Has this ever happened to you

[robj250]

Here I am in 1943 Oct off the coast of Africa in a rough sea, heavy rain and heavy fog and your in the middle of a convoy and can't see a thing? It happened in the day attack and night attack.

Rob

[joea]

Many times, that's why mariners hate fog.

[ReallyDedPoet]

I hit a fellow wolf once the fog was so thick We were in amongst a convoy.


RDP

[Ivan Putski]

I just had a lone merchant slip by me in heavy seas, and dense fog at night, had him on sonar, but never caught sight of him, and he was real close in.

[GoldenRivet]

Originally Posted by Mikhayl

With your hydros you can get some good results if you're close enough, on such occasion I once sunk 2 tankers and 1 ammo ship with 5 torpedoes (4 hits), 30000 tons and I didn't even see anything. The only mistake I made was to think I am überskilled when in fact it was pure luck, the second salvo made me realise that when I missed 4 out of 4 :rotfl:

then there is the nagging question... where they neutrals? were they friendly? were they enemy? perhaps they were hospital ships?

When attacking in poor visibility by hydrophones you never really can tell what your shooting at (unless you use free camera). so be careful out there when conducting this type of attack, it could even be another u-boat!

[Hondo314]

Convoys and fog don't mix (pesky escorts ruin the fun), but hunting single merchants in the fog during Happy Times is a blast. Position yourself so the AOB is 0 while the merchant is closing, then keep it at 90 or 270 relative bearing to your boat with occasional ahead slow or back slow orders. Once the target is within 1000m (short range according to the hydrophone operator), keep your eyes peeled focused on the bearing to target. Order ahead full or back full the instant you see the ship to give enough distance between yourself and the target track for your eels to arm. Watching a merchant come bursting out of the fog at a few hundred meters always gets the blood pumping. If the target is moving fast, you may not be able to put enough distance between yourself and the target for the eels to arm though, but it still looks cool!

[robj250]

Originally Posted by Hondo314

Convoys and fog don't mix (pesky escorts ruin the fun), but hunting single merchants in the fog during Happy Times is a blast. Position yourself so the AOB is 0 while the merchant is closing, then keep it at 90 or 270 relative bearing to your boat with occasional ahead slow or back slow orders. Once the target is within 1000m (short range according to the hydrophone operator), keep your eyes peeled focused on the bearing to target. Order ahead full or back full the instant you see the ship to give enough distance between yourself and the target track for your eels to arm. Watching a merchant come bursting out of the fog at a few hundred meters always gets the blood pumping. If the target is moving fast, you may not be able to put enough distance between yourself and the target for the eels to arm though, but it still looks cool!

Suppose a DD come bursting out of the fog doing 14 kts, 150m from you would make your heart skip a beat, maybe several beats. Why doesn't your radar pick 'em up ahead of time giving you time to react?

[Jimbuna]

I never stop on the surface in the midst of a convoy during 'pea soup' weather.

Use the hydrophones to mark your targets.....the only downside is the risk to neutrals. Not so common later in the war.

[Reece]

Use the hydrophones to mark your targets.....the only downside is the risk to neutrals. Not so common later in the war.

Also you usually can't identify the ship till it's too late, you could get a juicy tanker or a small merchant, but that's the way it goes, like Jim, I take my chances, only ever got a neutral once!

[Hondo314]

Originally Posted by robj250

Suppose a DD come bursting out of the fog doing 14 kts, 150m from you would make your heart skip a beat, maybe several beats. Why doesn't your radar pick 'em up ahead of time giving you time to react?

A DD would not surprise me out of the fog because like I said, I only do that for single merchants (determined by frequent hydrophone checks to keep the merchant on 90/270 relative bearing anyway). Radar is not available yet either. Once you have the merchant at 90/270, you could wait at periscope depth to screen for lone DDs continuously if you had ants in your pants.

[Abd_von_Mumit]

Originally Posted by Hondo314

A DD would not surprise me out of the fog because like I said, I only do that for single merchants (determined by frequent hydrophone checks to keep the merchant on 90/270 relative bearing anyway). Radar is not available yet either. Once you have the merchant at 90/270, you could wait at periscope depth to screen for lone DDs continuously if you had ants in your pants.

"A DD would not surprise me out of the fog" - you're wrong, mate. As someone said yesterday, they'll get you when you are not expecting.

Short story. I was shadowing crippled merchant East of GB in shallow waters, waiting for it to sink. It was in my dark and almost forgotten times of playing stock SH3. Watched it submerged, through my periscope. So... something strange started to happen, water went weird and my periscope glass got wet every moment, although the weather was good and there were almost no waves. Before I managed to think about the strange water's behaviour, I heard KONTAAAKT! WARSHIP! VERY FAST! CLOSING! BEARING 169! I was close to a heart attack. Panic... I remember panic. I turned my scope right to the aft only to see a huge bow of (probably) a destroyer. Seconds later I was getting damage reports, seconds later my boat was dead, falling to the bottom with all hands lost. She rammed me out of nowhere. It was 30 seconds period between absolutely controllable situation and sudden death. I didn't spot the ship before, as she was coming in my buffles (bearing between 170-190, out of hydrophone range).

You must ALWAYS watch. Seconds can kill you or save your life.

[bookworm_020]

Been there done that! Sometimes I can make the fog work for me, but most of the time, no joy!

[Sniper_Fox]

i saw a convoy off the coast of ireland, assumed it was british, moved in ahead flank for the kill, it was completely unguarded, the entire time i was second guessing but i kept reassuring myself, i got in close about 500m, they still hadnt spotted me! i marked my targets, there was only 5 of them... perfect, 4 tubes, finish the last with the deckgun... then to my horror, just as i pressed torpedo los, ITS IRISH!!!!!!!!! the friggin magnetic pistol failed exploding 50 m before it hit a cargo vessel... i stayed witht he convoy for a bit, and out ahead of me a british destroyer was moving in at 30kts, i guess the irish radioed in saying (this ******* tried to torpedo us! help!:rotfl but when the DD was firing hit inadvertantly smoked 2 of the cargos, infact sinking the one i almost blew up! feeling angered by his blatent disregard for innocent life, i stuck close to on eof the ships, most of his volleys were now missing, i manned the deckgun and begun firing on him, im pretty sure the irish were firing too, because i kept hearing more gun rounds close by firing than my crew can load, and due to my crappy rig i couldnt be above deck to watch the chaos, but in the end before the DD got within 1000m my guncrew destroyed it.

lesson for today... DONT ASSUME UNGUARDED GROUPS OF SHIPS ARE BRITISH!

and stick with neutral ships for cover!

and last but not least... dont trust your life on magnetic pistols... they're bloody rubbish!

[mcf1]

Was playing a LAN game with a friend. and i almost rammed a Bogue carrier, because of the fog i saw it on the periskope 200m away, coming towards to me.