This is a test using the single mission, Courageous, with a 1942 TypeVIIC. I altered the mission so that the wind speed is 2.0, and the weather is partially cloudy but still sunny.
I am on the surface cruising flank speed right into a task force composed of 4 DD's and 1 CVE. Of course, I crash dive as soon as I get their attention, and a lone DD decides to hunt me down.
This is what I look like after he makes one pass. I lose one crewman and another is injured. The stern torpedo tube also develops a minor leak:
I fill up the stern compartment with men, and the water should be pumped out within 8 seconds. From that, I take it that the damage is very very minor, although I have already lost one man:
Here, the DD is coming by for his second pass. At this point, the u-boat is still in relatively good condition.
Things are getting hairy now.
As a result of the
2nd pass,
3 rearward compartments are flooding,
4 addtional crewmen are dead,
making it
5 total casualties so far,
and a partridge in a pear tree... YES! The Kaleun is going ka-RAZY!!!
All of the flooded compartments are filled and I test out one man in the crisis team. Note the repair and destruction times. The flood to the Captain's Motivation room looks to be the only serious flood. The other two compartments should be dry in less than a minute.
Here is the direct result of water flooding right into the ASS of my boat...
NOTE: we are at 52m.
Mere seconds later... Oh boy... Here he comes again... NOTE: we are at 59m.
And I quote directly from the mouth of my hydrophone operator, "Oh SH*T!!!" NOTE: we are at 67m.
I am saved Because of my sinking boat; the depth charges go off too shallow.
This isn't shown in the screenshot, but we drift all the way down to 80m before I choose to hit flank speed instead of being crushed by the pressure. With our nose still pointing upwards, surprisingly it works and we slowly start to rise. We now seem to have control over the flood.
NOTE: my mouse pointer is aimed at 'Off Duty Quarters,' but in the text box, it still reads Bow Quarters.
NOTE: my mouse pointer is aimed at Captains Motivation,' but in the text box, it still reads Stern Quarters.
I have now levelled the u-boat off at 45m.
From the outside, things are beginning to look better...
But on the inside, my crew seems to have taken a "minor" hit... Yes, MINOR
And that DD is still coming back for more. I am still being pinged.
The first screenshot is taken at 16:12
The last screenshot is taken at 17:02
At that point, I had to conclude the testing session... Life beckoned
For my testing purposes, I made the mistake of not "turning on" the hull integrity meter. Oh well...
And given that 50 minutes passed during this attack, the DD did in fact go on more than 2 attack runs. It just so happens that I only documented the most devestating of his attacks.
Overall, it looks as though the combat state is up to par. My only complaint is that one of my crewmen died early on when I was barely even damaged. I mean, this is not impossible, but I hope that it doesn't happen too often.
I guess a bolt flew off the wall and hit him in the head or something...
I have to say that this is the most fun I've ever had while getting the SH*T knocked out of me.
And a note to anyone who thinks that this mod is too harsh, you have to realize that I basically had to coax that DD to depth charge me. The mission took place in Sept 1939, and from what I gather, the captain of that DD was a real dummy. I could have ran from him if I had even bothered to try... He's just lucky that I was beta testing...
Next, I think I'll have to test it in a later year (maybe 44' or 45') against more competent DD's.
And some more meticulous testing is to be done for normal sea-faring travel.