SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - When will I ever learn?

August 1943
First patrol in a TypeIXD2 out of Bordeaux.
I did my obligatory 24 hours in Grid DU11 off the west coat of Africa then cruised South along the coast towards Freetown. Along the way I managed to come upon a C2 and a Small Merchant travelling North. We took both out with no problem altho the C2 was a stubborn bastard and consumed 4 eels. Late afternoon the following day I received an update advising me of a single merchant heading Northbound about 30km West of my position. I ordered a change of course at flank speed to get us into the general area. After finally locating the ship I took my boat north of his proposed track and waited on the surface. Around 2:am the target was sighted approaching at about 6kts. Since the weather was perfect I decided to give my gun crews a workout. The little ship was armed with a stern mounted cannon and immediately took evasive action bringing the gun to bear. To make a long story short my boat took a couple hits but the target eventually was destroyed. I had one gunner injured, hull integrity was at 60%.
I decided to reverse course and head North once again following the trade routes toward Casablance. So far the mission was not exactly a rousing success.
There was absolutely nothing to be found patrolling the waters around Casablanca so We cautiously proceeded deeper into the heavily patrolled bay leading to Gibralter. Running at 25-30m during the day and surfacing by night only long enough to refresh the air and charge batteries. There were numerous warship contacts as expected but only very faint, very long range sound contacts which may have been merchant traffic. After a week of this it seemed uncanny how all the potential targets appeared to be in the area we had just vacated a few hours previously.
My sound officer had been tracking a distant contact which appeared to be heading in our direction. Finally a strong sound contact was picked up to the Southeast around 11:pm and confirmed heading west. Knowing the boat needed a fresh charge I ordered Surface, Ahead flank Course 270.
Running on the surface for 30 minutes I ordered a shallow dive for a sound check to confirm the contact and direction. Finally, after alternating between high speed surface dashes and brief dips to 20m my fears had been realized. Approximately 3:30 pm my Sound Officer confirms the convoy changed course to the Southwest.
After weeks of inaction and frustration and with a very little to show for our efforts I decided to gamble and make a last hi speed surface run to attempt to get ahead of the convoy. The dark would still cover us for an hour or so and we were slowly increasing our distance from the hornets nest of Gibralter. The boat was surfaced at Flank speed and all flak guns were manned.
The sky grew lighter to the East as we continued on. One last brief dive for a sound check to confirm we were parallel with and a finally once again a little ahead of the convoy. Surface, Ahead Flank, All Flak stations manned and ready. Unfortunately my watch officer had been at his station through the entire night and did not notice the lone PBY approaching from the stern until it was too late. The gunners must have been daydreaming of eating schnitzel and frolicking with the whores back in Bordeaux as not a shot was fired. I ordered crash dive hard to Starboard and..... The last thing I remember was a favorite whore also with very large schnitzels.

Airplanes will ruin your day every time.