Am I doomed?

maillemaker · 01-27-14, 11:07 PM

It's January 5, 1945.

I just made a stellar attack on a convoy, and came back for seconds. Over 50K sunk.

Made the mistake of launching all my homing torps, and there are now 2 destroyers upstairs that won't let me go. They are out of DCs, but have been following me for 4 hours. I'm at 250 meters with 99% HI. I dare not go deeper.

Seas were fairly rough 4 hours ago, but it's daylight now I have no idea what is going on up top.

I'm down to about 15 on the battery, but tons of air left. If I have to I can surface and put the snorkle up for a few seconds to grab air, but I'm sure they will shoot me down if I try to run very far on it.

Am I doomed?

Steve

Admiral Halsey · 01-27-14, 11:31 PM

What type of boat are you using?

Raptor · 01-27-14, 11:48 PM

The short answer - you're screwed!

If you have a snorkel, it's a late war year. That means the allies have dedicated hunter-killer groups with or near the convoys.

These murdering wolves won't leave you. They'll let the escort take the convoy away while they just sit on top of you. They know their chances of a death blow are minimal when you're down deep, so they'll hold onto most of their depth charges and wait for you to surface when you run out of air and/or battery.

They may drop an occasional "present" just to force you to move and use up more battery.

Check with your sound man. If the DDs are still there, it's suicide to come up and try to snorkel. Radar will see the snorkel at night and they'll hear your diesels running.

Your only hope is to creep away using silent running and very slow speed, changing course often to try to stay astern of most of the DDs. Unfortunately, you don't have the battery life left for that.

Write your will on waterproof paper, surface, and hope to surrender before they blow you out of the water.

maillemaker · 01-27-14, 11:55 PM

I'm in a Type XXI, of course.

And I escaped.

It's cheesy, but I'll take it

After being kept down for 12 hours, with the 2 destroyers just making false passes over me, I surfaced to try to run with a snorkle.

While running with the snorkle, one of the escorts rammed me and ripped his own guts out. We took damage but lost no hull integrity at all.

With one escort left I went back to 260 meters at flank speed then cut the engines and drifted.

The single escort could not keep me tracked and they gave up. After a few hours I was able to come back up to periscope depth and sailed home on snorkle.

We live!

I might make it to the end of the war yet. This will be my first time playing with absolute 100% realism including no map updates, dead is dead.

Oh, and I took down over 62,000 tons of shipping from that convoy.

Steve

VONHARRIS · 01-28-14, 05:37 AM

Well done on your escape and your success.
I still haven't made it that far.
Latest time in the war for me is January 1944.

BigWalleye · 01-28-14, 07:50 AM

Good move. Congrats on getting away.

Unfortunately, that tactic wouldn't work in R/L. "... cut the engines and drift...." and you lose depth control. Especially true if you are running silent with the pumps off.

If you'd like to try a more prototypical simulation, before you go out on your next patrol, activate h.sie's and Stiebler's patches. Make sure Stiebler's Silent Running Fix is turned on. Then, when you try to drift at depth while silent, you will find yourself slowly settling deeper. You'll have to run the motors periodically to hold depth (wihich makes noise and uses amps). This creates a delicate (and nerve-wracking) trade-off. More like what a real sub skipper would have faced.

01-27-14, 11:07 PM	#1
maillemaker Sea Lord Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,639 Downloads: 75 Uploads: 0	Am I doomed? It's January 5, 1945. I just made a stellar attack on a convoy, and came back for seconds. Over 50K sunk. Made the mistake of launching all my homing torps, and there are now 2 destroyers upstairs that won't let me go. They are out of DCs, but have been following me for 4 hours. I'm at 250 meters with 99% HI. I dare not go deeper. Seas were fairly rough 4 hours ago, but it's daylight now I have no idea what is going on up top. I'm down to about 15 on the battery, but tons of air left. If I have to I can surface and put the snorkle up for a few seconds to grab air, but I'm sure they will shoot me down if I try to run very far on it. Am I doomed? Steve

01-27-14, 11:48 PM	#3
Raptor Weps Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Pacific NW, USA Posts: 350 Downloads: 54 Uploads: 0	The short answer - you're screwed! If you have a snorkel, it's a late war year. That means the allies have dedicated hunter-killer groups with or near the convoys. These murdering wolves won't leave you. They'll let the escort take the convoy away while they just sit on top of you. They know their chances of a death blow are minimal when you're down deep, so they'll hold onto most of their depth charges and wait for you to surface when you run out of air and/or battery. They may drop an occasional "present" just to force you to move and use up more battery. Check with your sound man. If the DDs are still there, it's suicide to come up and try to snorkel. Radar will see the snorkel at night and they'll hear your diesels running. Your only hope is to creep away using silent running and very slow speed, changing course often to try to stay astern of most of the DDs. Unfortunately, you don't have the battery life left for that. Write your will on waterproof paper, surface, and hope to surrender before they blow you out of the water. __________________ Raptor

01-27-14, 11:31 PM	#2
Admiral Halsey Best Admiral in the USN Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: USS Enterprise (CV-6) Posts: 1,740 Downloads: 317 Uploads: 0	What type of boat are you using?

01-27-14, 11:55 PM	#4
maillemaker Sea Lord Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,639 Downloads: 75 Uploads: 0	I'm in a Type XXI, of course. And I escaped. It's cheesy, but I'll take it After being kept down for 12 hours, with the 2 destroyers just making false passes over me, I surfaced to try to run with a snorkle. While running with the snorkle, one of the escorts rammed me and ripped his own guts out. We took damage but lost no hull integrity at all. With one escort left I went back to 260 meters at flank speed then cut the engines and drifted. The single escort could not keep me tracked and they gave up. After a few hours I was able to come back up to periscope depth and sailed home on snorkle. We live! I might make it to the end of the war yet. This will be my first time playing with absolute 100% realism including no map updates, dead is dead. Oh, and I took down over 62,000 tons of shipping from that convoy. Steve

01-28-14, 05:37 AM	#5
VONHARRIS Konteradmiral Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Greece Posts: 1,992 Downloads: 300 Uploads: 0	Well done on your escape and your success. I still haven't made it that far. Latest time in the war for me is January 1944.

01-28-14, 07:50 AM	#6
BigWalleye Sea Lord Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: On the Eye-lond, mon! Posts: 1,987 Downloads: 465 Uploads: 0	Good move. Congrats on getting away. Unfortunately, that tactic wouldn't work in R/L. "... cut the engines and drift...." and you lose depth control. Especially true if you are running silent with the pumps off. If you'd like to try a more prototypical simulation, before you go out on your next patrol, activate h.sie's and Stiebler's patches. Make sure Stiebler's Silent Running Fix is turned on. Then, when you try to drift at depth while silent, you will find yourself slowly settling deeper. You'll have to run the motors periodically to hold depth (wihich makes noise and uses amps). This creates a delicate (and nerve-wracking) trade-off. More like what a real sub skipper would have faced.