Nightmare Patrol

Philipp_Thomsen · 10-25-10, 11:51 AM

February 22nd, 1943.

Left Brest with my IXB U-109 at 7:42 am, on a sunny day. Decided to head for on of the most dangerous, and yet, most rewarding places on the map, the deadly quadrant BF21.

Arriving there around 10am, received a transmission from another u-boat: Task Force, less than 200km west of my position, heading my way. Went ahead flank to intercept.

A couple of hours later I saw some smoke on the horizon, and went under for some listening. It was a very clear day, so I decided to stay under and let them come my way.

Observing on the periscope, I saw two battleships, some auxiliary cruisers, a couple of cruisers and a handful of destroyers. Set my heading 225 degrees and ahead 2/3, would let them slip right at my mustache, before firing the fishes.

At a 4km distance, fired 2 fishes at one battleship, and another 2 at another, and one stern torpedo at the destroyer passing right behind me. Changed my course to the same course as the task force, to gain some time reloading the torpedos and have another go before I couldn't keep with them anymore.

All 5 torpedos hit, first battleship with a hit on the middle and bow, the other middle and stern. The destroyer lost speed and eventually sunk. Some minutes later, I had some fishes reloaded, fired one stern torpedo at one auxiliary cruiser and two bow torpedos at two cruisers, before I noticed 4 destroyers coming fast my direction. Dodged the first 2 destroyers by diving, and going ahead flank, playing a little with the rudder, but they started pinging me.

Managed to dodge most of the attacks while heading same direction as the convoy, till my 4 bow torpedos were reloaded. I was determined to get as much tonnage as I could before running away. Went back to periscope depth, fired a fish at one destroyer at my tail, and the 4 bow torpedos were distributed to all the heavier ships around, one torpedo-one ship. A quick look with the periscope around, found out that most ships I've hit were stationary or very slow, sinking by the bow or aft. Also, found out I was being chased by 4 destroyers again, even after sending 2 destroyers to the deep.

Decided to change my course to the nearest ship to get some shelter, it was a stationary auxiliary cruiser. Parked the sub right under it, while reloading more torpedos.

At 13:20, the worse happened. I heard a huge explosion, followed by screams from the chief engineer, reporting flooding and systems destroyed. Parking under an auxiliary cruiser filled with ammunition was not such a good idea after all.

One crew dead, another injuried, and the sub was sinking fast. I distributed the crew to stop the flooding, that was filling every single one of the compartments, except for the stern quarters.

The sub hitted the bottom at 104 meters, and the auxiliary cruiser sank right by my side. I was struggling to stop all the flooding, most of the compartments were reporting 3 minutes to be completly flooded. Then the destroyers started having a field day.

I did report contacts via radio before going under. That was my luck. I started hearing airplanes passing by, and a lot of explosions on the surface.

Managed to stop all the floodings, just in time. All compartments had water at more than half of compartment's height. I started checking for the damaged systems. It was a lot. Most of it was not working or seriously damaged. I asked for silent running, till I got rid of the destroyers.

I kept being depth charged each 5 minutes, some of them were really close, damaging more systems and get more flooding. Some of them killed my crew. It was 2 hours of nightmare, and I seriously thought I was done for. I play DiD (dead is dead, so no saving, no reloading), so I was decided to fight till the last second. They stopped pinging me at about 15:15, but kept on the depth-charge-runs for another couple of hours, till they ran empty.

I couldn't hear anything anymore at around 6pm, but then again, my hydrophone was broken, so I was relying only on my ears.

So I started the system checks, and the repairs.

Everything was basically destroyed, irreparable, except for one electric engine on the port side. Battery was down to 30%. I started the repairs on what could be repaired. It was 6:30pm.

Around 12:45 (noon, next day, about 18 hours later), I ordered blow ballast. She went up slowly and screeching. At surface, quick look with binoculars showed me nothing was on sight. Plotted course back to Brest, and took me almost a day to get there, running very slowly on ONE electric engine. (Didn't quite made it there, but was close enough to "Return to base").

Three months to fix the uboat. Next patrol started in June, believe it or not.

Sorry for the chopped image, I run a higher resolution, so the screenshots get like this.

Successful patrol, 127.990 tons.

Brag · 10-25-10, 12:36 PM

I´ll beat Jimbuna in saying, BE MORE AGRESSIVE

Philipp_Thomsen · 10-25-10, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brag

I´ll beat Jimbuna in saying, BE MORE AGRESSIVE

That can land you in really hot waters...

frau kaleun · 10-25-10, 01:15 PM

*looks at screenshot*

*shrugs*

Eh, that'll probably buff out.

ReFaN · 10-25-10, 01:15 PM

By all that is Holy...

Drinks are on me for you, Lucky bastard

flag4 · 10-25-10, 02:26 PM

Das Boot, part2 Philipp_Thomsen - you made it back

have just come back myself from a large convoy. pulled just over 6ooo tons. all electric eels fails - i watched them bump-bump-bump. stopped a large merchant, was being hounded by 3 black swans, managed to turn and finish off the merchant from a sharp and desperate angle and caught it on the corner stern with a magnetic. terrific explosion - absolutley shattered the ship from one end to the other. then they came!

one sat still marking, while the others threw everything at me. got away with minimal damage. i should have left under cover of the convoy. im in a TypeII. so, no stern eel.

i have been off work today and this has taken alllll afternoon - all for 6000 tons!

STEED · 10-25-10, 02:45 PM

Three months to fix that piece of junk? Scrap it and get a new one and get back out hunting.

Bubblehead1980 · 10-25-10, 02:49 PM

wow, true "pucker" moment

flag4 · 10-25-10, 03:25 PM

@ STEED.

your tag line reminds me of 'we are all equal, but some of us are more equal than others.' or something like that!!

Philipp_Thomsen · 10-25-10, 04:04 PM

The year was 1943 actually, Ive just fixed it.

ediko · 10-25-10, 06:05 PM

You're one lucky Kaleun since the cruiser didn't land on your uboat. Great story. By the way how much crew did you loose? I remember the game ending if I have lost more than half of all crew.

ralphnader23 · 10-25-10, 06:27 PM

And they say it's better to play in the pond than the puddles...

Nice trick sitting underneath the slowed down cruiser. I had always wondered about the pros (reloading safely) and cons (explosion) of doing something like that.

desirableroasted · 10-25-10, 06:32 PM

3 months repair? It'd take that long to get my sphincter uncurled.

U777 · 10-25-10, 09:44 PM

Quote:

(Didn't quite made it there, but was close enough to "Return to base").

Good enough, its equivalent to calling base and asking for a destroyer or something to come out and tow you in.

Gargamel · 10-25-10, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by U777

Good enough, its equivalent to calling base and asking for a destroyer or something to come out and tow you in.

I'd even accept the idea that as soon as you surfaced, you asked for the escort assuming you weren't going to make it. So as soon as you reached a point where rescue could reach you, It'd be ok to click RTB.

10-25-10, 11:51 AM	#1
Philipp_Thomsen Old Gang Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Drunk at the whorehouse Posts: 2,278 Downloads: 146 Uploads: 0	Nightmare Patrol February 22nd, 1943. Left Brest with my IXB U-109 at 7:42 am, on a sunny day. Decided to head for on of the most dangerous, and yet, most rewarding places on the map, the deadly quadrant BF21. Arriving there around 10am, received a transmission from another u-boat: Task Force, less than 200km west of my position, heading my way. Went ahead flank to intercept. A couple of hours later I saw some smoke on the horizon, and went under for some listening. It was a very clear day, so I decided to stay under and let them come my way. Observing on the periscope, I saw two battleships, some auxiliary cruisers, a couple of cruisers and a handful of destroyers. Set my heading 225 degrees and ahead 2/3, would let them slip right at my mustache, before firing the fishes. At a 4km distance, fired 2 fishes at one battleship, and another 2 at another, and one stern torpedo at the destroyer passing right behind me. Changed my course to the same course as the task force, to gain some time reloading the torpedos and have another go before I couldn't keep with them anymore. All 5 torpedos hit, first battleship with a hit on the middle and bow, the other middle and stern. The destroyer lost speed and eventually sunk. Some minutes later, I had some fishes reloaded, fired one stern torpedo at one auxiliary cruiser and two bow torpedos at two cruisers, before I noticed 4 destroyers coming fast my direction. Dodged the first 2 destroyers by diving, and going ahead flank, playing a little with the rudder, but they started pinging me. Managed to dodge most of the attacks while heading same direction as the convoy, till my 4 bow torpedos were reloaded. I was determined to get as much tonnage as I could before running away. Went back to periscope depth, fired a fish at one destroyer at my tail, and the 4 bow torpedos were distributed to all the heavier ships around, one torpedo-one ship. A quick look with the periscope around, found out that most ships I've hit were stationary or very slow, sinking by the bow or aft. Also, found out I was being chased by 4 destroyers again, even after sending 2 destroyers to the deep. Decided to change my course to the nearest ship to get some shelter, it was a stationary auxiliary cruiser. Parked the sub right under it, while reloading more torpedos. At 13:20, the worse happened. I heard a huge explosion, followed by screams from the chief engineer, reporting flooding and systems destroyed. Parking under an auxiliary cruiser filled with ammunition was not such a good idea after all. One crew dead, another injuried, and the sub was sinking fast. I distributed the crew to stop the flooding, that was filling every single one of the compartments, except for the stern quarters. The sub hitted the bottom at 104 meters, and the auxiliary cruiser sank right by my side. I was struggling to stop all the flooding, most of the compartments were reporting 3 minutes to be completly flooded. Then the destroyers started having a field day. I did report contacts via radio before going under. That was my luck. I started hearing airplanes passing by, and a lot of explosions on the surface. Managed to stop all the floodings, just in time. All compartments had water at more than half of compartment's height. I started checking for the damaged systems. It was a lot. Most of it was not working or seriously damaged. I asked for silent running, till I got rid of the destroyers. I kept being depth charged each 5 minutes, some of them were really close, damaging more systems and get more flooding. Some of them killed my crew. It was 2 hours of nightmare, and I seriously thought I was done for. I play DiD (dead is dead, so no saving, no reloading), so I was decided to fight till the last second. They stopped pinging me at about 15:15, but kept on the depth-charge-runs for another couple of hours, till they ran empty. I couldn't hear anything anymore at around 6pm, but then again, my hydrophone was broken, so I was relying only on my ears. So I started the system checks, and the repairs. Everything was basically destroyed, irreparable, except for one electric engine on the port side. Battery was down to 30%. I started the repairs on what could be repaired. It was 6:30pm. Around 12:45 (noon, next day, about 18 hours later), I ordered blow ballast. She went up slowly and screeching. At surface, quick look with binoculars showed me nothing was on sight. Plotted course back to Brest, and took me almost a day to get there, running very slowly on ONE electric engine. (Didn't quite made it there, but was close enough to "Return to base"). Three months to fix the uboat. Next patrol started in June, believe it or not. Sorry for the chopped image, I run a higher resolution, so the screenshots get like this. Successful patrol, 127.990 tons. __________________ To each his own Last edited by Philipp_Thomsen; 10-25-10 at 04:04 PM.

10-25-10, 12:36 PM	#2
Brag Navy Seal Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Docked on a Russian pond Posts: 7,072 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	I´ll beat Jimbuna in saying, BE MORE AGRESSIVE __________________ Espionage, adventure, suspense, are just a click away Click here to look inside Brag's book: Amazon.com: Kingmaker: Alexey Braguine: Books Order Kingmaker here: http://www.subsim.com/store.html For Tactics visit:http://www.freewebs.com/kielman/

10-25-10, 01:15 PM	#5
ReFaN Grey Wolf Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Sweden Posts: 831 Downloads: 101 Uploads: 0	By all that is Holy... Drinks are on me for you, Lucky bastard __________________ Liverpool is my relegion, Anfield is my church. True believers never walk alone.

10-25-10, 02:26 PM	#6
flag4 Watch Officer Join Date: May 2007 Location: as far away as possible Posts: 1,625 Downloads: 147 Uploads: 0	Das Boot, part2 Philipp_Thomsen - you made it back have just come back myself from a large convoy. pulled just over 6ooo tons. all electric eels fails - i watched them bump-bump-bump. stopped a large merchant, was being hounded by 3 black swans, managed to turn and finish off the merchant from a sharp and desperate angle and caught it on the corner stern with a magnetic. terrific explosion - absolutley shattered the ship from one end to the other. then they came! one sat still marking, while the others threw everything at me. got away with minimal damage. i should have left under cover of the convoy. im in a TypeII. so, no stern eel. i have been off work today and this has taken alllll afternoon - all for 6000 tons! __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] ' We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different.' Kurt Vonnegut

10-25-10, 02:45 PM	#7
STEED Lucky Jack Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Down Town UK Posts: 27,695 Downloads: 89 Uploads: 48	Three months to fix that piece of junk? Scrap it and get a new one and get back out hunting. __________________ Dr Who rest in peace 1963-2017. To borrow Davros saying...I NAME YOU CHIBNALL THE DESTROYER OF DR WHO YOU KILLED IT!

10-25-10, 01:15 PM	#4
frau kaleun Rear Admiral Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Skyri--oh who are we kidding, I'm probably at Lowe's. Again. Posts: 12,706 Downloads: 168 Uploads: 0	looks at screenshot shrugs Eh, that'll probably buff out.

10-25-10, 02:49 PM	#8
Bubblehead1980 Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Florida USA Posts: 7,100 Downloads: 605 Uploads: 44	wow, true "pucker" moment

10-25-10, 03:25 PM	#9
flag4 Watch Officer Join Date: May 2007 Location: as far away as possible Posts: 1,625 Downloads: 147 Uploads: 0	@ STEED. your tag line reminds me of 'we are all equal, but some of us are more equal than others.' or something like that!! __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] ' We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different.' Kurt Vonnegut

10-25-10, 04:04 PM	#10
Philipp_Thomsen Old Gang Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Drunk at the whorehouse Posts: 2,278 Downloads: 146 Uploads: 0	The year was 1943 actually, Ive just fixed it. __________________ To each his own

10-25-10, 06:05 PM	#11
ediko Electrician's Mate Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Latvia Posts: 137 Downloads: 17 Uploads: 0	You're one lucky Kaleun since the cruiser didn't land on your uboat. Great story. By the way how much crew did you loose? I remember the game ending if I have lost more than half of all crew.

10-25-10, 06:27 PM	#12
ralphnader23 Bosun Join Date: May 2010 Location: Periscope Depth Posts: 66 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	And they say it's better to play in the pond than the puddles... Nice trick sitting underneath the slowed down cruiser. I had always wondered about the pros (reloading safely) and cons (explosion) of doing something like that.

10-25-10, 06:32 PM	#13
desirableroasted Grey Wolf Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: In the mountains, now. On the edge of the sea before. Posts: 933 Downloads: 47 Uploads: 0	3 months repair? It'd take that long to get my sphincter uncurled. __________________ "Well, now, that's true... the IXC is a bit of a chick magnet..but you really can't beat the VIIB for off-road fun."