Surface attacks.

Itkovian · 01-07-11, 08:57 AM

Salutations.

I was wondering if anyone has done a lot of nighttime surface attacks on convoys in SHV.

I am currently reading "The Golden Horseshoe" which details the exploits of Otto Kretschmer, which (so far) focuses a lot on his advocation of nighttime surface attacks on convoys (before radar became commonplace, I imagine), and so I've recently tried my hand at it last night.

After receiving reports of a nearby convoy, I made contact with it (something like 9-12 merchants escorted by 2 DDs), and decided to shadow and attack it by night.

By nightfall the weather had turned very nasty, with 15 meter winds along with rain and a dense fog. Still I moved in, periodically diving to get hydrophone bearing (I am using IRAI w/ the no hydrophone/aircraft spotting option). Spent my time on deck peering through the sheets of rain for signs of the convoy.

Eventually, a cargo loomed out of the fog directly ahead, and we were likely seen at the same time as suddenly the entire convoy lit its floodlights. We were slightly north and behind the convoy, with targets in sight everywhere.

I turned us into the convoy and accelerated to normal speed, and started taking snap shots at targets as they presented themselves (no time for TDC, I just set speed to 0 knots and eyeballed it). Mostly I was aiming at floodlights, so poor was the visibility.

The chaos was incredible, with the convoy scattering the moment the first torpedo hit. At one point I barely avoided collision by going full reverse (and I certainly did not want to submerge, so as to remain invisible to ASDIC).

I launched 8 torpedoes in total (including 2 from the rear tube), w/ 6 impacts (1 torpedo did not have time to arm I think and bounced off a target) and 5 sunk targets, then turned south and sped away at flank speed. Not a moment too soon, as well, as it turns out a DD was searching in my direction (around then my game crashed, but fortunately I had saved when I decided to end my attack, and as there is a delay between loading and the weather effects kicking in I could see the DD heading towards me *grin*).

I made my escape safely, and all in all it was an amazing experience. First time I tried something quite so dangerous (usually I would just submerge in the convoy's path and lie in wait), and it was quite a thrill. I literally had to constantly switch between the UZO and normal to keep an eye on any nearby ships. I even had the deck gun manned for a while, but decided it was rather unrealistic to man it with the sea we had going.

So anyway, has anyone else tried such attacks? What about doing them in clearer weather (at night)? Indeed, does the sim handle the phases of the moon and changes nighttime visibility accordingly?

Itkovian

01-07-11, 08:57 AM	#1
Itkovian Helmsman Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 106 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	Surface attacks. Salutations. I was wondering if anyone has done a lot of nighttime surface attacks on convoys in SHV. I am currently reading "The Golden Horseshoe" which details the exploits of Otto Kretschmer, which (so far) focuses a lot on his advocation of nighttime surface attacks on convoys (before radar became commonplace, I imagine), and so I've recently tried my hand at it last night. After receiving reports of a nearby convoy, I made contact with it (something like 9-12 merchants escorted by 2 DDs), and decided to shadow and attack it by night. By nightfall the weather had turned very nasty, with 15 meter winds along with rain and a dense fog. Still I moved in, periodically diving to get hydrophone bearing (I am using IRAI w/ the no hydrophone/aircraft spotting option). Spent my time on deck peering through the sheets of rain for signs of the convoy. Eventually, a cargo loomed out of the fog directly ahead, and we were likely seen at the same time as suddenly the entire convoy lit its floodlights. We were slightly north and behind the convoy, with targets in sight everywhere. I turned us into the convoy and accelerated to normal speed, and started taking snap shots at targets as they presented themselves (no time for TDC, I just set speed to 0 knots and eyeballed it). Mostly I was aiming at floodlights, so poor was the visibility. The chaos was incredible, with the convoy scattering the moment the first torpedo hit. At one point I barely avoided collision by going full reverse (and I certainly did not want to submerge, so as to remain invisible to ASDIC). I launched 8 torpedoes in total (including 2 from the rear tube), w/ 6 impacts (1 torpedo did not have time to arm I think and bounced off a target) and 5 sunk targets, then turned south and sped away at flank speed. Not a moment too soon, as well, as it turns out a DD was searching in my direction (around then my game crashed, but fortunately I had saved when I decided to end my attack, and as there is a delay between loading and the weather effects kicking in I could see the DD heading towards me grin). I made my escape safely, and all in all it was an amazing experience. First time I tried something quite so dangerous (usually I would just submerge in the convoy's path and lie in wait), and it was quite a thrill. I literally had to constantly switch between the UZO and normal to keep an eye on any nearby ships. I even had the deck gun manned for a while, but decided it was rather unrealistic to man it with the sea we had going. So anyway, has anyone else tried such attacks? What about doing them in clearer weather (at night)? Indeed, does the sim handle the phases of the moon and changes nighttime visibility accordingly? Itkovian Last edited by Itkovian; 01-07-11 at 09:46 AM.