SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post - Late Night Foolishness: Duking it out on the surface

SubConscious · 08-17-06, 04:53 PM

I have to tell someone about this, because it was just so much fun…

I was submerged during the daytime in the Irish Sea early 1940 when a lone C2 cargo ship happened upon me. Being out of torpedoes, I gave it a good battering with my 8.8cm deck gun, to a point where it was listing heavily to starboard with the stern nearly awash.

My sonar operator picked up two more closing contacts: A merchant moving fast and a warship. I make appropriate notes on the map so that I could find the C2 again, and took off after the merchant, hoping that the C2 would eventually sink and that I’d be able to be able to outrun the closing warship.

It soon became apparent that this wasn’t going to work, probably due to the calm sea state and wonderful visibility. I had an armed trawler coming up fast, so I opted for a crash dive.

The merchant turned out to be a T3 Tanker, which as you all know, is a grand prize. The dilemma was that being out of torpedoes, I needed to utilize my deck gun. But with that armed trawler on the surface, there was no way that I could risk it.

Then the idea hit me…

The trawler was coming up fast astern. I didn’t think it had ASW capabilities and knew that it possessed only a single gun on the bow. So I waited for the trawler to pass over the top of me and I ordered an emergency blow and turns for flank speed.

We surfaced aft of the trawler and scrambled to unlimber the deck gun. The trawler immediately turned hard to starboard, but we were able to keep astern through some fast maneuvers.

Four well-placed high-explosive rounds later, and the trawler rolled over on her starboard side and sank, burning fiercely. Her crew fought valiantly, firing even as the ship went under. We got VERY lucky and didn’t sustain a single hit.

We then went on to catch and sink the T3, and managed to save a few rounds for the C2. It was a very successful day!

Has anyone else tried anything this foolhardy?

Oh – one thing to note if you ever try anything like this: Ships may appear to be stationary, even with their screws confirmed as unmoving, but the ship will still move when the time compression is sufficiently advanced. In fact, they’ll move back and forth on the map, in a straight line. It’s obviously a bug (like the fact that some tankers are moving despite their propellers being stationary), but it’s good to note that this aspect of the game isn’t consistent.

One more bug to bear in mind: If you leave a ship for a considerable amount of time (I was submerged under a crippled C3 cargo while being hounded by two Destroyers, a Corvette, and a PT boat (not to mention the aircraft)), I have found that unless the watch crew gives notice that they’ve “seen” the ship again, you will not receive credit for sinking the vessel.

08-17-06, 04:53 PM	#1
SubConscious Frogman Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 309 Downloads: 102 Uploads: 0	Late Night Foolishness: Duking it out on the surface I have to tell someone about this, because it was just so much fun… I was submerged during the daytime in the Irish Sea early 1940 when a lone C2 cargo ship happened upon me. Being out of torpedoes, I gave it a good battering with my 8.8cm deck gun, to a point where it was listing heavily to starboard with the stern nearly awash. My sonar operator picked up two more closing contacts: A merchant moving fast and a warship. I make appropriate notes on the map so that I could find the C2 again, and took off after the merchant, hoping that the C2 would eventually sink and that I’d be able to be able to outrun the closing warship. It soon became apparent that this wasn’t going to work, probably due to the calm sea state and wonderful visibility. I had an armed trawler coming up fast, so I opted for a crash dive. The merchant turned out to be a T3 Tanker, which as you all know, is a grand prize. The dilemma was that being out of torpedoes, I needed to utilize my deck gun. But with that armed trawler on the surface, there was no way that I could risk it. Then the idea hit me… The trawler was coming up fast astern. I didn’t think it had ASW capabilities and knew that it possessed only a single gun on the bow. So I waited for the trawler to pass over the top of me and I ordered an emergency blow and turns for flank speed. We surfaced aft of the trawler and scrambled to unlimber the deck gun. The trawler immediately turned hard to starboard, but we were able to keep astern through some fast maneuvers. Four well-placed high-explosive rounds later, and the trawler rolled over on her starboard side and sank, burning fiercely. Her crew fought valiantly, firing even as the ship went under. We got VERY lucky and didn’t sustain a single hit. We then went on to catch and sink the T3, and managed to save a few rounds for the C2. It was a very successful day! Has anyone else tried anything this foolhardy? Oh – one thing to note if you ever try anything like this: Ships may appear to be stationary, even with their screws confirmed as unmoving, but the ship will still move when the time compression is sufficiently advanced. In fact, they’ll move back and forth on the map, in a straight line. It’s obviously a bug (like the fact that some tankers are moving despite their propellers being stationary), but it’s good to note that this aspect of the game isn’t consistent. One more bug to bear in mind: If you leave a ship for a considerable amount of time (I was submerged under a crippled C3 cargo while being hounded by two Destroyers, a Corvette, and a PT boat (not to mention the aircraft)), I have found that unless the watch crew gives notice that they’ve “seen” the ship again, you will not receive credit for sinking the vessel.