My first kill ever at 100% realisim

[Laufen zum Ziel]

What a waste of two years of using my WO. What a thrill to have my first
kill at 100% real.

O300 hours went to periscope depth and did a Hydrophone check. A faint
sound of props was heard at 350%. Due to being dark, with no moon,
I surfaced to see if the Watch could spot a ship. The watch reported a
sighting at 340% 5800 m. I went on deck and using the Uzo confirmed a
British cargo ship darkened. I fed the information to my Navigation Officer
and requested an intercept course. I also ordered hands on deck to man flac
and deck gun. With not a lot of confidence I entered required information
into the TDC. I ordered tubes 1 & 3 loaded and outer doors open. I took
one last reading at 1500 m and reset the TDC. As the bow of the target
(Large Cargo) passed the center of the UZO I fired #1. When the center of
the target crossed the UZO I fired #2. Watching from the bridge I saw #1
impact and explode where I had aimed. Their was a big explosion and the
target turned on their search light. At that same moment # 2 impacted
and exploded blowing the target into two pieces. Both pieces sank within one minute.

I felt great for my new found skills but sorry for the crew who never had a
chance to abandon ship.

Thanks to all forum members who have helped to teach us how to hunt
and target.

[Puster Bill]

Congratulations. You have taken your first steps into a larger World. The Force will be with you, always.

[Otto Heinzmeir]

Congrats!

[Oneshot/Onekill]

Now your hunt'n with the big boys!!!!

It does give a real feeling of excitement that first time......hmm reminds me of another first time...oohhh sorry off topic.

Way to go. it is like a new game when you do all that TDC yourself and see results of your job. Don't worry about the crew loss, SH3Commander always reduces this value. Even when you hit a DD and you brake him in half which takes couple of seconds to sink SH3Commander may say only 10 crew lost out of 157 f.e.

[Henry Wood]

Originally Posted by Laufen zum Ziel

What a waste of two years of using my WO. What a thrill to have my first
kill at 100% real.

O300 hours went to periscope depth and did a Hydrophone check. A faint
sound of props was heard at 350%. Due to being dark, with no moon,
I surfaced to see if the Watch could spot a ship. The watch reported a
sighting at 340% 5800 m. I went on deck and using the Uzo confirmed a
British cargo ship darkened.

I am still using many crutches to help me out and keep flitting between GWX3 and the four other (easier) installs I have. One thing puzzles me though: how did you find out so easily on a dark night with no moon that the sighting was in fact a British cargo ship? This is one of my big bugbears, trying to identify the flag and I usually have to be well inside 1,000 metres to do this. I end up using the UZO to identify the flag as it is more powerful than the binoculars but I would find it impossible at 5,000+ metres. Any tips from anyone on flag recognition gratefully received.

[irish1958]

You can never be certain; the general rule is that an enlighten ship in a combat zone is fair game. If lighted and spot-lighting the flag, the ship is considered neutral; if it is a neutral and traveling darkened in a convoy, it is still fair game.
Question: why wouldn't the captain of a belligerent vessel hoist a neutral flag if not in a convoy, if this were effective in preventing an (for the captain) unpleasant outcome for his voyage?

[Henry Wood]

Originally Posted by irish1958

You can never be certain; the general rule is that an enlighten ship in a combat zone is fair game. If lighted and spot-lighting the flag, the ship is considered neutral; if it is a neutral and traveling darkened in a convoy, it is still fair game.

Thanks for that. I do tend to ignore lighted ships/spotlight flags but maybe have spent too much time trying to get in close to confirm a darkened ship is an actual enemy vessel. I think I'll try the "dark ship - let 'em have it!" more in future.

Originally Posted by irish1958

Question: why wouldn't the captain of a belligerent vessel hoist a neutral flag if not in a convoy, if this were effective in preventing an (for the captain) unpleasant outcome for his voyage?

I've read dozens of books about the U-boat war, mainly the Atlantic battles, and don't really recall any of the histories mentioning such a flag subterfuge by an ordinary merchant vessel. In real life I suppose they would also have to have changed the ship's name too if they had any hope of getting away with it. (Many U-boats carried Lloyd's Register which would soon show up a wrong flag on a ship whose name could be read.)

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by irish1958

Question: why wouldn't the captain of a belligerent vessel hoist a neutral flag if not in a convoy, if this were effective in preventing an (for the captain) unpleasant outcome for his voyage?

Early in the war u-boats stopped ships flying neutral flags and checked their papers (registration, cargo manifest etc). If the ship was found to be carrying supplies for Britain or France they would be sunk anyway. After it became too dangerous for this ships flying neutral flags would be sunk out-of-hand if they were in British waters.

Several German and Italian ships disguised themselves as Allies to avoid being sunk by Allied warships. A few of them were sunk by u-boats.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Several German and Italian ships disguised themselves as Allies to avoid being sunk by Allied warships. A few of them were sunk by u-boats.

Serves the buggas right

[GREY WOLF 3]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

Serves the buggas right

Well said

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by GREY WOLF 3

Well said

Just wait till they're introduced to my Q ships