Pull up a chair, it's story time!

[Raptor_Pilot]

So, I started a new career after I finished building my latest installation of GFO + a few mini mods.

Started with my favorite Sargo-Class, the U.S.S. Sculpin, and sailed out of Manilla Bay on my first patrol. On the way to Luzon I made contact with a Task Force containing a couple Cruisers, a whole flock of Destroyers, and a long line of Troop Transports and Liners.
I fire off a contact report, and promptly receive orders to attack. I pass under the forward Destroyer screen, and bite off a couple Transports at the back of the column. The escorts go ballistic, so I decide to quit while I'm ahead. I spent the next few days hounding a convoy up in Luzon, then return to base when all my torpedoes are expended.
The turnaround time at base is only two days because the Japs have neutralized Manilla. I get my orders for the next patrol, photo recon enemy carriers in Manilla Bay. Yes, I technically started the patrol in hostile territory.

So the photo recon goes without a hitch, I'm already in the bay to start with, so I dodge the one Destroyer protecting the two Escort Carriers, take my photos, then get a brilliant idea.
Since I'm already here, why not just sink the carriers and be done with it?
Naturally, my crew jumps at the chance to sink some big fat targets currently sitting inactive and stationary. I end up firing off 12 torpedoes, but thankfully these are the early war Mark 14 torpedoes, so only 4 of them actually hit the targets and detonate.
Needless to say, that wasn't enough to sink the carriers, and rather than sit around reloading my tubes, I man the deck gun, and go to work. About 65 rounds later, both carriers have exploded and sank.
Meanwhile, the Destroyer I'd dodged catches up to me. Being in shallow water, the only way to escape is to fight my way out. A swirling gunfight erupts, and I manage to sink the Destroyer.

I limp away towards the entrance to Manilla bay with 75% hull damage, and a laundry list of repairs. I figure I'll head straight to Java, and call it a patrol. I sneak past the two Destroyers guarding the entrance to the bay and hit open water.
At this point I figure I'm home safe, but when the sun comes up, my radar detects an incoming aircraft. I dive to periscope depth, hoping I won't flood and sink, and I turn up the Time Compression to wait for 10 minutes before surfacing.

When I go to surface the boat, I accidentally click the wrong side of the depth control, and thanks to the TC being turned up, my boat dives to 165 feet before I can stop it.
Realizing my mistake, I click Emergency Surface as fast as I can, and just as we get back to the surface, my submarine floods and sinks.

Everyone is dead and the career is over, all because the depth control gauge is too damn small!

Now I don't have to tell you, but the previous saved game was from the start of the patrol, which means I need to do everything all over again!

So does anyone else have a story where a simple mistake got everyone killed? I'd like to know I'm not the only one.

[Rockin Robbins]

Early in my SH4 days my favorite stupid people trick was to run my boat at high TC into an island that didn't show at low magnification on the nav map. I learned really quickly to draw the course, zoom in and survey every inch of that course before I crank up the TC.

[fitzcarraldo]

Raptor: you have a mod with great dials somewhere in the download section of SUBSIM.

My first mistakes in SH4: too many use of flank speed for intercept ships. No fuel for return....

Regards.

Fitzcarraldo

[Captain Dave]

I'm with RR. Nothing like the sound of crashing into an island.

[ColonelSandersLite]

One that has done me in a couple of times is when I forget that in TMO the balao just keeps going down when you use the generic dive command.

[Rockin Robbins]

Yes, diving in TMO at high TC is a once in a lifetime experience.

[Tshark]

How about hitting the "e" key causing emergency surfacing while trying to cycle tubes with the "w" key? I did this while just starting out and attempting the "Midway" quick mission. I felt like Khan in "Wrath of Khan"..."where's the override! The override!"...glub, glub.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Raptor_Pilot

Everyone is dead and the career is over, all because the depth control gauge is too damn small!

I'd say it happened because you were using TC when you shouldn't have been.

My worst experience with dyeing due to being stupid was in SH3, when I shelled a ship and stayed to close. When it exploded it took the entire bridge crew with it, including one of the KM's top instructors.

You see, this was in the Gunnery School.

[Raptor_Pilot]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I'd say it happened because you were using TC when you shouldn't have been.

My worst experience with dyeing due to being stupid was in SH3, when I shelled a ship and stayed to close. When it exploded it took the entire bridge crew with it, including one of the KM's top instructors.

You see, this was in the Gunnery School.

OUCH!

Yeah, I didn't earn my title of "Worst. Kaleun. Ever." by doing things carefully.

[Raptor_Pilot]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Early in my SH4 days my favorite stupid people trick was to run my boat at high TC into an island that didn't show at low magnification on the nav map. I learned really quickly to draw the course, zoom in and survey every inch of that course before I crank up the TC.

Now that I think about it, on my very first patrol back in SH3, a couple of aircraft came after me.
I had known from my earlier studies that aircraft are very dangerous to subs, so I panicked a bit and hit Crash Dive.
I didn't realize how shallow the coastal waters off Britain were, and promptly rammed into the bottom of the ocean.

It was that incident, caught on video that prompted the comment "Worst. Kaleun. Ever."

Cmon, let's have some more stories of how things went horribly wrong!

[ColonelSandersLite]

I've done that one a couple of times too, though if memory serves, it didn't kill me either time.


Another time I sunk a ship in shallow waters and managed to steer right into his wreckage...

[DrBeast]

I've been known to nonchalantly steam into submarine nets. At full speed. On high TC. We're still scraping men off the walls...

[ColonelSandersLite]

Here's another stupid thing I do from time to time. It doesn't get the boat killed, but is still pretty bad.


So, I don't usually use the spread dial. When I do, it's my policy to immediately reset it to 0. Though, every once in a while forget to reset it because I'm in a hurry to do something else. Supposing I engage another target later from a longer range, the spread setting from my last attack can cause me to completely miss.

[Raptor_Pilot]

Originally Posted by ColonelSandersLite

I've done that one a couple of times too, though if memory serves, it didn't kill me either time.

It didn't kill me either, but I did need a clean pair of shorts afterwards.

[Hambone307]

In SH3 I was leaving port when an allied raid came in. Went to periscope depth to hopefully avoid the planes and sailed straight into friendly sea mines... Shortest patrol ever. Also had another one in SH4 where I came across a convoy in the Java sea. Checked depth and had enough for a periscope attack. Hit a deep spot so I dove down deeper there to avoid the escorts. After they left, I forgot that i was hiding in a hole and ran straight into the aide of it at 7kts, destroying my bow bulkhead and torpedo tubes, sinking my boat... The list goes on...