U-53's 103k Ton patrol. Well I never!

Foghladh_mhara · 08-28-07, 03:40 PM

I never thought this day would arrive and to be honest I owe it all to the incredibly brave but ridiculously stupid AI sub who spotted the convoy.

Twas September 1940 and I had just transferred to the 7/13th flotilla staging out of St Nazaire. Although loath to leave my beloved 2nd flotilla the prospect of navigating my way out of the hole that is Lorient every patrol tipped the balance in favour of St Nazaire.

We were assigned Grid AM23 just north of the Rockall Bank. Knowing this to be close to the shipping lanes and having come across a significant amount of single traffic in that area before we were pleased with the assignment. We have become wary of convoys and more specifically the escorts.
Or rather I have turned chicken.

We headed southwest once clearing the harbour minefield aiming to reach the deep water as soon as possible and then plotted a route skirting along the continental shelf. Although it is early in the conflict and Allied air and naval power has not spread to the Bay of Biscay yet I feel better hearing that there is over 1000m under the keel should the need arise.
Once reaching deeper water we carried out a deep dive to check out our systems. Seeing as were playing at 90% realism (I cant do without external camera, I have to see the explosions and the sub is normally heading down deep by the time they impact!) with malfunctions and sabotage enabled I'd rather try to find any problems at this point. All seemed in order for now so we proceeded on the surface.

We had reached BF17 when we received the contact report. A convoy spotted by one of our subs on a south westerly course. The reported position was only 150km away and heading towards us. Now as I said I've lately been allergic to convoys but this one was only travelling at 5 knots and we would converge at nightfall so I took a swig of brandy and set up the intercept.
The weather was very calm and i was confident my lookouts would spot the escorts before they spotted us. I need'nt have worried. The first escort was fully visible from very long range. In fact he was probably visible from the moon seeing as he was on fire but still dutifully keeping station on the fringes of the herd. There were flames coming from every part of his superstructure. Didnt appear to slow him down though. As I got closer I saw there were 2 large cargos, 1 whale factory and a large merchant also showing flames so obviously there had been a bit of a barney. I picked off three of these in my first salvo and they all went down as one hit wonders. I'm guessing they must have been badly damaged. The remaining floating bonfire was at the head of the convoy and he was a very useful fellow to follow. In fact I never sank him at all and just used him as navigation beacon.
The usual drill followed. Go deep and evade. Surface and reload and back in front again. They were travelling so slow I managed to set up 3 attacks in one night. The escorts was so inexperienced that I even managed to carry out a daylight attack and escape without as much as one deoth charge falling. Oh to be in 1940 for ever!

My final tally on the convoy was 9 ships including 2 whale factorys for a total of about 95k or thereabouts. At this point I only had one stern torp left and there was nothing big left to sink so I disengaged and carried on to my patrol grid. Sure enough on the long journey up and down from AM23 I managed to bag 4 small tramps and merchants with the deck gun and very nearly sank an ore carrier that was flying the US flag but not lit up

Grand total 103,000 tons of shipping sent to the bottom, promotions and baubles all round and a hefty chunk of renown in the bank. And to think my career guidance teacher said I'd amount to nothing!

Brag · 08-28-07, 05:05 PM

Congratahoochies, Fogh!!!

He he, you have Balz's evil twin sub.
Balz never zonked a convoy the way you have. You two ought to get together

Shelton · 08-28-07, 08:33 PM

sounds like you had fun - are you using GWX?

bookworm_020 · 08-28-07, 11:13 PM

It's nice to know that you have some friends out there now with GWX.

onelifecrisis · 08-28-07, 11:23 PM

That was a great read - had me laffing out loud! :rotfl:

Congratz

LoneTraveller · 08-28-07, 11:40 PM

Wow...I admire the way you ppl chronicle your attacks in an emotional interesting way.

I can't do that. I try to but I'm too much of a bottom-liner...

The best patrol I had is here (or so I hope the copy/paste worked) :
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...83681&page=182

I went systematicly at all the biggest ships first but couldn't find anything worth saying about the attack.

Not sure what to make of this...

Baah...that's life. I wish close near death experiences (without the death) to you all out there.

Zero Niner · 08-29-07, 01:39 AM

Hey! Take care of her and her crew ok? I used to sail on U-53 before I transferred to U-109!

Foghladh_mhara · 08-29-07, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bookworm_020

It's nice to know that you have some friends out there now with GWX.

Yeah. I never clapped eyes on the AI sub but all the damage on the ships was in the form of shellfire. I'm using the torpedo damage final mod. During my second attack a u-boat symbol appeared on the map well behind the convoy but never closed in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoneTraveller

Wow...I admire the way you ppl chronicle your attacks in an emotional interesting way.

And amazingly enough my psychiatrist is trying to steer me away from an emotional attachment to my u-boat. He even took my bloody cap and pipe

nikbear · 08-29-07, 12:17 PM

What a rip-roaring patrol,congrats

Mine never get half way that succesful

Avatar · 08-29-07, 12:44 PM

Excellent patrol report!
I once encountered a convoy that was around bf15 that also had a large cargo ship that was on fire. I couldnt understand why it was on fire, as I hadnt made any attacks on it. Then, with map updates on, I saw a type VIIc submarine way aft of the convoys track.
I was under the impression that AI subs didnt fire AI torpedoes? And I though that no matter how many contact reports you send in, you will never get any support.
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard that with GWX1.04, you'll be able to call other wolves to the scene?

Foghladh_mhara · 08-29-07, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avatar

Excellent patrol report!
I once encountered a convoy that was around bf15 that also had a large cargo ship that was on fire. I couldnt understand why it was on fire, as I hadnt made any attacks on it. Then, with map updates on, I saw a type VIIc submarine way aft of the convoys track.
I was under the impression that AI subs didnt fire AI torpedoes? And I though that no matter how many contact reports you send in, you will never get any support.
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard that with GWX1.04, you'll be able to call other wolves to the scene?

The AI subs use their deck guns. Thats why you generally see the convoy they attacked but not the u-boat. They get sunk

Canovaro · 08-29-07, 02:43 PM

Very well done. Three attacks in one night, that's really something. Happened to me once, but I got only half of your tonnage

08-28-07, 03:40 PM	#1
Foghladh_mhara Commander Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Kent Posts: 473 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	U-53's 103k Ton patrol. Well I never! I never thought this day would arrive and to be honest I owe it all to the incredibly brave but ridiculously stupid AI sub who spotted the convoy. Twas September 1940 and I had just transferred to the 7/13th flotilla staging out of St Nazaire. Although loath to leave my beloved 2nd flotilla the prospect of navigating my way out of the hole that is Lorient every patrol tipped the balance in favour of St Nazaire. We were assigned Grid AM23 just north of the Rockall Bank. Knowing this to be close to the shipping lanes and having come across a significant amount of single traffic in that area before we were pleased with the assignment. We have become wary of convoys and more specifically the escorts. Or rather I have turned chicken. We headed southwest once clearing the harbour minefield aiming to reach the deep water as soon as possible and then plotted a route skirting along the continental shelf. Although it is early in the conflict and Allied air and naval power has not spread to the Bay of Biscay yet I feel better hearing that there is over 1000m under the keel should the need arise. Once reaching deeper water we carried out a deep dive to check out our systems. Seeing as were playing at 90% realism (I cant do without external camera, I have to see the explosions and the sub is normally heading down deep by the time they impact!) with malfunctions and sabotage enabled I'd rather try to find any problems at this point. All seemed in order for now so we proceeded on the surface. We had reached BF17 when we received the contact report. A convoy spotted by one of our subs on a south westerly course. The reported position was only 150km away and heading towards us. Now as I said I've lately been allergic to convoys but this one was only travelling at 5 knots and we would converge at nightfall so I took a swig of brandy and set up the intercept. The weather was very calm and i was confident my lookouts would spot the escorts before they spotted us. I need'nt have worried. The first escort was fully visible from very long range. In fact he was probably visible from the moon seeing as he was on fire but still dutifully keeping station on the fringes of the herd. There were flames coming from every part of his superstructure. Didnt appear to slow him down though. As I got closer I saw there were 2 large cargos, 1 whale factory and a large merchant also showing flames so obviously there had been a bit of a barney. I picked off three of these in my first salvo and they all went down as one hit wonders. I'm guessing they must have been badly damaged. The remaining floating bonfire was at the head of the convoy and he was a very useful fellow to follow. In fact I never sank him at all and just used him as navigation beacon. The usual drill followed. Go deep and evade. Surface and reload and back in front again. They were travelling so slow I managed to set up 3 attacks in one night. The escorts was so inexperienced that I even managed to carry out a daylight attack and escape without as much as one deoth charge falling. Oh to be in 1940 for ever! My final tally on the convoy was 9 ships including 2 whale factorys for a total of about 95k or thereabouts. At this point I only had one stern torp left and there was nothing big left to sink so I disengaged and carried on to my patrol grid. Sure enough on the long journey up and down from AM23 I managed to bag 4 small tramps and merchants with the deck gun and very nearly sank an ore carrier that was flying the US flag but not lit up Grand total 103,000 tons of shipping sent to the bottom, promotions and baubles all round and a hefty chunk of renown in the bank. And to think my career guidance teacher said I'd amount to nothing! __________________ The beauty of not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise without any of the stress that might normally precede such a venture

08-28-07, 05:05 PM	#2
Brag Navy Seal Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Docked on a Russian pond Posts: 7,072 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	Congratahoochies, Fogh!!! He he, you have Balz's evil twin sub. Balz never zonked a convoy the way you have. You two ought to get together __________________ 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/

08-28-07, 08:33 PM	#3
Shelton Planesman Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 195 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	sounds like you had fun - are you using GWX? __________________ I use Linux http://www.kde.org/screenshots/

08-28-07, 11:13 PM	#4
bookworm_020 Navy Seal Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sinking ships off the Australian coast Posts: 5,966 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	It's nice to know that you have some friends out there now with GWX. __________________ "There is always one person in any organization who knows whats going on, That person must be fired"

08-29-07, 01:39 AM	#7
Zero Niner Ace of the Deep Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,033 Downloads: 69 Uploads: 0	*Tha's my* boat!!** Hey! Take care of her and her crew ok? I used to sail on U-53 before I transferred to U-109!

08-28-07, 11:23 PM	#5
onelifecrisis Maverick Modder Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: England Posts: 3,895 Downloads: 65 Uploads: 3	That was a great read - had me laffing out loud! :rotfl: Congratz

08-28-07, 11:40 PM	#6
LoneTraveller Seaman Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Montreal Posts: 39 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	Wow...I admire the way you ppl chronicle your attacks in an emotional interesting way. I can't do that. I try to but I'm too much of a bottom-liner... The best patrol I had is here (or so I hope the copy/paste worked) : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...83681&page=182 I went systematicly at all the biggest ships first but couldn't find anything worth saying about the attack. Not sure what to make of this... Baah...that's life. I wish close near death experiences (without the death) to you all out there.

08-29-07, 12:17 PM	#9
nikbear Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Northampton,UK Posts: 1,859 Downloads: 86 Uploads: 0	What a rip-roaring patrol,congrats Mine never get half way that succesful __________________ 'It is not surely known when the grey wolf shall come upon the seat of the gods' Ericksmal.

08-29-07, 12:44 PM	#10
Avatar Commodore Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Way out there Posts: 603 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	Excellent patrol report! I once encountered a convoy that was around bf15 that also had a large cargo ship that was on fire. I couldnt understand why it was on fire, as I hadnt made any attacks on it. Then, with map updates on, I saw a type VIIc submarine way aft of the convoys track. I was under the impression that AI subs didnt fire AI torpedoes? And I though that no matter how many contact reports you send in, you will never get any support. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard that with GWX1.04, you'll be able to call other wolves to the scene?

08-29-07, 02:43 PM	#12
Canovaro Ace of the Deep Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,062 Downloads: 34 Uploads: 0	Very well done. Three attacks in one night, that's really something. Happened to me once, but I got only half of your tonnage