Sea Wolf - Interactive Silent Hunter III dynasty

[AStott]

Ok, I picked up Silent Hunter III the other day. Absolutely amazing game. If you have any interest in WWII sub games at all, you'll likely be interested. A warning though for those who care... the game does use StarForce for copy protection. Please, no discussions of that issue here. Move it elsewhere.

Anyway, if you're interested in joining the crew of my U-Boat, please post here. There are about 5 officer positions, around a dozen petty officer positions, and around 25 or so positions for seamen. Positions will be filled on a first come, first served basis starting with officers and moving down in rank. If you want though, I can start you out as a seaman or petty officer despite positions already filled.

People can acquire specialized capabilities in various fields. I'll get a list of those fields posted soon, and you can let me know if you have interest in a particular area. In addition, crew members can be promoted and awarded medals by me upon returning from patrols.

I've got to go back in the game and collect a bunch of additional details. I'll be back soon.

[AStott]

The year is 1939. Europe is about to erupt into flames once again. There will be war, and the Kriegsmarine, not fully prepared, must still challenge the Royal Navy. The main target - British commerce shipping. The tonnage war is starting.

I will be joining the 7th Flotilla. The 7th Flotilla was founded on June 1938 under the command of Korvkpt. Werner Sobe. Kiel, Germany was the operational base at the beginning of the war. The Flotilla was transferred in 1940 to St. Nazaire, France. In September 1944 most boats left the base for Norway. The 7th Flotilla used maily Type VII boats.

I am Lieutenant Jr. AStott. I will be your captain in the coming years. Together, we will send many enemy ships under the waves. The current date is Saturday, Semptember 2nd, 1939. It will take some time for minor refits and crew adjustments, but after these operations are completed, we will depart.

Our current boat is a type VII-B UBoat. The original type VII had a single rear-firing torpedo tube that was mounted externally. This awkward arrangement was corrected in the Type VII-B, which has a real aft torpedo room with an accompanying single reload. This variant is also equipped with four watertight compartments on the upper deck, which is used to store additional torpedo reloads, bring our total torpedo load to 14.

The type VII-B is also gifted with more range and speed than the original, allowing us to go further out into the Atlantic.

Some additional stats for the more technically minded:
Displacement: 753 tons (surfaced), 857 tons (submerged)
Length: 66.5 m
Beam: 6.2 m
Draft: 4.7 m
Max. speed: 17.2 kt (surfaced), 8.0 kt (submerged)
Endurance: 6,500 nm (at 12 kt surfaced), 90 nm (at 4 kt submerged)
Depth: 150 m (operational), 225 m (maximum)
Dive time: 30 sec
Torpedo tubes: 4 bow, 1 stern
Reloads: 7 internal, 2 external
Guns: 1 88mm naval gun, 1 20mm machine gun (for AA use)

As a result of excellent marks in the Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine (Naval Academy), I begin my career with a renown of 2500. I will be spending this to acquire upgrades to both boat and crew.

For now, the only improvement to our boat will be the replacement of our GHG (Gruppenhorchgerat) hydrophones with KDB (Kristalldrehbasisgerat) hydrophones. These can be rotated to provide a coverage of +/- 160 degrees. This is an increase of 20 degrees in each direction over the GHG model. Unfortunately, do to their location, they have an extreme vulnerability to damage from depth charges. Hopefully this will not be a significant issue.

As mentioned earlier, we have room onboard our boat for myself, 5 officers, 16 petty officers, and 30 sailors. Our current complement consists of the following men:

Sub-Lieutenant - experience: 300, qualifications: watchman
3x Sub-Lieutenant - experience: 300, qualifications: helmsman
Warrant Officer - experience: 100, qualifications: watchman
2x Warrant Officer - experience: 100, qualifications: machinist
Warrant Officer - experience: 100, qualifications: medic
3x Warrant Officer - experience: 100, qualifications: torpedoman
5x Warrant Officer - experience: 100, qualifications: none
26x Seaman - experience: 0, qualifications: none

In addition to these men, I expend some of my renown to take on the following:
Lieutenant Jr - experience: 400, qualifications: gunner, repair
Chief Sr. W. Officer - experience: 200, qualifications: none
3x Senior Warrant Officer - experience: 150, qualifications: none
Senior Seaman - experience: 50, qualifications: none
3x Senior Seaman - experience: 20, qualifications: none

This leaves me with 40 renown, which I will save for a later date.

After bringing in the new men and making the minor modifications to the boat, the date is Saturday, September 2nd, 1939. I head off to check the details of our first mission.

For those that are interested, I will be running with the following difficulty settings (realism level 59%):
Limited batteries: On
Limited compressed air: On
Limited O2: On
Limited fuel: On
Realistic vulnerability: On
Realistic repair time: On
Realistic ship sinking time: Off
Manual targeting system: Off
No map contact update: Off
Realistic sensors: On
Dud torpedoes: On
Realistic reload: On
No event camera: Off
No external view: Off
No stabilize view: On
No noise meter: On

It appears that our first mission to patrol area AL36. This is an area south of Iceland with a latitude about equal to the northern tip of England. We will take targets of opportunity on our way to the patrol area, stay as long as fuel and torpedoes permit, and then return home.

That should pretty much do it for an initial update. Just post here to request a crew assignment. Be sure to note if there's a specific on of the men you'd like to be (qualified and experienced men will be automatically assigned by me before the others of similar rank). In addition, note other qualifications that you'd like me to consider for your future career. Possible qualifications are as follows: Watchman, Gunner, Flak Gunner, Radioman, Helmsman, Machinist, Torpedoman, Medic, Repair

Let me know if you have any questions at all, and I'll do my best to answer them.

[JeffNights]

Ahem, i'll take that Junir LT slot you have there Captain!

[AStott]

Here's a shot of our current crew configuration...
http://www.xmission.com/~abatish/images/SilentHunterIII/SH3Img@20-3-2005_21.25.10_46.jpg

[AStott]

Men, I'd like you to welcome aboard Lieutenant Jr. JeffKnights. He has a good deal of experience with gunnery and repair procedures. Like you, I have to hope that the latter is not a result of the former. He will be filling both of those positions at need, and serving as a secondary watch officer.

[Desnudo]

Sub-Lieutenant Desnudo requests permission to come aboard, Captain!

[Blade6119]

Sub-Lieutenant Blade6119 requests permission to join you in your glorious endeavors!

[thealmighty]

Sub-Lieutenant Al Mighty ready for action, sir.

[MrBug708]

Sub Warrant Officer (Medic) MrBug708 reporting for duty!

[Qwikshot]

I'm up for any position on your boat.

[Coffee Warlord]

Coffee Warlord changes his request, and vishes to be ze Chief.

I vill be keeping ze crew in line, Herr Captain!

[BYU 14]

Warrant Officer BYU 14 reporting, requesting the Watchman's spot sir.

[tanglewood]

Warrant officer Tanglewood with machinist skill reporting for duty!

"She cannae take much mooore Cap'n!"

[SirFozzie]

Warrant Officer SirFozzie (torpedoman) reporting for duty, MEIN CAPITAN!

[ice4277]

Warrant Officer ice4277 reporting for duty as a torpedoman, Sir!

[sachmo71]

Officer if you still have one, WO if not.

Crewman if I have to. :D

[AStott]

Captain's Log - September 2, 1939

A few more of our officers have come aboard. Sub-Lieutenant Desnudo is an experienced helmsman, and should serve well in the command room. Serving alongside him will be Sub-Lieutenant Blade6119. The two of them will share the duties of chief engineer and navigator along with Sub-Lieutenant Qwikshot. All three seem competant enough helmsmen. Sub-Lieutenant Al Mighty will spend most of his time up on the bridge exposed to the weather. Knowing the northern seas, I'm not sure I envy him the position. However, it is reported that he is an admirable watch officer. I'm sure he will do fine.

In addition to the officers, I have met some of the warrant officers on board. Chief Senior Warrant Officer Coffee Warlord will be in charge of keeping things running smoothly. He has seen some time on others boats, but has not yet acquired any specific qualifications. Warrant Officer MrBug708 will be serving as our medic. Hopefully he will have little to do. Warrant Officer BYU 14 will be assisting Sub-Lieutenant Al Mighty with the watch duties. With the two of them on watch, I'm sure little will escape our notice. Warrant Officer Tanglewood will be spending most of his time in either the diesel or electric engine compartment. Warrant Officers SirFozzie, ice4277, and sachmo71 will be in charge of keeping the bow and stern torpedo rooms operating efficiently. Their skills shall be vital to our success.

Before leaving on our mission, I decided to take a quick tour around the boat to ensure that everything is in order. I first took a look at the boat before getting on board. (image1 (http://www.xmission.com/~abatish/images/SilentHunterIII/SH3Img@21-3-2005_7.59.49_531.jpg)) I then boarded, greeting Sub-Lieutenant Al Mighty as he stood ready for departure. (image2 (http://www.xmission.com/~abatish/images/SilentHunterIII/SH3Img@21-3-2005_8.2.12_0.jpg)) From there I moved down through the hatch towards the command room. (image3 (http://www.xmission.com/~abatish/images/SilentHunterIII/SH3Img@21-3-2005_8.3.37_328.jpg)) Once in the command room, I greeted Sub-Lieutenant Blade6119 who was first to stand watch as chief engineer/helmsman. (image4 (http://www.xmission.com/~abatish/images/SilentHunterIII/SH3Img@21-3-2005_8.7.20_562.jpg)) Sub-Lieutenant Qwikshot is also there as the navigator. (image5 (http://www.xmission.com/~abatish/images/SilentHunterIII/SH3Img@21-3-2005_8.7.33_500.jpg)) From my own bunk I can easily see one of the seamen operating the radio station. (image6 (http://www.xmission.com/~abatish/images/SilentHunterIII/SH3Img@21-3-2005_8.9.37_734.jpg)) Next to him is the sonar man. I did not disturb either of them, as we would soon be ready to depart.

At last, at 22:17 all was in order. I gave the orders, and the boat slipped out into the night. (image7 (http://www.xmission.com/~abatish/images/SilentHunterIII/SH3Img@21-3-2005_8.14.51_671.jpg)) As we headed out, I took one last look at the clear night sky and then went below. Once there I took a look at Sub-Lieutenant Qwikshot's proposed route to our patrol area. (image8 (http://www.xmission.com/~abatish/images/SilentHunterIII/SH3Img@21-3-2005_8.19.8_250.jpg)) Everything seemed in order, so I gave the command to increase speed to 13 kts, and we are now well on our way.

[Breeze]

I'll take a spot if you're still looking for bodies.

[sachmo71]

Ohhh...torpedo room. I likey!

[Coffee Warlord]

Look sharp, mein brothers! Ve sail for ze honor of ze Fatherland!

[ntndeacon]

I wouldn't mind taking a spot somewhere.

[BYU 14]

Nothing quite like the reflection of the Moon on a fresh Oil spill eh boys.....and I mean that in a strictly manly way, hopefully that won't change after 3 months at Sea!! :confused:

[wahoomac]

I would be willing to be a WO (Machinist) if it is still available, otherwise just a Warrant Officer would be fine.

[AStott]

Breeze and ntndeacon, as soon as you get home tonight I'll stick you on the rosters. Most likely you'll both be senior warrant officers. This gives you a decent experience jump over the warrant officers, and will likely be near the top of the list to receive qualifications. This leaves the final warrant officer with any qualifications (machinist) to wahoomac.

Others that sign up will get our final senior warrant officers, then one of the five warrant officers. After that we're down to seaman rank. (If I'm remembering correctly.)

A quick note. Until you acquire a qualification, you'll likely see service all over the boat. This is because the crew management system for this game is just a little crude, so it's too difficult to set up specific watches with people in specific locations. Once you get a qualification though, it's easy to see who to stick where.

Looking forward to getting home tonight and continuing the patrol...

[Calis]

Wow, I need to check the dynasty section more often, completely missed this one!

Sign me up!

Been loving this game since I've finally been able to get the sucka running. Hoping I can pick up some tips from reading this.

I started with the IIB in my career and man oh man is that something else. Not nearly enough room, you almost always have SOMEONE who is dead tired on your crew, and I personally need all the fish on board I can get, 5 just doesn't cut it for me, as my hit rate is pretty low. ;)

Finally got enough points for a VII though, so expecting the next patrol to be a frigging pleasure cruise!

Good luck though, I'll be following along.

[AStott]

Calis, I'll get you in this evening. As I mentioned, you'll be taking the place of our final senior warrant officer.

You're expecting to get tips from me? *snicker* Uh, right. We'll see what happens.

I thought it would be interesting to start with a IIB, but they just gave me a VIIB to start with. Not entirely sure why. Oh well, perhaps just as well.

[Calis]

Calis, I'll get you in this evening. As I mentioned, you'll be taking the place of our final senior warrant officer.

You're expecting to get tips from me? *snicker* Uh, right. We'll see what happens.

I thought it would be interesting to start with a IIB, but they just gave me a VIIB to start with. Not entirely sure why. Oh well, perhaps just as well.

From what I've read the 7th Flotilla out of Kiel starts you out with a VII, and the first out of Wilhelmshaven starts you off with a IIB. So it's just a matter of which one you started with. You can upgrade whenever you get the points though.

Curious to see how the 5 officer thing works as well. With only two slots to rest on the boat, and the extra long time it appears to take officers to rest up, I'd think there'd be problems of one being nearly exhausted all the time and of little help. Guess it doesn't really hurt anything though.

I bet I'll pick up something, my ineptitude at captaining a U-Boat is awe inspiring.

[AStott]

Calis: Ah, that makes sense about the initial UBoat. I have seen a number of complaints on forums about the officer fatigue problem. I had run one mission before I realized that I should be running a dynasty and started over. My experience with that was that it does become challenging to keep your officers in top form. I think the trick is that instead of swapping two in and two out all the time you need to do a rotation type of thing so that you're always putting your most tired officer to rest and pulling in the most rested officer. This means that none of your officers will likely be in full form, but you should be able to maintain decent performance. Also, be aware that fatigue and resting are turned off if your time scaling is 64x or greater...

I've got a couple ineptitude stories I could share. Perhaps later I'll post one or two... :)

[AStott]

Captain's Log - September 3, 1939

Today I got the chance to speak a little more with some of the warrant officers on board. Senior Warrant Officers Breeze, ntndeacon, and Calis have all spent some time serving on UBoats before, and should be valuable assets. I haven't yet decided where I shall make the most use of them. I also spoke with Warrant Officer wahoomac, who is our second machinist. His efforts will be highly appreciated in the engine rooms.

The day passed fairly uneventfully. Around 9:20 we passed near a German destroyer on our way north, but other than that we spotted no ships. By midnight we were about 180 km east of Kristiansand. By tomorrow midnight, or perhaps the next day enemy contact may become a significant possibility. I think that tommorrow I will progress as today, but the day after I plan to submerge and make a hydrophone scan for contacts every two hours.


********************
Captain's Log - September 4, 1939
We passed south of Kristiansand around 7:30, having spotted two friendly contacts at a distance. By sunset, the weather had deteriorated. The sky was overcast, and the wind had picked up to 8 meters per second. No further ships were spotted.

Just a few minutes ago (it now being midnight), the seaman on radio duty reported to me that HQ has forwarded to us the location of an enemy ship. It's headed into the fjords up near Bergen. This is only about 170 km north of our position, which is really not that far out of our way. Unfortunately, given that it is headed into the fjords, it could be somewhat difficult to track down. Therefore I'm not sure it's worth our time. We will press on tomorrow, beginning our periodic hydrophone sweeps as planned.

At our current rate of progress, we should reach our assigned patrol zone in a little under 5 days. Hopefully tomorrow wil bring some easy prey to give the crew a decent warm up.

[AStott]

Captain's Log - September 5, 1939
Around 5:00 I was notified of a probably enemy target located approximately 35 km to the north of our position. It was headed more or less northwest. This seemed like a good possibility. I made plans to move northeast in order to try and get a little closer and possibly obtain more contact information so that I would be able to approximate the speed and determine a more accurate course. Then I would be able to set up an interception. The weather was too rough to permit the use of the deck gun, so this would have to be done with a torpedo.

At 6:56 after submerging to do a hydrophone check, my sonarman reported contact with a merchant vessel moving slowly away from us at long range, bearing 325. Given the past information I had, this seemed sufficient for me to pick an interception point.

At 7:30 I made visual contact with the target, almost directly off the port at a range of 2100 m. It's location was almost exactly where I'd predicted. The target appeared to be a coastal merchant ship traveling at a speed of 8kts. I planned to get a little further ahead of it's course, and then submerge, turning in towards it for an easier torpedo shot.

By this point, I sent sent my best crews to their stations. Al Mighty and BYU 14 were up on the bridge along with 3 seamen to keep watch. Desnudo, Blade6119, and Qwikshot were all on duty in the command room. JeffKnights was in the bow torpedo room along with SirFozzie, Calis, ntndeacon and a number of other men. Coffee Warlord and 5 seamen manned the stern torpedo room.

I was able to successfully guide the boat into a good position. Setting up for a nice right angle shot into the starboard side of the target at 900 m. (image1 (http://www.xmission.com/~abatish/images/SilentHunterIII/SH3Img@21-3-2005_20.31.11_125.jpg)) At 7:47 I gave the order to launch the first torpedo. Shortly after it impacted on the front half of the target. (image2 (http://www.xmission.com/~abatish/images/SilentHunterIII/SH3Img@21-3-2005_20.32.27_234.jpg)) Upon hearing the explosion, the crew sent up a cheer. As I kept my eye on the target through the periscope however, it appeared that the strike was not fatal. We would be forced to launch a second torpedo.

A short time later, the second torpedo hit on the back half of the target sending up a great plume of water. (image3 (http://www.xmission.com/~abatish/images/SilentHunterIII/SH3Img@21-3-2005_20.34.42_781.jpg)) Mere seconds after the explosion, a great fireball rolled up from the target, and within a short period of time it slipped below the waves. (image4 (http://www.xmission.com/~abatish/images/SilentHunterIII/SH3Img@21-3-2005_20.34.51_203.jpg))

I offered my hearty congratulations to the men, and we quickly surfaced and continued on our way.

[Calis]

Woot, getting that first kill is always nice.

I think you'll have good luck there near Iceland. I can highly recommend that single merchant route from Iceland to Loch Ewe, picked up all sorts of easy targets there.

What a difference the Type VII makes though, in my first 3 patrols I sunk a whopping total of about 6,800 tons. In the two missions since I've got it, I've sunk about 39,000. So nice to have a deck gun.

Another thing I noticed from my two trips North of Scotland(I'm assuming you're going North to get around and not through the Channel, although it would be interesting to hear what it's like going through there. I don't have the guts for it) Anyway, be careful around Scapa Flow. Only place so far I've nearly bit it. Seems like they keep a pretty heavy supply of Destroyers and worse patrolling around there, ran into them both times.

Save those torps for a C3 if you catch one, haven't taken one of those down with less than 3 yet. Tough suckers.

Ok, I'll stop hijacking the thread...just loving this game. I'll keep following, and breaking my back loading fish.

[Coffee Warlord]

Herr Captain! I zink ve should be heading towards ze channel immediatly. Let us take ze fight to zem! Ve must inspire fear into ze enemy!

For ze Fatherland!

[Desnudo]

Captain, request permisssion to slap Chief Warrant Officer Swedish Chef silly!

[BYU 14]

Captain, request permisssion to slap Chief Warrant Officer Swedish Chef silly!

LMAO.....Now all I can do is picutre that stupid Muppett in an SS uniform!!

[SirFozzie]

LMAO.....Now all I can do is picutre that stupid Muppett in an SS uniform!!

Hey! Watch the Muppet Racism! :D

[AStott]

I meant to make a lot more progress last night, possibly even finish the patrol, but unfortunately other things came up. Ah well, next time.

Calis: I was definitely pleased with the first kill. The interception went far smoother than I expected. This is the first time I've actually tried to plot an advanced interception (moving into position to lie in wait for the target), and it work pretty much perfectly. I was rather disappointed that I was forced to use a second torpedo on the target. It really should have only taken one. Too bad the sea wasn't calm enough to make use of the deck gun.

Coffee Warlord: Negative, Chief. I believe it would be best to hold off on that for another patrol or two until our crew has had a chance to gain some more experience in the business. A defeat now caused by simple mistakes could be poor for morale.

Desnudo: Permission granted!

[Coffee Warlord]

Urgen flurgen durgen, Herr Captain.

[Desnudo]

LMAO.....Now all I can do is picutre that stupid Muppett in an SS uniform!!

Your fire is dying, here. Why don't you tell me where the piece is right now? Bort! Bort! Bort!

[RendeR]

Sign me up as an able seamen. I've started from the bottom and learned fast before!!

[AStott]

********************
Captain's Log - September 5, 1939 - continued

After we were once again on our way, I commended Seaman RendeR for a job well done. He had been manning the sonar throughout the engagement. He performed in an exemplary fashion.

At 20:30, a routine hydrophone sweep reveals the presence of another merchant ship west-south-west of our position. I gave orders to surface and proceed in that direction. The weather was still poor, and with Al Mighty and BYU 14, I suspected that we'd easily spot the target before we were spotted in return.

In response to this delay, I decide to restrict my periodic hydrophone checks to when I'm in the vicinity of known enemy shipping lanes. However, in those cases, I will do more frequent checks.
After chasing the contact for about an hour, we finally pull into visual range only to determine that the target is a small coastal vessel with friendly markings. Disgustedly, I order the men back to their regular stations, and we resume our original course.

[AStott]

Captain's Log - September 7, 1939

Yesterday was quiet with no sign of ships. Today from 10:30 to 20:30 we made periodic hydrophone checks, as we were crossing a common convoy route. Unfortunately, there were again no ships to be heard. We will continue on our way to our patrol area. We should reach the area within another 60 hours.

[AStott]

Captain's Log - September 10, 1939

Yesterday was again quiet. From 22:30 on the 9th until 4:30 this morning I scheduled periodic hydrophone checks, but once again there was nothing to be heard. The wind had slowed to 7 meters per second, and the sky remained clear. We continued towards the patrol area, reaching it around noon.

Once we reached the area, I had Blade6119 plot a series of courses to cover the area. We made periodic stops for hydrophone checks, but all was silent. If nothing turns up within a couple days, I think we will look for targets elsewhere.

[ice4277]

Captain, SirFozzie clogged the head nearest the torpedo room. I told him not to eat the beans for dinner.

[Coffee Warlord]

Zis is a job for ze Chief of ze Boat. Me.

Men. Launch Fozzie out ze torpedo tube.

[AStott]

Captain's Log - September 11, 1939

At 08:40, the radio man caught my attention and indicated that HQ had notified us of a large enemy convoy about 210 km west of our position. This is extremely good news for a couple reasons. First, it's not too far out of our patrol zone. Second, it's headed our directions. Third, from what I've heard, there are not a whole lot of convoys that are yet traveling with much protection.

I plotted a course for a potential intercept point, and then sent the key officers and crew to get some rest so that they will be refreshed when we meet the convoy.

[Calis]

Woohoo! Some real action.

I've yet to run into a real convoy yet, only single merchants or worse yet a couple wandering Destroyers.

G'luck!

[AStott]

Captain's Log - September 11, 1939 - continued

At 14:26 RendeR reported contact with the convoy. From the bearings reported, it appeared that the convoy was around 10 kms distant. I ordered the crew to their stations, and began to creep forward. At this point, the wind had completely died down. This was more wonderful news, as it will allow JeffKnights to command the deck gun. This should allow us to sink more targets if there are no escorts in sight.

I gave the order and we began to creep closer to the projected interception point. I wanted to get a good look with the periscope to hunt for escorts. It appears that there are at least 11 targets.

By 14:46 I was able to upgrade the target count to 13.

By 14:53 I had counted 15 targets. At this time, I also caught my first sight of the convoy through the periscope.

At 15:18 I managed to positively identify all 15 targets. 2 C3 Cargo ships and 2 Small Tankers were identified as belonging to neutral countries. These I planned to allow passage. In addition, there were 3 C2 Cargo ships, 3 Coastal Merchant ships, 4 Small Merchant ships, and 1 T2 Tanker, all belonging to the enemy. The ships were arranged in four columns sailing about 700 meters apart. My plan was to position myself in the middle of the convoy and fire all 5 torpedo tubes while submerged. 2 torpedos would each be launched from the bow at two of the C2s, while the stern torpedo would be launched at a third C2. Then I would surface and pound the smaller ships with the cannon while torpedos were reloaded. I began to move into position.

Shortly after launch, three of the torpedos impacted as planned. The other two either missed or were duds.

At 15:33 we surfaced and began shelling.

By 16:00, all enemy targets had been sunk. Since JeffKnights and his men were able to do such a fine job with the deck gun, I went ahead and had him finish off the targets damaged by torpedos (two of which had come to a stop). This actually used up the last of our deck gun ammo. One other tropedo that I had fired at the T2 hit at too sharp and angle, which likely prevented it from detonating.

The crew is jubilant over our impressive success. I direct RendeR to send a report to HQ, and give the orders to return to our patrol sector. By 19:52 we have returned to our patrol sector and resume our search pattern.

[AStott]

When there is a break in the action, I check in on the situation in the head. Things seem well under control, so I leave Coffee Warlord to his business.

[AStott]

Captain's Log - September 12, 1939

This morning, having fulfilled our patrol orders, and seeing that our fuel is edging towards the limit required to return home, I gave the orders to plot a return course. Since we still have a few torpedos left, I of course planned to take any targets of opportunity that we came across. I did not plan to go searching for trouble though, as we'd had more than our share of success for one mission.

At 14:06 we again received a report from HQ that placed a single enemy ship directly along our course about 200 km ahead of our position. This seemed like a reasonable chance to use up another torpedo or two, so I directed Qwikshot to plot an interception course.

At 19:22, we suddenly caught sight of the merchant ship. I gave Qwikshot a reprimand, as the interception estimate was definitely a bit off. I gave the order to quickly submerge so that we would not be spotted, and began closing. The good news was that the target was a C2 cargo ship.

We carefully moved into position, and at 19:45 I ordered two torpedos fired. Then we waited... One torpedo hit, but unfortunately the second missed astern of the target. I'm not entirely sure why. Someone wasn't doing their job right I'm sure..

Fortunately, after anoter couple minutes, the target came to a halt. Apparently we'd done significant damage to it's engines. I ordered our boat to turn 180 degrees so that we could fire off a shot with our bow torpedo. This torpedo hit. But, while the aft of the target sank a little lower in the water, it remained afloat. With the seas completely calm, it was likely that it would remain afloat.

So, I ordered the boat turned once more so that we could fire our remaining torpedo. With this last torpedo, the target literally broke in half with a great explosion, and it didn't take long for the two halves to sink beneath the waves. Now, being out of torpedos, we were truely ready to head home.

As we begin to return to our course home I suddenly remembered our two torpedos carried in the external containers. I had the men begin reloading these. This would give one more torpedo bow and stern if we need it. We won't however go looking for targets.

Desnudo reported that we would need to spend a decent portion of the trip at one third instead of standard speed in order to conserve fuel and have enough to return to port. This will make the trip home longer. Ah well, perhaps next time we will save some time and risk sailing a little closer to England on our way out and back.


********************
Captain's Log - September 14, 1939

It occurs to me that I never took the opportunity to note down the tonnage which we sank on this voyage. Therefore, I take the chance during the day to go back over my notes.

It appears that the very first Coastal Merchant we sank was 1992 tons. That was on our way out to our patrol grid. Then came the convoy which gave us the following ships: Coast Merchant (1995 tons), Small Merchant (2402 tons), Coastal Merchant (1993 tons), Small Merchant (2405 tons), Small Merchant (2404 tons), Coastal Merchant (1994 tons), Small Merchant (2403 tons), T2 Tanker (10,817 tons), C2 Cargo (6395 tons), C2 Cargo (6396 tons), C2 Cargo (6397 tons). Finally, the long C2 Cargo that we sank on the 12th was 6398 tons.

This gives us a rather impressive grand total for this patrol of 53,991 tons. What a great way to start things off!


********************
Captain's Log - September 20, 1939

At last, around 20:30 tonight we reached Kiel. It's good to be home. The men are ready for some rest and the sight of less familiar faces. I'm sure that command will have some medals and promotions to be handing out to my men. We shall see...

[AStott]

Captain's Log - September 21, 1939

For the success in our patrol, I am awarded 1662 renown. In addition, I will be able to assign 1 promotion, 1 new qualification, 2 Iron Cross Second Class medals, 10 U-Boat Front Clasps, and 3 U-Boat War Badges.

It turns out that the only person yet eligible for promotion is one of the Senior Seamen. I assign him the promotion, raising him to Chief Seaman.

I award one of the Iron Cross Second Class medals to Lieutenant Jr. JeffKnights for his outstanding accuracy with the deck gun that allowed us to sink so many targets on this trip. [ed. I am then dismayed to note that this raised his experience level, which would have made him eligible for the promotion... ah well, next time...]

I award the other Iron Cross Second Class medal to Chief Sr. W Officer Coffee Warlord for his smooth handling of the "head incident". Things sure could have turned ugly there, but he took care of things without me having to interfere.

To Sub-Lieutenants Desnudo, Blade6119, and Qwikshot I award U-Boat War Badges. Outstanding job at the helm, men.

Sub-Lieutenant Al Mighty and Warrant Officer BYU 14 definitely deserve U-Boat Front Clasps. They spent many long, wearying hours up on the bridge keeping lookout. Job well done.

Warrant Officers Tanglewood and wahoomac did a fine job of keeping our engines running smoothly, and to them I award U-Boat Front Clasps.

For his exemplary job manning the sonar, I award Seaman RendeR a U-Boat Front Clasp.

For posting on the thread in some sort of vaguely-related-to-the-game kind of way, I award U-Boat Front Clasps to Calis, Coffee Warlord, Desnudo, SirFozzie, and ice4277.

Since sonar is so important to our performance, and since I believe (though I'm not positive) that a radioman qualification also improves sonar performance (as they are in the same compartment, and there is no sonar qualification), and since he spent so much time on the sonar last patrol, I give a radioman qualification to Seaman RendeR. Hmm... or rather I would, but it appears that he does not qualify to receive it. It's possible that only officers petty officers may receive qualifications. Very well then, I will give the qualification of radioman to Senior Warrant Officer Breeze.

That takes care of awards. We'll be ready soon for another patrol. Take some leave, men. You've earned it.


********************
New Character Data

Lieutenant Jr. JeffKnights - 524 - Gunner, Repair - ICSC
Sub-Lieutenant Desnudo - 319 - Helmsman - UBWB
Sub-Lieutenant Blade6119 - 319 - Helmsman - UBWB
Sub-Lieutenant Qwikshot - 319 - Helmsman - UBWB
Sub-Lieutenant Al Mighty - 319 - Watchman - UBFC
Chief Sr. W. Officer Coffee Warlord - 274 - none - ICSC, UBFC
Senior Warrant Officer Breeze - 169 - Radioman
Senior Warrant Officer ntndeacon - 169 - none
Senior Warrant Officer Calis - 169 - none - UBFC
Warrant Officer MrBug708 - 119 - Medic
Warrant Officer BYU 14 - 119 - Watchman - UBFC
Warrant Officer Tanglewood - 119 - Machinist - UBFC
Warrant Officer wahoomac - 119 - Machinist - UBFC
Warrant Officer SirFozzie - 119 - Torpedoman - UBFC
Warrant Officer ice4277 - 119 - Torpedoman - UBFC
Warrant Officer sachmo71 - 119 - Torpedoman
Seaman RendeR - 19 - none - UBFC

[Coffee Warlord]

And now....ve DRINK FOR ZE FATHERLAND!

[Tellistto]

I'll take that Chief Seaman spot if your still taking applicants. Nice reading, game really sounds interesting.

Tell

[Breeze]

Radioman - cool. Does this mean I'm Bon Jovi?

If I go around Pinging in the near future - just ignore me it's a byproduct of the position.

[Calis]

Wow, awesome first patrol. You took down more tonnage in your first patrol than I have in my first 4!

Excellent work.

[ice4277]

Wow, we had a pretty good start on that first tour. Too bad when we got back into port I had to go and get a nasty case of the clap from the 'entertainment' that CW lined up for us :(

[Ragone]

Senior Seaman! :P

[BYU 14]

Wow, we had a pretty good start on that first tour. Too bad when we got back into port I had to go and get a nasty case of the clap from the 'entertainment' that CW lined up for us :(

Be glad you didn't his "entertainer"........his royal Chefness is now a walking Blue plate special of Scabs and Crabs. :eek:

[AStott]

You guys that are requesting seaman positions... are you aware that we still have 5 warrant officer spots that haven't been claimed? You're a lot more likely to get recognition as an warrant officer than a seaman...

Calis: Yes, it was a nice bit of luck to run into a big juicy convoy...

Wait until you guys see what we've been assigned to for our next patrol...

[SirFozzie]

Today.. ve drink! Tommorrow, ve go out and kill the limeys!

[Eaglesfan27]

Awesome dynasty. I've been holding off buying this game because of Starforce, but your dynasty is wiping out my resolve. I love a good subsim.

Edited to add:

I request permission to join the crew as a Warrant Officer, Captain.

[SirFozzie]

It's got starforce?

FUCK. There goes my purchase

Why do the games I really want to play have that piece of fucking malware crap on it. This makes three! (the Rugby game I had earlier, Chaos League, and now this!)

[Tellistto]

You guys that are requesting seaman positions... are you aware that we still have 5 warrant officer spots that haven't been claimed? You're a lot more likely to get recognition as an warrant officer than a seaman...

Calis: Yes, it was a nice bit of luck to run into a big juicy convoy...

Wait until you guys see what we've been assigned to for our next patrol...
Alright then, WO it is. Was too lazy to count 'em up and see what was left and all that.

Tell

[tategter]

I'll take WO Tategter. Looking forward to getting back out there.

[thealmighty]

While on leave, I met a buxom fraulein with her shirt clasped together by a nice edelweiss brooch. I told her I would show her my new U-Boat Front Clasp if she would show me her 'Front Clasp.'

I took mine off and she looked it over.

She took hers off; her shirt fell open; I looked her over as well. :)

Oh, what a night.

[Coffee Warlord]

I did not vish to tell you siz, my shipmate.

But zat vas a man, baby.

[Desnudo]

Ach du lieber! Das is nicht eine Booby!

[thealmighty]

Damn!! And I SAW The Crying Game, too. Always be wary when they say they prefer it doggie style and have a gallon jar of KY Jelly by the nightstand.

[Ragone]

Yea i'll take whatever Wo posistion is open :)

[RendeR]

DOH!

i THOUGHT THE ONLY SPOTS LEFT WERE FOR sEAMEN!!!


DAMN CAPS LOCK...


Umm...leave me as I am, I'll climb from the depths of mediocrity!!!!

[AStott]

Your captain is headed out on leave. He expects the boat to still be in working order when he gets back on Monday.

[ice4277]

I think the captain went AWOL. I nominate myself to be put in charge.

[Desnudo]

I say we tear this place apart!

[Coffee Warlord]

Silence! You vill respect ze leadership of Herr Captain, or I vill personally see you all shot!

Ze deepest circle of Hell iz reserved for betrayers and mutineers.

[AStott]

Captain's Log - October 18, 1939

This morning around 10:00 our boat left the dock for our next patrol. Apparently Command has gained some confidence in our ability and has given us a potentially more dangerous area to patrol. Sector AM24 is located about 750 miles due west of the Britsh port Scapa Flow. This is just barely outside the projected area of allied air coverage. We will definitely have to be more cautious.

I did have the chance to get back to the boat a little before departure, and had the chance to talk briefly with a few of my other warrant officers. Eaglesfan27, Tellistto, Tategter, and Ragone all seem competant, but as yet inexperienced. There is still one more warrant office with whom I have not yet had the chance to talk. Perhaps later this patrol I'll find the time to track him down.

I also took the time to compliment Chief Sr. W Officer Coffee Warlord. From what I hear, he nicely averted an attempt at what nearly sounds like mutiny (or would be if we'd been at sea when it happened). Surely the reports must be exaggerated. Nevertheless, it is good to know that Coffee Warlord seems reliable.

After some discussion with my officers (JeffKnights, Desnudo, Blade6119, Qwikshot, and Al Mighty) I decided that this time we can risk getting a bit closer to England on our way to the patrol area. We will travel through the large gap between islands north of Scapa Flow. I am confident that Al Mighty and his watchmen will be able to spot any enemy units in time for us to take appropriate actions.

By midnight, we are well on our way out to sea.

[AStott]

Captain's Log - October 20, 1939

At 20:40, Warrant Officer BYU 14 reported sighting of an enemy ship ahead and to the left of our course. It was headed directly across our path. I ordered the ship to periscope depth, and we began to move forward to intercept.

At 21:10 I finally got a visual on the coastal merchant. Seas were rough, with winds at 15 meters per second. There was no chance to man the deck gun, so we continued forward to get in range of a torpedo shot. The target was moving at 9 kts. This is just faster than our top submerged speed, so I figured that it was possible we might end up having to surface and move further ahead of it's path.

At 21:23 we launched a single torpedo from the rather long range of 2400 meters. I was dubious of success, but I allowed Sub-Lieutenant Desnudo to convince me that it was worth a shot.

After over a two and a half minute wait, I was extermely pleased to watch through the scope as a great fountain of water burst into the air. It is obvious within a short period of time that the damage was fatal. The rough seas helped quickly drive under the helpless target. With that we resumed our course westward.

At 22:10 we received a radio report from Command about the presence of another enemy ship. Unfortunately, it was about 250 km to the south. This is significantly out of our path, and I decided to pass on the opportunity.

[AStott]

Captain's Log - October 21, 1939

By 18:00 we were approaching the channel between islands. I ordered the boat submerged, and made a hyrdophone sweep before continuing on. There were no indications of nearby ships, so we continued on our way.


********************
Captain's Log - October 22, 1939

At 3:00, Command reports the location of another nearby enemy ship. This one was about 150 km away. It was located west of the channel between islands, and seems to be headed our way. I thought that it might be making course changes soon, so I decided to make some hydrophone scans once closer to it's predicted path.

At 6:00, and again at 8:00 I made scans, but was unable to detect any ships within range. It's didn't seem worth the effort to hunt it down at this point, so we let it go and returned to our course towards the patrol area.

At 9:36 the crew on watch reported sighting a tug boat. This definitely did not seem worth wasting a torpedo on (and the seas were still too rough to man the deck gun), so I ordered the boat submerged to avoid detection, and we continued on our way.

At 12:30 we were reported the location of another ship. This one was only 60 km away, and seemed to already be headed on a perfect intercept course towards us. Radioman Breeze reported some nervousness at this thought, but I reassured him that given the reported slow speed, it was likely just a coincidence. We continued towards the intercept point. The wind remained high, at 15 meters per second, and there is a light fog.

At 14:36, we submerged and established a sonar contact with the target. It was definitely a merchant vessel of some kind. Our estimate of its course seemed accurate, so we slightly modified our course for a better intercept, remaining submerged.

About a quarter hour later, having reached our station, I ordered the periscope raised, and sighted the target. It's a small merchant ship. A single torpedo would hopefully be sufficient. We sat back to await it's approach.


Just after 15:00 I ordered a single torpedo launched. We waited for just over a minute, and then a cheer went up from the crew, as all could hear the impact detonation. I watched for a while until satisfied that the target was going down, then we continued our our course.

We haven't even reached our patrol area, and already we'd sunk one 1992 ton merchant, and today a second merchant weighing in at 2405 tons. Things are going well. The crew's spirits are high. We should reach our patrol area by tomorrow afternoon.

[AStott]

The crew cringes as the captain comes storming out of his cabin.

"What's happened? How did we get in port?" He angrily checks the chronometer and then stops, staring.

"But... that's impossible... How can it be October 18th?" He looks around questioningly, but the crew on the command deck seem only to wonder what might be wrong with him.

At last he decides that the first part of the patrol must have been a dream. An admittedly good dream, given the success he'd been experiencing, but a dream nonetheless. He sighs and orders the boat out of port.

...err... in otherwords, the game crashed while saving and I hadn't done any periodic saves since leaving port. Bad captain! Guess I'll be doing more frequent saves in the future. Tune in tomorrow for the real start of the patrol.

:(

[AStott]

Captain's Log - October 18, 1939

Having considered the meaning of my strange dream (and having installed a new patch), I (once again) set out for our next patrol. Once again, the first day out was uneventful.


********************
Captain's Log - October 22, 1939

This morning around 6:30, Seaman RendeR reported the presence of an enemy ship up ahead of us. The target was reported to be heading directly across our path, only about 20 km ahead. I gave the order to increase speed so that we could attempt an interception.

At about 7:00 I ordered the boat slowed so that we could take some hydrophone readings. Shortly after establishing contact, I raised the periscope and identify an C2 Cargo ship traveling at a speed of 8 kts. I made some minor course adjustments and continued moving in.

At this point, the wind was blowing at 14 mps. This rules out the use of the deck gun. We'll see how few torpedoes I can get away with.

Due to a poor initial course plot by Sub-Lieutenant Al Mighty, it appeared that I'd be unable to make a favorable intercept. In addition, I was unable to match the target's course while submerged.

After some consideration on my part, Al Mighty convinced me that it was worth taking a long torpedo shot at just over 2200 m range. A hit should slow the target down. I reluctantly agreed, and fired off a single torpedo. We watched impatiently for 2 and a half minutes...

At last, to Al Mighty's great relief, there was a great crash as the torpedo stuck home on the side of the target. Watching through the periscope, I note great explosions across the entire length of the target. The speed quickly dropped to zero, and within an amazingly short period of time, the 6395 ton ship sank beneath the waves.

I congratulated Al Mighty for his daring, and we returned to our eastward course.


********************
Captain's Log - October 23, 1939

At 10:45, Seaman RendeR reported to me another enemy ship. This one was about 43 km ahead of our position, coming from the north and headed across our path. Again, I order an increase in speed, and directed Sub-Lieutenant Desnudo to plot us an interception course.

At 12:52 we established sonar contact. At this point we replotted our course and continued to try and establish an interception course. Desnudo appeared to be having trouble with this, so I directed Blade6119 to help him out. Finally, at 15:39 I established visual contact with the target, a C2 cargo ship.

At 16:30, with batteries running low, it appeared that I would have to surface in order to chase down the target. Grumbling under my breath at Desnudo and Blade6119, I turned the ship southwards to get us out of visual contact, and a little later, surfaced the boat to try and run ahead of the projected course.

Finally, at 17:54, we came to a stop, submerged, and at an ideal location to take a shot at the target. We waited for the enemy ship to come within range. At 18:01 we launched two torpedos. A mere 35 seconds later, we heard a single detonation. The target began slowing, but apparently Qwikshot had been off on his calculations, for the second torpedo apparently missed.

Frustrated with the apparent ineptitude of my crew, I moved into a parallel course, waiting to see what would happen to the target. After a bit, seeing that the target had stopped, but was not apparently in danger of sinking, I ordered the boat about and fired our rear torpedo at it. 40 seconds later, the crew let out a cheer as a loud explosion rang out.

Again I waited, and at last, the 6396 ton cargo ship slipped under the surface. We returned to our course. Unfortunately, the delay in hunting down the ship meant that we wouldn't quite come through the channel between islands before the rising sun. Nevertheless, full of confidence, we pushed on.

[Archer219]

I'll take the open WO spot.

Good read so far by the way!