Yes! The save worked! I reloaded the game and set myself on a parallel course within the convoy. There were 25 ships. Mostly small fry of about 2,000 tons they were in five lines of five travelling at 8 Kts. The big warship was right in the middle with two escorts - one zig-zagging about a 1,000 Metres ahead and the other trailing behind - my boat is at periscope depth just inside the starboard line abreast of the front row but the fog has cleared and I have to stay submerged because the warship in the centre is bristling with guns. I have to act quickly because I need to slow to less than 4 Kts to use my periscope - the 'Large Tanker' is in the middle of the front row and a 'Small Merchant' in the nearest row is partially blocking my shot - as I start to fall back through lack of speed, I fire three torpedoes from the bow and secure from silent running to permit reloading. One of the torpedoes hits the 'Small Merchant' amidships but the other two pass it and hit the tanker - one at the bow and one at the stern. I then decided that the tanker looked as if it might not sink so I quickly fired a 4th torpedo but I had already fallen back too far and it passed by the tanker's stern and miraculously hit an 'Empire' freighter that was abreast of the tanker one row further over. With all four bow torpedoes expended I searched for a target that is somewhere near 250 degrees so that I can use my stern tube at a 90 degree giro angle. I choose an 'Ore Carrier' in the third row that will pass me at a range of about 550 Metres - the torpedo passes in front of the ship and hits nothing at all! Shortly afterward the bow torpedo crew report that tube one is ready for firing - simultaneously the hydrophone operator reports 'warship closing fast' - try to stay cool and raise the periscope to see that I can still get a good shot at the 'Ore Carrier' - this time from the reloaded tube at the bow. I shoot just before my scope seems to be filled with the sight of a destroyer heading straight for me! Time to get the hell out of here! Crash Dive to 185 Metres turn 90 degrees to Starboard and creep away at 1 Kt. The depth charges exploded way above me but there is minor damage only to the flack gun and attack periscope.
I kept in sound contact with the convoy from a distance - the convoy made a 90 degree turn towards the North West which was in my favour and I noticed that two ships had started to fall behind - even behind the trailing destroyer. In the meantime my log showed that I had sunk the 'Large Tanker' and the 'Small Merchant' that got in the way. Two hours later and I no longer have the underwater speed to keep up with the main convoy but I might catch the two stragglers so with night drawing in I head for my last recorded position of the stragglers - these turn out to be the 'Ore Carrier', listing heavily with decks awash but still making 5 or 6 Kts and the 'Empire' freighter which appears to be stopped. I Mark the position of the latter on the chart and chase after the 'Ore Carrier' - the sea is calm with a wind speed of 7 Metres/second so I man the deck gun and sink it at a range of 1500 Metres - then returned to sink the Stopped 'Empire' freighter - also with the deck gun - perhaps I should have attacked the big warship in the middle - my initial identification was wrong and it may have been a 'Revenge' class Battleship but I got the tanker and a few more too!
This is the first time that I have been able to save a game whilst submerged and in the thick of a convoy battle - it worked. Time for a drop of Nelson's spirit, Splice the Mainbrace!
|