Floater
02-13-06, 10:43 AM
So I'm sailing along in my VIIC, standing on the bridge. It's a gorgeous morning, December '41, and my experienced watch crew are scanning the horizon. My WO is on deck (I woke him up earlier), and all is well with the world.
I know something they don't. I'd nipped down to the hydrophone earlier and identified a strong merchant contact at 10 degrees, moving towards 0. Visibility was excellent, and I was expecting visual contact at any time.
Soon, sure enough, I could make out a wisp of smoke on the horizon. A slight change of course to intercept, and I waited to see how the crew would react when they finally saw it. Minutes passed, and gradually the vessel itself came into view. My view, that is - the watch crew were blissfully unaware (or blind as a bat, to use the medical expression). I identified the vessel as a small or coastal merchant (hard to tell at that range), and hence not worth a torpedo.
The plan was to close the distance until I was in danger of being spotted, submerge and close further until I could verify if the vessel was armed. If not, I'd surface and engage with the deck gun. It was still a long way away, so I reduced speed to cut the wake and continued on an intercept course, getting the vessel into position for it to cross my T.
The watch crew still hadn't spotted the ship. By now, it was in full sight, maybe 6000m away (I'm not good at judging distances by eye). I decided to wait until the crew spotted the ship, and watched the forward starboard watchman as his binoculars passed over the ship again and again with no reaction.
(Actually, I'd never seen a watchman in the act of spotting a ship, and was curious to see how it was animated. On reflection, this guy may have been the one unqualified seaman on the bridge - I had three watch-qualified petty officers and the one droid in the fourth position on the F7 screen, but a full green bar.)
After a while, he finally spotted the ship, called out and pointed. OK, time to submerge and close. I immediately ordered periscope depth - at the same time, the cry went up: "we've been spotted, sir!". Damn!
No confirmation from the Chief. I ordered periscope depth again. Nothing. I ordered crash-dive. Nothing. The ship turned to port, and I ordered a change of course. Nothing. I tried turning my head. Nothing. I was paralysed. So was everyone else. The crew were crouching behind the fairings, and we were just sailing along on the surface in a straight line despite my orders.
In the end I ordered "ESCAPE!" (well, I hit the Esc key), and then selected "Continue". Suddenly, the nightmare was over, and we could move. By this time, it was plain that the merchant was unarmed, so a few well-aimed shots put her under.
A strange experience I thought I'd share.
I know something they don't. I'd nipped down to the hydrophone earlier and identified a strong merchant contact at 10 degrees, moving towards 0. Visibility was excellent, and I was expecting visual contact at any time.
Soon, sure enough, I could make out a wisp of smoke on the horizon. A slight change of course to intercept, and I waited to see how the crew would react when they finally saw it. Minutes passed, and gradually the vessel itself came into view. My view, that is - the watch crew were blissfully unaware (or blind as a bat, to use the medical expression). I identified the vessel as a small or coastal merchant (hard to tell at that range), and hence not worth a torpedo.
The plan was to close the distance until I was in danger of being spotted, submerge and close further until I could verify if the vessel was armed. If not, I'd surface and engage with the deck gun. It was still a long way away, so I reduced speed to cut the wake and continued on an intercept course, getting the vessel into position for it to cross my T.
The watch crew still hadn't spotted the ship. By now, it was in full sight, maybe 6000m away (I'm not good at judging distances by eye). I decided to wait until the crew spotted the ship, and watched the forward starboard watchman as his binoculars passed over the ship again and again with no reaction.
(Actually, I'd never seen a watchman in the act of spotting a ship, and was curious to see how it was animated. On reflection, this guy may have been the one unqualified seaman on the bridge - I had three watch-qualified petty officers and the one droid in the fourth position on the F7 screen, but a full green bar.)
After a while, he finally spotted the ship, called out and pointed. OK, time to submerge and close. I immediately ordered periscope depth - at the same time, the cry went up: "we've been spotted, sir!". Damn!
No confirmation from the Chief. I ordered periscope depth again. Nothing. I ordered crash-dive. Nothing. The ship turned to port, and I ordered a change of course. Nothing. I tried turning my head. Nothing. I was paralysed. So was everyone else. The crew were crouching behind the fairings, and we were just sailing along on the surface in a straight line despite my orders.
In the end I ordered "ESCAPE!" (well, I hit the Esc key), and then selected "Continue". Suddenly, the nightmare was over, and we could move. By this time, it was plain that the merchant was unarmed, so a few well-aimed shots put her under.
A strange experience I thought I'd share.