Longknife
05-05-15, 11:24 AM
Last night while on patrol in my beloved Pigboat FOX Traffic notified me to shift my base of operations to Dutch Harbor. Irritated at being shipped to the backwaters of the war & on fumes I just barely made it to Midway. Planning to plead my case to COMSUBPAC of the injustice to my valiant crew I was told to "Beat it Mac, that tub is needed in the Aleutians".
After the long ferry to Dutch Harbor I stormed into the office & started to give them what for when they smiled & handed me new orders from Admiral Lockwood assigning me to new construction. The USS Balao, flagship of the series was my new boat.
After flying to meet her I struggled with mixed emotions. She was a beast, larger by a third of my S-Boat & had a queer stink to her. Gone were the honest smells of sweat, adrenaline, steel , oil & the aftermath of the evenings mess; instead was the antiseptic stench of fresh paint.
6 tubes fore & 4 aft this beast was made for killing. What's more I finally get to use the Mk14's & now they even usually work as advertised.
Leaving the berth I confidentially rang up ahead standard. Instead of the familiar slow spooling of the engines Balao practically leapt forward disorienting me for a moment.
Twice as fast, able to dive twice as deep all while carrying twice the torpedoes this was a completely different boat that I would need to learn all over to fully exploit her strengths.
As I approached my patrol area off The Carolinas a lone coastal cruiser was spotted. The setup was perfect & at 1200yds I announced FIRE!
In a Pigboat when launching a torp the whole ship spasms as if vomiting out its deadly spawn. The Balao let out a soft "chug" more felt than heard. Sonar reported the fish running hot, straight & true. Easing back behind the periscope I see the fish impact exactly below the stack. The freighter must have been carrying munitions because she went off like a 4th of July fireworks display. Her back broke & she was below the waves before I could even think to activate the periscope camera.
The S-Boat was a Jackal, picking off the slow, sick & weak. The Balao is a Tiger charging into the herd & pulling down what it chooses.
This is going to be a good patrol..... Cry HAVOK and let slip the dogs of war!
After the long ferry to Dutch Harbor I stormed into the office & started to give them what for when they smiled & handed me new orders from Admiral Lockwood assigning me to new construction. The USS Balao, flagship of the series was my new boat.
After flying to meet her I struggled with mixed emotions. She was a beast, larger by a third of my S-Boat & had a queer stink to her. Gone were the honest smells of sweat, adrenaline, steel , oil & the aftermath of the evenings mess; instead was the antiseptic stench of fresh paint.
6 tubes fore & 4 aft this beast was made for killing. What's more I finally get to use the Mk14's & now they even usually work as advertised.
Leaving the berth I confidentially rang up ahead standard. Instead of the familiar slow spooling of the engines Balao practically leapt forward disorienting me for a moment.
Twice as fast, able to dive twice as deep all while carrying twice the torpedoes this was a completely different boat that I would need to learn all over to fully exploit her strengths.
As I approached my patrol area off The Carolinas a lone coastal cruiser was spotted. The setup was perfect & at 1200yds I announced FIRE!
In a Pigboat when launching a torp the whole ship spasms as if vomiting out its deadly spawn. The Balao let out a soft "chug" more felt than heard. Sonar reported the fish running hot, straight & true. Easing back behind the periscope I see the fish impact exactly below the stack. The freighter must have been carrying munitions because she went off like a 4th of July fireworks display. Her back broke & she was below the waves before I could even think to activate the periscope camera.
The S-Boat was a Jackal, picking off the slow, sick & weak. The Balao is a Tiger charging into the herd & pulling down what it chooses.
This is going to be a good patrol..... Cry HAVOK and let slip the dogs of war!