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Willy Wink · 01-24-09, 01:15 PM

My last patrol on U-108 (Type IXB) ended off the coast of North Carolina in the spring of 1943, when after getting tired of yelling "ALARM!" every time we spotted a plane I decided to duke it out on the surface. We were well equipped with our heavy flak and two light flaks and managed to shoot down 4 planes, including two Sunderlands, but we were still no match. The planes kept coming and we kept taking damage. We dove when my entire damage control team was killed on the surface trying to fix the flak gun.

On that offense, I tried keeping the planes within my firing arc by going flank speed with the rudder in a 10 degree position (port or starboard) and when the planes came in for their bombing run I'd hit it hard to the opposite direction, sometimes even cutting off my speed altogether. This resulted in the planes overshooting me, but still they came close. It was also the first time I saw some sort of multiple bomb effect that was like bombs landing in a semicircle in close proximity to each other... that scared the hell out of me. Maybe some of the more experienced players can explain what the hell that was.

Ironically it wasn't the planes that did me in. When we dove we stayed put til nightfall which was a bad mistake, since a destroyer came to investigate. I decided to engage the destroyer which was another bad mistake, since a failed "down the throat" shot attempt ended up with me ramming the destroyer and losing my conning tower with periscopes, radio, hydrophones, and everything else. The destroyer was finished though. With 29% hull integrity left and no eyes or ears on the boat, I decided to head for the coast and scuttle her (ie - abandon career), ending an illustrious career, but technicaly still alive. It was a very difficult decision.

Moral of the story: engaging aircraft is suicidal. At best you have minor victories but there's more of them than you think, and they always report your position to nearby ships.

That said, I love the IXB and can't wait to go back to it (currently I'm on a boring patrol in the med with a VIIC, which isn't bad but I run out of torps when I need them most). On that particular career I sank more than 300,000 tons at 92% realism and only hitting an average of about 2 out of 5 torps.

01-24-09, 01:15 PM	#12
Willy Wink Nub Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Amsterdam Posts: 4 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	My last patrol on U-108 (Type IXB) ended off the coast of North Carolina in the spring of 1943, when after getting tired of yelling "ALARM!" every time we spotted a plane I decided to duke it out on the surface. We were well equipped with our heavy flak and two light flaks and managed to shoot down 4 planes, including two Sunderlands, but we were still no match. The planes kept coming and we kept taking damage. We dove when my entire damage control team was killed on the surface trying to fix the flak gun. On that offense, I tried keeping the planes within my firing arc by going flank speed with the rudder in a 10 degree position (port or starboard) and when the planes came in for their bombing run I'd hit it hard to the opposite direction, sometimes even cutting off my speed altogether. This resulted in the planes overshooting me, but still they came close. It was also the first time I saw some sort of multiple bomb effect that was like bombs landing in a semicircle in close proximity to each other... that scared the hell out of me. Maybe some of the more experienced players can explain what the hell that was. Ironically it wasn't the planes that did me in. When we dove we stayed put til nightfall which was a bad mistake, since a destroyer came to investigate. I decided to engage the destroyer which was another bad mistake, since a failed "down the throat" shot attempt ended up with me ramming the destroyer and losing my conning tower with periscopes, radio, hydrophones, and everything else. The destroyer was finished though. With 29% hull integrity left and no eyes or ears on the boat, I decided to head for the coast and scuttle her (ie - abandon career), ending an illustrious career, but technicaly still alive. It was a very difficult decision. Moral of the story: engaging aircraft is suicidal. At best you have minor victories but there's more of them than you think, and they always report your position to nearby ships. That said, I love the IXB and can't wait to go back to it (currently I'm on a boring patrol in the med with a VIIC, which isn't bad but I run out of torps when I need them most). On that particular career I sank more than 300,000 tons at 92% realism and only hitting an average of about 2 out of 5 torps.