paulhager
02-20-2012, 01:31 AM
I wanted to experience TMO 2.5 in all of its glory, so I deactivated all RSRDC-related Mods and began a new career out of Pearl on 2 January 1942. I selected a Gar class and purchased two LT JG’s - one with “Command Presence” and the other with “Tin Can Crossover”.
Departed Pearl on the 3rd and made the high speed run to Midway to refuel and make for the patrol zone (PZ). Standalone TMO 2.5 displays the PZ on the map, which is a nice feature. The PZ for Objective #1 had a radius of 150 nm centered on a point about 175 nm SSW of Tokyo Bay.
I reached the boundary of the PZ late on the 17th and continued on toward the center at a sedate 10 knots. Just after 0500 (Honolulu time, GMT-10), running at TCx1024, experienced the familiar HMI (human-machine interface) slowdown that signals a nearby TF or convoy. I hit the <ESC> key and dove the boat to 100’. Nothing. I selected the sonar room and manually spun the wheel. That produced two contacts. Once sounded like a merchant, the other a warship. I tagged each appropriately and selected “send bearing to TDC”. The navigation map displayed the two bearing lines. I waited a minute and did another manual sweep. With this information in hand I was able to plot an estimated course. After a 10 minute high speed run, I submerged again and was rewarded with the following display on the navigation map. The time was 0529.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/01_01-18-42_0529_AF01.jpg
At this point I minimized the game and checked the lunar phase for this location. The Moon was waxing crescent, 5% disk and moonset had already occurred. Sunrise would be at 11:48. Visibility was perfect – winds were 0 m/s. Ideal for enemy ASW operations.
Returning to the game, I continued toward the plotted intercept point. The convoy was moving “fast” so this could be anything 12 knots and above. Going to 26’ decks awash made sonar available. Manual scans revealed 2 or 3 escorts and at least 3 merchants.
The first ship sighted was a Minekaze DD. This was quickly followed by a Conte Verde-style Liner of 18K+ tons. A report to HQ yielded a sink ships objective. A second merchant leading the Liner became visible – a 6,700 ton Kiturn Maru.
After tracking the lead merchant for the requisite three minutes, speed was computed as 18 knots, course 206°. Tempted as I was to target both the Liner and the merchant, dud torpedoes and the juiciness of the Liner as a target argued for directing all torpedoes toward it. I settled on a salvo of 8 – all four stern and four bow torpedoes. The Conte Verde Liner had a draft of 24.6. I set the depth for 10’, speed slow, and impact trigger. Following is situation as of 0553.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/02_01-18-42_0553_AF01.jpg
Notice that there is a sonar bearing at 200°. That was a Kisaragi DD. I had to get the shot off fairly quickly lest that DD cut off my escape.
The stern salvo went first – there was an almost 20 second differential between the stern and bow. I spread the individual torpedoes at as close to ¼ degree as I could manage.
With the salvos away, I went to 4 knots and commenced a 90° starboard turn away. As the sub straightened out, I went to 6 knots. About a minute away from impact, I went to 26’ and 11 knots.
Just before impact, I ordered surface and flank.
The following screen shot was taken at 0600 (I brightened a small amount – the twin torpedo tracks should be visible).
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/03_01-18-42_0600_AF01.jpg
The next two shots, taken at 0601, show the second hit and the sub streaking away at 20 knots.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/04_01-18-42_0601_AF01.jpg
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/05_01-18-42_0601_AF01.jpg
In all, five torpedoes hit the Liner, three missed. All torpedoes that hit detonated.
After withdrawing to the west, I turned and made a high speed run to reacquire. There were two Kiturn Marus still available and over five hours of darkness remaining.
A sound check at 0800 showed that the convoy had reduced speed and changed course. This attack would be made from the port side of the convoy – I’d use the four remaining stern torpedoes.
This time I set up around 3,300 yards off the track. The convoy leader was one of the Kiturn Marus. The lead DD had apparently remained behind to search for the sub that had killed one of its charges.
The target appeared and a report to HQ produced another sink ships objective. The target speed was 7 knots, course 246° in an S-curve pattern.
The flank Minekazi appeared. Once again, I’d have to hustle in order to clear the area before the DD caught sight of the sub.
After firing the salvo, I was perfectly positioned for the escape so very little maneuvering was required.
As the sub withdrew, the Minekaze bore in. About a minute before the first torpedo was supposed to hit the DD increased speed to medium. I went to 26’ and 11 knots.
The Minekaze’s searchlights went on and it increased speed to fast. The target took no evasive action. This is typical AI behavior. Once a convoy is moving in S-curves, it will continue to do so even when attacked. Stupid AI.
At 0837, the first torpedo hit. It was a dud. The next three detonated.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/06_01-18-42_0837_AF01.jpg
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/07_01-18-42_0837_AF01.jpg
I ordered the sub to full surface and flank. A second escort appeared – the Kisaragi – going medium speed. In the interval, the Minikazi had also slowed to medium. A plot of their courses on the nav map showed that they were headed for the point from which the attack had originated.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/08_01-18-42_0841_AF01.jpg
When the Minekazi accelerated to fast (I estimated it at 33 knots), I had to resist a strong impulse to dive the sub. Past experience showed that a DD as close as the Minekaze (about 3,000 yards) would spot a sub on the surface. However, once submerged, the sub would only be able to creep away at 1 or 2 knots and would inevitably be picked up on the DD’s active sonar. TMO 2.5 has reduced Japanese visual night sighting capabilities to something close to realistic, making my maneuver possible. In the event, I kept the TBT on the Minekaze and waited to see if it would open fire. It actually did – it fired a star shell about 2,000 yards astern.
The following screen shot shows the two DD’s preparing to search for the American sub, now about 3,000 yards away traveling at 20 knots.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/09_01-18-42_0843_AF01.jpg
By 0858, the enemy ships were no longer visible. I reported to HQ.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/10_01-18-42_0859_AF01.jpg
Torpedoes remaining: 12. Two merchants sunk for 25,681 tons; 8 hits, 3 misses, 1 dud. Two objectives achieved, one remaining.
A good beginning.
Departed Pearl on the 3rd and made the high speed run to Midway to refuel and make for the patrol zone (PZ). Standalone TMO 2.5 displays the PZ on the map, which is a nice feature. The PZ for Objective #1 had a radius of 150 nm centered on a point about 175 nm SSW of Tokyo Bay.
I reached the boundary of the PZ late on the 17th and continued on toward the center at a sedate 10 knots. Just after 0500 (Honolulu time, GMT-10), running at TCx1024, experienced the familiar HMI (human-machine interface) slowdown that signals a nearby TF or convoy. I hit the <ESC> key and dove the boat to 100’. Nothing. I selected the sonar room and manually spun the wheel. That produced two contacts. Once sounded like a merchant, the other a warship. I tagged each appropriately and selected “send bearing to TDC”. The navigation map displayed the two bearing lines. I waited a minute and did another manual sweep. With this information in hand I was able to plot an estimated course. After a 10 minute high speed run, I submerged again and was rewarded with the following display on the navigation map. The time was 0529.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/01_01-18-42_0529_AF01.jpg
At this point I minimized the game and checked the lunar phase for this location. The Moon was waxing crescent, 5% disk and moonset had already occurred. Sunrise would be at 11:48. Visibility was perfect – winds were 0 m/s. Ideal for enemy ASW operations.
Returning to the game, I continued toward the plotted intercept point. The convoy was moving “fast” so this could be anything 12 knots and above. Going to 26’ decks awash made sonar available. Manual scans revealed 2 or 3 escorts and at least 3 merchants.
The first ship sighted was a Minekaze DD. This was quickly followed by a Conte Verde-style Liner of 18K+ tons. A report to HQ yielded a sink ships objective. A second merchant leading the Liner became visible – a 6,700 ton Kiturn Maru.
After tracking the lead merchant for the requisite three minutes, speed was computed as 18 knots, course 206°. Tempted as I was to target both the Liner and the merchant, dud torpedoes and the juiciness of the Liner as a target argued for directing all torpedoes toward it. I settled on a salvo of 8 – all four stern and four bow torpedoes. The Conte Verde Liner had a draft of 24.6. I set the depth for 10’, speed slow, and impact trigger. Following is situation as of 0553.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/02_01-18-42_0553_AF01.jpg
Notice that there is a sonar bearing at 200°. That was a Kisaragi DD. I had to get the shot off fairly quickly lest that DD cut off my escape.
The stern salvo went first – there was an almost 20 second differential between the stern and bow. I spread the individual torpedoes at as close to ¼ degree as I could manage.
With the salvos away, I went to 4 knots and commenced a 90° starboard turn away. As the sub straightened out, I went to 6 knots. About a minute away from impact, I went to 26’ and 11 knots.
Just before impact, I ordered surface and flank.
The following screen shot was taken at 0600 (I brightened a small amount – the twin torpedo tracks should be visible).
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/03_01-18-42_0600_AF01.jpg
The next two shots, taken at 0601, show the second hit and the sub streaking away at 20 knots.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/04_01-18-42_0601_AF01.jpg
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/05_01-18-42_0601_AF01.jpg
In all, five torpedoes hit the Liner, three missed. All torpedoes that hit detonated.
After withdrawing to the west, I turned and made a high speed run to reacquire. There were two Kiturn Marus still available and over five hours of darkness remaining.
A sound check at 0800 showed that the convoy had reduced speed and changed course. This attack would be made from the port side of the convoy – I’d use the four remaining stern torpedoes.
This time I set up around 3,300 yards off the track. The convoy leader was one of the Kiturn Marus. The lead DD had apparently remained behind to search for the sub that had killed one of its charges.
The target appeared and a report to HQ produced another sink ships objective. The target speed was 7 knots, course 246° in an S-curve pattern.
The flank Minekazi appeared. Once again, I’d have to hustle in order to clear the area before the DD caught sight of the sub.
After firing the salvo, I was perfectly positioned for the escape so very little maneuvering was required.
As the sub withdrew, the Minekaze bore in. About a minute before the first torpedo was supposed to hit the DD increased speed to medium. I went to 26’ and 11 knots.
The Minekaze’s searchlights went on and it increased speed to fast. The target took no evasive action. This is typical AI behavior. Once a convoy is moving in S-curves, it will continue to do so even when attacked. Stupid AI.
At 0837, the first torpedo hit. It was a dud. The next three detonated.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/06_01-18-42_0837_AF01.jpg
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/07_01-18-42_0837_AF01.jpg
I ordered the sub to full surface and flank. A second escort appeared – the Kisaragi – going medium speed. In the interval, the Minikazi had also slowed to medium. A plot of their courses on the nav map showed that they were headed for the point from which the attack had originated.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/08_01-18-42_0841_AF01.jpg
When the Minekazi accelerated to fast (I estimated it at 33 knots), I had to resist a strong impulse to dive the sub. Past experience showed that a DD as close as the Minekaze (about 3,000 yards) would spot a sub on the surface. However, once submerged, the sub would only be able to creep away at 1 or 2 knots and would inevitably be picked up on the DD’s active sonar. TMO 2.5 has reduced Japanese visual night sighting capabilities to something close to realistic, making my maneuver possible. In the event, I kept the TBT on the Minekaze and waited to see if it would open fire. It actually did – it fired a star shell about 2,000 yards astern.
The following screen shot shows the two DD’s preparing to search for the American sub, now about 3,000 yards away traveling at 20 knots.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/09_01-18-42_0843_AF01.jpg
By 0858, the enemy ships were no longer visible. I reported to HQ.
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/paulhager/10_01-18-42_0859_AF01.jpg
Torpedoes remaining: 12. Two merchants sunk for 25,681 tons; 8 hits, 3 misses, 1 dud. Two objectives achieved, one remaining.
A good beginning.