I've decided to hang on to the game.
After so many awesome patrol logs, I shall try to write mine equaly well.
28th february 1942.
This is the 3rd patrol in this old lady. Even though she's not the youngest, I feel good. She is old but robust.
We left Surabaya at midnight and headed for our designated patroling area.
We never got there though, because at the 6th of march we spotted a japanese convoy. After cabeling the HQ, we got the order to focus the escorts. The conditions were perfect! The night was moonless and a slight swell helped us to conceal us.
So we went to periscope depth and started calculating the solutions.
We just recieved the new Mk. 14 Torpedos and rumors had it that something was not quite right. We had no idea what was in treat for us.
Launching all 4 torpedos, I targeted the destroyer escort and 2 freighters.
After 2 minutes, one explosion, the destroyer was a fireball. And all of a sudden, a huge fontain of water rose infront of us: the torpedo circled and exloded almost right next to us. The other torpedos never reached the target.
The tubes were reloaded and another salvo was fired.
None of the fishes hit the target, 2 of them exploded halfway towards the target.
Blast the Bureau of Ordnance! These things were as dangerous as the japs!
The convoy began to scatter, we reloaded one more time and fire 2 torpedos at a target about 600 yards away and the broadside of another freighter.
Two torpedos were duds, 1 hit the stern of the enemy ship and the other disapeared into the pacific. The problem was, the ship was still floating.
I waited untill the other ships moved along and out stricken prey refused to go down. So the boat was surfaced and the deckgun was manned.
After a couple of shots, she was going down and we engaged another ship that came to tow it.
And then a jap destroyer apeared out off this mist and started firing!
Crash dive! The water was shallow and we could only dive 98 feet before hitting the ground.
Sillent running! Head for deeper water.
And then there was this sound, the familliar Ping!. Sonar.
I kept looking up the ceiling, trying to make out the position of that basterd. It grew louder quickly, the time between the pings became shorter as the distance between the boat and the destroyer shrunk. Soon I could hear the screws. As she was right above us, we could hear the familliar splasing sounds. The sonar ping was gone, they were above us! Full ahead! The boat shaked as it accelerated, I prayed that we were quick enough.
Soon after, the boat was shaken by the pressure waves of the explosions.
Seaman Barstow was blown of his feet by the blast, but our trusty S-38 held shut. The jap was comming back! Back to 50 rpm on the engines!
The same procedure as before: as he was above us he threw his rocks into the sea and we ducked away from them. This went on for 2 hours, it was 1:30 in the night. The sonar man could no longer hear the jap, so we continued to head towards deeper water.
And then all of a sudden: ping!
He was back.
And so the dance starts all over! He goes above the boat, we go fast do dodge the depth charges. We go slow, he uses his sonar.
And then a big bang! It felt like the boat was punched, it stumbled and we could smell that the stern battery was ruptured!
Damage control got to work imediately and I thought of a new idea...
This time I decided we would stop the engines so we would make no sound.
It worked! He did not come back after the last attack run.
We stayed underwater till 0500 and surfaced shortly after.
We were all out of torpedos, so I decided to head back to Java.
Thre crew acted outstandingly and I will recommend some of them for a decoration.
And the Bureau of Ordnancee will recieve a long report that they will not forget!
And I got promoted and been given the command of a new Salmon class submarine, the USS Sturgeon!
And I hope that you enjoyed the thing I wrote.
And damn the Mk.14 Torpedos. These things are not good (yet) .
|