Contempt for Japanese ASW...

JoeCorrado · 11-08-13, 06:54 PM

Using your depth charge mod. / December 1943 Solomon Sea.

I will omit the long story of story of how I got to be in this situation, but I was held down by two destroyers for over 8 hours. They also had help from land based air support. My batteries were down to almost nothing due to the fact that this particular contact was not initiated by me- it was initiated by the destroyers. It started off with a surface contact as I was charging my batteries- at only 18 percent, I was not picking a fight. They caught me on the surface at relatively long range and had already closed and initiated an attack that caused damage with their deck guns before I realized that they were even there- (time compression and my own inattention conspired against me here)

The two destroyers were very good and regardless of my varied attempts to shake free, they maintained contact with me for hour after hour. The planes also showed up and took part in the attack dropping bombs- not single bombs but groups of bombs. As my batteries passed the ten percent mark, then the five percent mark, I was contemplating the odds of a battle surface once the sun went down... in about one more hour... with full knowledge that the battle would likely be short lived once my sub hit the surface- regardless of the sun... and also knowing that we would have little choice in the matter.

What saved us in the end? The planes! One of the destroyers had just finished a pass and completed his turn- coasting into listening position and the second destroyer was starting his own run... closing in for his depth charge attack perpendicular to his buddies when a plane also made his dive to drop bombs. Guess where the bombs landed? That's right... right on top of the destroyer beginning his depth charge run! Scratch one destroyer!

After darkness- the planes at last gave us a break and the lone destroyer remaining (who I felt we could have eventually evaded... had this not turned personal over the past nine plus hours, and IF the batteries would have lasted for just a while longer... down to just 3 percent at this point) gave us what I felt was our best hope for surviving this incredibly long day- the chance to get one of our two remaining torpedoes off in his direction.

We were moving at steerage speed only (50 RPM) and hoping to creep out from under his nose- when after his last attack, sonar showed him at about the 500 meter range and slowing down to take a listen. Most importantly for us- he was going to come to rest right in front of us... lining his broadside up nicely for our two remaining torpedoes which rested impatiently in the bow tubes. All dressed up and until now, with no place to go! We were shallow enough (and on the rise at about 200 feet) after his last pass, to take a chance on getting to periscope depth quickly enough to get our shot off before he started another run. I ordered as much in hopes of catching him still stationary and like the proverbial sitting duck. With outer doors open, in slow reverse opening the range and all else in readiness before the scope broke the water's surface- we slowly came up from the depths... There he was, sitting pretty at nearly 600 yards! Torpedo Locked- and Torpedo away!

The seconds ticked by... I held my breath for the entire time that it took to reach him- I was absolutely stoked- elated- even euphoric, but most of all.... relieved when it struck home.

He took a short time to sink from sight, after which we gratefully surfaced the boat to breathe in the sweet evening air. As the crew began to relax, smiled in seeming dis-belief and voice dismayed whispers - I knew that I didn't deserve to be here after my own form of contempt for the enemy had placed us all in such mortal jeopardy. But here we were; alive and with air enough for me to hoarsely order two engines on line for charging and two for propulsion, we headed for the barn and some much needed R&R.

Enjoying your mod, by the way. My boat should definitely be at the bottom as my bag of tricks was quite empty and all to no avail. It took blind luck and the fog of war more than me myself, to save our sub!

11-08-13, 06:54 PM	#15
JoeCorrado Weps Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Illinois Posts: 366 Downloads: 176 Uploads: 5	Using your depth charge mod. / December 1943 Solomon Sea. I will omit the long story of story of how I got to be in this situation, but I was held down by two destroyers for over 8 hours. They also had help from land based air support. My batteries were down to almost nothing due to the fact that this particular contact was not initiated by me- it was initiated by the destroyers. It started off with a surface contact as I was charging my batteries- at only 18 percent, I was not picking a fight. They caught me on the surface at relatively long range and had already closed and initiated an attack that caused damage with their deck guns before I realized that they were even there- (time compression and my own inattention conspired against me here) The two destroyers were very good and regardless of my varied attempts to shake free, they maintained contact with me for hour after hour. The planes also showed up and took part in the attack dropping bombs- not single bombs but groups of bombs. As my batteries passed the ten percent mark, then the five percent mark, I was contemplating the odds of a battle surface once the sun went down... in about one more hour... with full knowledge that the battle would likely be short lived once my sub hit the surface- regardless of the sun... and also knowing that we would have little choice in the matter. What saved us in the end? The planes! One of the destroyers had just finished a pass and completed his turn- coasting into listening position and the second destroyer was starting his own run... closing in for his depth charge attack perpendicular to his buddies when a plane also made his dive to drop bombs. Guess where the bombs landed? That's right... right on top of the destroyer beginning his depth charge run! Scratch one destroyer! After darkness- the planes at last gave us a break and the lone destroyer remaining (who I felt we could have eventually evaded... had this not turned personal over the past nine plus hours, and IF the batteries would have lasted for just a while longer... down to just 3 percent at this point) gave us what I felt was our best hope for surviving this incredibly long day- the chance to get one of our two remaining torpedoes off in his direction. We were moving at steerage speed only (50 RPM) and hoping to creep out from under his nose- when after his last attack, sonar showed him at about the 500 meter range and slowing down to take a listen. Most importantly for us- he was going to come to rest right in front of us... lining his broadside up nicely for our two remaining torpedoes which rested impatiently in the bow tubes. All dressed up and until now, with no place to go! We were shallow enough (and on the rise at about 200 feet) after his last pass, to take a chance on getting to periscope depth quickly enough to get our shot off before he started another run. I ordered as much in hopes of catching him still stationary and like the proverbial sitting duck. With outer doors open, in slow reverse opening the range and all else in readiness before the scope broke the water's surface- we slowly came up from the depths... There he was, sitting pretty at nearly 600 yards! Torpedo Locked- and Torpedo away! The seconds ticked by... I held my breath for the entire time that it took to reach him- I was absolutely stoked- elated- even euphoric, but most of all.... relieved when it struck home. He took a short time to sink from sight, after which we gratefully surfaced the boat to breathe in the sweet evening air. As the crew began to relax, smiled in seeming dis-belief and voice dismayed whispers - I knew that I didn't deserve to be here after my own form of contempt for the enemy had placed us all in such mortal jeopardy. But here we were; alive and with air enough for me to hoarsely order two engines on line for charging and two for propulsion, we headed for the barn and some much needed R&R. Enjoying your mod, by the way. My boat should definitely be at the bottom as my bag of tricks was quite empty and all to no avail. It took blind luck and the fog of war more than me myself, to save our sub! __________________ ============= My Game starts with GFO - Keepin' it real as it needs to be!