Daring Surface Attack
 

I found a convoy while skulking about in AM39, which as you know is inside the British frontier and of course shallow waters. Found the convoy over the deepest part thankfull which was about 190m from the surface to the bottom.

I was going towards the convoy they were coming towards me. So it being pitch dark with a slightly overcast, I put the boat low in the water and sneaked in past the armed trawlers. This next part is absolutely beautiful.

After the escorts were behind me and scanning the convoy I found they were all tiddler ships, at the back in the row nearest me, what do I see? A large cargo... ok thinks I. In front of it are a passenger/cargo and in front of that, a small merchant.

So I brought the boat back up to standard surface trim and then crept at ahead slow, into firing position, fired off tube 1 and the small merchant a T1, speed slow. Fired off tube 2 at the Passenger/Cargo following right behind it. Both torpedoes impacted at the same time it was literally Just boom, but louder!

So now, Its up to ahead flank... got the Large Cargo in my sights. opens tubes 3 and 4, off I goes... lines up, closes at flank to 800m ready to fire, I have no been spotted, searchlights are on me, torpedo away, torpedo away... ALARRMMMMM!!!!

Now this was un real, the gunners on those two armed trawlers must have been blind, how they missed me was phenomenal but a relief. I usually just go straight down to 80m, down I goes, silent speed...

3 kills in the shallows... would you believe I got away without being depthcharged once!?

The cheif wasn't clinging on for dear life, and I wasn't getting jittery with ahead flank every time and Armed Trawler went over the top of me. I escaped... wow.

It was so Das Boot like my attack, (yep I seen DB now) and I carreid out a surface attack on a fairly well escorted convoy and got away unscathed!

Of course I reported in the convoy too, like I normally do. So that was all good.

Congrats! well done:up:
now hope you get a well-deserved medal when you get back to base:smug:

no offense penelope - but i could listen to a woman talk like that all day. :rotfl:

Nice one
Me no like shallow water
Tooooooo many sunk uboats and bad memories

It is also good to see it re-confirmed that night surface attacks are quite feasible in GWX. Some feel that such things are impossible in GWX... yet over the last couple of days I've read four accounts detailing successes using this M.O.

At any rate Ms. Gray, nice intense account there! :arrgh!:

Excellent work, Frau Kaleun!!! :up::up::up::up:

I too thought that it was next to impossible in GWX; which is too bad because night time surface attacks were standard practice during at least some part of the war. It should be posssible, especially in '39-'42.
After reading the stories here it appears that my attacks failed because of poor judgment or just plain bad luck.

Can't wait to fire up SH III after I get home from work and let KaLeun Eisenschwein conduct a nice and smooth surface attack in the dark.!

And last but not least: well done, Penelope Grey!

Surface attack......the favourite method of possibly the greatest kaleun ever...Otto Kretschmer.
Captured after a depth charge attack by HMS Walker in March 41 because a junior officer ignored or forgot to follow his kaleuns standing orders 'try to outrun on the surface before diving' :arrgh!:

Further evidence of GWX adhering closely to historical accuracy :D

Daring and well executed, Frau Kaleun! :up:


Oddly enough ,for a minimal risk taker like me, I did a surface attack last night (May 1941).

While searching for a convoy that had changed course at night, in rain/low visibility, sighted a large freighter 150 meters ahead. Fired one magnetic under its stern. It armed and Kaboom!

All hell broke loose. Somehow I had stumbled into the middle of the convoy. Searchlights, flares and artillery convinced me to promptly dive. The freighter sank, escorts dropped rippling DC salvoes, making a lot of continous noise all over the place.

We dropped back. The following evening, the weather cleared, fired last 2 torpedoes at a tanker. Now heading home for a couple of drinks.

:damn: this...is embarasing for ...me

I got my ass kicked by fighting it out on the surface with.....with....an.

armed trawler.....:dead:

Job wel done Penelope,

ps. I rather attacked them from the skys then in a Uboat.

Ah you're not alone Hunter mate
Got owned by a trawler as I exited the channel :oops:
And that was after a deck gun duel with a V&W which I won

Thanks Kap,

Believe it guys, if I could do it, anybody can! The trick is to not go too fast until you are lined up and ready to attack. Then you can floor it... "buckle up kids - mammy's putting the hammer down!":arrgh!:

I also made use of putting the boat low in the water just to sneak past the escorts then I came back to surface trim for optimal speed and turning, and also I attacked the back of the convoy too, and I also used silent running while surfaced, just in case. :)

In short, don't rush it. There are many advantages of surface attacks, for one thing, the speed and agility afforded, second, you are immune to both asdic and hydrophones, and lastly, its very Das Booty.

Thanks for all the thumbs up, Ive come a long way from what I was before! This convoy attack was cigar worthy let me tell you!

Yesterday I tried it in a moonless night (1940). First I checked convoy speed by measuring time needed for the ships to travel 300m and then I positioned my u-boot so that I could pass the destroyer at maximum distance but still could reach the rear of the convoy. At low speed I turned in and passed the destroyer at about 2 km who just left the convoy for a search - maybe he heard me. So my U-boot was between the convoy and the destroyer. At 1.5 Km I used the UZO to find the merchants. I must say that it was a fantastic sight to see the ships filling the UZO. I enjoyed it briefly as I was worried about the destroyer that would return and the merchants that could spot me. With two salvo's I destroyed two large merchants. As one ship was stilll exploding the destroyer turned in on me and I dived as fast as I could to sneak under the convoy to disappear silently through the back. A dream experience which I will repeat for sure!

Text book action kaleun....congratulations :up:

Can you explain how you approach the convoy exactly? Perpendicular to its course? And in front or behind the escorts at its side?

And one other thing? I presume that you don't compute a torpedo course after hitting the gas, but just aim by guessing?

Great action, by the way. Must have been a real adrenaline kick:rock: