Syxx_Killer
12-16-07, 12:06 PM
GWX 2 couldn't have come at a better time today. We are suppose to get about a foot of snow. We already got quite a bit and the winds haven't got strong yet (suppose to get as high as 40 mph). Drifts are going to be huge. Anyway, it is a good day to hunt some convoys. Little did I know that it would be my best ever! I can now join the ranks of the 100k ton club.
The patrol started easy enough. I was tasked with patrolling BE61. I left Wilhelmshaven on October 24, 1939, not really expecting anything to happen this patrol. I enjoyed the scenery while leaving then plotted a course to the patrol grid. I didn't want to go through the English Channel. I have never trusted it. :huh: I would rather sail up nort of Scapa Flow. My plotted course took me through BE38. I was traversing it when I got a couple contact reports. Turns out they were some fat, juicy tankers. Both enemy. My first kills. I reached my patrol grid some time later. It was a rather uneventful 24 hours until I received a ship spotted message. Being alone with no DDs nearby, I want to try an attack on the surface. Turns out it was just a coastal freighter. I gave the order to fire a magnetic torpedo. Turns out it was a dud. :damn: I did not want to waste another torpedo on such small prey, so I ordered the deck gun crew on deck. Being the first deck gun engagement of the war, it was good practice. The ship took its final plunge at 17:02. After the patrol time was spent, I decided to head northeast. I head back to and reach BE38 a couple days later and stumble upon the convoy of a lifetime. It is earlier in the day. Clear skies, good visibility and the spot of a lifetime - HMS Rodney! There is no way I am going to let a prize such as that get away. I head on a parallel course on the port side of the convoy heading northwest. They are just barely in view when I notice the lead DD making a beeline right for me. "How the hell did he spot me?", I wonder. I could just barely see them,how could he see me? It is a A&B DD. I order periscope depth. I get my rear torpedo ready. I set it for 1m under his keel. I open order the outer door and give the order to fire. Direct hit! Explodes right under the bow. The DD takes a nose dive and is but a memory. I scope out the convoy and notice something - that was the only DD! I really begin to salivate now. I give the order to surface and order ahead flank. I'm racing along at 17 knots - the very most U-46 could give. I felt like saying "Give me 110% on the reactor!", but realized that is a few decades away yet. :arrgh!: Anyway, it the Rodney was somehow able to spot me at very long distance. I could still barely make it out. What a rush it is racing along at flank being fire upon by a battleship! She opened up on me with her secondary weapons. Then she turned her primary guns at me. :o There's nothing like the sound of shells wizzing by over head and splashing nearby. Some misses to close. Too close.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/Syxx_Killer/1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/Syxx_Killer/2.jpg
The BB is in the ring of my anntenae in this shot. Just a bit of messing around with the camera. :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/Syxx_Killer/3.jpg
Once I get into position I order periscope depth much to the relief of everyone else on board! :arrgh!: There she is.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/Syxx_Killer/4.jpg
The convoy is zig-zagging now and I am not going to risk it. I switch to magnetic contacts. I only have six torpedoes left at this point. My previous encounters really ate up the fish. I have 5 forward torps and 1 rear. I get my four forward torps ready. Ready. Aim. Fire! I originally sent three torpedoes towards the BB. Then I kind of panic at the thought of that might not be enough so I send a fourth. All four are direct hits! She slows to a crawl and eventually stops. The convoy's main source of protection is going down!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/Syxx_Killer/5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/Syxx_Killer/6.jpg
Part 2 coming...
The patrol started easy enough. I was tasked with patrolling BE61. I left Wilhelmshaven on October 24, 1939, not really expecting anything to happen this patrol. I enjoyed the scenery while leaving then plotted a course to the patrol grid. I didn't want to go through the English Channel. I have never trusted it. :huh: I would rather sail up nort of Scapa Flow. My plotted course took me through BE38. I was traversing it when I got a couple contact reports. Turns out they were some fat, juicy tankers. Both enemy. My first kills. I reached my patrol grid some time later. It was a rather uneventful 24 hours until I received a ship spotted message. Being alone with no DDs nearby, I want to try an attack on the surface. Turns out it was just a coastal freighter. I gave the order to fire a magnetic torpedo. Turns out it was a dud. :damn: I did not want to waste another torpedo on such small prey, so I ordered the deck gun crew on deck. Being the first deck gun engagement of the war, it was good practice. The ship took its final plunge at 17:02. After the patrol time was spent, I decided to head northeast. I head back to and reach BE38 a couple days later and stumble upon the convoy of a lifetime. It is earlier in the day. Clear skies, good visibility and the spot of a lifetime - HMS Rodney! There is no way I am going to let a prize such as that get away. I head on a parallel course on the port side of the convoy heading northwest. They are just barely in view when I notice the lead DD making a beeline right for me. "How the hell did he spot me?", I wonder. I could just barely see them,how could he see me? It is a A&B DD. I order periscope depth. I get my rear torpedo ready. I set it for 1m under his keel. I open order the outer door and give the order to fire. Direct hit! Explodes right under the bow. The DD takes a nose dive and is but a memory. I scope out the convoy and notice something - that was the only DD! I really begin to salivate now. I give the order to surface and order ahead flank. I'm racing along at 17 knots - the very most U-46 could give. I felt like saying "Give me 110% on the reactor!", but realized that is a few decades away yet. :arrgh!: Anyway, it the Rodney was somehow able to spot me at very long distance. I could still barely make it out. What a rush it is racing along at flank being fire upon by a battleship! She opened up on me with her secondary weapons. Then she turned her primary guns at me. :o There's nothing like the sound of shells wizzing by over head and splashing nearby. Some misses to close. Too close.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/Syxx_Killer/1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/Syxx_Killer/2.jpg
The BB is in the ring of my anntenae in this shot. Just a bit of messing around with the camera. :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/Syxx_Killer/3.jpg
Once I get into position I order periscope depth much to the relief of everyone else on board! :arrgh!: There she is.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/Syxx_Killer/4.jpg
The convoy is zig-zagging now and I am not going to risk it. I switch to magnetic contacts. I only have six torpedoes left at this point. My previous encounters really ate up the fish. I have 5 forward torps and 1 rear. I get my four forward torps ready. Ready. Aim. Fire! I originally sent three torpedoes towards the BB. Then I kind of panic at the thought of that might not be enough so I send a fourth. All four are direct hits! She slows to a crawl and eventually stops. The convoy's main source of protection is going down!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/Syxx_Killer/5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/Syxx_Killer/6.jpg
Part 2 coming...