Stories and Patrol Logs + Screenshots and Videos (merged)

[AVGWarhawk]

Your last shots really have the feel of the gray Atlantic. Are you using OM?

[etheberge]

Yep, OM and OMEGU, which is based on Real Environment. It's fantastic.

You can change the color of the water based on the area you're assigned to. I think the choices are Arctic, Med and Atlantic.

[etheberge]

Continued from previous post:

Upon reaching our patrol area off the coast of Portugal at dawn, U-37 ran straight into a north bound convoy. It was huge and poorly escorted, we could only see one escort. We quickly sent a contact report and were ordered to attack:



Unfortunately Hans got some water into the camera so we weren't able to take pictures of the events that unfolded. We found ourselves in the middle of shooting gallery and a had plenty of targets to choose from. We sunk two ships but 10 of our torpedoes turned out to be DUDs and we had 2 misses. By that time we were out of internal torpedoes and had to disengage to bring our reserves down from the canisters.

We completed our patrol of this area without further incident. We encountered a few neutrals sailing alone that were allowed to continue on course after inspection.

U-37 was then ordered to proceed north of Ireland to cover the Western Approaches to England. We enjoyed great weather on the way north and Hans was able to fix the camera:



We began our patrol and it didn't take long for us to run into another convoy sailing due North, probably Inbound SL-09. It was lightly escorted as well:



After reporting our contact, we began our attack. We fired two torpedoes at a freighter, 1 hit and 1 missed. The target sailed on. We then fired another two at an old merchant, 1 hit near the stern and 1 DUD. By this time the convoy was in complete disarray, they probably didn't expect to be attacked so close to their destination:



We hit an 8000tons tanker with two torpedoes near the bow and it came to a stop. We also fired at two other targets but all torpedoes were either duds or misses. By that time a destroyer was on top of us and I had to take U-37 down deep to avoid depth charges:



While I was evading the destroyer, the two other escorts were doing their best to reform the scattered convoy:



Being out of torpedoes, I had no choice but to wait out the destroyers. I also wanted to wait around and make sure to finish that disabled tanker if it did not sink before then. After four hours of evading, the escorts gave up and rejoined the convoy up ahead. I took U-37 to periscope depth and saw that they had left the disabled hulk of the tanker to its fate. It was listing severely from the bow and looked abandoned. Doubtless the crew had transferred to one of the destroyers. U-37 surfaced and prepared for gun action:



Ready, aim, fire at will!



It took only a few hits to finally put her under:



Out of torpedoes and low on fuel, U-37 headed for home around the north coast of England:



The weather was typically stormy but the crew didn't mind, happy knowing that they were finally heading home:



U-37 returned to Wilhelmshaven after five weeks at sea without further contacts:



I can't wait to hear what the other crews ran into on their patrols, but first I'm off to see sweet Helga at the gentleman's club!

[floundericiousWA]

Great post etherberge, great hunting U-37!!

[DigitalAura]

Etheberge...careful of Helga! I just had a piece of that and lemme just say there wasn't enough room in my bunks for all the salve I needed afterward!

By the way... that Hans is SOME TALENTED! How does he get your uboat photographed like that! Does he swim all that way out just to get you all in the frame like that! Give that guy a medal!!

Great posts!

[floundericiousWA]

Second war patrol of USS Tambor, C.O.'s log...continued...

After leaving the Yokosuka naval base in an uproar, we received orders to report to the waters west of Iwo Jima and patrol for enemy merchant shipping. Aircraft were everywhere as we made our way south by southeast out of Japanese home waters. I'm guessing they were upset at having lost a fleet carrier in her home slip.

Slowly but surely, we got fewer and fewer aircraft reports until they ceased and, once again, the Tambor basked in sunlight by day and moonlight by night as she sliced through the chilly brine of the North Pacific. The crew's morale was as high as I've seen it...I daresay they were a bit cocky. The officers and I arranged to run a few crash dives and battle station drills to temper that confidence into operational excellence.

Arriving near the specified coordinates ~150nm west of the Iwo Jima islands, we began a star shaped patrol pattern, keeping our eyes and ears open and waiting. After two days with no contacts, I get a report that a large IJN task force is heading our way at around 20kts. I take the report of their approximate location and plot their estimated course. It's about three hours old and we need to make about 140nm in around 8 hours to even get close to them. We still have better than 75% fuel on board thanks to careful husbanding and the XO and I decide to make a play for them. We go to 19 knots and make our best guess where they're going to be. Hours later, we initiate a search pattern...to no avail . (OOC: The first time I played this, I ended up within 5 miles of the Shokaku, Zuikaku, and a Hiryu...jeez I wanted to attack that TF!!!! NUTS! I reloaded it about four times and never could get so much as an aircraft radar warning!)

I order the ship back to the waters off Iwo, hoping we'll find another target. The next day, patrolling the shipping lanes, we get a radio intercept reporting a small convoy approaching Iwo. We've got four fish left in the stern tubes and two left in the fore tubes. I decide to investigate and see what we find.

The sky is gloaming in the fading light as we get the first hit on passive sonar from one of the escorts. We alter course to slow our rate of closure and plot the approximate configuration of the convoy with the sonarman's reports. It looks like something approaching 12 merchants and four escorting destroyers. It appears they're using a standard box arrangement with one destroyer in the lead, one to each flank, and one trailing. The chief and I take stock of the situation and he recommends keeping the range open for a few hours to let the moon, bright in the western sky, finish setting. It's a good idea.

We change the watch, get the ship buttoned down at general quarters, and begin our approach as the waxing moon disappears below the horizon. The convoy is plowing straight ahead on a SSE course, apparently bound to the Marianas or the Bismarck Sea, I'd wager. No matter where they're going, we'll make sure a few of those ships find a final home in 17000 feet of water!

We slide in from their starboard fore quarter at ahead slow and let the convoy walk into our firing arc. I draw a bead on the lead destroyer with one of my bow tubes. She's just finished a wandering sonar survey pattern and is straightened out, rebuilding her lead ahead of the convoy. Now or never, I tell the chief. We check the numbers, open tube 3, and let it fly!

The torpedo gets away cleanly, leaving its faint telltale bubble trail on the surface of the sea. With the moon set, it's hard even for me to see it through the periscope! The shot is a good one, on target and well timed. The destroyer's crew is sharp, though! About ten seconds before impact, the sonarman reports hearing her screws spin up loudly and I see her signal light begin a franting flashing. It's too late for her as the torpedo hits and nearly cuts the aft 1/3rd off the ship. Interestingly, while the explosion is loud and the water plume is huge, there are no huge fireballs. She buckles and slides beneath the waves in breathtakingly short order. I whirl back and forth on the periscope, checking for any sign of the other destroyers.

There are no searchlights in sight! The lead ship wasn't able to get a warning off! We're in, boys! The starboard flanking destroyer is approaching, still holding the same course...apparently oblivious to the sudden deadly fate that took his buddies. He's going to pass within 1500yds of our stern, so I keep our speed under 1kt, keep the boys silent, and prep tube 7 for a shallow shot. Once again, we get a hot, straight, and normal fish boring right in on a warship. Once again, the destroyer in question never sees it coming and goes down hard.

This destroyer, though, goes up in a huge fireball, which wakes the convoy up in a flurry of searchlights and signalling. Taking aim on a good looking medium merchantman in the midst of the convoy, I fire our one remaining forward tube and order a right 180 at 3 knots to get us turned to engage with the stern tubes. The torpedo misses the ship I aimed at, but then strikes another merchantman in the starboard side just aft of the bridge. She takes a significant list and slows, but is able to maintain steam and bearing (hat tip to her crew and sailing master).

We finish coming about and targetting is...interesting. The convoy is going to hell in a handcart, with ships swerving and slewing back and forth. The destroyer escorts are having to tack well clear of the freighters to avoid being run down by their much more massive charges. They catch sight of us, though, with one of them going to flank speed and charging at us.

I get a good bearing on a zig-zagging merchant who will be at broadside after his next zig, at my best guess, and lob a torpedo at him. We're down to a total of three fish on the stern tubes and one seriously upset destroyer charging up our wake at 1200yds and closing fast. I take aim and loose a surface running torpedo at him. It gets close enough for a magnetic influence detonation just off his port beam. He slows, but it's not apparently fatal. I'm sure his bridge crew needed to change more than their watch! He's still in the fight, so I order a crash dive. As the chief sets the diving planes and floods the tanks, I turn the periscope back in time to see our torpedo strike the nose of a merchant in the convoy.

We dive fast and hard and I order the chief to throttle back to 1/3rd as we pass 200' and hear "passing a thermal layer!" from the sonarman. We level out at about 305' and I set silent running and reduce speed to under 2 knots. We spend around an hour in a tense silence while the sonarman reports, in a hushed whisper, the passage back and forth of the two destroyers overhead. I arc us around to the north and out from under the DDs, who are busily dropping depth charges to the south of us. I check with the sonarman and we find the acoustic signature of the convoy hanging around about 5000yds east of the destroyers. We increase speed slightly to 3kts and secure from silent running to let the fans and pumps work for a few minutes. The destroyers seem to take no notice.

After several long minutes, we've gotten close to the slow moving convoy and go back to silent running and reduce speed to 1.5kts for the ascent to periscope depth. We get faced away from the merchants and I pop the attack scope above the waves. The ships have obviously spent the last couple of hours rearranging themselves and are settled back into their box formation. I see the one injured ship with a massive hole in his bow, but the one hit in the beam is nowhere to be seen. I pencil it down as probably sunk. We take aim with the last two torpedoes and loose them at a 6000ton freighter on the near side of the convoy. We get two clean hits and she rolls over on her way to the cold deep.

We dive back to 300+ feet and make our way north. The destroyers have given up their futile depth bombing and return to the convoy. We call in the convoy and our patrol report. ComSubPac gives us a hearty well-done and orders us home..they will direct other assets to engage what's left of the now-denuded convoy. Two destroyers will have a hard time protecting that convoy if one of our fellow subs catches them up!

We spend a few days making our way east until we're well beyond the range of any aircraft and then, with spirits high and a light larder, we kick up our speed for the run to Pearl, anticipating a few days of liberty on Maui celebrating our successes! The men earn several promotions, as well as 2 silver stars and a bronze star. The first round is on me!

C.O., USS Tambor, signing off!

[Armistead]

Originally Posted by Von Hinten

Now that is one cool shot. Well made!

Not made, just taken......but thanks.

[magic452]

flandericious Interesting read, enjoyed it very much. Thanks.

Magic

[sergbuto]

Somewhat funny. The fire traces (yellow) of the gun in the nose start deep inside of the aircraft.



From another angle.



BTW, notice how ugly the props look like since the game puts a transparent overlayer on every object with Environmental Efftects option checked. When this option is unchecked, the props look fine.

[Gunfighter]

MEMO TO CREW :Must Dive Quicker

[Gunfighter]

Thanks Guys Now I Need A New Monitor

[Herr Kaleun]

Here a few of my SHIV screens:

[sergbuto]

My new ride




Getting some fresh air




Dive, dive, dive!!!




Be careful, guys! Do not run through walls and peri!






Please. do not forget me behind!




Meanwhile



At last, there is no red triangle any more.

[Herr Kaleun]

@sergbuto
Do you use a Mod for PT-Boats?

[Morpheus]

Originally Posted by Gunfighter

Thanks Guys Now I Need A New Monitor

Thats a nice one!

Originally Posted by Herr Kaleun

Here a few of my SHIV screens:

What the hell is this for a sub?