Just had a rather disturbing run-in with 2 destroyers.

Red October1984 · 07-11-12, 04:06 PM

I was sailing the waters between England and Ireland. 2 Town class DD's appear out of nowhere. I crash dive (never gets old in GWX) and at about 45 meters set speed 1 knot and set the rudder 5 degrees to starboard. I picked that one up here somewhere, one of these threads was talking about that tactic. Im not great at evading destroyers. So, i evade for awhile, not shaking the DD's. Several attack runs are made. I probably took 50 charges around me. No damage. I still havent shaken them. SO I GO DEEPER. 60 meters. The next attack run, sadly, was a hit. 3 charges right down the length of my sub. I scrambled to the damage control station. Every compartment was lit up and flooding badly. Mainly in the stern. I move all the crew into the bow. My damage control team sprang into action. They stopped the flooding seconds before it filled up the sub. I found that i was passing 100 meters. 5 of my compartments were lit up red. I had lost my batteries, electric engines, and diesel engines. So i just sank. I hit the bottom at 166 meters. The very edge between the yellow and the red on the depth gauge. Then all of a sudden, the stealth meter goes green and the pinging stops. The DD's cant find me.

Whew! Now we play the waiting game. Now sadly, the story ends here, my computer froze up and shut down SH3.

Ive made it through worse! Ive got an even better story here somewhere on subsim. The one with like 6 DD's and 3 Corvettes. I survived that one on sheer luck.

Hinrich Schwab · 07-11-12, 04:49 PM

Ah, Town Lend-Lease Destroyers. They aren't bad to deal with when you know what they really are; American Clemson/Wickes Class destroyers flying the British Ensign. If you know a Clemson, you know a Town. Their turning radius for their size is huge. They maneuver like pigs. Getting in a blind spot is not too hard and the acoustics gear is not hard to fool. However, your problem was being only at 60 meters when they found you. That is way too shallow. With only 166 meters of depth, there are no thermals to hide under. I am always hypervigilant to the point of paranoia in shallow water. If I can't red-line my boat in a flash, I am concerned. You were very lucky when you hit bottom. You can thank that old acoustics gear they have for not finding and finishing you off.

Conversely, Clemson/Wickes/Town class destroyers are, in my opinion, the easiest to jump and sink, with careful planning.

Harald_Lange · 07-11-12, 04:55 PM

Bad luck about the pc, I've had that happen on me, can't help but curse!

Red October1984 · 07-11-12, 05:06 PM

Im loading up my most recent save to try again. Anybody have any evasion tactics that might help.

Hinrich Schwab · 07-11-12, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red October1984

Im loading up my most recent save to try again. Anybody have any evasion tactics that might help.

Hmm...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hinrich Schwab

Their turning radius for their size is huge. They maneuver like pigs. Getting in a blind spot is not too hard and the acoustics gear is not hard to fool.

Acoustically, they have a rather large blind spot compared to later destroyers. Their wide turning radius and relatively high speed also makes them suckers for the "Bungo Pete Shot" from Run Silent, Run Deep. Regarding avoidance, diving to the red line and going silent is usually sufficient to lose one. Their gear is not great. If you cannot lose it, its aforementioned wide turning radius makes them torpedo bait when they circle. If he spots your scope while lining up a shot, don't sweat it, he will turn to chase, giving you an opportunity to fire the aft tube down his throat.

Also, If you are jumped on the surface, the Clemson/Wickes/Town gun placement is problematic for the destroyer if you are in column relative to it. It can only focus one or two of its guns on you and because of the gun placements amidships, it can never aim all four of its guns at you.

jimmyjam25 · 07-11-12, 11:27 PM

I had a similar experience not long ago. Two destroyers were trying to get revenge after I sank 4 ships in their convoy. It was 1943 and they seriously would not give up! I think it went on for over 6 hours. I tried everything. Eventually went to 180 metres silent running at 1 knot the whole time and continually changing course but they still wouldn't give up. I only had one aft torpedo left so i decided to blow ballast and then go to periscope depth for an attack. I some how evaded them until i got to periscope depth and fired my torpedo at a distance of 400 m from one of the destroyers. Got it but it didnt sink. It did however kill its engine. I then realised I was about to run out of batteries and oxygen so I only had one choice: surface. I don't know how i did it but I managed to surface far enough away from the damaged destroyer to avoid its gunfire. The other destroyer was attacking me without remorse when I made a shot with my deck gun and somehow sank it in one shot! Everything exploded onboard and it sank! Woo!!! I then loaded my external torpedoes and went back to finish off the damaged one. It was insane! And very lucky!

jimmyjam25 · 07-11-12, 11:29 PM

Oh and they both ran out of depth charges!

Red October1984 · 07-12-12, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmyjam25

Oh and they both ran out of depth charges!

Never seen that happen before. I just screwed up real bad in my type II career. It was August of 39 and i had room for 2-3 patrols until "that day in september" well I thought that i might get closer to england for when the war starts. BIG MISTAKE!

The war started when i was in a Danish port, 2 destroyers and several armed merchants. I had to do my career over again. Theres no way i can fix that. But, now I know which port to hit. There were 2 ammo ships and a couple Large Merchants. Convoy attack never ends well for me, so, Ive been building skill by harbor raiding. Are there any deep-water ports in the game? That would help me a bit more than a 17 meter harbor.

07-11-12, 04:06 PM	#1
Red October1984 Airplane Nerd Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 6,243 Downloads: 115 Uploads: 0	Just had a rather disturbing run-in with 2 destroyers. I was sailing the waters between England and Ireland. 2 Town class DD's appear out of nowhere. I crash dive (never gets old in GWX) and at about 45 meters set speed 1 knot and set the rudder 5 degrees to starboard. I picked that one up here somewhere, one of these threads was talking about that tactic. Im not great at evading destroyers. So, i evade for awhile, not shaking the DD's. Several attack runs are made. I probably took 50 charges around me. No damage. I still havent shaken them. SO I GO DEEPER. 60 meters. The next attack run, sadly, was a hit. 3 charges right down the length of my sub. I scrambled to the damage control station. Every compartment was lit up and flooding badly. Mainly in the stern. I move all the crew into the bow. My damage control team sprang into action. They stopped the flooding seconds before it filled up the sub. I found that i was passing 100 meters. 5 of my compartments were lit up red. I had lost my batteries, electric engines, and diesel engines. So i just sank. I hit the bottom at 166 meters. The very edge between the yellow and the red on the depth gauge. Then all of a sudden, the stealth meter goes green and the pinging stops. The DD's cant find me. Whew! Now we play the waiting game. Now sadly, the story ends here, my computer froze up and shut down SH3. Ive made it through worse! Ive got an even better story here somewhere on subsim. The one with like 6 DD's and 3 Corvettes. I survived that one on sheer luck. __________________

07-11-12, 05:06 PM	#4
Red October1984 Airplane Nerd Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 6,243 Downloads: 115 Uploads: 0	Im loading up my most recent save to try again. Anybody have any evasion tactics that might help. __________________

07-11-12, 04:49 PM	#2
Hinrich Schwab Grey Wolf Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 908 Downloads: 89 Uploads: 0	Ah, Town Lend-Lease Destroyers. They aren't bad to deal with when you know what they really are; American Clemson/Wickes Class destroyers flying the British Ensign. If you know a Clemson, you know a Town. Their turning radius for their size is huge. They maneuver like pigs. Getting in a blind spot is not too hard and the acoustics gear is not hard to fool. However, your problem was being only at 60 meters when they found you. That is way too shallow. With only 166 meters of depth, there are no thermals to hide under. I am always hypervigilant to the point of paranoia in shallow water. If I can't red-line my boat in a flash, I am concerned. You were very lucky when you hit bottom. You can thank that old acoustics gear they have for not finding and finishing you off. Conversely, Clemson/Wickes/Town class destroyers are, in my opinion, the easiest to jump and sink, with careful planning.

07-11-12, 04:55 PM	#3
Harald_Lange Ensign Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: NY Harbour, Periscope depth. Posts: 235 Downloads: 160 Uploads: 0	Bad luck about the pc, I've had that happen on me, can't help but curse!

07-11-12, 11:27 PM	#6
jimmyjam25 Soundman Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 146 Downloads: 39 Uploads: 0	I had a similar experience not long ago. Two destroyers were trying to get revenge after I sank 4 ships in their convoy. It was 1943 and they seriously would not give up! I think it went on for over 6 hours. I tried everything. Eventually went to 180 metres silent running at 1 knot the whole time and continually changing course but they still wouldn't give up. I only had one aft torpedo left so i decided to blow ballast and then go to periscope depth for an attack. I some how evaded them until i got to periscope depth and fired my torpedo at a distance of 400 m from one of the destroyers. Got it but it didnt sink. It did however kill its engine. I then realised I was about to run out of batteries and oxygen so I only had one choice: surface. I don't know how i did it but I managed to surface far enough away from the damaged destroyer to avoid its gunfire. The other destroyer was attacking me without remorse when I made a shot with my deck gun and somehow sank it in one shot! Everything exploded onboard and it sank! Woo!!! I then loaded my external torpedoes and went back to finish off the damaged one. It was insane! And very lucky!

07-11-12, 11:29 PM	#7
jimmyjam25 Soundman Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 146 Downloads: 39 Uploads: 0	Oh and they both ran out of depth charges!