Most satisfying!

[DigitalAura]

Well my best encounter so far was last night. I was en route to Formosa for a photo objective when I happened upon a convoy contact bearing south at medium speed 270 degrees to my port side.

I decided to go for a peek because ... A/ it was just after midnight and I LOVE night attacks B/ photo obj. are kinda boring.

So I veer off after them at flank speed and pass along wide of them and cut back in until I start getting contact reports from my radar of the individual boats in the convoy. Looks like 4 big freighters, and only 2 escorts. Radio this one in! Only one escort to worry about at the front of the pack, and the other was too far north (behind the group) to bother me. By now I'm 4000 yards still on the surface and boats are calculated to be running 8 knots and in a formation where my angle of attack allows me to line up 2 of the freighters on the same attack bearing. SUBPACCOM dispatches me an ULTRA message. SINK THAT CONVOY! Aye Aye!

I'm in a porpoise class sub, so I only have 4 torps in the forward for this shot... I submerge and wait ... not long to go... as soon as they cross my 11 degree mark... using sonar only at this point. Tubes are open...and...
two torps away on the first target...and two more fish on the way to the second.

Diving deeper and an evasive manouever to get out of detectable range. (I switch to external cam to watch it unfold). Can't see anything! So dark...a silent hunter's delight (dark night, no moon, some chop on the water). I actually have to track the camera along the torpedos path to eventually find the torps en route and finally I see the first freighter chugging into its path.... BooOOOoM! Nice one right into the middle of the ship. Next one is coming... another one rips the hull apart just under the water slightly astern... the third torp was intended to hit the 2nd freighter in that line but it hits the stern of the first ship sealing its doom a little faster.
Last torp whizzes behind the sinking vessel and is heading for the final 800 yards to the second freighter.... B0oooOOOm! That one hit just at the stern as well...not doing too much damage, but might slow him down.

By now I'm well away from the shot and just South east of the convoy (ahead of them now). I'm watching that closest destroyer on my passive sonar at a depth of 100 feet.. He's ahead of me now at 15 degrees... he stops! There is no sonar contact at that bearing! (he's listening for me!)
All STOP! periscope depth! gradually I stick 'er up and see him there not even half a mile away. He doesn't see me! Hasn't detected me! He's sitting there... hurry up, get a that torp loaded!! hurry!!! HURRRRRY!!! Waiting for the torp to load up again, I see the first target is finally down. HURRY UP!
FINALLY! Shoot and... I chuckle as I see his engines start up to move out of the path with less than 5 seconds to impact. NAILED HIM! he goes down within minutes! WOW... this convoy would be defenseless if not for the other destroyer! What are the chances? Where is the other DD?
Well I'll be! He has stopped at 90, and torp two is loaded. I have one shot. (I forgot to go to battlestations, so much of the crew is asleep and torps load much too slowly! LOL) Fire torpedo! Go to external cam...follow it in....oh... YES!!! again, the DD sinks with one torp.

So the rest of the dark night I spend on the surface all alone with the other 3 freighters. A cat toying with cornered mice. Fun! I leisurely take them all out with deck guns, save the last one who was being stubborn and needed a fish in the flanks.

That's my tale of a convoy of 6 put under by me and my crew.

[mcf1]

Great story mate
I like such convoys with only front and rear escorts, I usually sink the merchants and leave the escorts go home all alone

[Armistead]

Good job Dig..I've been working a 50 ship convoy off and on for three days....About wore me out.

[DigitalAura]

oops.... thought I had posted this in the patrol stories thread!


Anyways, s'all good. 50 ship convoy? That's not a convoy... that's the whole dag-gone IJN FLEET! Seriously! No wonder I had a hard time finding any targets this year... they were all tied up in your water! I mean, that would be so discouraging ... I'd be looking at my 12 torpedoes and then at the 50 ships and just be too upset to even figure out what to do next. LOL

[Armistead]

RSRD doe's the convoys more historically correct, why there are fewer, you can run into some whoopers. I once had a large TF I was following with about 30 ships, Then another TF came in right beside it with about 40 ships. I was able to get in the middle, but after the attack having 20 dd's attacking you using TMO wasn't fun......Took the Gato to 600 ft to escape.

Just stay with em til they're all on the bottom

[Rockin Robbins]

Yesssss!! That's the kind of night we all live for.

You posted in a great place. I probably wouldn't have read it in the other thread.

[DigitalAura]

I love this forum!


say, can you "out-dive" a depth charge? How deep can those suckers go? I mean, if there's a limit to a sub, shouldn't there be a limit to a charge?

[Armistead]

Well, things differ. I've heard overall they reach a certain depth and go poof. However, the right conditions they can go deep. Have a glass ocean and I've been sunk at 500 ft. One thing for sure it's a deadly game if you get hit deep...a few percentage points cut's you depth rate drastically.

Not sure how mods play a factor overall......

[Rip]

Originally Posted by DigitalAura

Well my best encounter so far was last night. I was en route to Formosa for a photo objective when I happened upon a convoy contact bearing south at medium speed 270 degrees to my port side.

I decided to go for a peek because ... A/ it was just after midnight and I LOVE night attacks B/ photo obj. are kinda boring.

So I veer off after them at flank speed and pass along wide of them and cut back in until I start getting contact reports from my radar of the individual boats in the convoy. Looks like 4 big freighters, and only 2 escorts. Radio this one in! Only one escort to worry about at the front of the pack, and the other was too far north (behind the group) to bother me. By now I'm 4000 yards still on the surface and boats are calculated to be running 8 knots and in a formation where my angle of attack allows me to line up 2 of the freighters on the same attack bearing. SUBPACCOM dispatches me an ULTRA message. SINK THAT CONVOY! Aye Aye!

I'm in a porpoise class sub, so I only have 4 torps in the forward for this shot... I submerge and wait ... not long to go... as soon as they cross my 11 degree mark... using sonar only at this point. Tubes are open...and...
two torps away on the first target...and two more fish on the way to the second.

Diving deeper and an evasive manouever to get out of detectable range. (I switch to external cam to watch it unfold). Can't see anything! So dark...a silent hunter's delight (dark night, no moon, some chop on the water). I actually have to track the camera along the torpedos path to eventually find the torps en route and finally I see the first freighter chugging into its path.... BooOOOoM! Nice one right into the middle of the ship. Next one is coming... another one rips the hull apart just under the water slightly astern... the third torp was intended to hit the 2nd freighter in that line but it hits the stern of the first ship sealing its doom a little faster.
Last torp whizzes behind the sinking vessel and is heading for the final 800 yards to the second freighter.... B0oooOOOm! That one hit just at the stern as well...not doing too much damage, but might slow him down.

By now I'm well away from the shot and just South east of the convoy (ahead of them now). I'm watching that closest destroyer on my passive sonar at a depth of 100 feet.. He's ahead of me now at 15 degrees... he stops! There is no sonar contact at that bearing! (he's listening for me!)
All STOP! periscope depth! gradually I stick 'er up and see him there not even half a mile away. He doesn't see me! Hasn't detected me! He's sitting there... hurry up, get a that torp loaded!! hurry!!! HURRRRRY!!! Waiting for the torp to load up again, I see the first target is finally down. HURRY UP!
FINALLY! Shoot and... I chuckle as I see his engines start up to move out of the path with less than 5 seconds to impact. NAILED HIM! he goes down within minutes! WOW... this convoy would be defenseless if not for the other destroyer! What are the chances? Where is the other DD?
Well I'll be! He has stopped at 90, and torp two is loaded. I have one shot. (I forgot to go to battlestations, so much of the crew is asleep and torps load much too slowly! LOL) Fire torpedo! Go to external cam...follow it in....oh... YES!!! again, the DD sinks with one torp.

So the rest of the dark night I spend on the surface all alone with the other 3 freighters. A cat toying with cornered mice. Fun! I leisurely take them all out with deck guns, save the last one who was being stubborn and needed a fish in the flanks.

That's my tale of a convoy of 6 put under by me and my crew.

Admiral Christie notes in his endoresment that while a successful patrol the Captain's lack of tactical awareness and proper training inflicted less damage than he should have. The ship is ordered to undergo a training inspection by Commander Warder before the next war patrol.

[DigitalAura]

*arrrrgh

aye aye SIR!

[Morpheus]

very nice story

especially the part where you noticed that half of your crew was assleep while your fish where blowing the sh1t out of that enemy vessels ^^

cheers
morph

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by DigitalAura

I love this forum!


say, can you "out-dive" a depth charge? How deep can those suckers go? I mean, if there's a limit to a sub, shouldn't there be a limit to a charge?

Depth charges really dont care how deep they go, there fate will still be the same

Interestingly early on in the offensive against German submarines the destroyers often underestimated the depth that U boats could acheive and many a can met its fate far above the mark.

Dident take them long, espically after asdic to realize their mistaken impressions.

Then came the hedgehogs...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog_(weapon)

Third or 4th picture down :
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DG

See those in action and you will soil your britches

[Munchausen]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Interestingly early on in the offensive against German submarines the destroyers often underestimated the depth that U boats could acheive and many a can met its fate far above the mark.

As was the case with Japanese DDs and fleet submarines. Until some Senator, after being briefed during a tour of military facilities, bragged to the Press about easily American subs, going deep, evaded attack by depth charge.

[DigitalAura]

wow...do DD's use those hedgehogs in SH4?

Can't really see them being better than depth charges... as charges will explode and do damage if the sub is 'close'. Proximity is everything, but with a Hedgehog, it has to actually 'make contact'...which seems much harder to accomplish to my mind.

[Sailor Steve]

Hedgehogs didn't explode if they didn't make contact. There was no sonar-killing water disruption, and the DD knew if he had a hit immediately.

And yes, they use them in the game.