SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post

captainprid · 04-14-10, 12:23 PM

Patrol Number: 32
Departed from Bergen November 27th 1942. 17:40

Ok so i'm going to try and make New York to have a look around. My plan is to reach Brest to refuel then on to New York. I have decided not to engage anything on the way unless it is above 20k tonnes; in the hope that there will be a couple of liners sat in New York harbour ala GWX. So here's how it went:

I left Bergen in the arly evening, there was no moon and the sea state was very calm with wind speed at around 1knts. I had just taken delivery of 3 TIV G7es acoustic torpedos and the crew were in high spirits after sinking 3 destroyers and a couple of tankers on the previous patrol.
As soon as I was in the North sea I increased speed to full because I had planned to make a brief layover if Brest to refuel and wasn't so interested in consumption.
Entered the channel on the 29th an immediately spotted a group of 4 destroyers patrolling just off Calais, time was 06.30 with excellent visibility and a calm sea state, I immediately dived in 53m of water and came up to 20m and ordered silent running. The destroyers were in column formation instead of a search pattern so I wasn't too concerned about detection. Column passed in front of my boat at around 1000 metres ( would have made a great target), turned around and past to the stern heading back to Dover.
Destroyer presence was very heavy, soundman reports a total of 11 destroyers at around 9.40, continued on at slow speed, depth 22m.
19.22 completely dark, sea state very calm, thousands of stars good time for a star shot. Had a look through the scope and could see very little of anything, decided to raise the boat and proceed on the surface to recharge batteries. Despite my desire to quickly progress through the channel I decided on proceeding at 1/3 speed to minimise sound and with my decks awash.
00.20 30th November 1942, convoy of 15 vessels unescorted picked up by my soundman. Course:SSW speed: 8knots approx. 52k SWW of Calais. Decided to ignore the convoy and proceed as per my mission....Tempting target.
Continued on the surface throughout daylight hours of the 30th, increased to full.
Sailed in to Brest harbour at 08.44 December 1st 1942, hoping to refuel quickly and the dock guys duly obliged. Headed back into Biscay mid-morning on the 1st. 8233KM to my target, proceeded at standard speed on the surface.
Large convoy reported ahead 408km away and travelling at 10 knots. adjusted heading so we would pass to the North and resumed at 14 knots. No sightings, weather fine, sea state calm. Ordered good meal for the lads and will plan out several drills over the next few days to keep the men on their toes and away from the clutches of boredom.
December 4th 1942. We are currently around 1100KM NE of the Azores. 3 Crash drills today. time from surface to 20m Drill 1. 16 seconds, Drill 2. 18 seconds, Drill 3. 22 seconds. Continued on surface at standard speed.
December 6th 1942, spotted friendy U-Boat cruising at around 8km NNW. weather and visibility still excellent for the time of year. Making good progress, current position: 3600Km East of Sydney, 5400KM to target. Proceeding on the surface, allied aircover unlikely.
December 9th 1942, 07:46. No other vessels sighted, reports of high axis U-boat presence in the area. The Atlantic is like a mill pond at the moment, visibility excellent, current position is 3000KM east of Boston, 3400KM to target.
December 10th 1942, 17:28, position: 560KM SSW of Sydney. Spotted enemy aircraft ordered to crash dive. Got to 20m in 14 seconds, very happy with that. Maintain 70m depth until nightfall. Sunset at 20:04, came to periscope depth for a look around. Surfaced and proceeded at standard speed (If you use freecam watch the sunset at 32x TC, it is very very special).
December 11th 1942, 12:12. Aircraft spotted. Dived to safe depth and remained there for the rest of daylight hours. Can't risk an aircraft spotting me, therefore I will travel at night and dive during the day.

December 13th 1942. Sunrise 10.50, dived to avoid aircraft. Position 360KM south of Halifax, Nova Scotia. 1500KM to target.
December 15th 1942. Crossed the continental shelf at 02:25. Depth went from 1000's of metres to just 140M still deep enough for me to crash should I have to.
December 16th 1942, 11:58. I intend to continue on the surface as long as I dare. I am currently 293KM to target and I have to conserve my batteries. Sea floor fluctuates wildly but I still have around 140m to crash if I need to. 12:10, aircraft spotted, despite my intentions I have been forced to dive, I will travel at slow speed until 18:00, then switch off power and wait until sunset, then proceed on the surface. Sunset at 20:45, proceeded on the surface. Note. 44% of fuel gone at this stage,distance to target 273KM, approx ETA 13 hours
22:48, Aircraft spotted, too late to dive, manned the flak guns and called asction stations. Plane circled 3 times, have to assume my position and course has been revealed
December 17th 1942, 08:40. Entered the mouth of the Hudson on the surface and making around 10knts. Still very dark and calm. No radar contacts other than the odd aircraft out of visual range. The next time I submerge will be the last time until I am either on my way home or on the way to the bottom. No idea what to expect, just hope for some decent prizes. Depth under keel is around 17M so I am considering going to periscope depth as soon as possible, I am mindful of the lack of water in an emergency but also my limited batteries.
As I watch through my UZO, New York is beginning to wake up. The skyline is spectacular whilst it is still dark, half the city is still asleep whereas the other half have their lights on, making breakfast or maybe returning home after working all night. I wish we could have visited this place in happier times, nevertheless, they are all about to see what a determined crew and skipper can do with 14 eel's........................................Nothi ng. Because there is nothing to fire at, not even a single destroyer or fishing boat......nothing. (I reload the game twice and once completely from windows..nothing doing)

There is nothing left to do but head home. I decide to have a look at Boston on the way, I figure my fuel should hold out. December 17th, 1942, 11:05, I surface my boat and steam away at 10knts. Doesn't seem much point in staying under, there is nothing to shoot at me.

So well, I head over to Boston and there is nothing there either........

I'm pissed.....I have spent the better part of the afternoon sailing half way across the World to find diddly squat.

Want my advice? Stay at home!!!!

04-14-10, 12:23 PM	#10
captainprid Watch Officer Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Blackpool, England Posts: 347 Downloads: 23 Uploads: 0	Patrol Number: 32 Departed from Bergen November 27th 1942. 17:40 Ok so i'm going to try and make New York to have a look around. My plan is to reach Brest to refuel then on to New York. I have decided not to engage anything on the way unless it is above 20k tonnes; in the hope that there will be a couple of liners sat in New York harbour ala GWX. So here's how it went: I left Bergen in the arly evening, there was no moon and the sea state was very calm with wind speed at around 1knts. I had just taken delivery of 3 TIV G7es acoustic torpedos and the crew were in high spirits after sinking 3 destroyers and a couple of tankers on the previous patrol. As soon as I was in the North sea I increased speed to full because I had planned to make a brief layover if Brest to refuel and wasn't so interested in consumption. Entered the channel on the 29th an immediately spotted a group of 4 destroyers patrolling just off Calais, time was 06.30 with excellent visibility and a calm sea state, I immediately dived in 53m of water and came up to 20m and ordered silent running. The destroyers were in column formation instead of a search pattern so I wasn't too concerned about detection. Column passed in front of my boat at around 1000 metres ( would have made a great target), turned around and past to the stern heading back to Dover. Destroyer presence was very heavy, soundman reports a total of 11 destroyers at around 9.40, continued on at slow speed, depth 22m. 19.22 completely dark, sea state very calm, thousands of stars good time for a star shot. Had a look through the scope and could see very little of anything, decided to raise the boat and proceed on the surface to recharge batteries. Despite my desire to quickly progress through the channel I decided on proceeding at 1/3 speed to minimise sound and with my decks awash. 00.20 30th November 1942, convoy of 15 vessels unescorted picked up by my soundman. Course:SSW speed: 8knots approx. 52k SWW of Calais. Decided to ignore the convoy and proceed as per my mission....Tempting target. Continued on the surface throughout daylight hours of the 30th, increased to full. Sailed in to Brest harbour at 08.44 December 1st 1942, hoping to refuel quickly and the dock guys duly obliged. Headed back into Biscay mid-morning on the 1st. 8233KM to my target, proceeded at standard speed on the surface. Large convoy reported ahead 408km away and travelling at 10 knots. adjusted heading so we would pass to the North and resumed at 14 knots. No sightings, weather fine, sea state calm. Ordered good meal for the lads and will plan out several drills over the next few days to keep the men on their toes and away from the clutches of boredom. December 4th 1942. We are currently around 1100KM NE of the Azores. 3 Crash drills today. time from surface to 20m Drill 1. 16 seconds, Drill 2. 18 seconds, Drill 3. 22 seconds. Continued on surface at standard speed. December 6th 1942, spotted friendy U-Boat cruising at around 8km NNW. weather and visibility still excellent for the time of year. Making good progress, current position: 3600Km East of Sydney, 5400KM to target. Proceeding on the surface, allied aircover unlikely. December 9th 1942, 07:46. No other vessels sighted, reports of high axis U-boat presence in the area. The Atlantic is like a mill pond at the moment, visibility excellent, current position is 3000KM east of Boston, 3400KM to target. December 10th 1942, 17:28, position: 560KM SSW of Sydney. Spotted enemy aircraft ordered to crash dive. Got to 20m in 14 seconds, very happy with that. Maintain 70m depth until nightfall. Sunset at 20:04, came to periscope depth for a look around. Surfaced and proceeded at standard speed (If you use freecam watch the sunset at 32x TC, it is very very special). December 11th 1942, 12:12. Aircraft spotted. Dived to safe depth and remained there for the rest of daylight hours. Can't risk an aircraft spotting me, therefore I will travel at night and dive during the day. December 13th 1942. Sunrise 10.50, dived to avoid aircraft. Position 360KM south of Halifax, Nova Scotia. 1500KM to target. December 15th 1942. Crossed the continental shelf at 02:25. Depth went from 1000's of metres to just 140M still deep enough for me to crash should I have to. December 16th 1942, 11:58. I intend to continue on the surface as long as I dare. I am currently 293KM to target and I have to conserve my batteries. Sea floor fluctuates wildly but I still have around 140m to crash if I need to. 12:10, aircraft spotted, despite my intentions I have been forced to dive, I will travel at slow speed until 18:00, then switch off power and wait until sunset, then proceed on the surface. Sunset at 20:45, proceeded on the surface. Note. 44% of fuel gone at this stage,distance to target 273KM, approx ETA 13 hours 22:48, Aircraft spotted, too late to dive, manned the flak guns and called asction stations. Plane circled 3 times, have to assume my position and course has been revealed December 17th 1942, 08:40. Entered the mouth of the Hudson on the surface and making around 10knts. Still very dark and calm. No radar contacts other than the odd aircraft out of visual range. The next time I submerge will be the last time until I am either on my way home or on the way to the bottom. No idea what to expect, just hope for some decent prizes. Depth under keel is around 17M so I am considering going to periscope depth as soon as possible, I am mindful of the lack of water in an emergency but also my limited batteries. As I watch through my UZO, New York is beginning to wake up. The skyline is spectacular whilst it is still dark, half the city is still asleep whereas the other half have their lights on, making breakfast or maybe returning home after working all night. I wish we could have visited this place in happier times, nevertheless, they are all about to see what a determined crew and skipper can do with 14 eel's........................................Nothi ng. Because there is nothing to fire at, not even a single destroyer or fishing boat......nothing. (I reload the game twice and once completely from windows..nothing doing) There is nothing left to do but head home. I decide to have a look at Boston on the way, I figure my fuel should hold out. December 17th, 1942, 11:05, I surface my boat and steam away at 10knts. Doesn't seem much point in staying under, there is nothing to shoot at me. So well, I head over to Boston and there is nothing there either........ I'm pissed.....I have spent the better part of the afternoon sailing half way across the World to find diddly squat. Want my advice? Stay at home!!!!