Stories & Patrol Logs of SH5

[0rpheus]

Since there's a similar thread in both SH4, and SH3 forums, I figured it'd be nice to have one for SH5, so we can share our stories of battles upon the waves. I always enjoy reading patrol reports, so time for us SH5 Kaluens to step up to the mark! :D

I don't mind going first, so

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/558669913709310831/15DAE8FFD3E24A1039652B9092C8252E1397B451/

Here's U-21 refuelling at the KM Dithmarchsen, in the West Atlantic. Doenitz has sent a few uboats to harass US shipping, and by the radio reports we've received so far it seems to be going well. We're on our second patrol out here - the first accounted for over 25000 long tons, including two of the coveted Fleet Oilers BDU is so keen for us to hunt - and we're expected to better our total. I just pray the Dithmarschen stays in the area without incident; it's a hell of a long way home.

Twice today we've been forced down by aircraft, twice I've had to tell the Bosun to silence the rumours that the US know we're here. Damn uboat scuttlebutt will kill us far quicker than the Yanks will.

Sonar is reporting a contact... wait... two contacts. U-021 swings South to intercept, maybe another Oiler and Destroyer escort, like we saw on the first patrol. Escort presence does seem to be increasing, maybe the men have a point.

The sun is setting as we pull into position well ahead of their track, smoke from the first contact just visible on the horizon. "Take us to Periscope depth, prepare all forward tubes."

Now we wait...

[ETsd4]

- Wolfpack OHII: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=188286

- Spy Mission OHII: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=188171

- The Diary of U389: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=186850

- Scapa Raid OHIIv1.3: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=187512

- Follow sober on my scapa raid: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=186865

- Another fine mess.story : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=186456

- Surface attacks: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=178839&highlight=story

- Fishing tales: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=170389&highlight=story

- second patrol for U-31: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1326243&postcount=2

- NW of Brest: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1348953&postcount=3

- U-37 - 2nd War Patrol: http://www.uboatarchive.net/KTB37-2.htm

- U-100 - 2nd War Patrol : http://www.uboatarchive.net/KTB100-2.htm

- War patrols of several u-boats: http://www.uboatarchive.net/KTBList.htm

- Sink or swim: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1771792&postcount=1

- Raid on Scapa Flow http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=190624

- New Kauleun War Stories @ 110% http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1809991&postcount=1

[0rpheus]

Heh, so we're off to a good start (or several)! Keep em coming :)

[LemonA]

Mission "Total Germany - British coastal waters"
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1859447&postcount=238

[misha1967]

Currently, after sixteen gazillion remods, reloads and whatnot, on the first patrol into the Baltic to sink some Poles while they're still feisty enough to believe they can win. Not the most exciting of patrols as there is no danger of escorts or planes and the Polish traffic is more of a trickle than anything else.

But it's a great way to train your crew and yourself in surface attacks, submerged attacks. various aim points and accuracy with the deck gun.

The only issue I had on this patrol was that I needed to postpone the start of it due to Bernard suddenly running off at the sound of the word "Poles", only to return later with a great parka and some old blunderbuss he'd apparently inherited from his grandpa "for the polar bears", as he so delightfully ignorantly put it.

I suppose that I could have explained things to him a little better, but the BdU was quite insistent that I launch prior to 1942.

The patrol has, so far, been pretty uneventful. I'm up to three of the ships I need to sink, all of them fish in a barrel, but trying to locate them has been all the fun. A job not being made any easier than the pea soup fog that we seem to be stuck in most of the time. Perhaps it's just the way the Baltic is, but I suspect that it's more of a case of Frenssen having had too many cans of beans in his sea bag when we set out.

Oh, did I say "three?" I actually sank the fourth already, but it was three clicks out of the patrol zone, so the BdU says it doesn't count. Ordnung muss sein, after all. I should have just waited for the bugger to sail into my patrol zone before bagging him.

But at least I got to experiment with different pistols, depths and target points, none of which seem to matter. I can sink them alright, but they stay afloat for a long time after they've been officially declared "dead" and always go down in a nice, straight, level way. I had one with a giant hole beneath the water line abaft the beam as a result of my first torpedo, and then I added another five holes beneath the water line with the deck gun. Yes, I did "cheat" by using the external camera, but I just had to confirm that it wasn't my hits being too "harmless." They weren't. they were spread from the beam to the stern, yet she still went down perfectly level and horizontal.

If somebody, not me as I'm a vershuggener klutz, could figure out a way of combining realistic resilience with a physically correct model of how ships would flood and sink, I'd be on cloud nine. I would just like to see that "Titanic" style stern and bow sliding into the waves every once in a while.

I know. I'm picky, and I sure don't want to go back to "stock" where it was all a matter of hit points, such as the oiler in the stock tutorial who, even though her bow is clearly under water taking in water like crazy, but still refuses to sink until you've depleted her "hit points."

But when you've, say, torn a huge hole just abaft the beam and have added 5 AP holes beneath the water line on the stern section, you would expect her to go down backwards with the bow sticking out of the water.

It doesn't take away from the game, after all you don't have to stick around for an hour waiting for the obviously doomed ship to actually sink, your kill marker will pop up long before that, but it would be nice to see a few Epic Sinkings every once in a while. I don't see that. I've tried every which way I could think of. Concentrated all of my fire on the bow or the stern, yet she still goes down straight and level.