#4538297 - 09/24/20 09:05 PM
U-100 - third patrol
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Joined: Sep 2010
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33lima
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Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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Before going anywhere, I remember that I've been allocated some awards to hand out to the crew - some badges or clasps and a qualification for one of the petty officers. These I dole out, basically at random. Good for morale, I trust. Seht gut. So, where are we off to, this time? Grid Square BF15 is the answer. It's half-past five in the evening and daylight is fading as we prepare to get under way. I give the orders, the diesels rattle into life and the boat creeps out from her berth. The band on the quayside plays, the farewell party waves and the seagulls screech and swoop. For sheer ambience and immersion, not to mention the peerless representation of the experience of operating a U-boat on ops, this is still one heck of a sim. Love it. We slide slowly out into the harbour basin and come around onto a roughly westerly heading. The busy quayside slips away astern. The farewell party is probably already heading back to their nice, warm billets. Not for us, for maybe a week or more The long breakwater is to port as we increase speed and head for open water, with only the seagulls for company now. The lookouts are already on the ball as we leave Brest behind. Up ahead are the wide, dangerous expanses of the Atlantic Ocean. Time to plot a course to get us there - to BF15, to be precise. This is easily done, concluding in a north-south zig-zag search pattern, for when we get there. I drop into time compression and the night passes quickly. So does the morning - until at nearly half-past ten, the bridge watch spot a ship - and a warship, at that! Action stations! ...to be continued!
Last edited by 33lima; 09/24/20 09:06 PM.
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#4538338 - 09/25/20 11:12 AM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
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Senior Member
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Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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I jump up onto the bridge and scan off the starboard bow for the contact. There's not much to be seen with the naked eye, just a faint smudge of smoke on the horizon. The view with the binos isn't much clearer, but from what I can now see, I've a shrewd idea what it is that I'm looking at. Tracking the contact through the U-Boat Ziel Optik confirms that it's a USN 4-stack destroyer. And there she is, obviously now in RN service, although I don't have the luxury of this view from where I'm standing on U-100. October 1940 is a bit early to be encountering these ships in Lend-Lease service, but there she is. The question is, what am I going to do about her? My job is to sink merchant shipping. But this ancient destroyer is on a nice course for an interception, just crawling along at about 5 knots for reasons best known to her captain. I decide to stalk her; I can always change my mind later. I slip below the waves so as not to get spotted, and start adjusting speed and course to get within range. I raise the periscope only at intervals, just long enough each time to establish that we're still on a converging course and that the target isn't doing anything radically different. I don't want her lookouts spotting my periscope wake. While I'm doing this, there's an unwelcome intrusion from the crew (micro-) management, which forces me to intervene to keep the electric motors manned. Then it's back to the hunt. Nothing is changing, so I throw in a little time acceleration to reduce the time spent on creeping towards the even slower-moving target. I plan to fire two torpedoes in quick succession when the range comes down to around 1,500 metres. But suddenly, just as we near this point, bad things start happening. First, I hear several distinct sonar pings, then the hydrophone operator confirms verbally that we're being pinged by what can only be the target's ASDIC. Realising the destroyer is likely to have sprung into action, I drop back into real time and jump to the periscope. Which I might have left raised... Alarm! The destroyer is steaming towards us at full speed and is less than 500m away! I fire off Tube 1, more in the hope of forcing her to evade than anything else, and crash dive. This is not going to be good! ...to be continued!
Last edited by 33lima; 09/25/20 11:13 AM.
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#4538383 - 09/25/20 03:46 PM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
Senior Member
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Senior Member
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Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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We drop away into the depths as quickly as we can manage it. It all seems to be playing out in slow motion. I throw in a change of course as we go. Every little helps. Here come the inevitable depth charges! They seem to be dropping right onto the stern of our boat. The first explosions reverberate around us, even as more depth charges splash into the water. U-100 rocks wildly in the blasts, and the first damage report is anxiously made. I'm heading for 80 metres and throw in another course change, cutting back the speed to minimise the noise as the boat levels out. By some miracle, U-100 is still in business. My stopwatch counts down to and past the time my torpedo should have struck home. Not that I was expecting a hit. Up above, the destroyer is steaming around and I dare to hope that he's lost us, as we creep away. Perhaps prematurely in view of the likely noise, I order my damage control team to tackle the electric motor room - I can't afford to lose my only means of underwater propulsion now. The aft torpedo room is also damaged and that will be next. The deck gun and conning tower damage we may have to put up with, unless they can be dealt with if and when we can get back onto the surface. The destroyer is still up there, hunting for us. The damage in the motor compartment must have been slight, for it's quickly repaired, and I shift the repair party to the aft torpedo room. As we creep away, I make sure the hydrophone operator is making frequent verbal reports on the destroyer. I then put him onto tracking it regularly so that the red line indicating its relative bearing is kept updated on the chart. Soon the internal damage is fixed. Thankfully, hull integrity never dips below 100% Every so often, the destroyer drops another pattern of depth charges... ...but they explode far away, the sound still scary but now, somewhat muffled. We continue to creep slowly away. I've gone a little deeper and steer a little closer to the east, hoping to keep increasing the range. The destroyer's still up there. By now, her people have probably realised that they had me for the taking, but have now lost me. Nobody in the control room is relaxing just yet, but the hydrophone reports confirm the warship is gradually steaming away. We've had a close call, but we got away with it! ...to be continued!
Last edited by 33lima; 09/25/20 03:49 PM.
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#4538388 - 09/25/20 04:20 PM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
Senior Member
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Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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Got away with it? Not quite! Just as I'm coming around in a series of turns to starboard that will circle us around back onto course for BF15, the hydrophone operator reports a new contact. And it's a warship - 'moving fast, closing'! It's another destroyer - a big, modern two-funnelled one this time, possibly a Tribal class. I turn away north, keeping the revolutions low and hoping to get away before she comes close enough to detect me on ASDIC. The newcomer seems to be steering a straight course, but possibly, not straight for me. Judging our relative positions as best I can from successive reports coming in from the hydrophones, I adjust our course in an effort to slip behind him, as he seems to be on a more northerly heading. By some great good fortune, this tactic bears fruit. The contact is reported to be getting further away, then to have been lost altogether. Cautiously, I come back up to periscope depth and have a good look around, scanning the horizon, the second time at full magnification. All is clear, so up we come, into the fresh sea air! I'm very glad to be back on my bridge. Next time, I'll be more careful in the final stages of stalking a destroyer target, however old and slow she may appear to be! ...to be continued!
Last edited by 33lima; 09/25/20 04:22 PM.
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#4538414 - 09/25/20 07:53 PM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
Senior Member
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Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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I eventually remember to switch to 'surface cruise mode', noting that my damage control party needs a rest. Well, they've earned it. Next chore is to send a patrol report to BdU. Not that I've got anything to brag about, but they'll want to know where destroyers are prowling. From the reply I get, BdU isn't impressed. I can tell these things. We churn on through the night. In the early hours of the morning, while still very dark, it looks like I'll get a chance to 'be more aggressive'. A contact is reported, close, and on a good course for an interception. I rush up onto the bridge... ...and grab my binos. There she is, a nice, big, fat freighter. The news that the damage control party has completed repairs on the upper deck is icing on the cake. I line her up in the UZO and confirm my identification. Now, this is what I came here for - to stop Mister Churchill from getting his cigars, and his countrymen from getting their breakfasts! ...to be continued!
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#4538427 - 09/25/20 09:55 PM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
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Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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After toying with the idea of making a surface torpedo attack, I decide to submerge instead. No point complicating things by risking being spotted. She's coming almost right at me - all I need to do is manoeuvre to one side, then turn into her. So the bridge is quickly cleared and down we go. At the attack periscope, I'm annoyed to find that my poor micro-management has left Tub 1 unloaded. I quickly order the bow torpedo room fully manned. I also order the hydrophone operator to start tracking the ship and he starts making reports every few seconds. I hardly need to raise the periscope. At just under a thousand yards I raise the 'scope and track the target. At about 800 metres, I fire Tube 2, then Tube 3. Torpedotreffe! The big vessel begins zig-zagging immediately she's hit and my second eel misses. There's a fire in the forward cargo hold but she's not going down yet. To make matters worse, I somehow manage to miss with the stern tube; either that, or the fuze on the torpedo is a dud. Now what? I look the ship over carefully. There's no sign of any armament. Decision made. I'm going to finish her off with the deck gun. ...to be continued!
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#4538430 - 09/25/20 10:13 PM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
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Senior Member
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Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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Surface the boat! I bring us onto a roughly parallel course with the damaged freighter to port. At this point I realise I've completely forgotten how to get the deck gun into action, without having to man it myself. After several seconds struggling with the manual and the keycard sheet, I look up at the screen just in time to see we're about to be run down by the ship, deliberately or not. A burst of speed saves the boat by a matter of a few metres. I'm astern of the freighter by the time I've got the deck gun into action. As ordered, the gun crew go for the waterline. I swing the boat around the big ship's stern so firing can continue. The firing stops. The merchantman is breaking up, racked by explosions. Her back's completely broken and she's going down rapidly. I waste no time in sending a patrol report. 'Be more aggressive', the man said! Will that do? Next move is to order a return to my search pattern. U-100 curves off into the darkness like the grey wolf in a grey sea that she is. Well that's a few more lessons re-learned, then. Be patient. Get in a bit closer, but not too close. Don't attack from acute angles if you can avoid it. Keep a better watch on the crew and ensure we've got the right people in the right place at the right time. And remember how to get that gun into action! ...to be continued!
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#4538497 - 09/26/20 06:52 PM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
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Senior Member
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Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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This time, BdU's response to my report is more appreciative. It's the following night when we make our next sighting. A ship is spotted, fine off the starboard bow. Even as I'm picking up and following a small merchantman in the UZO, more sightings are reported. Yes - it's a convoy! Suspicious of the single contacts ahead and to the near side of the herd, I ask the sonar operator to report any warship contacts. Their turbine-driven, fast-threshing screws can readily be distinguished from those of steamers. He tells me he's not picking up any warships, but I'm not convinced. In fact I'm quite sure the single contacts - three of them, slipping in and out of sight - are all escorts. I start making some measurements, with a view to coming up with a plan. In short, it seems I have two broad choices. Either I take my time and try to work around to the far side of the convoy without being spotted, in the hope there are fewer escorts over there. Or I try to sneak past the escorts and attack from this side, either on the surface or submerged. I decide to attack now, submerged. The convoy is practically steaming into my sights - it's just too tempting a target to pass up. It's a clear, cloudless night so I decide to go in submerged. Even under electric power, I'll be able to get within range. I put the sonar man onto tracking and reporting the nearest of the warships - which he now concedes are present. Here we go - this is it! A solo convoy attack - Knight's Cross or bust! ...to be continued!
Last edited by 33lima; 09/26/20 06:53 PM.
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#4538502 - 09/26/20 07:17 PM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
Senior Member
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Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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The escort ahead of the convoy is a destroyer, a V&W Class possibly. Getting deliberately into a fight with multiple escorts seems to me to be a good way to waste torpedoes and likely, get sunk. I'm going to go for my priority targets, the merchant ships. In between taking sightings with the periscope, I do some more plotting at the map as the range winds down. It becomes apparent that the leading destroyer is turning round. In fact all three escorts could be coming onto courses towards me. To cap it all, I start hearing sonar pings. If I put off evasive action much longer, I fear I'll leave it too late. As it is, it looks like I'm the meat in an escort sandwich. I line up the nearest merchantmen as quickly as I can and fire off my bow torpedoes. I should have started with the furthest ones so as not to give the more distant ones to evade once the first eel explodes, but I've no time for niceties. The last torpedo is soon on the way... ...and I dive away, hoping to pass under the convoy and come up on the other side. This means I don't see the results of my attack, but it looks like we've sunk one ship, from the reports coming in...and got well inside the escort screen, in doing so. Up topside, the destroyer is scuttling about looking for me, but I'm dropping fast into the depths and have gone onto silent running. There's a torpedo strike on a merchantman. It's not clear whether this is on a second ship, or a second hit on the one we believe we've sunk. Either way, it's not a great result but considering the strength and alertness of the escorts, I don't think we've done too badly. Now, we just need to survive the counterattack. ...to be continued!
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#4538505 - 09/26/20 08:22 PM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
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Senior Member
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Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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By now, the convoy is zig-zagging. In fact, I think this started earlier, at the point the escorts seemed to be reacting to me. Maybe this contributed to my misses. Meanwhile, I'm still diving slowly to the north. I can hear occasional depth charge explosions, but nothing is coming close to us. The reason for this is that the escorts are searching for me in the area from which my attack originated, on the other, southern side of the convoy. As well as the destroyer, there's two of the little but handy Flower Class corvettes. A third corvette is sticking with the retreating convoy. The ones hunting me seem to be keen to use their searchlights, perhaps suspecting I'm on the surface. Down in U-100's control room, everybody is fully occupied but calm, outwardly at least. We level out at 90 metres, still on silent running and heading slowly north, away from the hue and cry. I make sure the hydrophone operator is tracking the nearest warship. The picture that's emerging is that the convoy is drifting off to the west, while the escorts are still searching me to the south. My 'escape and evasion' plan seems to be playing out quite well. It's tempting to come up to periscope depth to get a better picture of what's happening. But that will come later, when the risk level is a lot lower. In the meantime, I start edging around to port. My intention is to come around eventually onto a westerly course, so I can resume the chase of the convoy. SH3 does a marvellous job of recreating the felling you get from the U-Boat memoirs of playing this unique, slow-motion, half-blind game of cat and mouse. One moment you're the cat, the next, the mouse. There's nothing quite like it, at least if you don't face the penalty for failure that the real U-boatmen did, immersion in a quite different sense. Lest we forget... ...to be continued!
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#4538544 - 09/27/20 12:17 PM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
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Senior Member
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Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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A brief check of torpedo availability establishes that Tubes 1, 2 and 3 are ready to be reloaded once I decide to secure from silent running, and I have an eel already in the stern tube. We're out of reloads after that, apart from the two stowed under the deck casing which can only be reloaded on the surface in calm conditions, if I recall right. By now, I'm turning around the rear of the convoy, preparatory to resuming the chase, underwater until it's safe. After a few minutes, I decide to risk returning to periscope depth, to get a clearer picture of what's going on. As we near the surface, it becomes clear that impatience has probably got the better of me again. The hydrophone operator warns me of a warship closing in. He's not close nor moving fast, so I chance a quick sweep of the periscope, having gone to the time and trouble of getting up here. I get a brief view of a convoy in retreat... ...then crash dive to get away. As I do so, the enemy's ASDIC picks us up and his searchlight sweeps the water above us. Was our periscope spotted? More to the point, have I left the crash dive too late? I'm about to find out! ...to be continued!
Last edited by 33lima; 09/27/20 12:18 PM.
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#4538559 - 09/27/20 03:31 PM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
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Senior Member
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Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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Hi Russ The only mod I've installed so far is a widescreen one by Rubini, which may or may not be the best one now available. It supports 1920x1080 but I went with its default (1380x768) as the former works in 3d but makes the 2d screens unusable. I still have my original chosen SH3 mods on a CD somewhere but can't recall which ones I favoured. I've recently downloaded Grey Wolves Gold so may end up using that. The stock crew fatigue system is the thing I'd like to see turned off; I've done a hand-edit in basic.cfg but that doesn't seem to have worked - at least, it's not affecting the current campaign. Escorts at night firing starshell instead of using searchlights would be good, too. Rather than have to go through whatever is needed to get my Ubisoft SH3 version installed and working, I just bought the Steam version, which comes patched. I gather from posts on the Doenitz Elite Flotilla forum... http://www.donitzeliteflotilla.com/forum/index.php?topic=2838...that use of a utility is recommended before applying mods to the Steam version.
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#4538560 - 09/27/20 03:42 PM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
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Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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I've narrowly missed being run down by my attacker, as you can see. There's no escaping the depth charges, though. By some miracle, they fail to crush my hull. I go deep and as I get there, order silent running. Now I'm the mouse again, playing the deadly game of hide and seek, relying on information from the hydrophone operator for an imperfect picture about what's going on up there. And there's plenty going on. The destroyer that only just failed to send me to the bottom is scouring the sea with at least two of the corvettes. My premature return to the surface - and use of the periscope - very nearly got us all killed! Now, I need to make amends and escape all over again - and this time, stay escaped! ...to be continued!
Last edited by 33lima; 09/27/20 03:43 PM.
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#4538562 - 09/27/20 03:58 PM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
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Senior Member
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Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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I think there are actually two destroyers hunting for us, judging from the second pair of searchlights on the horizon in the pic below. The only things they are picking out are each other. In real life I think they'd have fired starshell, except for a target at close range. One of the corvettes makes a depth charge run. Unrealistic these external views may be, but I for one would not be without them. One of the destroyers starts depth charging, too. Down below I hear the explosions, but they don't rock my boat...literally. It begins to look like the cat has lost the mouse, again. However, the escorts have succeeded in forcing me to abandon my attempt to maintain touch with the convoy. You can see it steaming off into the darkness in the pic below. I don't know what the escorts are depth charging now, but it isn't me. In the hope of finally breaking contact, I swing around to the east. This does the trick, and at last I'm in the clear again! I don't want to have a closer shave than the one I've just had! ...to be continued!
Last edited by 33lima; 09/27/20 04:31 PM.
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#4538575 - 09/27/20 09:24 PM
Re: U-100 - third patrol
[Re: 33lima]
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,712
33lima
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Senior Member
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Posts: 2,712
Belfast, NI
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I come around from an easterly onto a more northerly heading, intending to loop around and resume the chase on the surface, at a safe distance I wait longer this time before gradually coming back up to periscope depth. The convoy and its escorts are no-where to be seen; they are as expected well to the west. Instead, also to the west and but steaming north, away from the convoy, I can see a solitary four-stack destroyer. From my first encounter with this type of warship, I know not to underestimate them. I steer to pass well astern of him and as the range begins to lengthen, come to the surface. I want to catch that convoy and put in another attack before daylight. Back on the surface, I increase speed and waste no time in sending a patrol report. I don't think SH3 will use this to task other U-Boats to converge on the convoy, but it's the right thing to do. In the log, we're claiming only a small merchantman sunk. I think I may have got another hit too, so there might be a straggler to catch or a damaged ship to pluck from the convoy...but first, I'll have to catch it again. ...to be continued!
Last edited by 33lima; 09/27/20 09:26 PM.
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