Black May sucks.

[Admiral Halsey]

Well made it to May of 43 and i'm patrolling off the US coast in my IXD2. Attacked one convoy at the beginning of May and was lucky to survive it. I never had a chance to get a shot off as the escorts caught me on their radar before I was close enough to submerge and was held under for nearly 30 hours.

Decided to go back to picking off ships sailing in ones and twos again and have been bombarded with messages from other U-Boats that are sinking. My crew and I are beginning to wonder if we are the last boat alive in the Atlantic.

[Kip336]

BE MORE AGGRESSIVE ~BDU


All in good fun ;)

[Admiral Halsey]

BE MORE AGGRESSIVE ~BDU


All in good fun ;)

Screw aggressiveness. Me and my crew know by heart where to find ships sailing alone or in pairs without escorts and will go after them and them alone. Surviving the war takes precedent from now on.

[Zosimus]

It's been a long time since I was under that long.

What did you do to shake them off?

[Admiral Halsey]

It's been a long time since I was under that long.

What did you do to shake them off?

Dove deeper then I ever had before. I thought the boat was going to implode from the amount of creaking I heard. Also getting lucky with decoys in the last couple hours helped.

[Zosimus]

I've taken my boat down to 258 without issues. How deeply did you go?

[Admiral Halsey]

I've taken my boat down to 258 without issues. How deeply did you go?

Bought as deep as well. Maybe a bit higher at 250 or so but still deeper then I would've wanted to go. I'm just glad I didn't have to deal with any hedgehogs.

[Joefour]

Well made it to May of 43 and i'm patrolling off the US coast in my IXD2. Attacked one convoy at the beginning of May and was lucky to survive it. I never had a chance to get a shot off as the escorts caught me on their radar before I was close enough to submerge and was held under for nearly 30 hours.

Decided to go back to picking off ships sailing in ones and twos again and have been bombarded with messages from other U-Boats that are sinking. My crew and I are beginning to wonder if we are the last boat alive in the Atlantic.

Head for the NE coast of Cuba. Easy pickins. Lotsa fat T2s and T3s and I have never seen a warship in the area. Park your butt at periscope depth halfway between the easternmost tip of Cuba and the island of Hispaniola and man the hydrophone. It's a bottleneck most of them have to go thru to get to (I'm assuming) to the oilfields in Venezuela. If you don't pick up an easy 100K tons there, I don't know what to tell you. Just watch out for aircraft. (That's the other reason why I stay submerged most of the time.):up:

[Admiral Halsey]

Head for the NE coast of Cuba. Easy pickins. Lotsa fat T2s and T3s and I have never seen a warship in the area. Park your butt at periscope depth halfway between the easternmost tip of Cuba and the island of Hispaniola and man the hydrophone. It's a bottleneck most of them have to go thru to get to (I'm assuming) to the oilfields in Venezuela. If you don't pick up an easy 100K tons there, I don't know what to tell you. Just watch out for aircraft. (That's the other reason why I stay submerged most of the time.):up:

Funny enough me and my crew are heading there as I type this. I'm staying slightly inshore of the Eastern Seaboard as i head down there as I find a lot of solo ore carriers in the shallows.

[Joefour]

Funny enough me and my crew are heading there as I type this. I'm staying slightly inshore of the Eastern Seaboard as i head down there as I find a lot of solo ore carriers in the shallows.

Once you get into Cuban waters you won't see any warships. Who needs convoys when there are 11K tons of oil merrily swimming in front your bow tubes? (At least in vanilla SH3; I don't know about GWX.) See my remarks below after the German one?

[Admiral Halsey]

Once you get into Cuban waters you won't see any warships. Who needs convoys when there are 11K tons of oil merrily swimming in front your bow tubes? (At least in vanilla SH3; I don't know about GWX.) See my remarks below after the German one?

I'm not actually worried about lone escorts at any point in time. Having played the game for a couple years now I've discovered a convoy with a single escort means the escort never runs ahead to check for subs. I can thus sit off the port or starboard sides of the convoy and launch torps at every ship and I more often then not at least hit the escort. It's convoys with two or more I worry about.

[Rambler241]

Beware of convoys in the English Channel, or as in my last patrol, exiting the Channel SW of the Scillies. This one was very large, I recall 8 columns of 4, with an armed trawler in the van, and a likely second trailing behind. Sank the AT in the dark (best use of AP ammo IMHO), and was just going down to periscope depth to pass through unobserved to attack the other, when we we picked out by a searchlight - a V&W searchlight as it turned out, accompanied by shells bursting just ahead of the boat. Brown trousers were issued to all personnel immediately. Sneaky British Navy had a habit (in SH3) of concealing a DD at the end of the outer port column of Channel convoys. I should have remembered...

Sneaky Kriegsmarine commander turned head on to said V&W (as could now be identified), and shot our last Type I up his fo'csle at 400 metres. Battling it out with the second AT in the middle of a zig-zagging convoy was not a good option, so we gave the motors a few amps while the AT was outside sonar range, surfaced, and zapped it from astern. Ammo was now in short supply, so contented myself and the crew with two C3s - 5 shots for the first, and 9 for the second, leaving just 2 in the locker. Returned to Brest in triumph, after a fruitful patrol with a nice (but hard-won) bonus at the end.

[Admiral Halsey]

We made it back to port on June 17th with over 40000 tons sunk having spent the past 60 days at sea. Crew's feelings were mixed even though we had one of our best patrols yet. However all those subs sunk during May, all our comrades gone..... Mein Gott

[UKönig]

Black May is right around the corner for me.

U-802 is on its 4th patrol, and is currently off the coast of Cuba (en route to Key West). This old IXC has been getting the long range treatment lately. The first 2 patrols took us off Capetown, SA, and the 3rd was to the Caribbean. The 4th was back to SA, grid GR99. Once that was over, we headed back to Aruba and to the oil ports of Curacao.
I could benefit from the use of the Metox, for sure...

[Zosimus]

Run silent; Run deep.

[Admiral Halsey]

Godd!#@ed planes! Was heading back to the US coast when I got caught by a mosquito on the surface at night. I was reloading external torps as earlier that day I had sunk a British cruiser that was unescorted and waited til night to reload. Took a bomb just behind the conning tower but luckily didn't lose anyone. However sub was a wreck and I hightailed it back to port at full. Crew is shaken by the attack but moral is starting to improve again.

[KapitanFrank]

Damn lucky there were no deaths!
good luck on the return

[Admiral Halsey]

Damn lucky there were no deaths!
good luck on the return

We made it back but spent nearly 2 months in repair. From know on we're taking the Greenland-Iceland gap.

[Admiral Halsey]

Took a little break to play some SH4(gotta love YouTube to MP3 converters and being able to blast Paradise City over the gramophone while sinking the Yamato) and came back yesterday. So far my current count of dodged planes is 15 and I haven't even gotten past the British Isles. Also the British are starting to raid the ports now and Bergen got bombed at the beginning of the patrol.

[Admiral Halsey]

So came back to this to continue testing my mod.(just makes all subs renown free in case your're wondering) After the bombing of Bergen I mentioned in the last post I took the long way out though the Denmark Strait and encounter no planes during the trip! Don't know if we got lucky or not by my crew are happy about that. Heading to Cuba just like last time we took a little trip into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and got a hit on an Free French(France hasn't respawned yet) ore carrier that had no guns! I got to use my guns for what'll likely be the last time I ever use it since it was night. Then while exiting the gulf a solo destroyer blundered across us.

Talking to my crew if we should try to go for it or not we decided that something must be done to stop the menace that it poses and we decided to risk an attack. Staying at the extreme edge of the range of our electric torps and all crew prepared to throttle up the sub to emergency speed and dive deep we launched a single torp. 4 minutes later not only a hit but the destroyer split in half! Much cheering and rejoicing as we surface the sub and try to get the hell out of dodge. 5 minutes later a plane tries to attack us but we dive and spend the rest of the day underwater. Wonder if the snorkel we captured from the Dutch might come of use soon for us?

[Aktungbby]

Godd!#@ed planes! Was heading back to the US coast when I got caught by a mosquito on the surface at night. I was reloading external torps as earlier that day I had sunk a British cruiser that was unescorted and waited til night to reload. Took a bomb just behind the conning tower but luckily didn't lose anyone. However sub was a wreck and I hightailed it back to port at full. Crew is shaken by the attack but moral is starting to improve again.

Damn lucky there were no deaths!
good luck on the return

We made it back but spent nearly 2 months in repair. From know on we're taking the Greenland-Iceland gap.
How bad that can look!http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/items/ACCNUM_SCREEN/SUK10562.JPGk
http://www.3squadron.org.au/Pix/AWM%20Guide/U-505-Damaged.jpgA depth charge attack from the air and U-505 after the hit!!! She limped back to port: the most damaged boat to survive such a devastating hit! They were considering staying heavy when the Hudson attack came out of low clouds as they could pick up enemy radar sigs every where. The Hudson did not survive the attack. Staying at 5-6 meters (heavy) shortens your crash-dive time considerably. At this stage of the war don't worry about your spare eels up top too much.

[UKönig]

Just a scratch... we'll be fiiiiiine....!

[K-61]

I have survived to the end of the war a few times, but not with a 39-45 career. I always used SH3 Commander's randomized retirement option to add uncertainty, and also limit my careers to more historically realistic tonnage. There were a few of my own "house rules" I used to achieve these smaller, yet more satisfying career tonnage totals.

The first was to play "dead is dead." What I like about SH3 is that, when properly modded, it is not an arcade game. I try to pretend that my real flesh is on that virtual boat and thus I would not take risks that to a real life skipper would be unjustifiable, but are mere trifles to a virtual skipper who knows he can be instantly resurrected and do it again a different way. Wow, think how each of us would live our real lives if we had access to a magic "re-life" button. That chick I just lewdly propositioned and she slapped me in the face? Reset, and then don't say it but use a different line. The possibilities for abuse are endless. So, I don't reload killed careers.

Another rule was to treat each spotted aircraft as the harbinger of death, even if I had the uberest, coolest flak setup at sea. Historically, the U-flak trap only worked briefly and the Allied planes learned to simply swarm the surfaced U-flak boats simultaneously from multiple directions and divide their fire. If a single plane spotted a group of U-flaks sailing along on the surface, it stood off and called in reinforcements. In the interval, it circled around and kept its eyes on the boats. During this time the U-boat crews knew what was in store for them. If they dove, the plane did achieve a small victory, that of impeding the boats' progress. A submerged sub is much less likely to detect and track shipping. When Doentiz ordered the flak boats to fight it out, they enjoyed a number of kills on their hated enemies, the patrol planes, but as stated, once they changed their tactics the advantage of massed flak guns was eliminated. In a way, the flak group concept gave the Allies a bonus in the form of a target rich environment. Instead of hunting four individual boats, they found four they could attack at once. Boat losses increased and then Doenitz abandoned the concept and ordered individual sailings again. I also didn't use any mods or tweaks that made my shells more explosive, gave me more ammo, etc.

In real life, the U-boat was a fragile, vulnerable thing. Their skippers knew the advantages of their craft, but also knew their limitations. One lucky hit from a shell or bomb and they may never be able to submerge again. Knowing this, they didn't duke it out with planes unless they were caught by surprise and diving immediately was worse than staying up to fight. I once read in a book the number of aircraft that were shot down by U-boat flak guns. It was a surprisingly low number; thus, I do not feel it is my mission to compete with General Galland's Luftwaffe fighter boys to destroy the enemy's aircraft. I also don't employ what I call "gamy" tactics, wherein you take advantage of weak game coding or quirks in the game's A.I. It may be fun to stay surfaced and get into gunnery duels with destroyers and frigates, but in real life it was almost always suicide.

Just my way of playing. Sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings, it is certainly not my intention to deride another player's style. Simply sharing how I used to do it and hoping to again soon, once I have my game up and running again.

With such rules, each ship destroyed, each ton sunk was savoured. To then have my skipper sent ashore or retired with as few as four or five patrols added to the thrill of uncertainty. What I would do then, to experience the whole gamut of the war, was begin a new career with a fresh boat and crew at the time of retirement or death of the previous captain. By this means, I did go from 39 to 45 a few times, but always over the course of several different lifetimes. We all like the Happy Times, but the real challenge to a skipper is to bring home the boat from a mid to late war patrol, and any successes were bonuses. Those mid to late war patrols always made me more paranoid. Like the tank crewmen in Normandy, I was always having a sore neck from looking at the sky and an itchy feeling when planes were nearby. What a great game, to give the player such an immersing experience. I wonder how many marriages and friendships broke up over the years because we were always at sea? My wife used to call herself the founding member of the "Computer Widows Club."

[UKönig]

I am like Captain Kirk...I don't like to lose. I don't believe in the 'no win' scenario. Even when the evidence is staring me in the face. However, I am getting better at accepting my limitations. For example, I stopped quitting and relaunching the game if I missed with my torpedoes. If it was done fairly and squarely then the error is mine and I just 'have to take my medicine'.

I still don't like getting killed. I can't imagine anyone who does. So fair is fair in that regard as well. And I am thinking about forcing myself to buy a new u-boat if the one I come back in has less than "X" percent hull integrity. To simulate a transfer of command, rather than wait 2 game months to be repaired. I guess I am just a lazy player. I want to have fun. The real U-boat war was not fun and games, so I have an advantage and I am going to use it.

[Admiral Halsey]

Snip

I've never actually seen a picture of the damage the U-505 took and holy hell how'd she make it back? That has to be more then one open compartment to the sea!

[UKönig]

the guy standing by himself on the starboard side, peering down into the hole, is probably thinking the very same thing!

[Aktungbby]

My recollection is scanty but Hans Goebler, "Steel Boats; Iron Hearts book should be on your required reading list along with Michael Gannon's Black May and the two volume: Clay Blairs' Hitler's U-boat War . Bottom line: :subsim: is a wonderful forum:up: dedicated to "died of a theory" emulation of a lost cause! ie That a 'Master Race' existed and offset war against the American/British combined navy was winnable.

The U-boats sank 2,800 Allied merchant ships in the Atlantic, but that was only a tiny percentage of the entire Allied merchant fleet.
Strategically, the German submarine force failed to achieve its objective: to blockade and isolate the British Isles in the hopes of forcing the British out of the war, thereby thwarting both the Allied strategic air assault on Nazi Germany and the invasion of France. Meanwhile, Allied destroyers, corvettes and planes sank almost 800 U-boats. Ninety-nine percent of Allied merchant ships in the Atlantic convoys reached their assigned destinations. In 1942, Blair writes, British, American and Canadian shipyards produced about 7.1 million gross tons, a million more gross tons than were lost to U-boats during the same year. The sinkings failed to significantly dent the Allied merchant ship pool of about 30 million gross tons. approx. 5% total:nope:
An excerpt from Goebler's book dealing with the suicide of the U-boat's cowardly martinet kapitän http://www.feldgrau.com/interview7.html (http://www.feldgrau.com/interview7.html) Soon the enemy ships were almost directly above us. And yet, still no orders, still no Skipper. Where the hell was Zschech? Before we had time to ask, BOOM!… we were thrown off our feet by a giant depth charge explosion. The whole boat was rocking crazily as the control room air filled with broken glass and flying objects. I grabbed for any hold I could grasp... they never dropped just one. BLANG!!! The lights went out and the pressure hull rang like a church bell with the concussion from the second charge.

Finally, Zschech came down the ladder from the conning tower. His expressionless face, illuminated by the florescent paint on the air ducts, was ghostly white. We all stared at him, anticipating some orders for maneuvers, but still he said nothing. Instead, he walked zombie-like through the forward hatch into the radio room. As he passed me, I could see his wide-open, unblinking eyes shine in the half-light.

Two more charges exploded in quick succession. They were a bit farther off than the others and we dared to hope that the worst was over. Then, WHOOOM, the biggest explosion ever, nearly turned the boat over. Men were sent sprawling to the deck in heaps.
Strangely, the Fuhrer did not lie when he said "at sea I am a coward" the last place to be so when you are conquering a world which is 3/4 water....the German naval campaign of the two world wars was a political and military disaster...under both the petulant Kaiser and the Bavarian corporal...

[Fahnenbohn]

I've never actually seen a picture of the damage the U-505 took and holy hell how'd she make it back? That has to be more then one open compartment to the sea!

-> Made in Germany

[sublynx]

Thanks for the link about U505 and Zschech. That was maybe the most interesting description of life in the U-boats I've ever read.

[UKönig]

very much so!

[Aktungbby]

Thanks for the link about U505 and Zschech. That was maybe the most interesting description of life in the U-boats I've ever read.

very much so!

Your welcome! At last, one of us placed Zschech's pillow over his face to muffle the noise and, out of mercy, to hasten the inevitable. The Doctor tried desperately to pull the pillow away, but four strong hands kept it in place. We knew that poor Zschech, and we, would be better off if he died as quickly and quietly as possible.

The Doctor began shouting hysterically to remove the pillow. Our Exec Paul Meyer, now the Acting Commander, calmly but sternly ordered him to be quiet. "There's nothing you can do for him now," Meyer explained. "Those ships up there are still trying to send us to hell. Sound travels better through water, and any noise we make down here can be heard up there. So, please, Doctor, be quiet."
The first watch officer, Paul Meyer, quickly took command, rode out the rest of the attack, and returned the boat to port with minimal damage. Despite his quick thinking, Meyer was not rewarded, merely "absolved from all blame" by the Kriegsmarine for the embarrassing incident. He never commanded another U-boat. Considering the aftermath and subsequent interest to history, he oversaw the U-505's most critical 'kill'...:hmmm: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/U505wide.jpg/240px-U505wide.jpg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U505wide.jpg)