One little mistake....

[StarTrekMike]

On my first foray into American waters I was about to turn back when I ecountered a liberty merchant ship...never having dealt with one before I assumed my usual night time attack plan would be fine.

As I got to about 4000 meters it lit me up with its deck guns and I took several hits and even some minor flooding that forced me down to 30 or so meters...I could not believe it...were these guns manned by navy gunners?...was this a navy boat or a merchant?

anyway I learned a important lesson and I will never attack one above the surface ever ever again...1942 is not a good year so far for me.

the good news is that I got home okay...the ruined my paint job and that makes me a little angry but I will make a effort to take one out on my next ecounter

Mike (U-109)

[Ducimus]

I made that mistake once while encroute to the carrabean.

Encountered a 2 ship formation. One was a liberty the other a C2.
My intention was to save torpedo's so i gave them a single torpedo each.

Both turned out out to be armed. I was about 2500 meters from them, but thankfully i had been thoughtful enough to point my bow at them before surfacing.

What ensued was a running gun battle. My uboat running backwards while my deck gunners returned fire from a 2 armed merchantman broadside.

Many of their shells came CLOSE, two hits were scored. One at the base of the conning tower, the other landed on the flak guns, destroying them.

That was an intresting moment for sure :D

[StarTrekMike]

I don't really mind when C2's and C3's have guns...I just pick em off with the gun as I approach...but that liberty was just to much for me to take on with one safe pass...good for me that I shot to fish right into the rudder and screw section and left it without any propulsion so I could sit under and repair while it was helpless above me

[Ducimus]

As cargo ships go, liberty's have my respect for two reasons:

1. Always well armed
2. Shallow draft. In a rough sea's your chance to miss them is a bit higher then your average cargo ship :D

[U-104]

1. Always well armed
:yep:

[VonHelsching]

...the ruined my paint job and that makes me a little angry

Mike (U-109)

:rotfl:

[Sailor Steve]

...were these guns manned by navy gunners?...was this a navy boat or a merchant?
I wouldn't expect to see it reflected in the game, but in fact United States merchant guns WERE manned by navy gunners. The didn't drive the ships or do the work; they were just there to shoot things like Luftwaffe planes and U-Boats.

Maybe the devs added more than we thought...

[StarTrekMike]

the devs probably gave the victory and liberty class merchants a good staff od navy gunners...I looked them over in the museum and was suprised by how well covered they were...they are almost as bad as detroyers in some ways.

Any history about these boats...were they considered escorts to other merchants because I seem to see them with C3's or C2's

Mike

[bookworm_020]

Well one of them sank a commerce raider with it's 4 inch and a couple of 37mm guns. The raider captain thought he was fighting a aux crusier instead of a merchant!!

[Kaptan Tommy]

Which boat am I going to have to get, and which home port will I have to be departing in order to head over to the east coast of the U.S.???

I'm always stationed out of Kiel (though I see where the 7th Flotilla is supposed to move to St. Nazaure in Sep of 1940) and there's no way in hell I'm going to be able to get to the U.S. from there. I left on my last patrol in August of '40 so maybe I'll be moved when (and if) I get back.

Will I need a boat other than my beloved Type VIIb? :hmm:

Oh, and I suppose it would be nice to be able to get back from there too. :yep:

[Tazzie]

To get to the US east coast from France I think you need a Type IX. :hmm:

[Inajira]

I left on my last patrol in August of '40 so maybe I'll be moved when (and if) I get back.

My last mission I started Aug 19th from Wilhelmshaven as usual (2nd Flotilla) and then was scheduled mid-mission for return to Lorient, so I expect you will have the same experience.

The East coast of the U.S. in a Type VII? Never actually tried it but the French coast is the shortest distance so if you can't make it from there then you never will unless you "upgrade" to a Type IX. I did that recently and I have mixed feelings... but more good than bad. I can make up to 18kts surfaced :rock: , have more torpedoes, much longer range, BUT on the downside poor submerged speed and endurance. Dive time is actually pretty good, I did some timings and found that from the order to "Crash Dive!" to the "submerged at 10m" point, the best I got was 20sec :rock: , but that was from a surfaced speed of 17-18kts.

Anyway maybe you'll decide that a Type IX is not that bad after all... :up:

[Kaptan Tommy]

Yeah, I was afraid of that. I hate the idea of giving up my deck and flak guns, because up to now they've been a source of fun (in that weird sort of way :oops: ). I know as the war (and my crew) progresses, times are going to be tough and surface time will be limited (by the enemy!) and these toys will become more and more useless.

But I really want to get to NY Harbor! I have cousins that live out there and I need to 'get even' for a lost Super Bowl bet. :lol:

[U-104]

Well one of them sank a commerce raider with it's 4 inch and a couple of 37mm guns. The raider captain thought he was fighting a aux crusier instead of a merchant!! :rotfl: