vs
I opted to wait for the cover of night and then sneak in close and launch torpedoes in the hope that the Hood would slow down and be a single target. I went in about 1:00 AM, when the night was as dark as it was going to get (which wasn't much!).
I lined up for two separate shots by getting directly in front of her and pointing my nose directly at her bow. This way I could fire a straight shot with minimal chances of being seen. I was also figuring on most of her guns being unable to point forward with some being disabled from the torpedo explosions under her bow. Who knows? I might even get lucky and hit the ammo depot. I snuck in to within 4000 meters and fired both magnetic eels running fast.
Unfortunately, she spotted me just after my fish got half way there. Her subsequent zag made my torpedoes miss and therefore the battle was already over. I, however, was apparently oblivious to that fact. Instead I ordered all guns open fire and manned the machine guns myself to do as much damage as I could while running away at flank (36 knots).
I've never seen such a thrilling and terrifying sight as three Didos, one Revenge, and the mighty Hood let loose all their might against my tiny destroyer. Wow!! What a show! Only a video would do it justice, and I'm afraid no such software is installed on this system.
My escape strategy seemed to work as I did make it away without a scratch. Seeing as how they had such bad aim when shooting at a target over 4000 meters away, I decided to just duke it out with her in a naval artillery match why not?
The battle lasted all night with me -- well I'd like to say pounding, but it was more like quietly mentioning my presence -- the Hood and the other four ships lighting up the sky. It is truly amazing that these ships can fire such a volume of ammunition and turn the sea around me into a white cloud of vapor while still not scoring a single hit!
Feeling like testing my boundaries in this no save game mission I went ahead and charged in to 3500 meters to see what kind of damage I could do at close range. Or more importantly, what kind of damage they
couldn't do.
Well, surprisingly enough, the fire control of a battle ship can hit things a lot better when they are sitting right in front of the guns than when they are running around at 36 knots on the horizon. Ouch!
After unloading about 4000+ rounds of ammunition and nearly 5 hours of time, I decided all the damage I could do was done. Not to mention the bit that I suffered.
I paused just out of their visual range to snap a few screening of the resulting carnage. The result of the battle? My hull is down to 35% and... well, I think the Hood might need to touch up her paint job next year.
You should see the other guy...
I somehow managed to damage her forward guns so that they were unable to raise above the position shown here. They just made giant holes in the water in front of her bow.
I also removed quite a bit of the equipment and guns from her superstructure. She needed a little house cleaning anyway. There is much more room to stroll around the deck after my remodel.
The vast majority of my shots landed below the water line towards the bow. I have quite a crack crew of highly decorated and well trained gun operators. I don't think she even noticed the machine gun fire.
Well, I'm off to Lorient for yet another resupply and refuel before trying once again to head back to Wilhelmshaven. It sure would be nice if bdu would tell me to just return to Lorient from now on, but alas the Brits don't seem to want to tell me where they hid my radio. Darned unpleasant of them.