One of my most frightening GWX experiences yet

GoldenRivet · 03-22-07, 02:09 PM

sorry this is long

March 3rd 1943

I have just taken command of U-594 in a new career as Oberleutnant z. S. Karl Falkner based in St. Nazaire, France.

On the first patrol out we were forced to dive several times a day due to the intensity of allied air patrols. I have started to use the surface only at night tactic.

On the evening of March 11th 1943 sound contact was made with a rather Large convoy moving in a North Easterly direction in griud BE 62. As luck would have it very little maneuvering would be needed to intercept this convoy.

By 3:00 in the morning my trap was set and i was selecting my targets through the periscope. There were 3 troop transports in the center of the convoy flanked on either side by Large Tankers. I opted to hit the tankers first, then if the opportunity presented itself i would strike one of the troop ships.

At 3:18am the first torpedo spread left tubes 2 and 3. At 3:19am the second spread left tubes 1 abd 4, At 3:20 am the two large tankers were engulfed in flames and sinking rapidly.

The escorts started to zero in on my location, i turned so as to pass directly underneath one of the troop ships forcing the escorts to turn. When i cleared the other side of the troop ship, at sufficient range i fired a stern shot at the converted luxery liner. Direct hit with little apparant damage done, i double knuckled to starboard and dove at flank speed for 150 meters.

Passing 90 meters i deployed decoys, rigged for silent running and set ahead slow. The escorts were pinging wildly trying to make contact but i reached 150 meters unscathed.

The escorts circled overhead as i held 150 meters at about 1 knot creeping away toward the south. Several depth charges were set at far to shallow a depth and far too astern of me. They were attacking the decoy, this ran on for about 15 minutes at 1X compression.

They let loose of another volley of depth charges, this time they landed all around me. The bow torpedo compartment was under heavy flooding, the bow quarters was under heavy flooding as well. Tubes 2, 3 and 4 were destroyed, the deck gun was destroyed, the watch tower was damaged, the flak guns were damaged, and the stern torpedo tube was damaged.

we were sinking.

realizing the severity of the situation i put a large damage control team on it right away and secured silent running to affect repairs. the estimate on flooding recovery was about 5 minutes. We were now passing through 220 meters... 5 minutes was too long! The damage control team worked valiantly trying to repair ths boat. with only a couple of minutes left to secure the flooding we were passing 240 meters depth.

Thats enough, i blew all the ballast we had. The bow compartments were about 50% flooded, the boat attempted to rise stern first with some success we made it back to about 220 meters. But the relief was short lived as we started our descent once again. 220 meters.... 230 meters... 240 meters.... 250 meters... 260 meters

the boat was groaning like i have never heard before, we were all but dead, i expected her to collapse in under the pressure any second now...

The flooding was finally controlled and the compartments were finally cleared of all water at a depth of no less than 278 meters! i could not believe my eyes, the depth guage was pegged!

i rigged for silent running once more and set the depth for 240 meters, if she can handle 278 then 240 should be no problem. The depth charging above us at what i would approximate to be 200 meters or so continued for 3 full hours. The escorts gave up and hurried back to the convoy now several kilometers in the distance.

Surfaced at 7am to affect repairs to the exterior of the boat. and plotted a course back to port.

On the way back to port on March 12th i encoutered a small tramp steamer cruising all alone. With my one good bow tube i sent a fish at him and broke his back.

3 days later i set up a stern shot on a fast moving V&W class escort travelling alone. The shot was a direct hit and caused several secondary explosions.

on 17 March 1943 - the heavily battered U-594 arrived in St. Nazaire, after sending 20,527 tons to the sea floor on her maiden voyage!

Alexdk · 03-22-07, 02:18 PM

Very nice Kaptain.

Never been depth charged that severly before and the fact that you recovered from such heavy damage and flooding was excellent. One for the books i'd say.

NipplesTheCat · 03-22-07, 02:28 PM

ALWAYS a good idea to have a well trained repair crew.

Keelbuster · 03-22-07, 02:37 PM

Awesome story. That's the kindof experience I've always wished to have from SH3. Still waiting for it...

nikbear · 03-22-07, 04:27 PM

Had a very similar experience when my boat went out of control after a good kicking from some DD's,Saw 245 to 250 on the gauge before the crew brought it all under control.The sweat was pouring of me

It may be just a game but I really was on the edge of my seat,I thought my crew's time was up!

After that I crossed the Bay alot more cautiously than I ever had done before,that was 1943 and out of St Nazaire as well.I've scrapped into 1944 and I must say the prospects of making it through do not look good,there's a black cloaked figure with some sort of farming implement who is taking an overly amount of interest in our sub in the harbour

Spin Doctor · 03-22-07, 05:56 PM

Great story! Well done.

Brag · 03-22-07, 06:15 PM

Excellent! Good to see you made it back.

hotdog · 03-22-07, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikbear

'there's a black cloaked figure with some sort of farming implement who is taking an overly amount of interest in our sub

That quote made my day.

P_Funk · 03-22-07, 10:39 PM

Wow. That was a beautifully told story. It perfectly details why I love this game.

Maybe you should consider making it into a bit of inspired fiction. You certainly have a way of creating tension in your descriptions. I'd love to read that.

Phew, my heart needs a rest!

Kpt. Lehmann · 03-23-07, 02:20 AM

Welcome home U-594!

Great story.

P_Funk · 03-23-07, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

sorry this is long

Actually after having read this like 4 times I wish it were longer.

xlbob · 03-23-07, 04:40 AM

Congrats on your escape GoldenRivet

The last time, and the first time, it happened to me it ended my career

RMN · 03-23-07, 05:19 AM

congrats GoldenRivet,persevere till the end.reaction and anticipation is key.welcome home.

Kumando · 03-23-07, 07:41 AM

Nice one, now try that with LRT 1.32 :p.

Gezoes · 03-23-07, 07:59 AM

Hell of a story, somehow I never made it past 200 meters.

Just as I am thinking, this is it!! 200!! Woo!

Poof!

:rotfl:

03-22-07, 02:09 PM	#1
GoldenRivet Subsim Aviator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 8,726 Downloads: 146 Uploads: 0	One of my most frightening GWX experiences yet sorry this is long March 3rd 1943 I have just taken command of U-594 in a new career as Oberleutnant z. S. Karl Falkner based in St. Nazaire, France. On the first patrol out we were forced to dive several times a day due to the intensity of allied air patrols. I have started to use the surface only at night tactic. On the evening of March 11th 1943 sound contact was made with a rather Large convoy moving in a North Easterly direction in griud BE 62. As luck would have it very little maneuvering would be needed to intercept this convoy. By 3:00 in the morning my trap was set and i was selecting my targets through the periscope. There were 3 troop transports in the center of the convoy flanked on either side by Large Tankers. I opted to hit the tankers first, then if the opportunity presented itself i would strike one of the troop ships. At 3:18am the first torpedo spread left tubes 2 and 3. At 3:19am the second spread left tubes 1 abd 4, At 3:20 am the two large tankers were engulfed in flames and sinking rapidly. The escorts started to zero in on my location, i turned so as to pass directly underneath one of the troop ships forcing the escorts to turn. When i cleared the other side of the troop ship, at sufficient range i fired a stern shot at the converted luxery liner. Direct hit with little apparant damage done, i double knuckled to starboard and dove at flank speed for 150 meters. Passing 90 meters i deployed decoys, rigged for silent running and set ahead slow. The escorts were pinging wildly trying to make contact but i reached 150 meters unscathed. The escorts circled overhead as i held 150 meters at about 1 knot creeping away toward the south. Several depth charges were set at far to shallow a depth and far too astern of me. They were attacking the decoy, this ran on for about 15 minutes at 1X compression. They let loose of another volley of depth charges, this time they landed all around me. The bow torpedo compartment was under heavy flooding, the bow quarters was under heavy flooding as well. Tubes 2, 3 and 4 were destroyed, the deck gun was destroyed, the watch tower was damaged, the flak guns were damaged, and the stern torpedo tube was damaged. we were sinking. realizing the severity of the situation i put a large damage control team on it right away and secured silent running to affect repairs. the estimate on flooding recovery was about 5 minutes. We were now passing through 220 meters... 5 minutes was too long! The damage control team worked valiantly trying to repair ths boat. with only a couple of minutes left to secure the flooding we were passing 240 meters depth. Thats enough, i blew all the ballast we had. The bow compartments were about 50% flooded, the boat attempted to rise stern first with some success we made it back to about 220 meters. But the relief was short lived as we started our descent once again. 220 meters.... 230 meters... 240 meters.... 250 meters... 260 meters the boat was groaning like i have never heard before, we were all but dead, i expected her to collapse in under the pressure any second now... The flooding was finally controlled and the compartments were finally cleared of all water at a depth of no less than 278 meters! i could not believe my eyes, the depth guage was pegged! i rigged for silent running once more and set the depth for 240 meters, if she can handle 278 then 240 should be no problem. The depth charging above us at what i would approximate to be 200 meters or so continued for 3 full hours. The escorts gave up and hurried back to the convoy now several kilometers in the distance. Surfaced at 7am to affect repairs to the exterior of the boat. and plotted a course back to port. On the way back to port on March 12th i encoutered a small tramp steamer cruising all alone. With my one good bow tube i sent a fish at him and broke his back. 3 days later i set up a stern shot on a fast moving V&W class escort travelling alone. The shot was a direct hit and caused several secondary explosions. on 17 March 1943 - the heavily battered U-594 arrived in St. Nazaire, after sending 20,527 tons to the sea floor on her maiden voyage!

03-22-07, 02:28 PM	#3
NipplesTheCat 中国水兵 Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 281 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	ALWAYS a good idea to have a well trained repair crew. __________________ Your sister swims towards troop ships.

03-22-07, 02:37 PM	#4
Keelbuster Ace of the Deep Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: BA 72 Posts: 1,092 Downloads: 43 Uploads: 0	Awesome story. That's the kindof experience I've always wished to have from SH3. Still waiting for it... __________________

03-22-07, 06:15 PM	#7
Brag Navy Seal Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Docked on a Russian pond Posts: 7,072 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	Excellent! Good to see you made it back. __________________ Espionage, adventure, suspense, are just a click away Click here to look inside Brag's book: Amazon.com: Kingmaker: Alexey Braguine: Books Order Kingmaker here: http://www.subsim.com/store.html For Tactics visit:http://www.freewebs.com/kielman/

03-22-07, 10:39 PM	#9
P_Funk Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Canada, eh? Posts: 2,537 Downloads: 129 Uploads: 0	Wow. That was a beautifully told story. It perfectly details why I love this game. Maybe you should consider making it into a bit of inspired fiction. You certainly have a way of creating tension in your descriptions. I'd love to read that. Phew, my heart needs a rest! __________________

03-22-07, 02:18 PM	#2
Alexdk Seaman Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Helsinki, Finland Posts: 31 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Very nice Kaptain. Never been depth charged that severly before and the fact that you recovered from such heavy damage and flooding was excellent. One for the books i'd say.

03-22-07, 04:27 PM	#5
nikbear Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Northampton,UK Posts: 1,859 Downloads: 86 Uploads: 0	Had a very similar experience when my boat went out of control after a good kicking from some DD's,Saw 245 to 250 on the gauge before the crew brought it all under control.The sweat was pouring of me It may be just a game but I really was on the edge of my seat,I thought my crew's time was up! After that I crossed the Bay alot more cautiously than I ever had done before,that was 1943 and out of St Nazaire as well.I've scrapped into 1944 and I must say the prospects of making it through do not look good,there's a black cloaked figure with some sort of farming implement who is taking an overly amount of interest in our sub in the harbour

03-22-07, 05:56 PM	#6
Spin Doctor Bosun Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 69 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Great story! Well done.

03-23-07, 02:20 AM	#10
Kpt. Lehmann GWX Project Director Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: The Republic of Texas Posts: 6,992 Downloads: 124 Uploads: 0	Welcome home U-594! Great story. __________________ www.thegreywolves.com All you need is good men. - Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock

03-23-07, 04:40 AM	#12
xlbob Gunner Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia Posts: 99 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	Congrats on your escape GoldenRivet The last time, and the first time, it happened to me it ended my career __________________ xlbob GWX v 2

03-23-07, 05:19 AM	#13
RMN Watch Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: malaysia Posts: 24 Downloads: 20 Uploads: 0	congrats GoldenRivet,persevere till the end.reaction and anticipation is key.welcome home.

03-23-07, 07:41 AM	#14
Kumando Commodore Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Portugal Posts: 639 Downloads: 283 Uploads: 0	Nice one, now try that with LRT 1.32 :p.

03-23-07, 07:59 AM	#15
Gezoes XO Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 435 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 0	Hell of a story, somehow I never made it past 200 meters. Just as I am thinking, this is it!! 200!! Woo! Poof! :rotfl: __________________ If I wasn't a little mad, I'd go mad.