Bad day in GWX

[dmlavan]

Ever have one of those days?
I started a new patrol in my VIIB during the invasion of Norway. All of the British task forces were too far away for me to catch, and it seemed every hydrophone contact I pursued turned out to be a German merchant. The Luftwaffe wasn't helping me w/ any contact reports, either. Finally, after 3 weeks of cruising around w/ no targets I found a Norweigan freighter heading towards me in relatively moderate seas.
I dived to PD and positioned myself for a perfect shot at 500m. Fired a single eel, then watched it hit squarely amidships... and bounce off - a dud! I quickly updated the solution and fired two more, this time scoring a hit. The seas were too rough to finish it off w/ my deck gun, but since we were alone I decided to save torpedoes, surface at a distance and watch her sink. After some patience, her fantail was awash and it was only a matter of time.
Suddenly, my lookouts reported two inbound aircraft. A quick glance through the binoculars showed they were German. It was then that I realized that they were headed straight for the sinking freighter. One pass - after all, even the Luftwaffe can hit a stationary target - two close splashes and two bomb hits, and MY target sank. No cheering and "she's going down", and no credit. Damn Luftwaffe!