[Ping Panther]

5 January, 1943
/// Latest patrol report from Gunter Kohnen and crew of the U-128 ///

Sunk: USS Albacore – Gato Class
Location: Grid BF-21 upon entering the Irish Sea from the south

Watch crew sighted a faint ship wake; distant, and to the south east of the u-boat. Initial path of patrol waypoint to the north is diverted since sighting it considered to be within range to investigate at surface; flank speed ordered of the diesels, battery charge process is disengaged in order to make good time to the suspect ship.

Upon further advance to the sighting, watch crew declares “Sub spotted, sir!”… hmmm… this must be a fellow u-boat? I must proceed with curious interest of arriving at some common company, the sub now appears by further tracking to be at no particular alert, my sub approaches from his stern, we at flank, it at a modest 8 knots, zig-zagged, surfaced. It’s a dark, clouded night, calm sea, the UZO reveals the minuscule bow wake of this sub cresting along from side to side in my view. It’s a wonder to see another subs sleek profile as I wonder how close I may run on with my own bow presenting a certain V of spray to the stern watchman that stand on guard ahead of me.

All at once, with hardly a previous concern of my own, and having been thoroughly distracted, my expert watch crew screams, “We’re under attack… aircraft sighted!!!” All crew is sent plunging down to orders of crash dive… with a full thrust of flank speed all ready assisting our plummet. I order a turn to starboard, proceed to level at 60 meters. I hope to keep after my own potential prey this night. Machine gun rounds ping all around, as if knocking on our hatches to let them come in. He then lets go. Whamp! Some sort of discarded cylindrical ordinance grazes our stern. My own glance into the night was of a hefty nocturnal hunting bird… a British Halifax bomber! He caught me by my less-attended to right flank, perhaps on his return to a southern U.K. airbase.

We make it under and check for damages, just some “scratches” our back side. A mere flesh-wound… My repair specialist officer and crew patch us up and all is better soon.

What can be done of that pesky Brit. Bomber? Will he send me under all night? Will he call for back up? He must have dropped his last… I skid along submerged to align my course to that sub. I have lost much of my progress, and intend to see this out. I hope for a sound ahead, I dare to surface… faint, hardly a chance. Did he go under, or off and away?

I set up to surface at once; all crew is now standing primed at the hatches. I order blow ballast, straight on. This time, I set my deck gun with my petty officer, expert watch at duty, I must find him. After some time, again, my watch shouts, “Submarine spotted, sir!”, this time I will go along, tubes and guns ready. Now I have a profile… GATO class… ! Now I hope for some of my very brief SH4 recall and often read U.S. Fleet boat novels. Many fleet-class subs had stern-mount naval guns… few others bolted them as bow-mounts, as my own u-boat. The last thing I want to do now; other than losing this foe, is to stir his props up to his flank speed… I must get him first, and fast. I set my electric eels at TDC set to very shallow. I can’t even find the Gato in my GWX3 I.D. book, so I cannot afford to waste these going deep. He’s still zig-zagging. I’m closing in, not too close, but this will be a bugger of a tracking calculation… ? … Surfaced sub, as I am, you gain respect for the lean profile of a sub at sea… he’s zigging again, I am running in from his rear… no patience to run any other approach. Not wanting to risk a very lofty deck gunning from here…. I set for 2 eels… I have to try. Closing in… I let them go at my best guess. Order called to go submerged. Just in case I have to sneak another approach, I want to be covered. They sure run slow from here. Both miss. I stay under now and study the sub ahead through my scope. I log in some time marks of his path. Set for another modest 2 shot attack. I decide to order surface battle stations. I let these go on a straight bow setting into the most suspected middle path of his zigs. I spread the word that if I miss on these, I will initiate my guns for all we can.



I run to the TDC, zoom way in, and cheat a look at those little cigar-like torpedo dashes as they blip along to the south. He is pulling out of another zig from his port. My eels come chasing down now, I shout for my watch crew to call out constant sighting reports now. That sub is just now gaining speed, reaching 12+ knots… hmm… then as the cigars blip their track off to the sub’s right flank…
I figure to prepare for the worse.

Then… that Gato swings about hard to starboard!!!... They must have tried to come about to engage their bow-mount gun to my approach.
(I just had to look up the Gato in my dusty SH4 DVD case!, this one had a forward gun.)
What luck! I scramble to my scopes… a broadsides hit!
1 of my 2 eels made its mark.




GWX3 ...