First Warship Encounter!!!!!!

[btaft]

I was so excited last night. I received a radio report for a merchant and while I was making a high speed run to intercept I received a warship spotted from my WO. I took a quick look around and there was a Fiji Cruiser steaming alone.

Well we just had to do something about that. I took a couple points while I traveled at flank speed to obtain a course and speed. She was making 30 kts. Good thing I was already in a good position.

I was able to close to 1000m while submerged and sent a salvo of three at the cruiser (I never use salvos but I was only going to get one shot at this puppy and I wasn't going to let it get away).

All three struck home and she went up in a very large expolsion

[SmokinTep]

Good job.

[Duncan Idaho]

Excellent! Those Cruisers are sure fun to knock out. After ages of only getting an odd Destroyer sunk, one night sitting in the North Channel I spotted a Dido Cruiser on the same track that Destroyers usually take, and realizing how much bigger it was than the Destroyer's I'd taken down, I decided I must do it.

Fired off one salvo, 2 out of 3 hit, , stopped her dead in the water. Searchlights went on, but went right back off (Must have had a power failure?), but she didn't sink, so I had to fire another torp off to finish the job, but I was freakin' happy when she went down, and even happier to see the tonnage and renown for it when I got back to base. Sure was satisfying!

[Type941]

Dido is the bigger one, right, @10k tonns? The Fiji is 6k or so?

Wasn't Dido an anti aircraft cruiser really anyway? Congrats on getting one, I am still to find a major warship at sea, although it's mid 40s and things are surely heating up in the channel.

[Duncan Idaho]

Originally Posted by Type941

Dido is the bigger one, right, @10k tonns? The Fiji is 6k or so?

Wasn't Dido an anti aircraft cruiser really anyway? Congrats on getting one, I am still to find a major warship at sea, although it's mid 40s and things are surely heating up in the channel.

From my log:

[Log Entry 7]
Type=0
EntryText=Ship sunk!|Grid AM 61|Dido Light Cruiser, 5600 tons
EntryTitle=December 24, 1939, 06:18
Date=19391224
Time=618
Categ=0

Hahaha, night before christmas, what a present, eh?

Guess the Fiji's bigger by what you've said, but I'm happy to have nailed the Dido.

[btaft]

Guess the Fiji's bigger by what you've said, but I'm happy to have nailed the Dido

That's correct. I received 10K in tonnage for it. It was definitely a very satisfying victory, much more so than the countless C3's and other merchants making 8-12 kts.

I have yet to even go after a DD, but I figured a Cruiser is something not to pass up. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw the distance covered in the plot after 3 minutes. I was very glad that I had made that engine upgrade so I could make 20 kts (renown well spent).

The icing on the cake was that I was still able to intercept the merchant I was going after before this diversion and send it to the bottom with my last fish (stern tube). It was only a small merchant but I am not complaining, just shy of 60K for the patrol.

[Duncan Idaho]

Aye, that's a pretty good patrol I'd say.

I shoot DD's for a reason: I've noticed I gain rank a lot faster if I take out a few warships every patrol, (provided I can find suitable targets, I'm not foolish, would rather not die for the chance at another rank!). I'm on Patrol 4 right now, and am Lt. Commander, guess that's pretty good, my fastest rising captain yet. :|\

[btaft]

I shoot DD's for a reason: I've noticed I gain rank a lot faster if I take out a few warships every patrol, (provided I can find suitable targets, I'm not foolish, would rather not die for the chance at another rank!). I'm on Patrol 4 right now, and am Lt. Commander, guess that's pretty good, my fastest rising captain yet.

That is very good. I had thought that the rank increases were related to "stored" renown. I am on patrol 11 right now with about 380K in tonnage and 10K in stored renown and I am only a Lt Sr

[Perseus]

Speaking of warships...

One of the best spots - one would assume - to find warships is Scapa Flow, but pray tell, if that is normally the case, then why don't I ever find a warship there, save from several destroyers on patrol?

Oh, and why must it always (ALWAYS, mind you!) rain like hell in Scapa Flow bay so that I always have to get really close to use my periscope?

[RAM]

Originally Posted by btaft

I
I was able to close to 1000m while submerged and sent a salvo of three at the cruiser (I never use salvos but I was only going to get one shot at this puppy and I wasn't going to let it get away).

I don't use salvoes, but individual torpedo launches. You can fire a spread of torpedoes manually.

The way to do it is more complicated than ordering a spread, but is well worth it. I refined it with the mission editor to see the results.

First of all work out your firing solution with some time of advance. the TDC gives you the info to fire the torpedoes so set the periscope lecture of the TDC at 000 so all your torpedoes fire in a straight line. Lower the scope.

Then go to the torpedo setting screen and put on them the desired speed/depth parameters and choose between magnetic or contact detonation. move to the conning tower and open all the tubes you're about to use.

Return to the periscope screen, raise it and wait until the ship forward turret cross the vertical line. Fire one!!!!. When the forward superstructure has passed the vertical line, Fire two!!!. When the aft superstructure reaches the line, fire three!!!. When the aft main tower is there, Fire four!!!!.

It all should happen within a few seconds (Warships go VERY fast). Lower the scope, set orders to dive, and wait for the impacts. Firing to those spots you're going to kill the ship no matter the size. Works for BBs, so it will work for anything slower.



In a career, I only found a big ship once, was a QE type BB around 100km NE from the square with Scapa Flow. They were coming my way so I dived and fired torpedoes from around 2000m.

It was early (may, I think) 1940 and I did one wrong choice: I set all my four torpedoes to magnetic, and the sea was pretty rough. Two of them hit and damaged the BB...but two of them detonated on the way before hitting. The BB was slowed but she still was able to steam fast enough so I couldn't catch with her when I came up to periscope depth again. She escaped.

Two DDs came to hunt my sub but never got a return on me. So in the end it all ended quite well for me, but I would have loved to have those almost 30k of warship tonnage on my skippers' credit...

[Duncan Idaho]

Originally Posted by Perseus

Speaking of warships...

One of the best spots - one would assume - to find warships is Scapa Flow, but pray tell, if that is normally the case, then why don't I ever find a warship there, save from several destroyers on patrol?

Oh, and why must it always (ALWAYS, mind you!) rain like hell in Scapa Flow bay so that I always have to get really close to use my periscope?

I think the deal with Scapa Flow (and maybe some other places) is that you have to go on certain dates. I snuck in once, and even slid right up into one of the docks (submerged of course) in Scapa Flow. Destroyers all around the entrances, but the port was empty as could be. There is a pair of very deep docks on the right side of the base, I'd assume that would be a likely place to catch a battleship. Just a guess, though.

Oh, and on my one trip there, it was sunny and very calm. I'd hate to try it in max rough seas, probably get dashed against the bottom in the shallows.

[Carcassonne]

A FIJI Cruiser is anchoredin Loch Ewe in '40 and remains there until the end of the war. She's anchored just northwest of the docks. She's the highest renown cruiser in the game by a mere 10 renown to the auxillary cruiser.

I would suggest hitting the FIJI with 1 eel aimed between the aft main guns at 2 meters deep...she goes down with 1 every time. Just make sure that if you use a T1 for the attack to only do so at night.

[August]

I've noticed that ships sunk in harbors are replaced every new patrol, so you could sink that Fiji in Loch Ewe over and over again.

[Carcassonne]

Originally Posted by August

I've noticed that ships sunk in harbors are replaced every new patrol, so you could sink that Fiji in Loch Ewe over and over again.

You're absolutely correct. I tested the theory personally. I entered Loch Ewe sank the Fiji and then returnd the very next patrol to find her there again. In a way it's pretty much an unfair way of sinking tonnage in my opinion.

[Mike 'Red Ocktober' Hense]

you did a lot better than i did bt...

my first encounter with a warship, i got so excited, i pissed all my torps away, and came home with no kills and a stain running down the leg of my uniform

i learned to stay away from the dds, and usually the cruisers as well... i go after the frieghters and tankers... after all, i've got a reputation to maintain (from Iron Wolves)...

Red Ocktober... the helpless manned tanker harrasser

--Mike