My first 'I know how to use the TDC' patrol

[Captain Vlad]

Will be posting this in sections.

Finally decided to switch to manual targetting a while back. Two patrols in the Seadragon have put a high amount of tonnage under my belt, but those aren't the 'real deal' to me as I used them as a learning exercise, saving and reloading frequently.

Things I learned from those patrols are A> I can score a hit with the TDC and B> I shoot pretty good deflection (for before I had really figured out the TDC)

Anyhow, this is my first 'whatever happens, happens' not for practica manual targetting patrol. Not telling it 'in-character', as the idea was to let whoever is reading it know what I was thinking. Enjoy!


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Part One

Febuary 28, 1942

The USS Seadragon, currently operating out of Surabaya, Java, sets
forth on a late night. Her assignment? Patrol the Makassar Straight,
that section of ocean between Borneo and the Celebes that always seems
to pull Captain Vlad in.

During the last two patrols I've been fumbling about with manual
targeting. I've scored nice tonnage on both, though mostly by closing
to 600 yards or less and firing my torpedoes by eye. I can obviously
sink stuff using this method, but having to approach to that range
every time is tedious, and in convoys, is a virtual guarantee that
I'll be detected before I can fire. While a ship going under usually
follows the Japs noticing me, I like the first warning to be my fish
exploding under a bad guy's keel.

So, after DLing a nice tutorial vid, and practicing in the sub school,
I managed to sink two ships at the tail end of the last patrol
actually using the TDC. I aim to put my new skills to use on this
excursion.

Setting out from Surabaya, I quickly detect warships on my
hydrophones. I'd say it's too far south to be Japanese...but this is
late Febuary 1942, the time when the Japanese blitzkrieged through the
South Pacific with speed that made the Germans look bad. Surabaya, I
know, will fall soon. Could this be the invasion force? I change
course to intercept.

It's not the invasion force. It's a mixed task force...US and Dutch.
A De Ruyter style cruiser and escorting destroyers, apparently making
for home. Whatever they're up too (headed for the Battle of the Java Sea?),
I wish them well, and head northeast from Java, toward my patrol zone.

The transit in uneventful. I like that you really do have to
look for ships with RSRD. Last patrol, this same area was overrun with
Dutch merchants.

That isn't the case anymore. Most of the same waters are now under
IJN control, and any contact is likely to be enemy.

For several days, though, there are no contacts. I slow to 5 knots
after I reach my patrol zone and roam about the area, periodically
checking the sonar for distant propeller noise. HQ even shifts my patrol
zone south a bit, to the mouth of the straight near the city of
Makassar. I see lots of lovely Pacific sunrises and sunsets, take an
wild ride through a wave tossed sea, but I see no shipping. After a
week and a half of this, I'm told to continue patrolling the straights
at my discretion.

I head north. I think I was cruising a bit far south to run into many
ships, since Balikpapan, halfway up the straight, is the biggest port
in the area. I take station in the northern entrance to the straight
and begin my usual search routine (patrol at very low speed submerged
during the day, on surface at night). I don't even really get started
when I get that rarest of the rare when using RSRD: A radio contact
report.

It's not a flash traffic...no enemy warships in the area...just red
square on the map showing the last reported position and course of a
Japanese ship. She's not far off, either...I set an intercept course,
increase to flank speed, and head off to catch her.

The weather's been calm the last few days, but now the seas are
choppy. I find the enemy vessel near sunset. She's heading straight
for me...easy kill, or should be. I submerge.

I then discover one of the little irritations of using manual
targeting. It can be exceptionally hard to get good readings on range
and speed when the waves are high enough to obscure the enemy until
he's quite close. I decide to give it a try anyway: I ID the ship
(Small Composite Freighter), figure out a rough range, speed, and
course...doing all right. At one point, I check the hydrophones. I
forget why. I can hear my target getting closer, but there's
something else...another ship, very distant, to the west.

Unfortunately, while pondering this, I manage to botch my torpedo
approach...my target passes by my intended 'shoot point' as I'm
swinging the stern 'round. I'd planned to fire a pair of aft
torpedoes. Oh well! Messed up approach, small, lightly armed
target...that's a recipe for a deck gun attack. I sound
battlestations and blow ballast. She's less than a thousand yards
away when I open fire with my three incher. 15 rounds, and she's
listing heavily. 20 rounds, and she's on fire. The waves swamp her,
and down she goes.

I check the hydrophones. The other contact is still out there. I
secure from General Quarters, crank back up to flank speed (I'd slowed
considerably during the approach/attack), and roar off after the
propeller noise.

It's night by the time I catch up to her. She's a medium freighter of
some stripe, and while I have an easier time doing TDC calculations on
her, she's much too far away to engage. When I submerge, I'm going to
run into the same problem I did with the smaller ship, and the waves
are looking bigger...

I try anyway, deciding to cut her off on the surface and
submerge in her path. Despite the waves, though, visibility is good,
and she spots me and turns away. I'm in a stern chase, now, with
about 10 knots advantage. I draw up parallel to her and briefly
consider turning in for a close range by-eye torpedo attack. The seas
are still calm enough that using the deck gun isn't too unbelievable
so I do just that. I open fire, adjusting for my misses until I see
the flash of a hit, then I open fire in earnest.

I figure she'll take quite a few shells to put under. I figure wrong.
3-inch shell number 15 hits her amidships and she explodes like a car in an
'80's action movie. Somewhat surprised, I secure from battlestations and
report my kills.

HQ decides it's time to sent me somewhere else, and I receive
instructions to proceed to the Api Passage on the western side of
Borneo. I set course and head that way.

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by Captain Vlad

For several days, though, there are no contacts. I slow to 5 knots
after I reach my patrol zone and roam about the area, periodically
checking the sonar for distant propeller noise. HQ even shifts my patrol
zone south a bit, to the mouth of the straight near the city of
Makassar. I see lots of lovely Pacific sunrises and sunsets, take an
wild ride through a wave tossed sea, but I see no shipping. After a
week and a half of this, I'm told to continue patrolling the straights
at my discretion.

RSRD has gotten so good it's almost interactive! Now that's realism. Almost makes me want to join Christie's crew in Australia. Would have to give up the Royal Hawaiian though. That would be tough. Hats off to Lurker!

[howler93]

Vlad,

Congrats on mastering the TDC! Your patrol sounds like it's off to an interesting start...nice writing too! As a teacher, it's refreshing to see quality writing on a forum. Proper use of punctuation and everything

Best of luck with the rest of your patrol!

Howler

[Rockin Robbins]

Hats off to Vlad's great writing also! We have some talented people here on SUBSIM, and some teachers to keep us straight.

Howler, do agree with me that "my bad" is the single most unfortunate customization of the English language?

Eagerly awaiting installment #2.

[howler93]

RR,

I must admit that "My bad" doesn't really bother me too much. In fact, I'm afraid I use the phrase from time to time . What gets me though, is when my students misuse "well" and "good." That and when they use "me" instead of "I," as in the sentence, "Me and my friends went to the store."

[Captain Vlad]

Originally Posted by howler93

Congrats on mastering the TDC!

I won't say I've mastered it, yet. It's more like we've reached an uneasy agreement since it wants to sink ships and so do I.

...nice writing too! As a teacher, it's refreshing to see quality writing on a forum. Proper use of punctuation and everything

In another life, I wrote freelance for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Not so sure about my punctuation. Used to date an English teacher and we'd have wild disagreements over my 'liberal' use of the language.

In reference to this log, though, I'm pretty complimented. I'd originally typed it out in less than 15 minutes as an email to a buddy. I didn't edit it, other than removing personal references.

Best of luck with the rest of your patrol!

No doubt more weird mishaps will abound. I'll try to get the second part up after work tonight.

Hats off to Vlad's great writing also!

TY.:p

[Schultzy]

Great stuff.
I'm looking forward to reading more of your well crafted posts! As a fellow member of the 'how exactly did I hit that??!' club for the TDC impaired, it's good to see we can do it with a bit of practice!

Going a little OT:

"my bad"

I have to say i really do loathe that.
Your bad? Your bad what? Toe? oh you mean your mistake...

That and my other pet hate which is 'I could care less.'
For the love of all things holy, it's 'I couldn't care less.' Which i'm sure is what you're all thinking right now, so i'll shut up. [/OT]

Great posts, keep it up!

[Captain Vlad]

Part Two

The Seadragon, with two kills under her belt, proceeds northwest through the Celebes Sea. I'm having mixed feelings about the results I've garnered thus far. While two Japanese ships are on the bottom, I've yet to conduct a successful torpedo attack this time out.

I can't gripe much, though, as I enjoy using the deck gun. I've got plenty of diesel left to find torpedo fodder. My map shows that a Japanese shipping route slides right through the Api passage, my next patrol area. Chances of finding another ship there are good, I figure.

Sometimes, though, I can be a little impatient. As I cruise northwest at nine knots, I notice that Tarokan Island isn't too far out of my way. I've always loved the idea of sneaking into one of the smaller anchorages in the game and finding a host of AA-gun level targets...trawlers, tugboats, etc...to lay into. It's never happened, but I keep hoping, and I decide that I ought to check out the Island. You never know...

The water is quite shallow near my sudden obsession, but it's enough to stay submerged. Skies are grey and I haven't detected any aircraft in quite some time, so I figure daylight is my best bet. Slide beneath the waves, check the place out, attack if there's anything there, and escape under the cover of darkness.

The infiltration takes a while. I ease in slowly at one knot, keel almost scraping the bottom. It's tedious, honestly, but there's that hope of fulfillng my murderous ambition and becoming SH 4's number one small-craft killer.

Naturally, when I up scope, there's not a blessed thing docked at Tarokan Island.

I indulge in a little role-playing at this point. There's no in-game effect for my brief bombardment of the Tarokan docks, but it does make me feel better. I head back out towards deep water at fifteen knots, a little lighter on 3-inch shells, but happy that the virtual Japanese at TI won't feel safe for awhile.

I resume course for the Api passage when I've got some water under the boat, and reduce to cruising speed.

The next couple of days pass as I 'round Northern Borneo and start to work my way Southwest. So far I haven't been troubled by planes on this patrol, but the SD begins picking up the occasional patrol now...I begin spending most of the daylight hours submerged, creeping along and listening for contacts.

On my second day underwater, I hear something.

The sonar man, naturally, cannot hear the ship, and the little green light on the hydrophone panel isn't shining, but propeller noise is propeller noise. The contact is north of me. He's distant enough that I want to close range while I can still hear him. Figuring out his course will have to wait.

Seadragon emerges from the deep and races north at 15 knots. I could go faster, but I'm suddenly fuel conscious; Surabaya has fallen, or so the radio message says. It's a long cruise to Fremantle, and I'll have to save enough for the trip.

Several in-game hours pass, and I see nothing but empty ocean. The target is louder on the 'phones, though. Even my sonarman can hear it. It's a merchant. Medium speed. I slowly gain. I do mean slowly. The sun is rising (having been about to set when I detected my prey) when I finally catch sight of the enemy.

I swing the Seadragon onto a parallel course and increase to flank speed. I can see that the target is a small freighter of some type, but for a little guy, he's haulin'. It takes a while to draw ahead, and I'm remembering how I spooked one of my earlier kills. I do my best to stay at a good distance from him.

Finally, I get far enough ahead that I think I can intercept him submerged. I dive, maintain flank speed, and adjust course for my intercept point. I raise the scope and am again irritated by choppy seas. I can't even see my target yet, and thus, I rely on the hydrophones to tell me when he's drawing close.

I'd intended on using the aft tubes (I seem obsessed with those, don't I?), but when I catch sight of him in the periscope, he's much closer than I'd thought. I start working out my solution, set tubes one and two for contact detonation, high speed, as shallow as they can be set. I don't have a broadside shot...his bow is closer to me than his stern. Hopefully that won't matter. I open outer doors and fire when the target passes 1200 yards.

One torpedo misses just forward of the target. The other hits...

...and what a hit it is. After the initial 'boom', the entire freighter practically disintegrates. She ripples with secondary explosions, then just sort of vanishes. I check for lifeboats. I don't see any. Not a surprise. No one's paddling away from that.

(It's a day or so later that I read a post on this forum about lots of ships in RSRD carrying ammo...guess that was one of 'em.)

Now satisfied with myself, I resume course for my patrol area.