One shot, one kill, on a King George BB!

jason10mm · 10-25-05, 11:04 AM

Captains diary, U-554, page 76:

Damn, so there we were, AM28 on 5 May 1941, down to 3 bow torpedoes and 1 stern eel after taking on a convoy. WeI got the jump on a lone C Class destroyer steaming south at 25 knots. One into her side and we can scratch one hunter from the seas!

We are feeling happy, ready to head back to port and get the destroyed dive planes fixed when the sonar picks up MULTIPLE warship contacts heading our way fast, from the south! Was this destroyer moving to join a larger Task Force? Apparently so! Out of the midnight gloom steamed a mini-task force centered around a majestic King George V Battleship. All of the other ships were destroyers or frigates. She was moving at least 20 knots, so I had to act fast. We leaned hard to port to try a 90 degree shot with our last 2 bow fish at her, but she was too fast. One eel was steam, so I ordered it set to run fast and set the depth to just under the targets keel with a magnetic pistol. The seas were calm enough to try.

Off goes the eel as the massive warship steams past us, oblivious to our tiny periscope. Destroyers are on every side as we hold our very breath. My only hope was too slow the ship down so our slow electric torpedos could finish her off. I anxiously watched the second hand crawl around the stopwatch in the red haze of the conning tower. 5...4....3....2....HIT!

I raised the scope to see a jubilant plume of white wash over the decks of the battleship. We got her! Looked too far forward to take out the propellers, so I expected the ship to make it past us, injured but unbroken. As we dove deep to escape the vindictive destroyers, my hydrophone man gave out a victorious hiss as we heard sounds of collapsing bulkheads and the screams of steel plate ripping apart coming from the stricken ship.

Could it be? Had our lone torpedo broken her back? The horrifying cries of the dying ship echoed through our boat, only a few hundred meters away. There could be no doubt, the battleship was sunk!

We dove deep to avoid the destroyers, all of whom were in confusion after the loss of their capital ship. Perhaps they thought it was a mine, or a munitions explosion, because they gave no serious effort to find us, instead trying to rescue sailors floundering in the oil coated seas.

We then made our way to the south....towards home.

U-104 · 10-25-05, 01:08 PM

BaronVonSchnitzel · 10-25-05, 06:50 PM

Cool hunt, Jason!

BaronVonSchnitzel · 10-25-05, 06:51 PM

Hey cool! I just became a Kirk Douglas bosun!

jason10mm · 10-25-05, 09:15 PM

Oddly enough, I circled back and the ship was just floating dead in the water. No smoke, no list, nothing. I took some screen caps of my little sub shelling the beast, but can't seem to find them.

Deep6 · 10-25-05, 10:19 PM

A torpedoe to the engine room will often take out a King George.

bookworm_020 · 10-27-05, 03:30 AM

My kingdom for a king george!

10-25-05, 11:04 AM	#1
jason10mm Sailor man Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: San Antonio Posts: 48 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	One shot, one kill, on a King George BB! Captains diary, U-554, page 76: Damn, so there we were, AM28 on 5 May 1941, down to 3 bow torpedoes and 1 stern eel after taking on a convoy. WeI got the jump on a lone C Class destroyer steaming south at 25 knots. One into her side and we can scratch one hunter from the seas! We are feeling happy, ready to head back to port and get the destroyed dive planes fixed when the sonar picks up MULTIPLE warship contacts heading our way fast, from the south! Was this destroyer moving to join a larger Task Force? Apparently so! Out of the midnight gloom steamed a mini-task force centered around a majestic King George V Battleship. All of the other ships were destroyers or frigates. She was moving at least 20 knots, so I had to act fast. We leaned hard to port to try a 90 degree shot with our last 2 bow fish at her, but she was too fast. One eel was steam, so I ordered it set to run fast and set the depth to just under the targets keel with a magnetic pistol. The seas were calm enough to try. Off goes the eel as the massive warship steams past us, oblivious to our tiny periscope. Destroyers are on every side as we hold our very breath. My only hope was too slow the ship down so our slow electric torpedos could finish her off. I anxiously watched the second hand crawl around the stopwatch in the red haze of the conning tower. 5...4....3....2....HIT! I raised the scope to see a jubilant plume of white wash over the decks of the battleship. We got her! Looked too far forward to take out the propellers, so I expected the ship to make it past us, injured but unbroken. As we dove deep to escape the vindictive destroyers, my hydrophone man gave out a victorious hiss as we heard sounds of collapsing bulkheads and the screams of steel plate ripping apart coming from the stricken ship. Could it be? Had our lone torpedo broken her back? The horrifying cries of the dying ship echoed through our boat, only a few hundred meters away. There could be no doubt, the battleship was sunk! We dove deep to avoid the destroyers, all of whom were in confusion after the loss of their capital ship. Perhaps they thought it was a mine, or a munitions explosion, because they gave no serious effort to find us, instead trying to rescue sailors floundering in the oil coated seas. We then made our way to the south....towards home.

10-25-05, 01:08 PM	#2
U-104 Grey Wolf Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: United States Posts: 797 Downloads: 187 Uploads: 0	__________________ My heart is steadfast, O God. I will sing and make music with all my soul. Ps. 108:1 Survival of the fittest does not explain arrival of the fittest. we live in a single spoken sentence.. "God said, let there be"

10-25-05, 06:50 PM	#3
BaronVonSchnitzel Helmsman Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Sacramento, California Posts: 106 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Cool hunt, Jason! __________________ \"There is water on the bottom of the ocean\" - David Byrne, Talking Heads

10-25-05, 06:51 PM	#4
BaronVonSchnitzel Helmsman Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Sacramento, California Posts: 106 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Hey cool! I just became a Kirk Douglas bosun! __________________ \"There is water on the bottom of the ocean\" - David Byrne, Talking Heads

10-25-05, 10:19 PM	#6
Deep6 Gunner Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 95 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	A torpedoe to the engine room will often take out a King George. __________________ Let\'s play Hide and Seek\'n\'Destroy!

10-25-05, 09:15 PM	#5
jason10mm Sailor man Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: San Antonio Posts: 48 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Oddly enough, I circled back and the ship was just floating dead in the water. No smoke, no list, nothing. I took some screen caps of my little sub shelling the beast, but can't seem to find them.

10-27-05, 03:30 AM	#7
bookworm_020 Navy Seal Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sinking ships off the Australian coast Posts: 5,966 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	My kingdom for a king george!