Desperate Measures

Keelbuster · 03-11-08, 11:55 PM

So I take on this nice little convoy in the Gibraltar approach, October 1943. Radio says 5kts so I smile and flank it. After a hydrophone check I surface and get surprised by a patrolling Catalina. I duke it out and manage to bring her down by manning the quad-AA gun myself. It feels good. I get in position and watch them approach. It's glassy-still, and about 10pm. Just one lead escort - turns out to be a Buckleys. Behind it is a medium cargo, a medium tanker, and a small tanker. Easy money. I let the Buckley pass then think - darn - I probably should have just sunk it and then had my way with the merchants but it was too late - he was passed and was snaking. I line up and hit all three ships, with the two tankers breaking up immediately. The medium cargo burns but keeps going. I get deep and go across the convoy - but too loud. The Buckleys finds me - pinging me from what must have been like 2km away. And boy is he pissed. He drops sets of 10 charges at a time, sometimes twice per run (like one run, then turn slightly, and fire take a second run before turning around - I'd never experienced this!). I do the usual evasive thing but he scores a hit and messes up the stern some. I have to run and fix things while he lines up for another good run. Bam - again - flooding amidships and more damage to fix.

This goes on for a while more. I usually don't use decoys for a single pursuer, but he seems so determined and skilled that I start letting them go. They do nothing for me - I can't shake him; he immediately picks me up on active sonar again after each DC run, and he seems to ignore the decoys compeletly. He lands a major hit - all devices on the watch tower are DESTROYED. Basically, the patrol is over. The career might be too. I start to get panicked and send decoys out in bulk, flanking as best I can while trying to keep him astern of me. At one point he goes after a decoy and I run like hell. I get a few minutes peace, thinking I've escaped, and then PING - back again on active. I just can't shake him. More DCs - seemingly an unlimited supply. Then I run out of decoys.

This has gone on for an hour and a half. I can't lose him. I risk my brittle hull and go down to 220m. Phew, she holds. But still no luck - the crystal clear water is like an open window. I can't shake this bastard. Pretty soon we're gonna be Buckley's Mixture. In my mind there's only one desperate option remaining - to come back to PD and take him out. In between DC runs I load the forward tubes. More close hits and flooding. I start my ascent. By the time I'm at PD, he's approaching astern. I have NO PERISCOPES. So I get a bearing off the hydrophone and fire my stern tube down it. Miss. I do a little dive to 25m to avoid getting rammed and then he's overtop and passed me. He DCs like crazy, but luckily they're deep. Back to PD. Open all bow tubes. He's zigging left. I fire each tube at 5 degree intervals, starting 10 degrees to the left of his bearing. Waiting....then... BAM. One of them gets him. 'She's going down!'. I surface to see the burning hulk slip under the waves. Massive elation throughout the boat: desperate, but still alive. Time to break out the rum ration.

Now to begin the return journey to Nazaire with no periscopes, no radio, no radar warning receivers. Hoping to get back by the old method - travelling by day and crash diving when the planes show up....

Freiwillige · 03-12-08, 12:13 AM

DAMN!

bookworm_020 · 03-12-08, 12:21 AM

OUCH!

Makes you wish that you had sunk him first and then moved onto the convoy. It will be a long hard trip home, but you will have one hell of a story to tell when you get there!

harzfeld · 03-12-08, 12:31 AM

what uboat type were u in? ya, if u have an opportunity to sink leading escort, always take it. I am in 1943 as well, but I am in spring right now, can't wait for VIIC/41 in October to get rid of this IXD2 tanker. How much damage was on ur hull?

Graf Paper · 03-12-08, 01:26 AM

Almost the same thing happened to me on my last patrol, except it was a very determined Dido. This was in early Nov. 1940, so no BOLD to aid my escape, just sheer cunning, inhuman patience, and lots of prayer for myself and the brave crew of U-47.

He dropped his DCs in clusters of six and seemed to have a psychic's gift for knowing my exact position despite diving the boat to 160+ meters and killing my engines to drift. Two near misses took out nearly everything topside and damaged four compartments along with destroying my internal forward torpedo reserves, leaving me with just four eels to reload. The crew just managed to get the flooding under control as we sunk to 223 meters.

Is it just me or have the depth charges suddenly gotten about twice as powerful?

I managed to elude him after several hours with much maneuvering, quick bursts of 'Ahead Flank' at times when he was turning away, and then drifting at 'All Stop'. I eventually surfaced and did an overtake of the convoy with decks awash because all I had left was my UZO. I moved in at 2350 hours and gave them hell! Took down two large merchies, but my other two shots missed as I had them set for magnetic because of the sharp angle of the firing solution.

I slipped out of there at 'Ahead Flank' and the escorts never knew where I was thanks to my speed and running nearly surfaced, with only my conning tower exposed.

I may have time to slip in one more patrol before 1941 rolls around, at which time I'll hope the BdU has finally gotten around to moving me to Brest and missions in deeper waters. He sure is taking his time, seeing that our side took possession of thoe French ports six months ago.

Myxale · 03-12-08, 06:17 AM

Wow, great read. And patrol!
You had moments that beat "Das Boot"!

Kudos to for you "blind" kill!

Konovalov · 03-12-08, 06:53 AM

Now that really was a bad day at the office. At least you got the chance to tell the tale. Great read.

KptLt Lindemann · 03-12-08, 07:24 AM

Hell of a story Kaleun. I hope your journey home is much less eventful.

Platapus · 03-12-08, 08:00 AM

great exciting story. It is patrols like that which make this game so much more exciting than just "shoot-em-ups"

You also have a gift for narration. Just in that short post, I was starting to feel the changes of emotion as this battle ebbed and flowed.

One thing is clear. Despite this being a game, it is evident that you acted like a Captain should. You never gave up and tried everything to get the job done.

That must have been a thrilling mission!

Salute

BTW, what is "Buckley's Mixture"?:hmm:

Keelbuster · 03-12-08, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harzfeld

what uboat type were u in? ya, if u have an opportunity to sink leading escort, always take it. I am in 1943 as well, but I am in spring right now, can't wait for VIIC/41 in October to get rid of this IXD2 tanker. How much damage was on ur hull?

My o'le trusty VIIC - maxed out with '43 upgrades. I fear the damage report when and _if_ I make it back later tonight.

Keelbuster · 03-12-08, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graf Paper

Almost the same thing happened to me on my last patrol, except it was a very determined Dido.

Dido's a cruiser, right? I didn't think they have DC racks. Maybe a big destroyer?

Keelbuster · 03-12-08, 08:14 AM

Glad you boys enjoyed it more than I did. I was ready to throw up for most of it. There's one new lesson for me here - it's definitely worth it to sink the escort if there's only one. And one old lesson has been double underlined - if it's perfectly calm, make it a _long_ shot. Oh, and I guess I found out that you don't _really_ need your periscope to get things done.

God I love this game

P.S. Buckley's Mixture is a foul kind of cough syrup: add three parts oil, two parts schteel, one part sailor, and stir it all up with compressed air and a couple of DCs

danurve · 03-12-08, 08:35 AM

Cool Read, what kind of eels did you use?

03-12-08, 09:30 AM

and as a writer- keep the posts coming when you get back , patch her up and shove off again!!!

Keelbuster · 03-12-08, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danurve

Cool Read, what kind of eels did you use?

Um..ok - Juicy Attack Details.

The inital strike on the convoy was: for the medium merchant, a T1 FaT1 set on medium, keel-depth+1, aimed amidships. To the medium tanker, i sent a T1 Fat1 on medium at the bow, keel depth+1, but I gave a T2 Fat1 a head start, heading amidships at 4m. Finally, the small tanker was cracked in half by a T1 Fat1 set at 3m - it hit amidships - and i'd never seen one of those tough little bastards break up before.

As for the 'desperate measures', I had a T2 in the back, and in the front I had two T2s and two T1 FaT1s. I set all of them at 4.2m since Buckley was listed as 3.5. Actually, I'm not sure if it was actually a Buckleys - i have to check the log when I get home. The two T2s up front went out first, and then the T1s went out on medium. Since it was a knife-fight, I cranked up the run-to-enable on the T1s so they didn't find me instead. They were all zero-gyro shots set for 300m run, and I used the 'broken' periscope to update the bearing in the TDC even though it couldn't be raised. I think it was one of the T1s that got him.

Note - it occurs to me that if the peri is really 'destroyed', you shouldn't be able to use it to set the gyro angle in the TDC. I'll have to take another look at the TDC to see if you can manual set the gyro - that would be the legit way to do it.

Note 2 - i've decided that in the future I'm going to keep all 3 stern fish as homing torps. This situation would have been a lot less precarious if I could have popped up, set one of those on his ass and then got down again. If all four of my bow fish had missed....well...we would have been tits up. Though, I guess I could have surfaced for a final deck gun duel

03-11-08, 11:55 PM	#1
Keelbuster Ace of the Deep Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: BA 72 Posts: 1,092 Downloads: 43 Uploads: 0	Desperate Measures So I take on this nice little convoy in the Gibraltar approach, October 1943. Radio says 5kts so I smile and flank it. After a hydrophone check I surface and get surprised by a patrolling Catalina. I duke it out and manage to bring her down by manning the quad-AA gun myself. It feels good. I get in position and watch them approach. It's glassy-still, and about 10pm. Just one lead escort - turns out to be a Buckleys. Behind it is a medium cargo, a medium tanker, and a small tanker. Easy money. I let the Buckley pass then think - darn - I probably should have just sunk it and then had my way with the merchants but it was too late - he was passed and was snaking. I line up and hit all three ships, with the two tankers breaking up immediately. The medium cargo burns but keeps going. I get deep and go across the convoy - but too loud. The Buckleys finds me - pinging me from what must have been like 2km away. And boy is he pissed. He drops sets of 10 charges at a time, sometimes twice per run (like one run, then turn slightly, and fire take a second run before turning around - I'd never experienced this!). I do the usual evasive thing but he scores a hit and messes up the stern some. I have to run and fix things while he lines up for another good run. Bam - again - flooding amidships and more damage to fix. This goes on for a while more. I usually don't use decoys for a single pursuer, but he seems so determined and skilled that I start letting them go. They do nothing for me - I can't shake him; he immediately picks me up on active sonar again after each DC run, and he seems to ignore the decoys compeletly. He lands a major hit - all devices on the watch tower are DESTROYED. Basically, the patrol is over. The career might be too. I start to get panicked and send decoys out in bulk, flanking as best I can while trying to keep him astern of me. At one point he goes after a decoy and I run like hell. I get a few minutes peace, thinking I've escaped, and then PING - back again on active. I just can't shake him. More DCs - seemingly an unlimited supply. Then I run out of decoys. This has gone on for an hour and a half. I can't lose him. I risk my brittle hull and go down to 220m. Phew, she holds. But still no luck - the crystal clear water is like an open window. I can't shake this bastard. Pretty soon we're gonna be Buckley's Mixture. In my mind there's only one desperate option remaining - to come back to PD and take him out. In between DC runs I load the forward tubes. More close hits and flooding. I start my ascent. By the time I'm at PD, he's approaching astern. I have NO PERISCOPES. So I get a bearing off the hydrophone and fire my stern tube down it. Miss. I do a little dive to 25m to avoid getting rammed and then he's overtop and passed me. He DCs like crazy, but luckily they're deep. Back to PD. Open all bow tubes. He's zigging left. I fire each tube at 5 degree intervals, starting 10 degrees to the left of his bearing. Waiting....then... BAM. One of them gets him. 'She's going down!'. I surface to see the burning hulk slip under the waves. Massive elation throughout the boat: desperate, but still alive. Time to break out the rum ration. Now to begin the return journey to Nazaire with no periscopes, no radio, no radar warning receivers. Hoping to get back by the old method - travelling by day and crash diving when the planes show up.... __________________

03-12-08, 12:21 AM	#3
bookworm_020 Navy Seal Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sinking ships off the Australian coast Posts: 5,966 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	OUCH! Makes you wish that you had sunk him first and then moved onto the convoy. It will be a long hard trip home, but you will have one hell of a story to tell when you get there! __________________ "There is always one person in any organization who knows whats going on, That person must be fired"

03-12-08, 01:26 AM	#5
Graf Paper Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Pacific Northwest United States Posts: 1,146 Downloads: 41 Uploads: 2	Almost the same thing happened to me on my last patrol, except it was a very determined Dido. This was in early Nov. 1940, so no BOLD to aid my escape, just sheer cunning, inhuman patience, and lots of prayer for myself and the brave crew of U-47. He dropped his DCs in clusters of six and seemed to have a psychic's gift for knowing my exact position despite diving the boat to 160+ meters and killing my engines to drift. Two near misses took out nearly everything topside and damaged four compartments along with destroying my internal forward torpedo reserves, leaving me with just four eels to reload. The crew just managed to get the flooding under control as we sunk to 223 meters. Is it just me or have the depth charges suddenly gotten about twice as powerful? I managed to elude him after several hours with much maneuvering, quick bursts of 'Ahead Flank' at times when he was turning away, and then drifting at 'All Stop'. I eventually surfaced and did an overtake of the convoy with decks awash because all I had left was my UZO. I moved in at 2350 hours and gave them hell! Took down two large merchies, but my other two shots missed as I had them set for magnetic because of the sharp angle of the firing solution. I slipped out of there at 'Ahead Flank' and the escorts never knew where I was thanks to my speed and running nearly surfaced, with only my conning tower exposed. I may have time to slip in one more patrol before 1941 rolls around, at which time I'll hope the BdU has finally gotten around to moving me to Brest and missions in deeper waters. He sure is taking his time, seeing that our side took possession of thoe French ports six months ago. __________________ Still sailing the high seas, hunting convoys with those who join me.

03-12-08, 06:17 AM	#6
Myxale Admiral Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: PQ AN 25 Posts: 2,178 Downloads: 70 Uploads: 0	Wow, great read. And patrol! You had moments that beat "Das Boot"! Kudos to for you "blind" kill! __________________ SH3+GWX SH5+WoS Still Sailing....still Deep

03-12-08, 06:53 AM	#7
Konovalov Ocean Warrior Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: High Wycombe, Bucks, UK Posts: 2,811 Downloads: 9 Uploads: 0	Now that really was a bad day at the office. At least you got the chance to tell the tale. Great read. __________________ "In a Christian context, sexuality is traditionally seen as a consequence of the Fall, but for Muslims, it is an anticipation of paradise. So I can say, I think, that I was validly converted to Islam by a teenage French Jewish nudist." Sheikh Abdul-Hakim Murad (Timothy Winter)

03-12-08, 12:13 AM	#2
Freiwillige The Old Man Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Phx. Az Posts: 1,458 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	DAMN!

03-12-08, 12:31 AM	#4
harzfeld Electrician's Mate Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 135 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	what uboat type were u in? ya, if u have an opportunity to sink leading escort, always take it. I am in 1943 as well, but I am in spring right now, can't wait for VIIC/41 in October to get rid of this IXD2 tanker. How much damage was on ur hull?

03-12-08, 07:24 AM	#8
KptLt Lindemann Loader Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: 23rd U-boat Flotilla, Salamis Posts: 83 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 0	Hell of a story Kaleun. I hope your journey home is much less eventful.

03-12-08, 08:00 AM	#9
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,361 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	great exciting story. It is patrols like that which make this game so much more exciting than just "shoot-em-ups" You also have a gift for narration. Just in that short post, I was starting to feel the changes of emotion as this battle ebbed and flowed. One thing is clear. Despite this being a game, it is evident that you acted like a Captain should. You never gave up and tried everything to get the job done. That must have been a thrilling mission! Salute BTW, what is "Buckley's Mixture"?:hmm: __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

03-12-08, 08:14 AM	#12
Keelbuster Ace of the Deep Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: BA 72 Posts: 1,092 Downloads: 43 Uploads: 0	Glad you boys enjoyed it more than I did. I was ready to throw up for most of it. There's one new lesson for me here - it's definitely worth it to sink the escort if there's only one. And one old lesson has been double underlined - if it's perfectly calm, make it a _long_ shot. Oh, and I guess I found out that you don't _really_ need your periscope to get things done. God I love this game P.S. Buckley's Mixture is a foul kind of cough syrup: add three parts oil, two parts schteel, one part sailor, and stir it all up with compressed air and a couple of DCs __________________

03-12-08, 08:35 AM	#13
danurve The Old Man Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Syracuse, NY Posts: 1,481 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 3	Cool Read, what kind of eels did you use? __________________

03-12-08, 09:30 AM	#14
von stauber Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	one hell of a read I say!!!!! as mentioned above- you have talent as a skipper and as a writer- keep the posts coming when you get back , patch her up and shove off again!!!