Med Report

Murr44 · 08-24-08, 11:01 AM

Right now I'm into my 3rd patrol of a career in the Mediteranean sailing aboard U 73. New Year's Day 1942 has just come & gone and this has been a rotten b*st*rd of a patrol! We've had weeks of sunny skies with little or no wind. The problem is that there have been few targets & those that have appeared have all been heavily escorted. No lone ships. Every single merchantman has been in small (2-3 ship) convoys with at least 2 escort vessels: twice I've seen 2 escorts guarding a single lowly coastal freighter. We've suffered 4 aerial attacks; fortunately no permanent damage or casualties were inflicted and we have been chased off almost every convoy that we've met. Narrowly missed a Dido class 1 day out of base (possiblly a bad omen :hmm: ). On the plus side, we've sunk 2 large merchants for about 18,000 GRT so far on this trip. Very narrowly escaped being sunk attacking the 2nd large merchant: one Black Swan detected us in the last seconds

so I had to lauch torpedoes & go for depth asap.

We spent what seemed like an eternity twisting & turning trying to evade her and the 2nd escort. We're down to our last 3 torpedoes & I'm hopeful that we get a little rough weather (no rain & fog though) so that the next convoy may be easier to approach. This is starting to get sooooo monotonous...

Oblt. z. See Otto Vosseler.
GWX 2.1

papa_smurf · 08-24-08, 01:33 PM

Welcome to the Med......................

Brag · 08-24-08, 03:31 PM

Med vacations can be expensive.

KeptinCranky · 08-24-08, 05:35 PM

You don't feel it's rewarding to blast the small merchant right from under the escorts noses?

I've done it in the med, shooting from 6km out or so, decks awash, medium speed steamer eel at night, shoot and scoot, watch the fireworks and ineffectual searchlights from far away with the escorts none the wiser

very rewarding... you'll also eventually run into a King George V BB, it's worth the wait sinking that...

as for the rest of 1942, be prepared for things to get a whole lot messier airplane-wise until you finally get your radar warning in august or so... good luck!

Murr44 · 08-25-08, 06:50 AM

Our luck changed for the better with the last convoy!

We approached a 5 ship convoy (2 escorts, 2 large merchants & a coastal freighter). While submerged we managed to dodge the 1st escort. Crawling along at 2 knots I targetted the 1st large merchant (about 12,000 tons) from about 2500 meters & launched 2 G7a's. I would have preferred to get in a lot closer but the merchant was doing 8 knots & the distance between was slowly increasing. Couldn't see increasing speed as we might be detected. Both eels hit & down she went.

We had one torpedo left in the fore tubes (G7e) so I went for the coastal freighter. Launched this one from 1900 meters; again, I would've liked to get closer but the 2nd escort was getting very close & I didn't want us to be detected. Dove to 143 meters (on the way down the last torpedo hit it's mark & the freighter exploded - lots of fireworks

) & got out of the area as quickly & quietly as possible.

By this time we were down to our stern torpedos (1 loaded & 1 in reserve) so I decided to pack it in & head home. Sank a little over 32,000 so we did far better than I'd expected.

Vosseler out...

Jimbuna · 08-25-08, 06:53 AM

BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!!

08-24-08, 11:01 AM	#1
Murr44 Grey Wolf Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 913 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 0	Med Report Right now I'm into my 3rd patrol of a career in the Mediteranean sailing aboard U 73. New Year's Day 1942 has just come & gone and this has been a rotten bstrd of a patrol! We've had weeks of sunny skies with little or no wind. The problem is that there have been few targets & those that have appeared have all been heavily escorted. No lone ships. Every single merchantman has been in small (2-3 ship) convoys with at least 2 escort vessels: twice I've seen 2 escorts guarding a single lowly coastal freighter. We've suffered 4 aerial attacks; fortunately no permanent damage or casualties were inflicted and we have been chased off almost every convoy that we've met. Narrowly missed a Dido class 1 day out of base (possiblly a bad omen :hmm: ). On the plus side, we've sunk 2 large merchants for about 18,000 GRT so far on this trip. Very narrowly escaped being sunk attacking the 2nd large merchant: one Black Swan detected us in the last seconds so I had to lauch torpedoes & go for depth asap. We spent what seemed like an eternity twisting & turning trying to evade her and the 2nd escort. We're down to our last 3 torpedoes & I'm hopeful that we get a little rough weather (no rain & fog though) so that the next convoy may be easier to approach. This is starting to get sooooo monotonous... Oblt. z. See Otto Vosseler. GWX 2.1

08-24-08, 01:33 PM	#2
papa_smurf Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: High Peak, Derbyshire Posts: 2,851 Downloads: 33 Uploads: 0	Welcome to the Med...................... __________________

08-24-08, 03:31 PM	#3
Brag Navy Seal Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Docked on a Russian pond Posts: 7,072 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	Med vacations can be expensive. __________________ 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/

08-25-08, 06:53 AM	#6
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,770 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!! __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

08-24-08, 05:35 PM	#4
KeptinCranky Ace of the Deep Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,050 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	You don't feel it's rewarding to blast the small merchant right from under the escorts noses? I've done it in the med, shooting from 6km out or so, decks awash, medium speed steamer eel at night, shoot and scoot, watch the fireworks and ineffectual searchlights from far away with the escorts none the wiser very rewarding... you'll also eventually run into a King George V BB, it's worth the wait sinking that... as for the rest of 1942, be prepared for things to get a whole lot messier airplane-wise until you finally get your radar warning in august or so... good luck!

08-25-08, 06:50 AM	#5
Murr44 Grey Wolf Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 913 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 0	Our luck changed for the better with the last convoy! We approached a 5 ship convoy (2 escorts, 2 large merchants & a coastal freighter). While submerged we managed to dodge the 1st escort. Crawling along at 2 knots I targetted the 1st large merchant (about 12,000 tons) from about 2500 meters & launched 2 G7a's. I would have preferred to get in a lot closer but the merchant was doing 8 knots & the distance between was slowly increasing. Couldn't see increasing speed as we might be detected. Both eels hit & down she went. We had one torpedo left in the fore tubes (G7e) so I went for the coastal freighter. Launched this one from 1900 meters; again, I would've liked to get closer but the 2nd escort was getting very close & I didn't want us to be detected. Dove to 143 meters (on the way down the last torpedo hit it's mark & the freighter exploded - lots of fireworks ) & got out of the area as quickly & quietly as possible. By this time we were down to our stern torpedos (1 loaded & 1 in reserve) so I decided to pack it in & head home. Sank a little over 32,000 so we did far better than I'd expected. Vosseler out...