Deep!

[Bosje]

U 161 lost with all hands

Januari 10th, 1943.
200 km off the US east coast

U161 (edit: Type IXC on her 12th patrol) attacks a convoy in calm seas with clear weather, attack from periscope depth in the night.
spread of 4, each torpedo aimed at the bow of a big ship.
started evasive action while torpedoes were running (mistake)
Escort became aware of our presence and the convoy slowed down, turning away from us.
only 1 hit out of 4, a torpedo clipped the very front of the ship.

depth only 40 meters when the escorts came in for attack,

We increased speed while diving deep and turning away from the escort, depth charges all around us but we were still diving, only a lot of near misses, no damage to the boat.

as we passed 150 meters we slowed down to silent running with rudder 10 port or starboard as we crept down.

at 180 meters we were pinged but after many runs we weren't too concerned, trusting in the twisting and turning and diving to keep us safe.

suddenly, a big crash and water rushed into the boat everywhere, silent running aborted and engines revved up as the crew rushed to damage control.

almost immediately, our depth started to increase dramatically while damage reports came in.

heavy flooding in the rear torpedo room, diesel and electric engine rooms and rear crew quarters.

the LI left his station to take charge of damage control, the boat was tilting heavily: stern was deep down. depth increased rapidly.

passed 290 meters, the pressure hull was failing. crew worked hard on damage control, flooding was almost under control but the boat was dropping out of control.

all ahead flank with planes up for surfacing, blew ballast

depth went rapidly from 350, 360, 370, 380.
flooding under control in engine rooms, switched focus to stern torpedo room
in the control room, instruments are shattering everywhere, glass is breaking and the hull is audibly starting to collapse

compressed air at 50%, depth still increasing.
blew ballast again, speed measured no longer reverse knots, speed stopped and then very slowly increased. boat now moving forward at a severe angle, stern is pointing way down, water level in stern compartments is still critical

passed 400 meters, damage almost under control, 20% compressed air remaining

boat still heavily tilted rear down, speed increasing to 2 knots (ahead flank), lights and gauges all around us are shattered

hull is failing but boat has finally stopped at 407 meters, now very slowy getting back up, 406 now.

pressure hull failure,
game over.


**** i almost thought i made it! damage under control and boat is climbing up again! 407 meters and living to tell the tale...
that would have been something

ah well

a new career for Bosje
thankfully it's just a game

[u35_captain]

That is absolutely heartbreaking to have gotten so close to a miraculous escape and then to lose everything *wince*

[Tinman764]

Excellent read, so very close to saving the crew!

[flag4]

...the horrible thing is, this must have happened so many times in real life, they thought they'd made it, then BANG - finished.

its quite frighteneing visualizing it as i was reading.

and after 12 patrols, a good crew too.

[Harald_Lange]

hull is failing but boat has finally stopped at 407 meters, now very slowy getting back up, 406 now.

407 meters?????? That exceeds what I thought was possible by about a hundred meters


Hope you don't think I'm hijacking, but its relating to a similar experience I had last night west of the Canaries. I was in my VIIC and I'd already sunk 4 merchants. A Black Swan Class escort lit me up with his searchlight. (I was using the mantra of 'Be More Aggressive' after all.)
After a crash dive I thought I'd take it to 160m and follow the convoy along throwing caution to the wind, ahead standard, silent running off, whilst I reloaded my torps.

After a few 'wasserbomb' warnings and a lot of rocking about without damage, I thought I'd crank it up to flank speed and follow my course straight to cut underneath the convoy, and sit and wait for them to come to me whilst I reloaded. (Yes, too reckless I know, but I was 'being more aggressive'.)

Another 'wasserbomb' warning, then a long pause, then BANG, sub almost tipped 90 degrees over:
Deck gun destroyed, radio destroyed, hydrophone destroyed, fore batteries destroyed. Major flooding.

I started to sink and slammed it into back emergency, managing only 2kts, but still sinking slowly. I stopped at about 230m and managed to get the flooding under control. Once I'd stabilised the sub I ordered all stop, as I wasn't going to get any power from my electrics anymore, and went to silent running, hanging in the water whilst the Black Swan gave me hell.

Miraculously he never found his target again and after another four or five depth charge runs, and some bouncing around, I was left alone. I had to break silent running again to stop some flooding which reappeared in the bow torpedo room, but man I was lucky.

After my brush with oblivion, my only objectives now were getting some fresh air into the pressure hull, then getting to dry land.

With no hydrophone and no idea what was going on above my head, I gave it 24 hours sitting motionless right where I was, then bit the bullet and blew ballast.

Popped the hatch, nothing in sight, I breathed a sigh of relief and headed back to base, crippled but happy to be alive, and kind of smug that I'd put 20,000 tons at the bottom in any case.

[Luno]

It's the worst feeling in the world to watch that needle turn around without any power to stop it...

At that point, I'm just shouting to myself, apologizing for all the tankers I sunk, and just begging to be able to surrender alive.

I'm surprised that your hull caved in at such extreme depth, and only after you were already rising. I thought the damage model in silent hunter was simpler than that. I'm guessing extreme depth progressively damages the hull?

[flag4]

Originally Posted by Harald_Lange

407 meters?????? That exceeds what I thought was possible by about a hundred meters


Hope you don't think I'm hijacking, but its relating to a similar experience I had last night west of the Canaries. I was in my VIIC and I'd already sunk 4 merchants. A Black Swan Class escort lit me up with his searchlight. (I was using the mantra of 'Be More Aggressive' after all.)
After a crash dive I thought I'd take it to 160m and follow the convoy along throwing caution to the wind, ahead standard, silent running off, whilst I reloaded my torps.

After a few 'wasserbomb' warnings and a lot of rocking about without damage, I thought I'd crank it up to flank speed and follow my course straight to cut underneath the convoy, and sit and wait for them to come to me whilst I reloaded. (Yes, too reckless I know, but I was 'being more aggressive'.)

Another 'wasserbomb' warning, then a long pause, then BANG, sub almost tipped 90 degrees over:
Deck gun destroyed, radio destroyed, hydrophone destroyed, fore batteries destroyed. Major flooding.

I started to sink and slammed it into back emergency, managing only 2kts, but still sinking slowly. I stopped at about 230m and managed to get the flooding under control. Once I'd stabilised the sub I ordered all stop, as I wasn't going to get any power from my electrics anymore, and went to silent running, hanging in the water whilst the Black Swan gave me hell.

Miraculously he never found his target again and after another four or five depth charge runs, and some bouncing around, I was left alone. I had to break silent running again to stop some flooding which reappeared in the bow torpedo room, but man I was lucky.

After my brush with oblivion, my only objectives now were getting some fresh air into the pressure hull, then getting to dry land.

With no hydrophone and no idea what was going on above my head, I gave it 24 hours sitting motionless right where I was, then bit the bullet and blew ballast.

Popped the hatch, nothing in sight, I breathed a sigh of relief and headed back to base, crippled but happy to be alive, and kind of smug that I'd put 20,000 tons at the bottom in any case.

...im wondering what lessons you might have learned from this knife edge close call. it doesnt get much closer than that!