Foghladh_mhara
02-10-08, 03:28 PM
What a time to get engine failure. Beautiful weather for sailing but not for stalking. Wind 0, a nearly full moon and not a cloud in the sky. I was getting ready to take a second bite of an inbound convoy that was plodding along at an easy 6 knots. I picked them up about 500km west of Ireland and at that speed they were in line for 3 days of hell before they reached the safety of Bristol. If all went well I wouldn't even have to go to my patrol grid to use my eels.
Having sank a large merchant about 4 hours previous I had flanked the convoy and was sitting about 10 km to starboard of the convoys predicted path. The engines were stopped and the bridge crew were scanning the horizon for smoke stacks. Suddenly the call went out. The convoy was heading our way but with a difference. They had made a course change from 105 to 165 degrees and rather than sitting on their flank we were now right in their path. Still no need to panic, I decided to move ahead of them and re-position myself on their new course. Ahead flank and full right rudder. Back down to the nav map to plot a new attack position. A few seconds later I realised something was missing. The sound of engines. Back to the bridge and sure enough we were serenely floating along with a frigate serenely cruising towards us. Ordered ahead flank speed again but nada. Ahead full.. ahead standard... nothing. Oh Lordy! Ahead flank again and the engines jump to life. I suspect sabotage. I sent off an immediate message to BdU to round up all the French dock workers and shoot them as a message to all. My Chief Engineer later confessed that he had been in the khazi at the time and hadn't heard my orders. I feel bad for the French lads now :hmm:
This is not good for the blood pressure.
Having sank a large merchant about 4 hours previous I had flanked the convoy and was sitting about 10 km to starboard of the convoys predicted path. The engines were stopped and the bridge crew were scanning the horizon for smoke stacks. Suddenly the call went out. The convoy was heading our way but with a difference. They had made a course change from 105 to 165 degrees and rather than sitting on their flank we were now right in their path. Still no need to panic, I decided to move ahead of them and re-position myself on their new course. Ahead flank and full right rudder. Back down to the nav map to plot a new attack position. A few seconds later I realised something was missing. The sound of engines. Back to the bridge and sure enough we were serenely floating along with a frigate serenely cruising towards us. Ordered ahead flank speed again but nada. Ahead full.. ahead standard... nothing. Oh Lordy! Ahead flank again and the engines jump to life. I suspect sabotage. I sent off an immediate message to BdU to round up all the French dock workers and shoot them as a message to all. My Chief Engineer later confessed that he had been in the khazi at the time and hadn't heard my orders. I feel bad for the French lads now :hmm:
This is not good for the blood pressure.