Originally Posted by John Pancoast
July 17th, 1941, BE31
Receive radio report of a convoy. Plot an intercept course only to be slowed by a trio of unrelated destroyers and an aircraft.
Over time, still manage to find the convoy in the early evening.
Call in the contact, told to shadow. Clear weather, 9 m/s winds. Am driven off a couple of times, regain contact each time.
Nights are short this time of year, not believing the pack can make it before the fast approaching sunrise, I decide to attack on my own in the meantime.
Tough convoy to get into position on; constantly zig-zagging with the related speed changes.
Finally have a perfect attack course going. Just under 3k meters away, off the starboard front beam. Decks awash, 2 knots speed. Starboard escort has peeled off in the distance for a random search pattern. Except for the clear weather, perfect.
Literally seconds before I was going to fire, convoy changes course again. Damn !
Then it happens. The pack unexpectedly attacks. No wonder the convoy had been changing course so often !
This draws the starboard escort back to the scene, and I have to get out of there before I can do my planned attack, but manage to get off two and have turned away from the escort going at flank when he spots me anyway and starts firing.
Crash dive, manage to evade over time. He doesn't spend much effort with me, but returns to the convoy to help against the pack attacking.
I'm submerged, now to far away to attack again, so not a concern in his eyes.
I won't have time for another night surface attack so I plot a general course for a submerged daylight attack.
Shortly before the sunrise finds me well ahead of the convoy, still off it's starboard beam.
The pack has continued it's attack throughout. Convoy in disarray, many ships sunk or on fire.
I see ships hit, ships going down, escorts depth charging and firing at the pack members, escorts rounding up the convoy and getting it back on course again.
Even see a distant scope of one of the pack. The convoy is decimated.
While the nearest escort is tied up with the pack, I plot a course to intercept the nearest ships who are forming up again, and starting to steam off on a course of 10 degrees.
I'll have to thread my way between two escorts to get close enough for a submerged attack.; one the attacking one mentioned above, the other leading the convoy.
I'm coming in on a 225 degrees course, with the rising sun not yet breaking the horizon. For approx. 45 game minutes, I just observe the convoy getting back into formation, to see what course it finally takes.
What's left of the convoy finally settles on a straight north course, I swing the boat around for a 270 degrees course of attack, finally close enough with help from the rising sun at my back, and submerge at around 4 - 4.5 meters away, just before the sun breaks the horizon. At point of attack, boat should be between 2 and 2. 5 meters away. Not a bad distance, would like to get closer but the increasing daylight won't allow that.
Winds are now 10 m/s; any higher I won't be able to attack.
All said and done, I manage to sink a cargo steamer which I hadn't aimed at, (the two fired during the night before the escort spotted me) and damage another freighter which I had. (the morning submerged attack.).
I fired a total of eight torpedoes at the convoy, two per target. Not the best results, but satisfactory considering the pack results.
Currently trying to make a submerged escape to the east. Have escorts hunting/depth charging the boat, but nothing to worry about.
Yet.
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