Lastnight I had one while playing Silent Hunter III. It's basically the only game I play now. Sub sims have always held a special place in my PC gaming heart. This one took it to a whole new level.
Date: Early March, '42, early afternoon. Square BE61, southeast corner. Skies clear, no fog, winds at 0.
I am at the end of a long deployment. I have 4 torpedoes left; one electric standing by in tube 4, the other 3 aft. One acoustic T4 in tube 5 ready, another in stand by, and an electric in the external storage. In my last patrol I found that the SE quadrant of BE61 is rife with tankers, the biggest and fattest of the normal ships you'll see. T3's, T2's and the occaisional small tanker. It's a primo hunting ground for sure. The only problem is it's under the umbrella of air cover that is condusive to the early end of a promising career.
It's early in the afternoon when my OOD reports a large convoy to the south-south east of us heading north-north west at 6 knots. I quickly tell the radio operator to get off a contact report and we head to periscope depth, turning towards where the convoy for interception. Normally, when I've attacked a convoy under ideal circumstances, I try to sneak into the path of the convoy preferrably down the middle having the ships go by me within 500 meters of my foretubes and the outer ships at about 600 meters from my aft tube. I've been very successful at this but the one variable that seems to work against me is the weather. More often than not when I find a large convoy it's in the worst possible weather and visibility is compromised to the point that I can't get good firing solutions. Not this time.
I managed to get my U-boat exactly where I want it. All I have is the electric torpedo waiting in tube 4. My plan is to wait until the biggest target comes by, shoot, turn 90 degrees to port and follow the convoy matching its speed. I have to wait about 10 minutes when a troop transport (7900 tons) passes by followed by a T3 tanker (11,400 tons). I'm close enough for a 1-shot, 1-kill. The T3 comes into view, I shoot and score my kill. I immediately become detected due to my periscope being seen by the ships passing behind me, mere 100 meters or so. I hit full speed, turn the rudder 35 degrees to to port follow the convoy hoping to hide in the noise of over 20 screws making a hell of a covering symphony. As I expect, after the 90 degree turn I angle my periscope aft and find a Hunt III destroyer from the rear vanguard making a run into the convoy to hunt me down. No problem as I've kept the rear acoustical homing torpedo just for this purpose. I let lose that torpedo, go to silent running, and dive down, hoping my torpedo will ignore the behemoths at 6 knots and go for the louder more pronounced noise of the Hunt III making 20 knots.
I'm comfortably cruising at 6 knots heading down towards my depth goal of 160 meters when I hear the unmistakable noise of a torpedo hit. The only problem is that it's way too early for it to make it to the Hunt III on my tail. It either exploded prematurely, as they all have for me, or it hit a merchant ship. I'm pretty sure it premied but that's the least of my worries now. How the **** am I going to get away from the convoy and past the escorts?
I follow the ships as best as I can and after a few minutes I decide to make my escape, trying to slowly get away at 3 knots and at a dept that I am hoping will throw off the sonar of the destroyers above me.
Boy was I wrong.
For the next real hour and a half I'm trying to escape the full-on ASW tactics of 2 Hunt III destroyers. Nothing is working. They are playing me beautifully. One will set up an attack run and I will react to it. After the first 45 minutes of doing this the AI gets really tough. Not only are they working as a concise team they are learning my moves. I spend the next 45 minutes literally going from flank speed to emergency reverse trying to throw off their attacks. I am literally sailing through a forest of depth charges, destroying my AA and deck guns. I am also having a bad case of the sweats. From a video game. I haven't had an experience like that in a long, long time. Finally, one of the escorts decides he's had enough and turns back to the convoy, slowly getting away to the north. The one that stays is determined to hunt me down. He does not let up. He does not leave. It's sub vs. destroyer...the classic matchup.
We start out pretty much doing the same thing. He acts, I react. After about another 10 minutes of this I decide I've had enough. His attacks are getting more and more accurate. It's only a matter of time until one of his depth charges finds it's mark and my career is done. I decide on a desperate plan of action and secure from silent running, giving my torpedomen time to load the next acoustic homing torpedo into the aft tube. I will come to periscope depth after the next attack and let loose with acoutic weapon.
Again the Hunt III bides his time. Then he makes his attack. I have to say at this point in time it didn't feel like I was playing against the PC, I felt like Moby Dick agianst Capt. Ahab. A battle to the death for sure. He makes his attack and passes over me. I hit flank speed and up diving planes trying to make for periscope depth. He then makes a broad, slow turn to port after passing over me. He obviously hears me go flank speed and coming to the surface. Maybe he thinks I'm surfacing to fight it out there but he doesn't know my deck gun is destroyed. I quickly get to periscope depth and can tell he is still sitting there off of my port quarter, waiting. I get about 500 meters ahead of him and hear the report that the destroyer has started moving. Here's my chance. I let lose with my torpedo and immediately race straight ahead, gambling my racing away will encourage him to follow me, hopefully attracting the attention of the acoustic torpedo. I got to the TDC, the torpedo data center, to see how the torpedo's reacting. I see the destroyer on the chart aft of me, well beyond the torpedo. Then I see the torpedo to 180 degree turn, coming right back at me. My gamble has failed. I truly have the feeling of being beaten by a real destroy skipper, not some AI in a game. I am coming to terms with it. It's been a great battle, the better man won. Suddenly I hear an explosion, the unmistakle sound of a torpedo explosion. The torpedo has prematured. Again. I figure what the hell, let me see my victor as he lays his coup de grace on me. I up periscope and swing it around to aft. I see the Hunt III bearing down on me, it's large bow wake like a huge white mustache. 100 meters. 90 meters. 80 meters. Getting ever closer. Suddenly, a sight I wasn't expecting to see. The bow of the Hunt III immediately goes up into the air. A large ball of black smoke rising from aft of the destroyer. Slowly, the ship cork screws around in a slow death dance, a macabre sight of a ship that just seconds before was on it's final track to kill me. I am stunned, astonished, surprised, and amazed. The torpedo waited for the destroyer to chase me, then it chased him, hitting the ship in the fantail and blowing it off.
I watch as the ship slowy sinks. I can't help but feel a little guilty, that the better captain didn't win, that I used a trick to win. But, in the end, I did win. Stunned and not knowing what to do I change speed down to 1/3 creeping away at periscope depth, not believing that the last hour and a half I was in the battle for my life. After about 30 minutes I see the other Hunt III come back to the area where the other ship had just went down. It circled the area for about 10 minutes then left.
My adrenalin was still coursing though me as I sat there looking at the monitor. What I thought was a unwinnable scenario, my own personal Kobayashi Maru scenario, and I found a way to win. It was a great, great feeling.
