sight resembled and reminded me of what I had been concerned with at the beginning of the voyage. In the light of the darkening sky the "S" looked like ice, and I had to switch to External View to distinguish.
While the view was "outside", the drone of a plane became clear. It was the Luftwaffe, obviously looking for the late "S". I thought it wise to stay put. I’m not sure how the software reacts to being in close proximity to possibly a former target, and didn’t want to draw undue attention. We reloaded One and Two, but would forego downloading the forward external store. The waves were up, and the threatening sky finally broke.
As I waited I turned my attention to the Hydrophone station, and listened to the complaints of a fallen foe. The "S", still creaking and groaning, reminded me of those Sonar recordings of an "I" Class being crushed in the depths of the Pacific; many of you have heard them, I don’t remember the Internet Site. I had to tear myself from the loudspeaker.
With our work completed, and the rain falling, we moved back to the top. Because our late target was still riding shallow, for Reality’s sake I ordered a Contact Report transmitted; the "S" presented not so much a navigation hazard as a salvageable contrivance of the enemy. We then cleared the area, continuing our way to AF.
I returned to the Hydrophones. Upon leaving harbor we had our gramophone playing nonstop, while I tended to real-world matters for the day. Returning to the house (and the boat) to find I had just entered the Kattegat, I confess to Time-Compressing our way into the North Sea. If things hadn’t been accelerated we may have discovered the "S" from a more favorable position. Yet after the action, we remain bearers of the favorable position. The proof was playing through the hydrophones. When it faded, the gramophone remained off.
Through roleplaying the crew bandies about the reports of enemy U-boats sinking unarmed merchants and even some of the Kriegsmarine, only to leave the survivors to die in the sea, oftimes hurrying them along. They come to the conclusion that this is War; it’s either them, or us. Listening through the hydrophones, it could be them or us.
Sometimes I wish there were more muffled conversation in the GWX software, sporadic, particularly after engagements. This, my first sub versus sub encounter, ended in a surprisingly quiet manner.
It ‘s a dismally quiet march to our patrol zone.
Reverie
With our recent torpedo dilemma, and orders from Bdu to restrict ourselves to contact pistols, we set our TIs in Tubes One and Two for high speed, shallow impact. An error in the Target Speed calculation forced us to move the e-motors into Reverse. That action got us noticed. Target Speed jumped ahead noticeably, and the "S" began to zigzag. Instead of a single shot, both Tubes were opened and let loose to compensate for the targets erratic behavior. The first struck square on her beam after the run of 850 meters with a satisfying bang and tumultuous spray. Sadly we watched the second eel make for the targets stern then zigzag of its own accord, the sight brought into view on the uplift of a swell with the torpedo wake very clear; further weapon discrepancy to ponder as it happened too fast for a screen shot.
The single hit was lethal as the "S" quickly went down with the settling spray, but her tower and aft deck resurfaced, defiant. Glimpsed sparingly through the Attack Scope while our depth keeping became a chore, the sight resembled and reminded me of what I had been concerned with at the beginning of the voyage. In the light of the darkening sky the "S" looked like ice, and I had to switch to External View to distinguish.
While the view was "outside", the drone of a plane became clear. It was the Luftwaffe, obviously looking for the late "S". I thought it wise to stay put. I’m not sure how the software reacts to being in close proximity to possibly a former target, and didn’t want to draw undue attention. We reloaded One and Two, but would forego downloading the forward external store. The waves were up, and the threatening sky finally broke.
As I waited I turned my attention to the Hydrophone station, and listened to the complaints of a fallen foe. The "S", still creaking and groaning, reminded me of those Sonar recordings of an "I" Class being crushed in the depths of the Pacific; many of you have heard them, I don’t remember the Internet Site. I had to tear myself from the loudspeaker.
With our work completed, and the rain falling, we moved back to the top. Because our late target was still riding shallow, for Reality’s sake I ordered a Contact Report transmitted; the "S" presented not so much a navigation hazard as a salvageable contrivance of the enemy. We then cleared the area, continuing our way to AF.
I returned to the Hydrophones. Upon leaving harbor we had our gramophone playing nonstop, while I tended to real-world matters for the day. Returning to the house (and the boat) to find I had just entered the Kattegat, I confess to Time-Compressing our way into the North Sea. If things hadn’t been accelerated we may have discovered the "S" from a more favorable position. Yet after the action, we remain bearers of the favorable position. The proof was playing through the hydrophones. When it faded, the gramophone remained off.
Through roleplaying the crew bandies about the reports of enemy U-boats sinking unarmed merchants and even some of the Kriegsmarine, only to leave the survivors to die in the sea, oftimes hurrying them along. They come to the conclusion that this is War; it’s either them, or us. Listening through the hydrophones, it could be them or us.
Sometimes I wish there were more muffled conversation in the GWX software, sporadic, particularly after engagements. This, my first sub versus sub encounter, ended in a surprisingly quiet manner.
It ‘s a dismally quiet march to our patrol zone.
Reverie