German naval personnnel quailty?

nfitzsimmons · 04-07-07, 04:13 PM

Today's weirdness:

Leaving Kiel in my brand new VIIb; following the escort out of the harbor. It was about 02:00, pitch dark, and I noticed that he seemed to be higging the right side of the channel.

"Okay," I thought, "Maybe the captain's making sure that he avoids inbound traffic in the dark."

About 5 miles our from the breakwater he's really close the point of land that projects into the channel, so I turn a few points to port because my navigator tells me that there are only 11 meters of water under the keel.

This goes on for another 30 kilomters or so. I'm waiting for him to turn back so that I can proceed independently. But not yet.

I drop back about 2 k and watch as he approaches a peninsula that projects out into the main channel. By now it's about 05:30 and it's getting light.

And I watch in amazement as he drives straight onto the shore at 9 knots! I do a hard to turn port and cruise past, watching the wreckage burn merrily as I pass.

Didn't think to take a screenshot; was sort of looking in stunned disbelief. Well, he got me through the minefields and nets, but I sure wasn't going to follow his last example.

04-07-07, 04:13 PM	#1
nfitzsimmons Planesman Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 180 Downloads: 118 Uploads: 0	German naval personnnel quailty? Today's weirdness: Leaving Kiel in my brand new VIIb; following the escort out of the harbor. It was about 02:00, pitch dark, and I noticed that he seemed to be higging the right side of the channel. "Okay," I thought, "Maybe the captain's making sure that he avoids inbound traffic in the dark." About 5 miles our from the breakwater he's really close the point of land that projects into the channel, so I turn a few points to port because my navigator tells me that there are only 11 meters of water under the keel. This goes on for another 30 kilomters or so. I'm waiting for him to turn back so that I can proceed independently. But not yet. I drop back about 2 k and watch as he approaches a peninsula that projects out into the main channel. By now it's about 05:30 and it's getting light. And I watch in amazement as he drives straight onto the shore at 9 knots! I do a hard to turn port and cruise past, watching the wreckage burn merrily as I pass. Didn't think to take a screenshot; was sort of looking in stunned disbelief. Well, he got me through the minefields and nets, but I sure wasn't going to follow his last example.