33LIMA

Das Reich faces defeat as the Soviets counterattack! Pavlovka campaign, mission report #3 Despite having only limited forces at my disposal - a mixture of unmotorised and armoured (engineer) infantry - I was, I felt, doing quite well my in battle to clear Pavlovka and secure bridgeheads over the River Mzha. I had destroved some Soviet defenders, left some battered remnants surrounded in my wake, and secured a small bridgehead over a ford to the west of the town, with my 'foot' infantry. To the east, I decided that my panzer pioneers would by-pass the remaining Reds holding Pavlovka on the centre, and secure another crossing to the east. All this went well - until the Soviets decided to do something about it. In fact, they decided to wipe out both my bridgeheads, starting with the one on my left. Here, my force consisted of two unmotorised infantry platoons, one with a self-propelled AT gun for direct fire support - a Marder II, pictured at top. We still hadn't had time to dig in, but I'd deployed the platoons in depth facing roughly north-west, astride the expected axis of the enemy attack. There was no certaintly the Soviets would comply with our expectations, but I wanted to keep my platoons in decent visual cover in a compact, mutually-supporting grouping. No point in feeding Oxo cubes to the lion, as a British officer said of Arnhem. If the Reds went another way, fair enough, but if they came to get us, well, we'd be ready for them. Here's the commander of my left-hand platoon, anxiously scanning towards the western edge of the woods. The river is about 50 metres his left. And here are some of his troops. As it happens, they wouldn't have long to wait, because it was in this platoon's sector, that the Reds would first show their hand. As usual, I'm playing with labels turned off and avoding a 'God's eye' view of the battlefield. This makes combat look and feel much more realistic - and a lot more suspenseful. GT:OS likes to keep you waiting, rather than pitching you right into the fight - time acceleration is available for the suspense-haters or the time-deficient. The party begins when my left-hand platoon - the one with the Marder - spots the enemy, moving left to right across its front, towards the river. I have already enabled firing at will in Initial Orders and it's not long before the foremost sections have opened up. They are ably supported by the Marder, which uses its AA machinegun as well as the Pak. Some of the Reds are shooting back at us, but it's obvious that others are crossing the river up ahead, turning our left flank. This isn't good, but I have set up with a section back to the left rear, so as to provide us a degree of all-round defence, textbook style. I'm still under attack from the west and I'm not going to split my force to go chasing after the enemy. I have a second platoon to our north-east; but they are covering the right flank of our position and I'm not about to compromise it by redeploying them. I've made my plan and for now, I'll stick to it, rather than dancing to the Soviets' tune. I take the luxurtyof pushing the camera out to the west and south to the river -not too far, just far enough to get a better view of what my forward troops can already see. It's quickly obvious that some enemies have got over the river, but plenty of them have fallen in the attempt. My Marder has been shelling the enemy during their crossing, but now switches targets - engaging the enemy in the woods to the west. He fires several rounds, the loader steadily feeding the long 7.5cm rounds into the breech each time. But some of his shells splinter the trees just to his front, causing casualties to my own troops. I track the camera about a hundred meters to the west, and get a closer view of the enemy advance. There aren't too many of them, but they are coming on, somewhat hesitantly, using fire and manoeuvre. My Marder cuts into them with an HE round which bursts just in front of an enemy officer, who falls to his knees before keeling over. However, there are some casualties on my side, too, including those which I believe are down to wood splinters thrown out by the Marder's fire. At this point, the shooting dies away. The platoon to the north remains unengaged, but any thought of redeploying to sweep up such Soviet forces as have penetrated to our rear ends when GT:OS decides the battle is over, for now. Despite my boys having inflicted much heavier casualties, we are adjudged to have been defeated. Evidently this is because because the Reds have made substantial gains in territory. I'm not too worried about this. I'm more concerned about preserving both my own forces and the bridgehead, in both of which goals I have succeeded. I don't think the enemy behind us are in any great strength. I am happy to leave the job of mopping them up to other parts of the Division which I know from the briefing are coming up from the west and south - including some heavy tanks. We're still stretched fairly thinly up here, and the critical question is whether we can hold on until the heavy stuff arrives. ...to be continued!

A new standalone mega-mod that brings all that's best to Silent Hunter 3 SH3 got justifiably rave reviews when first released in 2005. Arguably (and I'd be one of those arguing it) it's still far the best U-boat simulation. And can be much improved by the huge number of user-made mods available for it (many of which you can find in the Doentiz Elite Flotilla mediafire SH3 archive http://www.donitzeliteflotilla.com/forum/index.php?topic=1.0 ) . Notably, as every SH3 aficionado will know, there's a number of mega-mods available which provide a single major overhaul, often with optional submods included. One such, and possibly the most popular, is the Grey Wolves Expansion 3 (aka GWX) whose Gold edition is what I've been playing until very recently. Now available is a comprehensive further development of GWX - the OneAlex Edition. You can see the mod's intro video here - the download link is in its description: Silent Hunter 3 - GWX Onealex Edition - YouTube This comes as a compressed file of just over three meg and unzips to under nine. While nominally a mod, it's self-contained and fully functional when unzipped - it doesn't need enabled or installed onto an existing installation. You may need to use a utility called Multi SH3 to create the dedicated subfolder it needs in 'My Documents' for career files but that can also be easily created manually eg 'My documents/SH3' if you unzip the mod to its default folder. Could hardly be simpler. GWX OneAlex Edition comes with: - the features of the GWX mod, including harbour traffic; - the German U-Boat Compilation mod (GUC) which greatly improves the boats themselves, including enabling off-duty crew to be assembled on deck in harbour, the battle flag flown or taken down, and victory pennants to be flown from your periscope on return; - many other improvements, including better crew and uniform textures; - an already-inbuilt widescreen mod so it's 1920x1080 compatible out of the box; - Jonesoft Generic Mod Enabler (JSGME), plus a set of submods including a range of skins for Type VII and IX U-boats; - Silent Hunter 3 Commander (SH3C), optional but regarded by many as a must-have utility for the sim. As an indication, this is a typical stock boat, a Type VII in this case - Nice, but the skin is relatively low-resolution and some details are simplified, like the insulators and tensioners on the jumping wire This is one of the OneAlex, GUC-based Type VIIs... ...and this shows the conning tower detail, albeit it's a larger Type IX... Skins are higher resolution and detail is much better. The next pics show the 'crew on deck' feature and harbour traffic, either moored like the destroyer... ...or moving like our minesweeper escort... ...which we will follow until we get into open water. Another nice feature, shared with some other recent mods, is the addition of animated water streams from the holes in the boats' free-flooding casings. The seas are often much less calm in SH3 and OneAlex Edition does a particularly good job of bringing them to life. Bridge detail is excellent. A nice touch is that unlike in stock SH3, the UZO binocular sight is not permanently fixed to its mount (lower right in the pic below), and when you do fit it, the UZO is animated, and rotates. Internal detail is also up to a high standard. In this control room view, you can just about see the open circular hatch (closed in stock SH3) into the commander's compartment... ...opposite which is the radio room. I'm not sure but I think OneAlex deliberately left out the extended interiors made for the Type VII boats, which in the base GUC mod include engine rooms, crew accommodation and bow/stern torpedo rooms. Torpedo impacts are also very well done, with debris flying and splashing into the sea. Amongst the many included optional skins is this one for a late Type IX, which has the two-tier flak platform (but kept its deck gun as many Type IXs did) and GEMA 'rigid radar' on the upper front of the conning tower. Apparently it is likely that U-boats, unlike surface ships, always had dark grey, not red, anti-fouling paint below the waterline. But red certainly looks good! GWX Onealex Edition also includes a fully-updated sound mod, which fans of the great movie 'Das Boot' will recognise! What's not to like? So far my biggest gripe is that in the 'follow your boat' external ('Ship') camera (key <), mousewheel or tab zoom doesn't work, and can't be made to, it seems. You can move the camera closer but your perspective becomes exaggerated and less attractive the closer you get, unlike 'true' zoom'. in action, the mod looks and feels great! The author is still releasing updated versions (I'm at 1.46 at time of typing) in the light of experience and is obviously very committed. There are other good mega-mods out there, but this new effort really has a lot going for it already! Highly recommended, but somebody, please fix the Ship Camera mousewheel zoom!

The front in Normandy is collapsing - can a handful of Tigers save the day? Feeling like a bit of WW2 tank action, I decided to fire up Steel Fury. To be precise, my Steam version, modded with the excellent Japanese Community Mod. This is available here... https://wikiwiki.jp/pzfr/Steel Tank Add-on ...complete with links and installation instructions (Edge does a fine job translating the site).This is based around version 2.2 of the Steel Tank Add-on (STA 2.2) and is a good free alternative to the donationware ITM mod (itself based on STA 3.4 - I have installs of SF for both). The JCM adds many new theatres, tanks, troops and missions to vanilla SF, including some unique to this mod. As well as the British A-13 and Centurion Mk.I... ...and the German super-heavy E-100... ...there are some 'fakepanzers' which I understand are from a Sony Playstation Panzer game, like this 'E-79'. Scrolling through the JCM's long list of missions and campaigns, I decided to go for one that's included in the JCM's own mission pack - 'N158 Highway', with Tigers defending the locality of Cintheaux in August 1944, as the Germans struggled to prevent the Allies breaking out from their bridgeheads. The mission briefing doesn't tell me a great deal. I've got two Tigers lined up on the N158 with another apparently independent tank, off to my right, and another, covering our left. There are also some grenadiers in the woods north-west of Cintheaux. I decide to push my panzers out to the right, in the hope of reaching a hull-down position on the edge of a low hill, commanding the enemy line of advance. We'll be out in the open, but I hope better able to take advantage of our Tiger's long-ranged 8.8cm guns. A bad idea as it will turn out - this is 1944 and there are some enemy weapons more than capable of killing a Tiger. Panzer, marsch! ...to be continued!

This is me...or rather, this was me, as at the end of the mission (which continues, so I may be hit again). I've been well and truly plastered with hits, including one from an APDS round. Which one finished me off, I don't bother checking. At least two Fireflies are still in action... ...but we got several of the others... Closer in, the battlefield is littered with knocked-out Sherman 75s. There's also a troop of Churchills which I hadn't noticed, like this one which is immobilised but still shooting. As for our Tigers, all four are lost. This one was my number two... While these two were on either flank. from the large craters, they look like the victims of an air attack which I didn't notice, closed up and in the heat of battle. SF missions can have variable elements so I'm looking forward to playing this one again - but with different tactics. Even if you've got the STA 3.4 or ITM mods, a second install with the Japanese Community Mod is a must have, IMHO, given the distinct content. If you like Steel Fury (cheap on Steam and Gamersgate) and haven't got either...what are you waiting for?! Good hunting!

Meanwhile, back in Normandy... ...we haven't yet reached our intended fire positions, when there's a warning on the net of jabos - enemy fighter-bombers. Time for the tank commander to duck inside the turret and close his hatch. We're still not there when first one, then many more Shermans come racing over the low crest we were trying to reach. I'd gambled on this not happening - and gambled wrong. This being the British sector, I'm looking for any with the long and deadly 17-pounder gun. But all these Shermans seem to have seventy-fives. We start picking them off, but they don't stop and seem determined to close the range, or at least find some cover to their front. After some increasingly frantic gunnery, the Tigers have stopped the onrush in its tracks - literally. After a final scan of the horizon ahead... ...I decide it's a good time to complete the advance to our planned fire positions. Once there we halt and tank commanders pop up from under armour, the air threat not having materialised. We're joined by a few hardy grenadiers. The crest is almost invisible here and I feel very exposed. But I've no time to do anything about it. Another wave of Shermans crests the horizon. I duck into the cupola and through the forward episcope, watch my gunner open up on the nearest tank. We seem to be hitting but not stopping the Sherman. I drop back into the gunner's seat and take over the shoot. Again we punish heavily the advancing Shermans. They seem more resistant than I was expecting to 8.8cm. AP and most seem to need several hits before finally lurching to a halt. In return I'm aware we're being hit too, but everything still seems to be working. All that changes when yet another group of Shermans comes into view. These look different. Sure enough, they are Fireflies, the ones with the dangerous 17-pounders. I clobber the first one then switch to the next. Before I can finish him, I'm heavily wounded and for me, the battle is over (the STA 3.4/ITM mod lets you play on even after this, but not the STA 2.2-based JCM). We've been overwhelmed! Nothing for it now but to review the battlefield! ...to be continued!

A new campaign with the 94th Aero in France! I don't really have the system as yet for the latest version of Wings over Flanders Fields but I was inspired to start this campaign after seeing some of BladeMeister's screenies of the Nieuport 28 in a certain other new sim, over on SmHQ. I've always liked the N.28 ever since making the newly-issued Revell 1/72 kit back in the 1960s. I'm no big fan of SPADs so I decided to start with the 94th Aero 'Hat in the Ring' Squadron in late March 1918, before the SPADs arrived. We're based at Villeneuve les Vertus near Reims, which latter is behind the Lines to our north. I'm leading a patrol of four. We're new to this game and are starting out by getting used to the area, and to combat flying in general, well behind the front. So I'm not really expecting too much to happen today. Here I am, ready to start up. And there are the boys, shortly after doing so, engine smoke blowing away in the propwash. As well as my foursome, A' Flight is putting up a pair of Nieuports to patrol the same general area. As befits the flight leader, I'm first off the ground, into clear blue skies. Time for a quick look at my map, I think. Then up and away we go again. I throttle back slightly and begin a gentle right turn to help the boys catch up. I reckon that's Epernay, down there. If not, then I've wasted no time in getting us lost. Right, now for the boring bit, the long climb for height, before the patrol really begins. ...to be continued!

Nice pics, Gatling! Yes Edge has a 'translate this page' button too, easy-peasy. The JCM is a great way of getting a comprehensive package with the minimum of fuss.

Now then...there are some woods to my right, but on the other side, plenty of promising fields and I have more than enough height to reach them. Better avoid the ploughed fields, methinks. Those grassy ones over there look good. The undulations in the land become a bit more evident as I settle onto a final approach, but I reckon I'm still doing fine. Suddenly, a fence comes into view! Fences and WoFF aircraft don't mix too well, I remember. I can't get down short of the darned thing so try to keep the nose up and get over it. But I just haven't got the airspeed! Crunch! The fence stops me dead lie a fly in a spiderweb. 'Dead' is the operative word, for the debriefing tells me I've been killed! WoFF's lethal fences have claimed another victim! Granted I had only just touched down and was travelling quite fast, but an animation showing my kite flipping over or breaking up would have been at least more convincing. That was probably my shortest-ever WoFF career! Next time, I'll be more careful where I force land!

I'm soon attacking the second DFW. My rounds are knocking sundry small pieces off him and he banks right in an effort to escape. I take some hits in return. Just when I think I've got him, my guns stop. Trying to clear them doesn't work. I'm almost certainly out of ammo. So I break down and left, keen not to become the one who gets shot down. My engine is now running rough as I make a run for it, turning and diving for base. But the Hun doesn't seem to want to let me go! After a few scary seconds, the DFW clears off. Which is just as well, for now, my engine conks out altogether. Right - now I just need to find somewhere to force land. Can't be that difficult, eh? ...to be continued!

There's another pair of (presumably) Hun 2-seaters up ahead and I race after them in my Nieuport, which is still wobbling slightly after my tight spiral dive earlier on. My engine's still running normally, though. A quick look behind to clear my tail... ...then I'm in range and shooting at the nearest Hun. This time, they are two-bay biplanes not the single-bay Hannovers. DFWs, I think. I'm hitting steadily but this time, take some in return. The big Hun suddenly dips nose down and falls away. Got him! I pull up hard to avoid fire from his companion, ahead and right. Having got well out of range, I bank right and go for the other DFW. Do I have enough round left? There's one way to find out! ...to be continued!

As I get closer I shove down the nose and build up speed. The plan is to pull up into an attack from well out of the observer's field of fire. The biplane tail reveals the Hun to be a Hannover escort and ground-attack type. Up we go and I start shooting. And hitting, as I can see from smoke and flying fragments. There doesn't seem to be any return fire... ...despite my climb gradually taking me up behind him. As I break left to avoid a collision then snake back to the right for another pass, I can see the observer is tracking me with his gun. However, he doesn't seem to be getting off any shots. My next pass from astern gets more hits and the Hannover begins a gentle turn to the right. I keep closing and firing, in short bursts. Suddenly, the Hun's wings fall off. The fuselage rolls right and pitches sharply downwards... ...then bursts into flames. No doubt about that one, a dramatic first victory on my first operational flight! Out of habit I call up the map and the clock, noting time and location for a combat report when back at base. West of Epernay, 08:47. Nobody wants to miss out on being credited with their first success! But I've ammo left and there are still Huns out there, so I'm not done yet! ...to be continued!

My immediate priority is establishing that none of the ships is a collision risk. That done, I start picking out targets fore and aft. There are so many that I’m a bit overwhelmed. On top of that, some are a bit too far away; others are a bit close for comfort. And above all else, experience tells me the heavy seas are going to mean that even shots that are accurate for line will have problems with the wildly undulating sea surface and ships pitching up and down, on it. Shot at close range but not too close, eel is running straight and true for this modern tanker... ...but runs under it without hitting and without the magnetic pistol setting it off. I have no better luck with the second eel at the same tempting target. In the end, I lose off all four torpedoes from the forward tubes – with no hits. At this point I need to dive to avoid being run down by the nearest column of ships. I then take the opportunity to turn nearly 180 degrees to extricate myself from the middle of the convoy. On the way out, I pop back up to periscope depth and let fly with the stern tube at the nearest suitable target... ...but it’s another miss. The plan now is to do what I should have done, originally – shadow the convoy, attacking only after the wind drops and the sea state settles. Unreliable eels are bad enough - combined with heavy seas, shooting them off is a waste of reichsmarks! ...to be continued!

Western Approaches, 6th June 1940 After failing to locate the first convoy reported, we have at last located another. We're waiting, submerged at 80 metres, ahead of its track, for the leading escort(s) to pass over... ... before coming up to periscope depth and attacking the merchantmen, who range from whale factory ships... ...to more conventional freighters, large... ...and small. In the event, the convoy approaches quite quickly and by the time I’m at periscope depth, there are merchantmen all around me, in several columns. My immediate priority is establishing that none of the ships is a collision risk. That done, I start picking out targets, fore and aft. There are so many that I’m a bit overwhelmed. On top of that, some are a bit closer than I’d like... ...while others are within range, but still too far off for a high probability of a hit. Above all else, experience tells me the heavy seas are going to mean that even shots that are accurate for line will have problems with the wildly undulating sea surface and the ships pitching up and down, on it. But I'm here, and they're there, right in front of my torpedo tubes! I can't resist the urge to do something about it, here and now, while I can! ...to be continued!

Yes, that can only be Epernay down there. Definitely not lost. That's always good to know. At about ten thousand feet I'm getting a bit blasé if not yet actually bored, so I decide to short-circuit all the wheeling around to gain height. Instead, I climb as we head for the next waypoint, which will take us over our airfield. Lovely, elegant little aeroplane, the Nieuport 28. Much nicer-looking than the angular SPAD. I can understand why some US pursuit squadrons were reluctant to be re-equipped with the S.13 and its unreliable geared engine. Urban legend or not, I read somewhere that French esadrilles who had it, retained a full, parallel complement of S.7s, just to enable them consistently to put enough aircraft into the air. Looking down at our base as we pass above, I realise with a shock that this patrol isn't going to be a milk run, after all. White bursts of friendly AA fire are tracking enemy aircraft headed for Villeneuve les Vertus! I throttle back and spiral down, careful not to over-stress my machine, prone as its upper wing is to shedding fabric along its leading edge. By now the first bombs have fallen on our field. These Huns have no intention of letting the new kids on the block ease themselves into the war! There's a sort of staccato barking sound and at first I think it's rounds whacking into my aircraft. But there's no bad guys in sight, so it looks like I haven't treated my mount gingerly enough. She's a bit wobbly as I level off and race after the enemy, who are now running north for the Lines and safety. I hear the rattle of MGs behind me. It was all clear there a second ago! Now there are Nieuports and Albatros scouts whirling around in a small but intense dogfight. It looks like the others have their hands full and it'll be up to me to pay back the Hun bombers in kind. I'm soon closing on the nearest of two pairs, from below and behind. Soon now, soon! ...to be continued!

For a while, it looks like our interception has gone awry, for the second time. Then, we get a distant hydrophone contact nearly dead ahead. We surface and run towards it. Our first sighting is an escort off the port bow, likely a ‘sweeper’ ahead of the convoy. I order a quick contact report made to BdU. Then I alter course to starboard, to open the range from the escort, then back to port. So far, the expected convoy remains invisible, but I'm convinced it's there. And coming straight for us. Down we go again. Another hydrophone sweep picks up the swishing thump of the screws of many merchantmen, over a wide arc ahead... ...with the escort we spotted off to port. We've got them where we want them! In the convoy is an Armed Merchant Cruiser... ...and a fine variety of shipping. I dive to 80 metres and slow down. The plan is to track the enemy with the hydrophones, let the escort pass over our heads, and then come up to periscope depth just ahead of the convoy itself. Preferably slightly to one side. Then, I'll let them have it! ...to be continued - here!

Aufweidersehen Bergen! While continuing my primary Silent Hunter 3 single player career as Richard Schepke in U-105 with the Doenitz Elite Flotilla (DEF), I'm also dipping back into my parallel career as Kommandant of U-33, Erich Pohl. This was started primarily as a try-out of the GWX OneAlex Edition mod before risking U-105, but that being done, it gives me an opportunity to try out shorter patrols earlier in the war, and with a smaller but handier Type VII boat. This career lacks the additional immersive features of a DEF patrol, not least a human role-played HQ to interact with, but is still fun. It's 25 April 1940 and we're starting from the recently-occupied port of Bergen, in Norway. Bergen's U-boat bunkers weren't built at this time but neither SH3 nor my mod represents such developments. Even so, it's a nice experience as the mod I'm using starts some patrols from inside bunkers, whether or not they should really be there. Ahead of us as we slip our virtual lines is out minesweeper escort. So, where are we going@ Oor patrol area is marine quadrat BE34, which is in the Western Aproaches. For now, though, the task is to follow our escort out to the open sea, no sinecure as Bergen lies inland of several channels between high ground. As usual, the bridge watch are initially relaxed, but become fully alert as we get beyond about 400m from out berth. It would be easy to ignore the escort, plot a course and jump into time acceleration, but for me, with a mod which simulates escorts out of port, I relish navigating my boat manually, in real time. About half-way down the channel out to the North sea, our escort turns back... ...at which point, I plot my course out to our patrol area. The Western Approaches is a choke point for merchant shipping to and from the British Isles by the southern route. So I'm hopeful of a more productive patrol than was obtained by stooging about the North Sea chasing warships. Tine to start what BdU called the Tonnage War! ...to be continued!

Within a few hours, we are enveloped in another weather front - high winds, turbulent seas, low clouds and driving rain. About half-way to the estimated interception point, we dive for a hydrophone check. In SH3 you can hear further if you man the hydrophones yourself, but neither myself nor the regular sound man can hear any screws but our own. The next day, the weather has improved, but there is neither sight nor sound of the convoy. Nothing else for it but to resume our search pattern. The better weather holds for a couple of days... ...but by 6th June, it's once again dire. The rain is staying away but the seas are rough. As this point, it seems our luck has changed. While we're back in BE39, our original patrol area, there's another report of a large convoy, this time just to our west and heading our way. We go for it at once! ...to be continued!

Thanks Trooper! That's how playing it feels! On the evening of 27th May, we finally reach our patrol area in BE39 and start a search pattern. We're in the Western Approaches and so should pick up shipping traffic on any of the southerly routes to or from the British Isles. I report my arrival to BdU. Happily, the conditions are still fine and settled... ...and I reduce speed to conserve fuel. We may be searching for some time. Towards nightfall, one of the steady stream of incoming radio messages reveals that I'm not the only one sinking doubtful neutral shipping. Oehrn in U-33 has been at it, too. We're not far away but can neither see not hear any shipping, neutral or otherwise. And by nightfall, it's raining again! Next day, the wind has picked up again too. The day after that, May 29th, having more than completed my minimum 24 hours in BE39, I extend my search pattern in the hope of running into something. The next day is much the same. Strong winds, regular showers, fruitless hydrophone checks, empty horizons. This is past tedious; it's now wearing us down. Where is everybody? Next day, same again, though the showers seem to have decided to stop. But the wind is picking up again, and soon the bridge watch is back in wet weather gear. On we rumble, searching for something it seems isn't there. Our dreary and morale-sapping routine finally ends on the morning of 1st June. A large convoy is reported to our north-north-west. It's a long way off at 140 kilometers, moving fast and heading away to the north-east. But it seems highly unlikely the convoy intends to reach Britain by sailing all the way up the west coast of Ireland. I'm prepared to bet it will turn onto a more easterly heading to make for St Georges Channnel, bound for Bristol or Liverpool. I plot a course to the north-east, in the hope of cutting them off. Full ahead both! to be continued!

The neutral steamer slips away to the north-east. A few hours later, another aircraft appears ahead. Once again it's a biplane, this time a Swordfish torpedo bomber - complete with torpedo! I'm very doubtful of his being able to make a successful torpedo attack on us and if I really knew that's what he was carrying, I'd have been tempted to stay up and pop him off with the flak. But it would have been foolish to take such needless chances with a valuable U-boat. Half-an-hour later, after another fruitless hydrophone check, we're back on the surface... ...and running southwards towards our assigned patrol area, still a long way off. Within a few hours, the winds have dropped right off and the sea is dead calm. The good weather is with us all day and sunset finds us well on our way. At last, the bridge watch no longer need their oilskins. We're now off Ireland's west coast and hopefully, Coastal Command will be leaving us alone for a while. ...to be continued!

These are not the conditions in which I'd expect many aircraft to be operating, let alone prehistoric packing cases like a Walrus, better suited to air-sear rescue than anti-submarine warfare. No point taking chances - down we go, the boat taking a longer time than usual to 'unstick' from the turbulent surface. We make it without being bombed - he seems not to have spotted us. We make another unsuccessful series of hydrophone sweeps while waiting for the Walrus to amble off. Then it's back up into the same heavy seas. During the evening, we get a report of a convoy well to our east, headed for the Irish Sea. Likely it's the one we chased, bound for Liverpool. No point in another stern chase, into enemy coastal waters. During the night, we et a message from BdU, ordering U-boats in the vicinity of Dunkirk to assist in cutting off the enemy forces trapped in the vicinity. Much too far away for us. Our next excitement comes in the early hours of the following day when we spot a small steamer to starboard, heading the opposite way on a roughly parallel course. By this time, the weather has finally begun to improve. As the ship passes, I can make out in the UZO sight that she's a flying the Irish tricolour and that this time, she's got lights set. A neutral, and no grounds to doubt it this time. So we let her pass, keeping our distance. The sun is coming up behind us as we press on. The skies are clearing but I'll take the greater risk from aircraft in exchange for the better conditions. to be continued!

We rattle and roll our way southward in pursuit of the distant fast convoy. We're both hindered by the heavy seas, windspeed and direction but I can barely make 10-12 knots and can't believe we'll catch up the enemy if these conditions persist. The bridge watch do a good job of stating alert, despite waves which regularly submerge them. Still no sign... ...so down we go for some hydrophone sweeps, which will give the boys on the bridge a bit of a break. No joy. Even well below the swell and with the e-motors running at minimum revs, we can hear nothing. We spend a couple of hours submerged. Repeated sweeps with the sound gear reveal no trace of shipping, friend or foe. So it's back up we go, into the teeth of the gale once more. Suddenly, we have more to worry about than the weather. Aircraft, up there, fine off the port bow! ...to be continued!

By early next morning, the weather has taken a turn for the worse, with heavy seas driven by 14 m/s winds from the south. Of course, the bridge watch is in oilskins and sou'westers. Time to drop into the cellar to give them a break, methinks. Also for some hydrophone checks. At twenty meters, the boat is still rolling underneath the heavy swell. ...so I take her down to 40 metres. I cruise submerged for a few hours, making regular hydrophone checks. But there's nothing to be heard but our own screws. The last hydrophone check is still negative, so it's time to come back to the surface and get the bridge watch wet again. I order the boat levelled off at periscope depth... ...and do a couple of sweeps with the sky periscope. Alles klar! Auftauchen! There's no sign of any change in the weather, but at least general visibility is unimpaired by rain or cloud. We plough on, gradually working our way from south-west to nearer south as we past between western Ireland and Rockall Bank. The people on the bridge will just have to put up with it as best they can... ...until the wind dies down, of which there's no sign as the day wears on. Darkness begins to fall and cloud cover increases. There's still no let-up in the wind. Just after seven the next morning, we get a report of a fast convoy to the south. I alter course and increase speed in an effort to intercept it. We do need the weather to improve. Our often unreliable torpedoes will likely be near useless in the heavy seas, while manning the deck gun will be out of the question. But first, I need to make contact with that convoy! ...to be continued!

I just checked the Grey Wolves manual (the OneAlex mod I'm using being derived therefrom) and though the mod did make some changes to SH3's 'renown' system, it says points are still deducted for destroying friendly or neutral targets. There's also the indignity of being shamed by the boss. As I found out after submitting an innocuous status report after my sinking... ...only to receive this, in response. Ouch! What else is there to do, except carry on towards my patrol zone. I risk staying on the surface was we proceed through the Shetlands-Faroes gap in daylight, in good conditions - high, partial overcast, good visibility and a light swell. The bridge watch maintain their vigilance as if their lives depended on it...which indeed they do. Darkness comes but slowly... ...as the leisurely moon climbs up into the darkening skies. By the time it's dark, we're through the gap and change course to the south-west. We've a long way still to go and if nothing else, I'm resolved to take more care about identifying shipping...though I still have my doubts about the neutrality of the steamer I sunk - and will have no hesitation in telling Doenitz so to his face, when we get back. ...to be continued!

The deck gun is quickly manned and ammo brought up. By the bridge watch, leaving only the watch officer there. I've not found a mod which keeps the bridge watch where they should be, keeping a good look-out while others man the deck gun. The first round goes well wide, almost like a warning shot off the bows. But the second round hits and after that, we start scoring about every second or third shot. I've ordered fire directed at the target's waterline and can't resist a 'cheat camera' look at how we're doing. It's a pity for the target this is a cheat, because it shows she's flying the flag of neutral Eire. If I had legitimately noticed, I doubt I would have let her go. She's in a war zone, rather a big ship for the small Irish merchant marine, unlit after dark, and not carrying any of the usual prominent neutrality markings (typically, the national flag painted nearly the full height of the hull). As it is, in the dark, her tricolour could easily be taken for a French one, except at very close range. So the battering continues. The freighter is soon burning and losing way, down from fifteen to seven knots and falling. The range begins to wind down. As we close in,sometimes hitting, sometimes missing, our victim suddenly turns on powerful searchlights... ...and trains them towards us. Not very friendly! Besides, added to the smoke from her fire, the glare makes pretty sure I won't see her colours. And so, she seals her own fate. She's now barely moving, well alight, and starting to go down by the stern, from the look of it. And those lights have gone out. Yes, she's definitely sinking. We turn to port as we come up to her, just as she takes the proverbial final plunge. I don't see any rafts or lifeboats, just the usual flotsam popping to the surface. Amongst it, something small is flopping around. A moment of horror - it's a man in the water! By the time we're on the scene, he's stopped flailing about and a few seconds later, disappeared under the surface. A sobering sight, and no mistake. I lose no time in turning back onto my original course and putting as much distance as I can between U-33 and this unpleasant encounter. I report my sinking, and we're credited with just over five thousand tons. I'd thought it was a bigger fish but I'm not inclined to dwell on this one. As it happens, soon enough, genuine neutral or flag of convenience, the Tommies will come looking for revenge! ...to be continued!

Clear, moonlit nights don't seem to be particularly dark, in these latitudes, at this time of year Which probably helps the bridge watch spot a ship about fifty degrees off our port bow, just before 01:20. At this point, we're north of the Shetlands. I grab my binos and have a look. Even at this distance, I can see it's a sizeable freighter with a lot of what looks like deck cargo. Despite the direction in which the wind is blowing her funnel smoke, she's moving right to left across my field of view. Possibly headed towards Shetland, or enemy-held parts of Norway. We increase revolutions and turn to intercept her. 'U-zo auf brucke!' As U-33's bows come around, I order the Uberwasser Ziel Optik brought up and mounted on its pedestal at the front of the bridge. There she is! We're just past 90 degrees off her port beam at about five thousand metres - and she's doing 15 knots, no less! Decisions, decisions! On the surface I have little speed advantage and from our rather poor starting position, it'll take hours to catch her, let alone get ahead - if I can do so at all, before losing sight of her. Few merchantmen are armed at this stage of the war, so I decide to engage with our deck gun at once. The range is long and there's a bit of a roll on our boat, but if I can get some decent hits, maybe we can at least slow her down, if not sink her. Decision made! ...to be continued!