Quickest patrol ever
 

I'm still bangin my head over this. I'll be the laughing stock of the whole Kriegsmarine when they hear about this. I'm running GW 1.1 and was leaving Kiel. I was headed to AM41. I had just put a new MAN supercharger on. I ordered ahead flank to get out of the harbor quicker. I went back to the nav map and upped the TC a little. Next thing I hear is bumping and grinding sounds. I go to the bridge and see my harbor escort in front of me! That stupid watch officer didn't even alert me to the ship's presence! After I order back emergency, and clear the escort, only then does my watch officer say "Ship spotted." No fake Shirlock! Mr. McGoo could have seen that ship! That little incident took my hull integrity down to 80%. There was no way I was going to go all the way to AM41 with only 80% hull integrity. Needless to say I slowly made my way back to the quay I had just left a couple minutes before. :damn: :damn:

I was bombed and kia'd leaving La Rochelle 20 minutes after I pulled out of the pens March 1944.

Anyone ever hid from a bombing in the sub pens?

On my first ever campaign patrol with a type XXI I was about 4 hours out of port doing some battery and speed tests we were bombed and hit, so turned around and put back into port.

We were submerged at the time with the snorkel up. Entire patrol was about 7 hours sim time.

The only bombing I've seen was from a great distance as I was returning to Wilhelmshaven. I'd just exited the Jade and was turning toward the harbor when I saw fireballs in the distance. When I got there I found several sunken and wrecked ships.

Re: Quickest patrol ever
 

I had a funny incident with a harbour escort the other day, though it was returning from a patrol rather than setting out. It was pouring rain and visibility was terrible, so I won't be too hard on my watch for not seeing the destroyer until it was almost too late.

Anyway, there was the escort, coming towards me from off my starboard bow, crossing to port. I ordered full astern to avoid a collision, then when I'd killed my forward momentum, ordered slow ahead and starboard rudder to pass behind the destroyer. But the destroyer captain apparently had a similar idea, because I now saw the ship moving backwards, crossing right back into my path! Full astern again, then slow ahead and port rudder to go in front of the reversing destroyer, only to notice that he (apparently thinking I wanted to pass behind him) had ordered engines ahead again! I judged that with our various course and speed changes I could now pass in front of him if I poured on the speed, and managed to do so, but the whole thing reminded me of that little dance people do when they're trying to get past each other in a doorway: 'After you' ... 'After you' ... *bump* ... 'Oh, I'm sorry, you go ahead' ... 'No, you first' ... *bump* ... etc. ...

Sure, I was playing a WaW mission from St. Nazaire or Lorient. I was participating the operation to intercept allied landing ships in the English Channel during operation Overlord.

My first objective was to sail to the Brest Harbour to wait for a green light. Just when I got there (It was June 5th by then), enemy bombers attacked the base. First I submerged to the middle of the bay. Then surfaced and made my way to the pens. And so I survived.... for awhile. :damn:

November 17th, 1942.

Bombed and DC'ed by Sunderlands 30 KM off of Brest.

Sinking.


(I survived, btw. Only after intense pucker-factor and repairing like mad)