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Earwax · 09-04-10, 11:45 AM

Nice! I got a carrier near the end of my second patrol as a "new captain".

In early '42 I encountered a sizeable task force off the west coast of Luzon. Through my periscope I could easily recognize several flattops in the moonlight far on the horizon. I planned my approach, but I got the time to contact wrong, so when I raised my scope, the carrier was at MOST 1000 yrds away! I frantically guesstimated all the info into the TDC and fired a salvo spread of my last four bow topedoes.

The moment the last torpedo left it's tube, my ship began rocking from enemy fire. I dove and hit full rudder. The ship had taken minor damage, but more importantly my soundman reported three torpedo impacts. For a split second I considered the possibility of setting up a stern shot, but I knew that would be suicide.

A rough depth chargeing quickly confirmed that. I took considerable hull damage, but most importantly both periscopes were totally destroyed. It took a little over four hours to slowly sneak away. I surfaced shortly after sunrise and finished repairs, but still faced the task of returning from the South China Sea without scopes. I spent the first half of the day avoiding scores of air patrols, but the rest of the way to Java was unevenful, save a large oil tanker my deck gunners were happy to take out.

I had a lucky patrol, and with the addition of the Taiyo class carrier, I sunk over 47,000 tons and returned to Pearl two months to the day I left.

09-04-10, 11:45 AM	#5
Earwax Bilge Rat Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 1 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Nice! I got a carrier near the end of my second patrol as a "new captain". In early '42 I encountered a sizeable task force off the west coast of Luzon. Through my periscope I could easily recognize several flattops in the moonlight far on the horizon. I planned my approach, but I got the time to contact wrong, so when I raised my scope, the carrier was at MOST 1000 yrds away! I frantically guesstimated all the info into the TDC and fired a salvo spread of my last four bow topedoes. The moment the last torpedo left it's tube, my ship began rocking from enemy fire. I dove and hit full rudder. The ship had taken minor damage, but more importantly my soundman reported three torpedo impacts. For a split second I considered the possibility of setting up a stern shot, but I knew that would be suicide. A rough depth chargeing quickly confirmed that. I took considerable hull damage, but most importantly both periscopes were totally destroyed. It took a little over four hours to slowly sneak away. I surfaced shortly after sunrise and finished repairs, but still faced the task of returning from the South China Sea without scopes. I spent the first half of the day avoiding scores of air patrols, but the rest of the way to Java was unevenful, save a large oil tanker my deck gunners were happy to take out. I had a lucky patrol, and with the addition of the Taiyo class carrier, I sunk over 47,000 tons and returned to Pearl two months to the day I left. Last edited by Earwax; 09-04-10 at 12:14 PM.