Adventures of a newb on full realism!

[astromattical]

Hello! I have dabbled with SH3 for years and years without getting much further than spitting distance of the shore. The other day I got a sudden urge to dive head first into SH3 and stick with it. Quick research got GWX and SH Commander running in no time at all. Just had to do a quick rollback to fix black clouds.

I went through the academy and started a career in August 1939. I am on full realism without map updates. That's not asking for trouble, is it?

My first mission was a shake down in BF16 if I remember correctly. Entirely uneventful and was able to get used to navigating, utilizing the reference book for ship identification (difficult, and don't get me started on getting close enough to see the flag), and I optimized time compression settings to my liking in Commander.

On the way back I received numerous radio transmissions regarding war between Germany and Poland. After passing just east of Great Britain, we received word that British ships were open to attack. I continued home and prepared for my next patrol.

I set out again with hopes of at least spotting and identifying my first enemy ship. I was tasked to patrol AM19, so I plotted a course up and around Scapa Flow. As I neared the area east of Scapa Flow I was notified of an enemy convoy just NW of me heading ESE. I parked my boat in a spot where I expected the convoy to pass through and waited several hours. My hydrophone operator got a contact just north of me, so I approached and went to periscope depth. A quick glance found a single cargo ship several thousand meters away. I eased closer and worked on making a firing solution...

Which is where I leave you for now. The seas are rough and I am having a very difficult time getting a good range calculation. I'm at work so this first post is lacking in screenshots and details I will provide in future postings. I hope you all will enjoy following a wet-behind-the-ears submariner going all or nothing in SH3!

[Tonnage_Ace]

Let me know if you sink that ship!
And pictures make everything better:up: hope you take lots!

[astromattical]

I will definitely update about the ship I'm following. My concern is that it could be a neutral ship. I need to get a good deal closer before I can positively identify the nationality, and probably wait for calmer seas for firing solution if it is an enemy. Either way, it doesn't look like a part of a convoy.

[astromattical]

Picking up where we left off, in pursuit of an unknown cargo ship off of Scapa Flow. We spent hours and hours surfaced in the rough seas to maximize our speed in order to close the distance between U-52 and the cargo vessel. It was rough on the crew, but it paid off in the end. Eventually, we started getting close enough to get a glimpse of the flag...

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5549/12043287853_9860354970_o.jpg

We continued at ahead full, continuing to close the distance. No signs of other ships in the area, so we continued surfaced without concern though with watchful eyes in all directions. Eventually we made a positive identification - Great Britain! We immediately took a few shots with our deck gun in hopes of slowing it down to close the range and make for an easy firing solution.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7298/12043287803_53c0da38c5_o.jpg

A few hits slowed it down to around 4kts, and we thus quickly closed in for the kill.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3782/12043840596_a86835ec13_o.jpg

We opened tube 1 and revised our firing solution now that we were in a good position. Closing the distance certainly made for a much easier time dealing with the rough seas (will this storm pass already?!?!). Sadly, even with the close distance, I still had to use three torpedoes, with a successful impact on the third.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3700/12043376394_e0fdc9d47e_o.jpg

We passed by to watch what we couldn't have begun to imagine as we set out on our patrol. Our very first contact turned out to be an unescorted cargo ship from GB, and we managed to sink it!

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3732/12043840256_94ed6bf6b5_o.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3789/12043286923_05492ab849_o.jpg

We rotated the crew out for some much needed rest. We continued on our patrol towards our assigned grid of AM19 after sending in the report of our successful attack. While our technique I'm sure will likely get us killed in the future, we learned a lot and will revise our attack methods (open to advice!). By far the most difficult part is getting close enough and making a positive identification.

[Tonnage_Ace]

Good job man:yeah: three torpedos for that poor little steamer is a little much but you'll get lots of practice once you start hitting those convoys in BE

I'm still in my little type IIA coastal boat, creeping along Scapa Flow's western coast, good hunting grounds for single ships and the odd convoy

I'm in March 1940

[astromattical]

Thanks Tonnage. One was more than enough, but the first two missed so it had to be three. :down: One great thing about SH3 besides the simulation itself is the amount of history I am reading up on. Very fascinating!

[Aktungbby]

Welcome aboard ASTROMATTICAL!:Kaleun_Salute:just a thought though: anything under 3000 tons, not shooting back at you, is strictly deck gun fodder; save the eels for big stuff and one eel crips are finished off with the deck gun too. "One ship one eel"- Kretschmer; primarily think of yourself as a submersible gunboat with torpedo augmentation and watch your tonnage go way up! No 10000 reichsmark eels for 1900 tons kaleun! The war must pay for itself!:/\\!!

[astromattical]

That makes perfect sense - I hope those torps don't come out of my paycheck! I promise it won't happen again! (little do you know that it just happened again...and I missed...shhh)