[The Avon Lady]

It's over.

And the U-624 is alive and well and on the surface.

Here's my KTB and communications to BdU, just posted at WaW:

05MAR43 0150 BE61

HYDROPHONE CHECK. MULTIPLE SOUND CONTACTS DEAD AHEAD. HIGH SPEED SCREWS DETECTED AT 25°. SURFACING, FLANK SPEED, STD PROPULSION. ALTERING COURSE 30° TO PORT.



05MAR43 0158 BE61

ON SURFACE. HUNT III DESTROYER AT 320°, RANGE 6700M AND CLOSING, SPEED 12KTS, LEADING CONVOY'S PORT FLANK.



05MAR43 0201 BE61

CORVETTE AT 358°, RANGE 8100M AND CLOSING, SPEED 11KTS, RUNNING MID-AFT CONVOY'S PORT FLANK. WE'LL HAVE TO SQUEEZE BETWEEN THE DESTROYER AND THE CORVETTE. DARK IS TO OUR ADVANTAGE BUT IT'S A VERY CLEAR EVENING. COMBAT STATIONS.



05MAR43 0211 BE61

DESTROYER FIRING DECKGUN AT US, TURNING TOWARDS US. CRASH DIVE! DEPLOYED DECOY AT 60M. RIGGED FOR SILENT RUNNING. PINGING. TAKING EVASIVE ACTIONS.



05MAR43 0216 BE61

DEPTH 158M. HIT BY DEPTH CHARGES. FLOODING IN BOW QUARTERS. RADIO DAMAGED. HEAVY DAMAGE UP ABOVE TO EXTERNAL COMPONENTS. SCOPES AND ANTENNAS DAMAGED. TRYING TO EVADE NW UNDERNEATH CONVOY.



05MAR43 0228 BE61

DEPTH 155M. CHARGES STILL BEING DROPPED BUT NO NEW DAMAGE. RADIO REPAIRED. FLOODING IN BOW QUARTERS REPAIRED. NO INJURIES TO CREW. ANOTHER DECOY DEPLOYED. ALTERING COURSE FROM 20° TO 325°. HOPEFULLY, THEY'LL TAKE THE BAIT.



05MAR43 0230 BE61

CHARGES TO OUR AFT. DECOYS SEEM TO BE TAKING A POUNDING.



05MAR43 0256 BE61

DEPTH 160M. HIT AGAIN. FLOODING IN BOW QUARTERS. RADIO AND SCOPES DAMAGED. RADAR DESTROYED. REPAIRS COMPLETED IN SEVERAL MINUTES. NO INJURIES.



05MAR43 0337 BE61

DEPTH 160M DEPTH CHARGES HIT AGAIN. POUNDING HAS NOT CEASED. MINOR FLOODING IN COMMAND AND RADIO ROOMS AND BOW QUARTERS. ALL REPAIRED AND UNDER CONTROL. NO INJURIES. GETTING TENSE.



05MAR43 0404 BE61

DEPTH 160M. DEPTH CHARGE HIT. DAMGE TO DIESEL AND ELECTRIC ENGINES. COMPRESSOR, STERN QUARTES AND TORPEDO ROOM. NO INJURIES. PINGING. PINGING.



05MAR43 0505 BE61

DEPTH 170M. HIT AGAIN. MORE OF THE SAME. DAMAGE TO COMMAND, RADIO ROOMS, DIESELS DAMAGED, MINOR FLOODING IN SEVERAL COMPARTMENTS. ALL REPAIRED QUICKLY.



05MAR43 0532 BE61

STILL PINNED DOWN. CAN'T SHAKE THEM. THERE ARE 2. ONE'S DEFINITELY A CORVETTE. THE OTHER SOUNDS LIKE A DESTROYER. LAST 2 DEPTH CHARGES WERE VERY CLOSE BUT NO DAMAGE. I FEAR FOR MY UBOAT AND CREW.



05MAR43 0605 BE61

USELESS DECOYS! THEY ARE HEAVILY PINGING US, FOLLOWING OUR EVERY MOVE. BUT NO CHARGES LATELY.



05MAR43 0630 BE61

IT SEEMS THEY ARE OUT OF DEPTH CHARGES. DON'T HEAR ANY OTHER ESCORT HEADING OUR WAY. THE 2 ABOVE ARE STILL KEEPING US PINNED DOWN. REDUCING SPEED TO 1KT TO RUN QUIETER AND CONSERVE BATTERIES.



05MAR43 0730 BE61

DEPTH 170M. CAN'T SHAKE THEM BUT NO MORE CHARGES. INCREASING DEPTH TO 180M. MAYBE THEY'LL LOSE US.



05MAR43 0748 BE61

DEPTH 200M. SHE'S HOLDING UP. MANOUVERING 90° PORT, HEADING EAST.



05MAR43 0756 BE61

DEPTH 210M. NOW HEADING NW. BEING PINGED BUT LESS AND FURTHER AWAY. WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO SLIP AWAY.



05MAR43 1000 BE61

OUR FRIENDS ABOVE ARE STILL WITH US. INCREASING DEPTH TO 225M.



05MAR43 1024 BE61

DEPTH 244M. I'VE NEVER BEEN THIS DEEP. BOAT IS STAYING IN ONE PIECE DESPITE DEPTH CHARGE HITS WE'VE ABSORBED. WE ARE BEING PINGED LESS AND LESS. SOUND CONTACTS INDICATE RANGE BETWEEN US AND ENEMY IS WIDENING.



05MAR43 1057 BE61

BOTH ENEMY SHIPS ARE NOW DISTANT. SECURE FROM SILENT RUNNING. PERISCOPE DEPTH, AHEAD FLANK WHEN 150M REACHED.



05MAR43 1220 BE61

BDU,

WE HAVE JUST SURFACED AFTER BEING FORCED UNDER OVER 10 HOURS AGO. WE WERE SPOTTED BY A HUNT III DESTROYER LEADING THE CONVOY'S PORT FLANK. A CORVETTE ACCOMPANIED HER THROUGHOUT THE ATTACK ON US. THEY RAN OUT OF DEPTH CHARGES TO DROP ON US SOME 5 HOURS AGO BUT THEY STAYED RIGHT ON TOP OF US, OBVIOUSLY FOR US TO SURFACE FOR OXYGEN.

OUR RADAR ANTENNA IS KAPUT. WE SUSTAINED HEAVY DAMAGE TO SCOPES AND ALL OTHER ANTENNAS, THE FORWARD DECK PLATES AND MINOR DAMAGE TO OUR FLAK GUNS AND THE TOWER. INTERNAL DAMAGES INCLUDED MINOR FLOODING AND DAMAGED GUAGES IN MULTIPLE COMPARTMENTS BUT ALL OF THOSE ARE FULLY REPAIRED.

NO INJURIES TO CREW OTHER THAN MINOR SCRAPES AND BRUISES.

WE SUCCEEDED IN EVADING THE ESCORTS BY DIVING TO 244M, CONSTANTLY TRAVELING AT 1KT. YES, WITH ALL DAMAGES INCURRED, OUR UBOAT COULD HANDLE THE DEPTH.

THIS WAS MUCH WORSE THAN OUR EXPERIENCE IN PRIOR PATROLS. THOSE SHIPS UP THERE KNEW HOW TO HUNT AND NOT LET UP.

OK. THAT WAS HISTORY. NOW I MUST ASK FOR ADVICE ON FURTHER ORDERS. WE HAVE 3 CHOICES:

1. PURSUE THE CONVOY AGAIN. RECHARGE BATTERIES AND WAIT UNTIL NIGHT BEFORE ATTACKING.

2. RESUME COURSE TO OUR DESIGNATED PATROL AREA.

3. RETURN TO BREST, DUE TO UNKOWN DAMAGE TO HULL.

I WOULD PREFER TO PURSUE THE CONVOY AGAIN. AS FOR HULL DAMAGE, WE WERE ABLE TO STAY IN ONE PIECE AT 244M. PLUS, WE KNOW THAT 2 OF THE CONVOY'S ESCORTS ARE OUT OF CHARGES.

AWAITING ORDERS.

OBLT. Z. S AVON VON VONNEGUT II, U-624

A big thank you to all of your suggestions.

In the end, it would appear that depth was the most important factor.

2 of today's hours of gameplay were on auto-pilot. I left SH3 on while I was out shopping.