Vaux
01-08-12, 05:02 PM
I've been playing SH4 with the TMO mod for about a year now. Recently, I got a new system and loaded up SH4 with the latest iteration of TMO. I also noticed there was a TMO-compatible version of RSRD. I read up on it and figured "What the heck, I'll give it a try".
So, I started a new carreer with TMO and RSRD. Pac fleet, December 8th 1941, in a Dolphin-class boat out of Manila. My first patrol is fairly straight-forward. I complete a resupply mission and sink a handful of merchants that are travelling solo. Due to low fuel, I'm forced to RTB to Surabaya with torpedoes still on board... I absolutely hate RTB-ing with fish in the tubes, but there's no arguing with the fuel gauge. I had encountered no warships on my first patrol... then came my second. I left Surabaya with orders to patrol the Mindoro Strait.
February 9th, 1942. First day in patrol area. Skies are clear with an 11 MPS wind out of the West. Seas are moderate. At a little past 0400, my sonarman reports a single contact. Merchant. Moving slow and closing. No other contacts. I head the boat towards the contact and eventually get a visual. A nice, fat, juicy tanker... a Buzyun Maru.... all by its lonesome and steaming as straight as an arrow. I line up a stern shot and give her all 4 tubes. She goes to the bottom at 0618.
We surface and head North. Tubes 5 and 6 are reloaded, with tube 7 about 35% loaded, when the sonarman calls out another contact. Warship... medium speed, off to the Northwest and closing. This is quickly followed by another contact: Merchant... moving slow and closing... right behind the warship. I head the boat towards the contact and eventually get the first visual: Fubuki Destroyer. I can see two more smoke columns behind it. The Fubuki is about 9,000 yards away and it's still not full light. I spend a few minutes plotting a projected course, and setup an ambush.
I take the boat about 1,800 yards to the East of their projected course, go to periscope depth, silent running, battle stations, and all stop. I'm a patient, hole in the water, just waiting for the prey to arrive. I'm periodically dipping the attack scope up and down to confirm the projected course and I finally get a visual on the other two: The merchant is a troop transport, a Kiturin Maru, steaming at 7 knots, and behind her is another Fubuki Destroyer. I adjust my projected course for the convoy, and it looks like they should pass me, right-to-left, about 1,500 yards off my bow.
OK... as the saying goes, this is not my first rodeo. I've been in similar postions and this shouldn't be a problem. The seas are just choppy and rolling enough that it should mess with the DDs' passive sonar. The lead Fubuki does a few sweeps, but winds up passing me straight on the projected course at 7 knots. I give the troop ship all 4 of my bow tubes, immediately lower the scope, order 1 knot ahead... about 60 RPM and head to 250 feet... test depth. We pass the thermal layer at about 175 feet. The troop ship goes down at 0747. I decide not to turn, but head directly for the last position of the troop ship. I think I'm being clever.
Well, as expected, the Fubukis ramp up their speed and start acting like scorned women with .45s and an air-tight alibi. I'm expecting some close runs and a few close depth charges, but expect to shake them fairly quickly. My expectations were not met on that last part.
About 45 minutes into the chase, I've taken some minor damage, which is quickly repaired, but I'm beginning to think that it's getting just a bit too coincidental that they keep finding me. I decide to go below test depth and order 275 feet. I also turn about 20 degrees to port. Well, one of the Fubukis lays down a pattern right on top of me. I go to Flank speed for a few seconds, get up to 5 knots, and order hard left rudder. I take some damage, none to my hull thankfully, but my night scope is history and I've got some minor battery damage.
OK... let's try something different. I order all stop. This seems to work... for a while. The DDs are doing the usual thing. One stops and listens, the other circles. About 20 minutes later, they seem to draw a bead on me. One of them goes to Flank speed and heads right at me, laying down another pattern right on top of me. I go to Flank for a few seconds to get the heck out of there.
Now the chase has been going on for about 2 hours... longer than I would expect in these sea conditions with TMO alone, and I'm feeling a bit desperate. My hull is still undamaged, so I order 325 feet and reduce my RPMs to about 23. Finally, it seems to be working....
It's been 3 hours now, and one of the Fubukis is apparently gone. The other is still doing circles, but is getting farther and farther away. I might just make it....
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. This proved to be quite the challenge, and I'm enjoying it, but here's my question: Is this what I can expect from the DDs with RSRD, or did I just happen to get a couple of Jap sonarmen with ears the size of dinner plates?
So, I started a new carreer with TMO and RSRD. Pac fleet, December 8th 1941, in a Dolphin-class boat out of Manila. My first patrol is fairly straight-forward. I complete a resupply mission and sink a handful of merchants that are travelling solo. Due to low fuel, I'm forced to RTB to Surabaya with torpedoes still on board... I absolutely hate RTB-ing with fish in the tubes, but there's no arguing with the fuel gauge. I had encountered no warships on my first patrol... then came my second. I left Surabaya with orders to patrol the Mindoro Strait.
February 9th, 1942. First day in patrol area. Skies are clear with an 11 MPS wind out of the West. Seas are moderate. At a little past 0400, my sonarman reports a single contact. Merchant. Moving slow and closing. No other contacts. I head the boat towards the contact and eventually get a visual. A nice, fat, juicy tanker... a Buzyun Maru.... all by its lonesome and steaming as straight as an arrow. I line up a stern shot and give her all 4 tubes. She goes to the bottom at 0618.
We surface and head North. Tubes 5 and 6 are reloaded, with tube 7 about 35% loaded, when the sonarman calls out another contact. Warship... medium speed, off to the Northwest and closing. This is quickly followed by another contact: Merchant... moving slow and closing... right behind the warship. I head the boat towards the contact and eventually get the first visual: Fubuki Destroyer. I can see two more smoke columns behind it. The Fubuki is about 9,000 yards away and it's still not full light. I spend a few minutes plotting a projected course, and setup an ambush.
I take the boat about 1,800 yards to the East of their projected course, go to periscope depth, silent running, battle stations, and all stop. I'm a patient, hole in the water, just waiting for the prey to arrive. I'm periodically dipping the attack scope up and down to confirm the projected course and I finally get a visual on the other two: The merchant is a troop transport, a Kiturin Maru, steaming at 7 knots, and behind her is another Fubuki Destroyer. I adjust my projected course for the convoy, and it looks like they should pass me, right-to-left, about 1,500 yards off my bow.
OK... as the saying goes, this is not my first rodeo. I've been in similar postions and this shouldn't be a problem. The seas are just choppy and rolling enough that it should mess with the DDs' passive sonar. The lead Fubuki does a few sweeps, but winds up passing me straight on the projected course at 7 knots. I give the troop ship all 4 of my bow tubes, immediately lower the scope, order 1 knot ahead... about 60 RPM and head to 250 feet... test depth. We pass the thermal layer at about 175 feet. The troop ship goes down at 0747. I decide not to turn, but head directly for the last position of the troop ship. I think I'm being clever.
Well, as expected, the Fubukis ramp up their speed and start acting like scorned women with .45s and an air-tight alibi. I'm expecting some close runs and a few close depth charges, but expect to shake them fairly quickly. My expectations were not met on that last part.
About 45 minutes into the chase, I've taken some minor damage, which is quickly repaired, but I'm beginning to think that it's getting just a bit too coincidental that they keep finding me. I decide to go below test depth and order 275 feet. I also turn about 20 degrees to port. Well, one of the Fubukis lays down a pattern right on top of me. I go to Flank speed for a few seconds, get up to 5 knots, and order hard left rudder. I take some damage, none to my hull thankfully, but my night scope is history and I've got some minor battery damage.
OK... let's try something different. I order all stop. This seems to work... for a while. The DDs are doing the usual thing. One stops and listens, the other circles. About 20 minutes later, they seem to draw a bead on me. One of them goes to Flank speed and heads right at me, laying down another pattern right on top of me. I go to Flank for a few seconds to get the heck out of there.
Now the chase has been going on for about 2 hours... longer than I would expect in these sea conditions with TMO alone, and I'm feeling a bit desperate. My hull is still undamaged, so I order 325 feet and reduce my RPMs to about 23. Finally, it seems to be working....
It's been 3 hours now, and one of the Fubukis is apparently gone. The other is still doing circles, but is getting farther and farther away. I might just make it....
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. This proved to be quite the challenge, and I'm enjoying it, but here's my question: Is this what I can expect from the DDs with RSRD, or did I just happen to get a couple of Jap sonarmen with ears the size of dinner plates?