Darn missed...wait...what was THAT boom?

Curval · 02-05-06, 08:33 AM

Nov. 1940.

After arriving at a patrol grid well west of Northern Ireland I received a message that a large east bound convoy was in a grid north of my position.

I surfaced the boat and raced into the grid and sure enough ran into a large convoy. I had to make a paralell run to get in front of it, which was accomplished sucessfully.

The entire convoy was protected by one Clemson destroyer patrolling in front of the convoy and what turned out to be a V&W defending the rear.

The weather was calm and the sea glass-like.

As I sat in wait for the Clemson to pass, fully intending to let it go by and get at the cargo ship/tankers, it became clear that the Clemson was going to present itself as an easy target, "crossing my T" at a range of just over 600m. By this time I had identified most of the ships in the convoy. There was a T2 tanker in the middle column with a neutral small tanker behind it, followed by a T3 tanker. The two enemy tankers were my main targets. The rest of the ships were C2s, smalll merchants and a line of 3 American C3 cargos steached across the three columns of the convoy at the rear of the mass of ships.

Given that the weather was excellent for deck gun action I decided to take out the Clemson and then try and get the two enemy tankers. I then planned to shadow the convoy with a view to "picking off" the last destroyer and then mopping up the rest of the enemy ships with the deck gun and my remaining torpedos if I was able to evade after my initial attack.

As the convoy crept closer I set up my one and only electric torpedo (tube 4) for a magnetic shot destined for the Clemson and set tubes 1 and 2 for magnetic shots on the T2 and T3 respectively. Tube 3 was to be held in reserve, in case any of the ships required a second shot.

The Clemson didn't stand a chance. The ship had effectively set itself up for its own destruction. As soon as the torpedo hit I received a report that it had been destroyed and I then turned my IXB westards for the shots on the tankers.

I fired at the T2 as soon as I had achieved a good solution at a range of 1,100m. Then I began a further turn to the west to line up the T3.

As soon as I began the turn the report that "We have been detected" was heard. I turned the periscope towards the T3 and immediately noticed that the V&W destoyer was racing from the rear of the convoy and was heading directly for me, but still roughly 2,500m away.

In the few seconds it took to digest this and to consider my options I saw that my shot at the T2 tanker had missed. Cursing I figured I would fire a second shot at the T2 and then break off and try another run at the convoy later on.

I had to turn back to the east a bit to get a good bearing on the lucky T2, but it didn't take long. I didn't have a "great" solution, but given that the V&W was by this time firing at my periscope I had to rush the shot.

As soon as the torpedo hissed out of its tube I ordered a crash dive and made a turn into the path of the destroyer to try and confuse its attack run on me.

It was at this point that I heard an explosion, then another, follwed by a series of them and then a cheer went up from the crew and I received word that we had sunk an enemy ship. I knew it couldn't be the T2 from my last shot as there hadn't been enough time elasped since firing.

A few moments later another explosion was heard and another message received stating that we had sunk another enemy ship. This WAS the T2.

But what was that other one? Given the trajectory of my first shot at the T2 it seemed likely that it might have been the neutral small tanker that was sailing behind the T2...but I had clearly received a message stating an enemy ship had been destroyed. Had the convoy made a turn and had I hit one of the surrounding C2s? This seemed unlikey as I had set the depth of the shot to 10.5m at the T2 and the C2 only has a 7.8m draught. I then began to think that it MIGHT have been the T3!!!

My tactic to turn into the V&W worked well. By the sound of the propellers the destroyer passed almost directly above our boat but its depth charges exploded well behind us on its first attack run.

After a few hours (game time) of searching and attempted unsucessful efforts to kill us the V&W eventually returned to its escort duty with the convoy. I ordered the boat to the surface and plotted a new course to get back in front of the convoy. After a brief sprint on the surface the enemy was again sighted and I moved the boat into a new attack position.

As the enemy ship drew closer I began to take stock. No T3 tanker was seen amongst them.

My next attack claimed two C2s AND the V&W destroyer.

My tubes are now re-loaded and I am currently dashing eastwards again towards the now totally unprotected convoy.

When I exited the game after saving I noticed that my tonnage was approxiamtely 39,000. This confirmed 100% the accidental sinking of the T3 in my first attack.

I went to bed last night with a smile on my face. Tonight there will be a fox in the hen-house.

02-05-06, 08:33 AM	#1
Curval Navy Dude Join Date: May 2005 Location: Bermuda Posts: 177 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	Darn missed...wait...what was THAT boom? Nov. 1940. After arriving at a patrol grid well west of Northern Ireland I received a message that a large east bound convoy was in a grid north of my position. I surfaced the boat and raced into the grid and sure enough ran into a large convoy. I had to make a paralell run to get in front of it, which was accomplished sucessfully. The entire convoy was protected by one Clemson destroyer patrolling in front of the convoy and what turned out to be a V&W defending the rear. The weather was calm and the sea glass-like. As I sat in wait for the Clemson to pass, fully intending to let it go by and get at the cargo ship/tankers, it became clear that the Clemson was going to present itself as an easy target, "crossing my T" at a range of just over 600m. By this time I had identified most of the ships in the convoy. There was a T2 tanker in the middle column with a neutral small tanker behind it, followed by a T3 tanker. The two enemy tankers were my main targets. The rest of the ships were C2s, smalll merchants and a line of 3 American C3 cargos steached across the three columns of the convoy at the rear of the mass of ships. Given that the weather was excellent for deck gun action I decided to take out the Clemson and then try and get the two enemy tankers. I then planned to shadow the convoy with a view to "picking off" the last destroyer and then mopping up the rest of the enemy ships with the deck gun and my remaining torpedos if I was able to evade after my initial attack. As the convoy crept closer I set up my one and only electric torpedo (tube 4) for a magnetic shot destined for the Clemson and set tubes 1 and 2 for magnetic shots on the T2 and T3 respectively. Tube 3 was to be held in reserve, in case any of the ships required a second shot. The Clemson didn't stand a chance. The ship had effectively set itself up for its own destruction. As soon as the torpedo hit I received a report that it had been destroyed and I then turned my IXB westards for the shots on the tankers. I fired at the T2 as soon as I had achieved a good solution at a range of 1,100m. Then I began a further turn to the west to line up the T3. As soon as I began the turn the report that "We have been detected" was heard. I turned the periscope towards the T3 and immediately noticed that the V&W destoyer was racing from the rear of the convoy and was heading directly for me, but still roughly 2,500m away. In the few seconds it took to digest this and to consider my options I saw that my shot at the T2 tanker had missed. Cursing I figured I would fire a second shot at the T2 and then break off and try another run at the convoy later on. I had to turn back to the east a bit to get a good bearing on the lucky T2, but it didn't take long. I didn't have a "great" solution, but given that the V&W was by this time firing at my periscope I had to rush the shot. As soon as the torpedo hissed out of its tube I ordered a crash dive and made a turn into the path of the destroyer to try and confuse its attack run on me. It was at this point that I heard an explosion, then another, follwed by a series of them and then a cheer went up from the crew and I received word that we had sunk an enemy ship. I knew it couldn't be the T2 from my last shot as there hadn't been enough time elasped since firing. A few moments later another explosion was heard and another message received stating that we had sunk another enemy ship. This WAS the T2. But what was that other one? Given the trajectory of my first shot at the T2 it seemed likely that it might have been the neutral small tanker that was sailing behind the T2...but I had clearly received a message stating an enemy ship had been destroyed. Had the convoy made a turn and had I hit one of the surrounding C2s? This seemed unlikey as I had set the depth of the shot to 10.5m at the T2 and the C2 only has a 7.8m draught. I then began to think that it MIGHT have been the T3!!! My tactic to turn into the V&W worked well. By the sound of the propellers the destroyer passed almost directly above our boat but its depth charges exploded well behind us on its first attack run. After a few hours (game time) of searching and attempted unsucessful efforts to kill us the V&W eventually returned to its escort duty with the convoy. I ordered the boat to the surface and plotted a new course to get back in front of the convoy. After a brief sprint on the surface the enemy was again sighted and I moved the boat into a new attack position. As the enemy ship drew closer I began to take stock. No T3 tanker was seen amongst them. My next attack claimed two C2s AND the V&W destroyer. My tubes are now re-loaded and I am currently dashing eastwards again towards the now totally unprotected convoy. When I exited the game after saving I noticed that my tonnage was approxiamtely 39,000. This confirmed 100% the accidental sinking of the T3 in my first attack. I went to bed last night with a smile on my face. Tonight there will be a fox in the hen-house.