My first 'I know how to use the TDC' patrol

[Captain Vlad]

Will be posting this in sections.

Finally decided to switch to manual targetting a while back. Two patrols in the Seadragon have put a high amount of tonnage under my belt, but those aren't the 'real deal' to me as I used them as a learning exercise, saving and reloading frequently.

Things I learned from those patrols are A> I can score a hit with the TDC and B> I shoot pretty good deflection (for before I had really figured out the TDC)

Anyhow, this is my first 'whatever happens, happens' not for practica manual targetting patrol. Not telling it 'in-character', as the idea was to let whoever is reading it know what I was thinking. Enjoy!


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Part One

Febuary 28, 1942

The USS Seadragon, currently operating out of Surabaya, Java, sets
forth on a late night. Her assignment? Patrol the Makassar Straight,
that section of ocean between Borneo and the Celebes that always seems
to pull Captain Vlad in.

During the last two patrols I've been fumbling about with manual
targeting. I've scored nice tonnage on both, though mostly by closing
to 600 yards or less and firing my torpedoes by eye. I can obviously
sink stuff using this method, but having to approach to that range
every time is tedious, and in convoys, is a virtual guarantee that
I'll be detected before I can fire. While a ship going under usually
follows the Japs noticing me, I like the first warning to be my fish
exploding under a bad guy's keel.

So, after DLing a nice tutorial vid, and practicing in the sub school,
I managed to sink two ships at the tail end of the last patrol
actually using the TDC. I aim to put my new skills to use on this
excursion.

Setting out from Surabaya, I quickly detect warships on my
hydrophones. I'd say it's too far south to be Japanese...but this is
late Febuary 1942, the time when the Japanese blitzkrieged through the
South Pacific with speed that made the Germans look bad. Surabaya, I
know, will fall soon. Could this be the invasion force? I change
course to intercept.

It's not the invasion force. It's a mixed task force...US and Dutch.
A De Ruyter style cruiser and escorting destroyers, apparently making
for home. Whatever they're up too (headed for the Battle of the Java Sea?),
I wish them well, and head northeast from Java, toward my patrol zone.

The transit in uneventful. I like that you really do have to
look for ships with RSRD. Last patrol, this same area was overrun with
Dutch merchants.

That isn't the case anymore. Most of the same waters are now under
IJN control, and any contact is likely to be enemy.

For several days, though, there are no contacts. I slow to 5 knots
after I reach my patrol zone and roam about the area, periodically
checking the sonar for distant propeller noise. HQ even shifts my patrol
zone south a bit, to the mouth of the straight near the city of
Makassar. I see lots of lovely Pacific sunrises and sunsets, take an
wild ride through a wave tossed sea, but I see no shipping. After a
week and a half of this, I'm told to continue patrolling the straights
at my discretion.

I head north. I think I was cruising a bit far south to run into many
ships, since Balikpapan, halfway up the straight, is the biggest port
in the area. I take station in the northern entrance to the straight
and begin my usual search routine (patrol at very low speed submerged
during the day, on surface at night). I don't even really get started
when I get that rarest of the rare when using RSRD: A radio contact
report.

It's not a flash traffic...no enemy warships in the area...just red
square on the map showing the last reported position and course of a
Japanese ship. She's not far off, either...I set an intercept course,
increase to flank speed, and head off to catch her.

The weather's been calm the last few days, but now the seas are
choppy. I find the enemy vessel near sunset. She's heading straight
for me...easy kill, or should be. I submerge.

I then discover one of the little irritations of using manual
targeting. It can be exceptionally hard to get good readings on range
and speed when the waves are high enough to obscure the enemy until
he's quite close. I decide to give it a try anyway: I ID the ship
(Small Composite Freighter), figure out a rough range, speed, and
course...doing all right. At one point, I check the hydrophones. I
forget why. I can hear my target getting closer, but there's
something else...another ship, very distant, to the west.

Unfortunately, while pondering this, I manage to botch my torpedo
approach...my target passes by my intended 'shoot point' as I'm
swinging the stern 'round. I'd planned to fire a pair of aft
torpedoes. Oh well! Messed up approach, small, lightly armed
target...that's a recipe for a deck gun attack. I sound
battlestations and blow ballast. She's less than a thousand yards
away when I open fire with my three incher. 15 rounds, and she's
listing heavily. 20 rounds, and she's on fire. The waves swamp her,
and down she goes.

I check the hydrophones. The other contact is still out there. I
secure from General Quarters, crank back up to flank speed (I'd slowed
considerably during the approach/attack), and roar off after the
propeller noise.

It's night by the time I catch up to her. She's a medium freighter of
some stripe, and while I have an easier time doing TDC calculations on
her, she's much too far away to engage. When I submerge, I'm going to
run into the same problem I did with the smaller ship, and the waves
are looking bigger...

I try anyway, deciding to cut her off on the surface and
submerge in her path. Despite the waves, though, visibility is good,
and she spots me and turns away. I'm in a stern chase, now, with
about 10 knots advantage. I draw up parallel to her and briefly
consider turning in for a close range by-eye torpedo attack. The seas
are still calm enough that using the deck gun isn't too unbelievable
so I do just that. I open fire, adjusting for my misses until I see
the flash of a hit, then I open fire in earnest.

I figure she'll take quite a few shells to put under. I figure wrong.
3-inch shell number 15 hits her amidships and she explodes like a car in an
'80's action movie. Somewhat surprised, I secure from battlestations and
report my kills.

HQ decides it's time to sent me somewhere else, and I receive
instructions to proceed to the Api Passage on the western side of
Borneo. I set course and head that way.

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by Captain Vlad

For several days, though, there are no contacts. I slow to 5 knots
after I reach my patrol zone and roam about the area, periodically
checking the sonar for distant propeller noise. HQ even shifts my patrol
zone south a bit, to the mouth of the straight near the city of
Makassar. I see lots of lovely Pacific sunrises and sunsets, take an
wild ride through a wave tossed sea, but I see no shipping. After a
week and a half of this, I'm told to continue patrolling the straights
at my discretion.

RSRD has gotten so good it's almost interactive! Now that's realism. Almost makes me want to join Christie's crew in Australia. Would have to give up the Royal Hawaiian though. That would be tough. Hats off to Lurker!

[howler93]

Vlad,

Congrats on mastering the TDC! Your patrol sounds like it's off to an interesting start...nice writing too! As a teacher, it's refreshing to see quality writing on a forum. Proper use of punctuation and everything

Best of luck with the rest of your patrol!

Howler

[Rockin Robbins]

Hats off to Vlad's great writing also! We have some talented people here on SUBSIM, and some teachers to keep us straight.

Howler, do agree with me that "my bad" is the single most unfortunate customization of the English language?

Eagerly awaiting installment #2.

[howler93]

RR,

I must admit that "My bad" doesn't really bother me too much. In fact, I'm afraid I use the phrase from time to time . What gets me though, is when my students misuse "well" and "good." That and when they use "me" instead of "I," as in the sentence, "Me and my friends went to the store."

[Captain Vlad]

Originally Posted by howler93

Congrats on mastering the TDC!

I won't say I've mastered it, yet. It's more like we've reached an uneasy agreement since it wants to sink ships and so do I.

...nice writing too! As a teacher, it's refreshing to see quality writing on a forum. Proper use of punctuation and everything

In another life, I wrote freelance for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Not so sure about my punctuation. Used to date an English teacher and we'd have wild disagreements over my 'liberal' use of the language.

In reference to this log, though, I'm pretty complimented. I'd originally typed it out in less than 15 minutes as an email to a buddy. I didn't edit it, other than removing personal references.

Best of luck with the rest of your patrol!

No doubt more weird mishaps will abound. I'll try to get the second part up after work tonight.

Hats off to Vlad's great writing also!

TY.:p

[Schultzy]

Great stuff.
I'm looking forward to reading more of your well crafted posts! As a fellow member of the 'how exactly did I hit that??!' club for the TDC impaired, it's good to see we can do it with a bit of practice!

Going a little OT:

"my bad"

I have to say i really do loathe that.
Your bad? Your bad what? Toe? oh you mean your mistake...

That and my other pet hate which is 'I could care less.'
For the love of all things holy, it's 'I couldn't care less.' Which i'm sure is what you're all thinking right now, so i'll shut up. [/OT]

Great posts, keep it up!

[Captain Vlad]

Part Two

The Seadragon, with two kills under her belt, proceeds northwest through the Celebes Sea. I'm having mixed feelings about the results I've garnered thus far. While two Japanese ships are on the bottom, I've yet to conduct a successful torpedo attack this time out.

I can't gripe much, though, as I enjoy using the deck gun. I've got plenty of diesel left to find torpedo fodder. My map shows that a Japanese shipping route slides right through the Api passage, my next patrol area. Chances of finding another ship there are good, I figure.

Sometimes, though, I can be a little impatient. As I cruise northwest at nine knots, I notice that Tarokan Island isn't too far out of my way. I've always loved the idea of sneaking into one of the smaller anchorages in the game and finding a host of AA-gun level targets...trawlers, tugboats, etc...to lay into. It's never happened, but I keep hoping, and I decide that I ought to check out the Island. You never know...

The water is quite shallow near my sudden obsession, but it's enough to stay submerged. Skies are grey and I haven't detected any aircraft in quite some time, so I figure daylight is my best bet. Slide beneath the waves, check the place out, attack if there's anything there, and escape under the cover of darkness.

The infiltration takes a while. I ease in slowly at one knot, keel almost scraping the bottom. It's tedious, honestly, but there's that hope of fulfillng my murderous ambition and becoming SH 4's number one small-craft killer.

Naturally, when I up scope, there's not a blessed thing docked at Tarokan Island.

I indulge in a little role-playing at this point. There's no in-game effect for my brief bombardment of the Tarokan docks, but it does make me feel better. I head back out towards deep water at fifteen knots, a little lighter on 3-inch shells, but happy that the virtual Japanese at TI won't feel safe for awhile.

I resume course for the Api passage when I've got some water under the boat, and reduce to cruising speed.

The next couple of days pass as I 'round Northern Borneo and start to work my way Southwest. So far I haven't been troubled by planes on this patrol, but the SD begins picking up the occasional patrol now...I begin spending most of the daylight hours submerged, creeping along and listening for contacts.

On my second day underwater, I hear something.

The sonar man, naturally, cannot hear the ship, and the little green light on the hydrophone panel isn't shining, but propeller noise is propeller noise. The contact is north of me. He's distant enough that I want to close range while I can still hear him. Figuring out his course will have to wait.

Seadragon emerges from the deep and races north at 15 knots. I could go faster, but I'm suddenly fuel conscious; Surabaya has fallen, or so the radio message says. It's a long cruise to Fremantle, and I'll have to save enough for the trip.

Several in-game hours pass, and I see nothing but empty ocean. The target is louder on the 'phones, though. Even my sonarman can hear it. It's a merchant. Medium speed. I slowly gain. I do mean slowly. The sun is rising (having been about to set when I detected my prey) when I finally catch sight of the enemy.

I swing the Seadragon onto a parallel course and increase to flank speed. I can see that the target is a small freighter of some type, but for a little guy, he's haulin'. It takes a while to draw ahead, and I'm remembering how I spooked one of my earlier kills. I do my best to stay at a good distance from him.

Finally, I get far enough ahead that I think I can intercept him submerged. I dive, maintain flank speed, and adjust course for my intercept point. I raise the scope and am again irritated by choppy seas. I can't even see my target yet, and thus, I rely on the hydrophones to tell me when he's drawing close.

I'd intended on using the aft tubes (I seem obsessed with those, don't I?), but when I catch sight of him in the periscope, he's much closer than I'd thought. I start working out my solution, set tubes one and two for contact detonation, high speed, as shallow as they can be set. I don't have a broadside shot...his bow is closer to me than his stern. Hopefully that won't matter. I open outer doors and fire when the target passes 1200 yards.

One torpedo misses just forward of the target. The other hits...

...and what a hit it is. After the initial 'boom', the entire freighter practically disintegrates. She ripples with secondary explosions, then just sort of vanishes. I check for lifeboats. I don't see any. Not a surprise. No one's paddling away from that.

(It's a day or so later that I read a post on this forum about lots of ships in RSRD carrying ammo...guess that was one of 'em.)

Now satisfied with myself, I resume course for my patrol area.

[Rockin Robbins]

Two torpedoes, a 50% hit rate and a merchie on the bottom! Tell cookie to bake up that victory cake.

Your guys in the after torpedo room sneaked (snuck?) on the radio and asked me to ask you to fire a torpedo from their end. They'd love to have places to sleep. I told 'em you'd do it if they promised a hit.

Great job! Did you think to take screenies of the explosion, or were you too shocked, like I was yesterday? Gotta love RSRD!

[Captain Vlad]

Nope, no screenie, though I do have the replay. Now that I have sat, I may actually open an imageshack account (or whatever) and indulge my inner shutterbug, though.

----------------

Part Three


After the sinking of the small ammo ship northwest of Borneo, the Seadragon once again turns towards the Api Passage. Apparently just a stretch of ocean between two islands off the western coast of Borneo, it does seem, from my map, that a Japanese shipping route goes right through there. Good hunting? Maybe.

The transit takes a couple of days as I'm cruising in plane territory. I spend the daylight hours submerged, puttering along at 1 knot, and surface about an hour after sunset. I keep my ears open but I hear no more contacts. On the other hand, maybe my last kill's massive explosion deafened my sonar guy or screwed up the sound heads.

HQ considers me in my patrol zone before I do and tells me to just find something and sink something. I decide that the spot between those aforementioned islands looks like a bit of a choke point and decide to start there. I arrive after dark...the sea, lively for most of the patrol, is dead calm now. The Seadragon slides through the water quietly.

I start to set up a patrol pattern of the suspected choke point but decide to emulate a lot of deer hunters and just sit and wait for them to come to me. Come dawn I submerge, sitting at 200 or so feet and just listening. In my role-playing mind I imagine lots of little boat chores being done. A make-and-mend day, perhaps.

Day passes, I surface. Day comes, I submerge. I think perhaps that the passage isn't heavily trafficed, that my map is wrong. I also wonder if I should shift position a bit. A look at the map tells me wherever I sit shouldn't matter...the entire 'choke point' seems to be within range of my 'ears'.

Late on night two, I check the hydrophones and hear propeller noise. Patience, thy have been rewarded.

With a potential victim in my awareness, I finally crank up the engines and move to intercept. I don't have to work at it; the ship, a medium frieghter, is moving right up the shipping lane towards me. I catch sight of her about two in the morning and move to cut her off. I do some initial TDC measurements, note that the flag IS Japanese, but the thing is...I know these types of ships usually run unarmed, and my crew is itching for some excitement after two days of studying for quals and sewing up their own socks.

I sound battlestations and the deck gun is manned.

I decide I'm going to engage from farther out than is my usual practice. She might be armed, even if previous experience has told me otherwise. I draw up on a parallel course about 2500 - 3000 yards away and open fire.

After a few ranging shots, I see the first flash of a hit, and after that, I'm placing rounds on the target consistently. A couple of times, I think the enemy returns fire, but I never see a splash near me or a round flying, so I might've been mistaken. She proves to be a tough target...I use up most of my remaining HE ammo on her...but she eventually succumbs, her bow getting lower and lower until she finally draws to a halt. I see lifeboats, get the 'enemy destroyed' message, but it's several minutes before she actually slips under.

I report my kill. HQ is happy. So happy they shift my patrol zone again. Makes sense I guess; if the Japanese know there's a sub in the Api Passage it's unlikely they'll sail through it. My new area is off the French Indochina coast, 250 nautical miles from the Mekong Delta. This excites me a little; last two patrols I've had good hunting there.

I run at 15 knots until the Api Passage is well behind me, then reduce to my usual 9. Weather starts to pick up again, and though I dive at an SD contact and spend several hours submerged, I'm moving straight up the center parts of the South China Sea. Not many planes out here, so I make good time to the Mekong Delta.

I've never had much luck trying to catch shipping coming to or from Saigon, so I decide I'll move up the coast and see if I can find some targets. Again, I've had good luck in this area before, and though it isn't marked on the map, it seems like following the coast out where the water just starts to deepen will usually produce contacts and sometimes a convoy. I ease that way at 5 knots (my usual surface 'prowl' speed). Night comes.

Early in the morning hours, a manual sweep with the hydrophones picks up distant propeller noise. After a few minutes to judge, it's definitley coming closer, though it's still not at a range where Mr. Sonar will report it himself.

There's an odd quality to the contact, and I can't decide whether it's a convoy or, possibly, just a large ship. In either case, I call up full speed, and the Seadragon moves to intercept.

----

Edited for small errors, though I probably already revealed my tendency to confuse the South China Sea and East China Sea.

[Captain Vlad]

Part Four


The Seadragon makes 18 knots across a dead-calm sea as I chase after my latest contact. It's still dark, but it won't be for long. The sky is lightening, and though the sun isn't up yet, visibility is growing better by the minute.

Sonar can hear my quarry now, and I can tell it's a single ship. From the hydrophones, it seems like she's heading south. I should cut across her path.

I spend more time on the bridge than usual (I tend to play from the nav map), looking for the enemy (in this section of the ocean it has to be Japanese). I want to spot her early. There's no chop at all, no fog. Ideal conditions for a torpedo attack on a lone merchant. I don't want to spook the enemy by getting too close on the surface.

My lookouts sight her first, but she's just a dim shape on the slate-blue horizon. I can't tell what flavor of merchant she is initially, but I can tell she's big. I adjust course a bit, wait. The enemy draws closer. She's a Old-style large freighter, about 7500 tons. It looks like she'll cross my bow on her present course.

Love it when things go my way.

I submege when my target is still quite distant, reduce to minimum speed, and reverse course. It looks like I'll finally get to indulge my obsession with the aft torpedo tubes. I cut engines and wait. Minutes (real ones) pass. When I up scope, the target is a little farther away than I'd hoped (about 2000 yards), but heading across my stern. I do my initial TDC stuff, lower the scope, finish the solution a minute or two later. Tubes 5 and 6 are set to run shallow, high speed, contact detonation. I set 7 and 8 the same way, just in case.

When the torpedo's run will be quite straight, I fire. Two stern torpedoes, and from their wakes, the solution looks good. The ship is at 1800 yards or so. I listen to the little stopwatch.

"Torpedo is a dud, sir!"

I raise the scope and take a look. The ship is chugging placidly along. If it's a dud, that means it hit, most likely. I mean, it had to clang loudly off the side from sonar to hear it, right? The second torp should do some damage.

"Torpedo is a dud, sir!"

I curse, and rapidly take another range/bearing reading. Torpedoes 7 and 8 shoot off on their way, but seven is a little late...I'd apparently opened the outer door earlier, then closed it again when readying the tubes. Around this time there's an explosion; I swing the scope back toward the freighter in time to see the waterspout die away. One of my dud torpedoes has detonated, apparently.

Detonated, and did so close enough to hurt the target, apparently. Her bow wake shrinks and dies away as she loses speed. I call up flank speed and begin to turn. She's slowed enough I figure I'll miss. No matter. I can finish her off with the forward tubes.

Someone yells 'Torpedo Impact!' and I take another look at the ship. One torpedo, presumably the one fired a bit late, has hit the target just forward of her superstructure. As I watch, the ship catches fire, and splits apart right about where the torpedo hit. Both halves sink rapidly, and lifeboats row about in the glassy sea.

I lower my scope, dive to 150 feet, and make my way south at 2 knots, insufferably pleased with myself.

[Captain Vlad]

Part Five


The Seadragon secures from battlestations and continues to prowl, submerged and slow, up the Indochina coast. I'm figuring on switching hunting grounds. I've satisfied HQ's last order, and am hesistant to radio in for new ones, as I've been itching to try the approaches to Singapore itself. Surely that'll make a good hunting ground. There's also the matter of fuel; I've got over sixty percent in the tanks, but Fremantle is a long way off. Hunting closer to home sounds like a good idea.

I've barely worked out this tenative plan when my hydrophone officer calls out another contact. It's been less than two in-game hours since my last sinking. My crew is still munching on the steaks I had the cook make for them.

Rains but it pours, I suppose.

I change course to the contact, but some carefull listening with the hydrophones reveals that my new target is moving fast. She's to the east of me, moving north, and there's no way I can catch her submerged, so I surface, man the AA guns just in case (surely planes are out looking after the last attack), and ring up 21 knots.

It takes a surpisingly long time for visual contact to be made, but finally the lookouts spot her. She's a big one, around the same size as the freighter I sank only a few hours before, but newer. She's going fast, too...she's too far out for accurate stadiameter readings, but from her bow wake, the rate she's progressing, I guesstimate her speed at 12 knots. Fast enough I'll have to risk spooking her...I don't want her to sail by out of range after I submerge.

When I've worked in close enough that I feel sure I can catch her underwater, I sound the diving alarm, and the Seadragon slinks beneath the waves. The sea is still pretty calm; solution should be fairly easy.

Minutes pass. The 'Dragon makes 7 or 8 knots. I fret a little, worrying I might not end up close enough. A periscope observation or two reassure me, and soon I'm within 3000 yards. I work out a solution fairly quickly. It seems accurate, and I'm proud of my newfound speed while doing this. When she gets to about 1800 yards, I fire tubes 1 and 2. Their wakes look like a couple of sure hits.

At 46 knots, they don't have to run long, and I hear the sonar guy cry out: We've got a hit! I raise the scope and take a look. The target is clearly slowing, taking on a list. Then the hydrophone guy speaks up again, with less enthusiasm.

"Torpedo is a dud, sir!"

After the duds on the last attack, this one inspires a fit of cursing. Breaking the immersion a little, my gf asks what went wrong. I tell her the Navy needs to stop offering contracts to the lowest bidder. She cackles and goes back to her horror movie.

I'm about to try for a repeat of the last attack, but this ship's captain is faster. My target is already turning away. The torpedo slowed her a bit, but she's still making more speed than I am.

I blow ballast. The Seadragon has seawater still draining off her decks when the gun crew opens fire. My quarry is already out past 2500 yards, and worse, she begins to return fire. I zig one way, then the other, scoring a hit or two. I notice that my target is listing to port. I also notice that when I'm directly behind her, her front-mounted gun can't shoot at me. I do my best to stay in her blind spot...she manuevers, trying to get her gun to bear.

The 'Dragon is far more manueverable, though, and the enemy finds her an elusive target. I, on the other hand, am finding that the Japanese build resilient ships, and 3-inch guns just don't hit very hard. I set her deck cargo afire. Her funnel collapses after about three consecutive hits, but she doesn't slow. I've gotta get close enough to place my shots better.

I secure firing until I'm within 1000 yards, still twisting this way and that as the freighter continues to try and bring her gun around. When I open fire again, I'm putting rounds into her waterline. My High-Explosive rounds are gone. I'm firing AP. A few of the shots hit her, pass through, splash water on the other side.

There's no dramatic explosion this time, so sudden dismemberment of the target. She gradually slows under my continued pounding. Considering her resilience, I consider waiting for her to stop then finishing her off with a torpedo. This proves unneccesary. With 60 or so AP rounds left, she begins to sink. Again, lifeboats appear in the water, rowing away as the freighter slooooowly goes under.

Perhaps they scuttled her.

I turn away from the survivors. They'll probably make it given the proxmity to shore and the fact that now there have to be patrol planes out. I reduce to 9 knots, and spend another hour on the surface, letting my batteries get some juice.

Finally, the expected SD radar contact is reported. I submerge, and turn the Seadragon south.

[Rockin Robbins]

A tropical disease infecting innocent submarines traveling the South Pacific in 1941 through 1945. A sometimes fatal disease, it compells otherwise sensible submarines to surface and do battle on the enemy's terms! There is no cure for deckgunitis, as the gun is just far too much fun to fire.

There is an organization, dga, deck gunners anonymous, where help may be available, but it has done me no good either and my deck gun takes a couple hundred shots to sink a ship, not a couple dozen.

Hello......I'm Rockin Robbins.......and................I love my deck gun. Please don't hate me for it.

[Captain Vlad]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

There is no cure for deckgunitis, as the gun is just far too much fun to fire.

Fun...and tempting to save torpedoes! I feel no guilt for my use of the deck gun, however. If it worked for that Hardegen guy, it can work for me!

Hello......I'm Rockin Robbins.......and................I love my deck gun. Please don't hate me for it.

I don't love my deck gun. Shallow as I may be, her shells just aren't big enough. I'm anxiously looking forward to the day I can ditch her for someone with a set of larger warheads.

[Captain Vlad]

Note to self: Obsession with GT Legends a possible hindrance to war effort.

-------------

It seems like a long time since the last sinking, but as far as my crew and SubsAsiatic are concerned, it's been about a day. The Seadragon has a happy band of sailors aboard. Three large ships sank in about thirty-six hours, and enough fuel and torpedoes left that they might sink more.

I set course for Singapore, per my plan. I've never been anywhere near the place, and though I'm finding fat targets off the Indochina coast, I have a yen to explore a bit. Perhaps I can improve morale for the Brits under Japanese occupation by sinking something important within sight of the city. Thing is, though, I barely make any progress toward Singapore. I'm still checking the hydrophones since I'm in a rich target area, and sure enough, as I cruise south, I hear something.

I can't tell whether the target is a merchant, a warship, or a whale. The sound is very, very weird. And distant. Still, in this area of the world, it's unlikely that the target is anything but Japanese. Seadragon turns east and increases to fifteen knots.

It's a bright, moonlit night with very little chop. Somehow the view is more breathtaking than usual.

"It's because your installed Pacific Environments 2." The XO says. He's a blathering madman. Thinks the world is some kind of giant game. I keep him around because he amuses the crew.

I know I'm in for one of those intercepts when it's hard to figure out, from the hyrdrophones, which direction the target is moving. First it seems to be headed south, then east, then south again. I'm continually scanning the horizon. At one point, I'm certain I see the target, but a quick look through the binoculars shows me there's nothing there. Worse, the hydrophones are suddenly telling me that the contact is behind us. Somehow, in our attempts to intercept, we've passed the enemy without sighting him. The 'Dragon swings 'round. Wouldn't be long now; that weird noise on the hydrophones sounds close.

I finally note a shape on the horizon and adjust course slightly. Further observations show me theres not one target, but three! I feel a moment of excitement. Then I realize what I'm probably about to see; the weird sound quality, the erratic manuvering, the fact that we passed them on a clear, bright night and didn't see them. Sure enough, as my 'quarry' comes into view, they're revealed to be a trio of sail-driven fishing boats.

Were we off the Japanese coast, I'd probably man the guns and sink them, but we're nowhere near Japan. The nearest land is French Indochina, and the fishermen on those boats are most likely Vietnamese. I have no quarrel with them. The Seadragon turns south, reduces speed to nine knots, and I watch as the sailing junks disappear behind me.

We're back on course for Singapore.

A day perhaps, passes, as the 'Dragon proceeds southeast. I'm far enough from land that planes aren't too much of a worry, so I'm cruising on the surface. I'm still relatively close to Indochina, and I'm still doing manual hydrophone sweeps. You can never tell. It's not the 'phones that give me my next target, though. It's the radio. SubsAsiatic reports an enemy ship in my area, heading northwest. I'm a bit removed from her last reported track, and she's said to be moving fast, but I have a good chance of finding her if the information is accurate. I set up an intercept course and increase to eighteen knots.

I should be approaching the enemy bow on, and I begin listening for him. I'm beginning to worry that I've missed him. He was reported to be moving at high speed...could he have slipped by before I'd got on his track, or passed me, just outside of visual range. I actually doubt both scenarios, as there's nothing on the hydrophones, and it's night, so I can hear much farther than I can see. I wait a few more minutes. Still nothing on the expected bearing...but there's propeller noise on my portside aft.

I'm about to start cursing when a new radio report arrives. Another Japanese ship was seen headed southeast, very close to my position. The fun part is that the last reported location...is about where my sonar contact is.

I have to make a quick decision. The first contact was reported as 'high speed'. That usually means 'big and important'. A troop transport or a hefty modern freighter. I'm fairly certain he hasn't slipped past me yet. But on the other hand, I have no confirmation of where he is, and this new target isn't just a possible erroneous report from intelligence. I decide to go for what I'm sure is there, and turn north to intercept.

I set myself on what I figure is the enemy's course and begin searching. It's not a perfect intercept...I seemed to have gone a bit far north, past the ideal intercept point, but that shouldn't matter. The propeller noise is getting louder, and I can tell I'm about to cut him off. I've ended up facing east, though. This is a problem. The sunrise this morning is especially dramatic, and I'm sailing right into it. There's a good chance he'll see me before I can pick him out from the glare. I could submerge, but he seems to be moving at a good clip and I don't want to lose him. I adjust course slightly, so I'm not sailing directly into the sun.

The noise on the 'phones is getting louder, and I know, were it high noon, I could see my target by now. The sun is above the horizon, so I can see a little better...there's something off my port bow. Something slowly becoming more defined...first I can see hull, then superstructure, then masts. Battlestations and the diving alarm sound at about the same time, and the Seadragon submerges.

I call for a little right rudder. I want a little more time to set up my solution and that'll open the angle a bit. I call for flank speed as well, raise the scope. The enemy ship...another big one, a large modern composite freighter...is about out of the sun's glare. I take range and bearing, drop the scope. I set up all four forward tubes. Contact fuses, ten foot run depth, high speed. Outer doors are opened. I usually don't use four fish on a merchant ship, but the last two encounters...too many duds. 'Scope slides up, I get a speed estimate. Enemy ship is at 2400 yards. A little farther away than my preferred range, but the torpedoes are going to have a beautiful, straight run. I wait another ten seconds, take a last bearing, and fire.

The little stopwatch ticks. I tap my fingers, hoping the month away from the game hasn't made me rusty. With fifteen seconds left, I raise the scope.

The first torpedo strikes just under the freighter's stack and explodes. The second hit a little behind the same point, also detonating. The third is a dud. It doesn't matter. The ships is already on fire. Fish number four hits forward of the centerline. The big merchie breaks in two. She goes under in less than a minute, leaving debris and some lucky bastards in a lifeboat to mark her grave.

I lower the scope, and dive to 150 feet. We're fairly far from the coast, but the air patrols will know where to look now, so it's best to stay under.

Making a silent and stealthy two knots, I resume course for Singapore.