• Midway Battle Movie

Apr 02, 2009  It may have taken over 6 months. I think I had to use a mod that avoided getting me retired so I could start at 1941 and last until 1945. As far as getting killed, not in that carreer. Silent Hunter 4 Typhoon Mod - Battle of Midway Quick Mission (PC) Game = Silent Hunter 4 Mod = Typhoon Class Nuclear Soviet Submarine ( Link for mod. Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific by SKS Plays - Mission 1: Cargo Ships Episode 2. A close quarters battle at sea. 17 March 1942: Late in the afternoon, we reached the Luzon Strait. Late in the evening, due north of Aparri (Philippines), we spotted a medium composite freighter and a small composite freighter traveling together. Both were soon struck by torpedoes, and finished with 4 inch gunfire.

To give you more room to evade your enemies, and for the first time in the Silent Hunter series, the game even features thermoclines. A thermocline (called in the game “thermo layer”) is a depth under the sea where the temperature suddenly changes (not a lot, just 1 or 2 degrees Celsius). Without entering in a lot of technical considerations (that those of you who already played games like 688i or Dangerous Waters already know) this change in temperature also modifies the sound propagation properties effectively creating a barrier between the submarine and any ship trying to detect her. The result if that the submarine becomes about 50% harder to detect. The problem with thermoclines is that their depth changes depending on your location and in some places you can’t even find any (particularly in waters not deep enough to offer one). Unlike modern subs that constantly know where the nearest thermocline is (launching a special buoy that slowly sink recording temperatures on its way down) in a WWII sub you’ll know you reach one only when your sonar station will report “Passing thermo-layer” because the sound they get from the ships on surface has been altered. Of course, that works both ways.

Your submarine becomes much harder to detect, but the same goes for you regarding the enemy. Fortunately, warships generate much more noise than a submarine so you can still track them easily enough while at low speed with silence ordered on board, you are virtually invisible to them.But there's moreIf the hardened skipper wants another kind of challenge, he can always switch to the Pacific Fleet (Pearl Harbor ) where he will probably be tasked at some point with mission to infiltrate a Japanese harbor for a recon. Shallow waters, destroyers patrolling narrow straits, sub chasers and gun boats all around not to mention the coastal artillery. Everything to please those who search for some tense moments. If you're lucky, they will send you to a rather unimportant and poorly guarded harbor.

Otherwise they will send you to Tokyo bay where you'll have the maximum chances to get your ass kicked, so to speak.In Quick Missions, you'll have to face some more challenges that are not featured in career mode because they would have been difficult to implement in a campaign without scripting it (although it would have been nice to see those challenges ported to campaign). For example you may be tasked with life guard missions in which you'll have to rescue downed pilots in the heat of a battle, which was a part of submarines duty. Silent Hunter IV, regardless its initial flaws (even more numerous and plaguing than the MK14 ones) proves once patched to be the best WWII submarine simulation currently existing. Not only has it done for me a perfect job as a game and a simulator but also in conveying a little of the experience of submariners who fought during World War II and that is the least one can expect from a “historical” simulator.Most of the submarines lost during WWII (all nations included) were never recovered. For a lot, no one even knows where and in which circumstances they were actually lost. Battles under the sea had nothing to do with others.

Most of the time there was no S.O.S., no clear indication when a submarine met her final fate. As far as the US Navy went during WWII, the standard procedure for submarines was to send a message if time permitted before engaging the enemy.

After that, if no other communication was received, the sub command just considered that the radio could have been damaged in battle so they waited for the submarine to appear in an allied harbor. If the submarine still didn’t show after 15 days she was then considered overdue from patrol and presumed lost or in more casual terms “MIA”. Sometimes submarines didn’t even have the time to send any message before engaging the enemy –- some of them because they just had the misfortune to hit a mine - leaving command with no clue as to their last known location.Silent Hunter IV is one of those rare games that can be considered not only as a game but as a memory tribute to those men who put their lives on the line at a moment where their country needed them the most. Right after Pearl Harbor, the submarine fleet was about all that was left of the US Pacific Fleet to oppose the enemy and they did their job beyond the call of duty with appropriate ships but inappropriate weapons buying enough time to allow the US Navy to regroup and to rebuild the fleet before the big payback.Silent Hunter IV: Wolves Of The Pacific deserves this special place on the hard drive of any WWII submarine warfare enthusiast especially now that it has been properly patched. The last dive of the USS Lagarto (one story among many others):During my time spent playing the simulated war of Silent Hunter IV, It came to my attention that the (SS-371), a Balao class submarine lost in May 1945 somewhere in the China Sea was by scuba divers in may 2005 about 60 years after her last dive.

Until this discovery, the only speculations the US Navy could make as for the fate of the Lagarto were based on Japanese radio archives. Rather concise, they stated that a Japanese destroyer bearing the name of Hatsutaka that was escorting a convoy made an attack on a submerged submarine on May 3 rd. Although the coordinates were given, there was no mention if the attack was successful or not.The USS Baya, another Balao class submarine that was supposed to attack the convoy at the same time than the Lagarto also heard the explosion of some depth charges afar. After the attack the Baya tried to establish radio contact with the Lagarto for several hours but received no answer. It’s safe to assume that the Lagarto already had radio problems before the attack since the Baya already tried to contact her several time before the attack occurred, there again, with no answer.Based on the Japanese archives and the Baya report, the US Navy assumed that the Lagarto was lost to depth charges during the Hatsutaka attack.

It was only 60 years later however that this assumption could be confirmed. The scuba divers found the wreck of the Lagarto at about 75 meters and during their first observations, they found a large rupture on the port bow area tending to confirm that a depth charge was the cause of the sinking.This was the second and last war patrol for the Lagarto which was commissioned on January 1945 after initial training.In 2006, US Navy divers made the trip themselves to assess that the wreck found was indeed the Lagarto. The Lagarto was then declared a “war grave”. Her exact position remains only known by the US Navy and the divers who initially discovered the wreck. Any attempt to enter the hull is prohibited.

However, the two initial discoverers are still allowed to dive on the Lagarto at the request of the families to try to gather as much information as possible.At the time of this review, the USS Lagarto is the last submarine lost during WWII to have been discovered. Most of the submarines that have known a similar fate will never be found just because they were sunk in locations without any reference or because they were sunk in waters too deep.

10 December 1941:Had been assigned command of the Porpoise class USS Permit (SS-178) in the Asiatic Fleet, stationed in the Philippines. Departed this morning enroute to patrol in the Sulu Sea. Weather fair. Early in evening received radio message that Japanese had sunk the British battleships HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales in the South China Sea, but morale aboard the boat was still high. Later that evening COMSUBPAC advised that we were to engage enemy merchant shipping in the vicinity of the Philippines.USS Permit underway on 10 Dec 4111 December 1941:Arrived in patrol area before dawn.

At midday came under attack from a Japanese H6K search plane, which bracketed the boat with a pair of bombs before our inexperienced gun crew could engage. Sustained damage to some bulkheads and the main pump, as well as a diesel engine. On the second pass our boys brought down the Japanese plane with 20mm AA. Damage mostly repaired.12 December 1941:At midday, having seen no Japanese activity this sector, we turned for home.

While enroute, received reports of an enemy invasion force headed for the Philippines.USS Permit lurking submerged13 December 1941:Heading north along the western coast of Luzon. Attacked by two more H6K search planes, but evaded both.

Numerous reports of enemy convoys and task groups, but none in our vicinity.14 December 1941:Continuing to conduct searching patrol northwest of Luzon. No enemy seen.15 December 1941:Early in the evening we came upon a Japanese flagged medium split freighter. First torpedo missed. Second struck her amidships, sunk. Empty lifeboat observed.The Japanese freighter shortly before the attack that sank her.16 December 1941:Early morning, northwest of Luzon, spotted a Japanese task group steaming west. Comprised at least five Asashio destroyers, two Takao heavy cruisers and one Mogami heavy cruiser. Perhaps one other cruiser further to the north.

Approached silently and allowed two lead Asashio DD to pass. Fired two torpedoes at each of the Takao cruisers from less than 1000 yd.

All were hits. The Mogami passed aft less than 100 yd, too close for a torpedo. But a trailing Asashio also passed aft, and this received one torpedo hit. One of the Takaos blew up almost immediately, and the other moved off to the west, at speed but trailing smoke and fire.

The wounded Asashio was dead in the water, on fire but not sinking. Escaped cleanly to the east.The scene after the attack on the task group. Wounded Asashio in the foreground, with another offering assistance, sirens blaring. The wounded Takao can be seen in the background.Later that morning came upon a Japanese flagged passenger carrier that appeared to have sustained some damage and was barely making steerage. Hit her with one torpedo and then two or three rounds of 4 inch gunfire.

She sank quickly.USS Permit clearing datum after sinking the Japanese passenger carrier.17 December 1941:Returned to base. Came under attack by a G6M Betty but evaded, having damaged the enemy aircraft. 23 December 1941:Departed during the night, enroute to a patrol area northeast of Luzon. Transit during the day was uneventful. Late in the evening COMSUBPAC advised that Wake Island had fallen to the Japanese.During the night we received a report that an enemy task force was moving southeast along the northwest coast of Luzon.

We moved to intercept.24 December 1941:Having located the enemy task force, we approached the rear flank. During the attack, sank two small passenger carriers and an Akizuki destroyer. Also put two torpedoes into an Agano light cruiser, leaving it burning and laying low in the water. Escaped cleanly to the northwest.Later that morning, we spotted a large old split freighter under Japanese flag, north of Appari. We chased her down on the surface, engaging and sinking her with 4 inch gunfire.That night, as we approached the patrol area, radar picked up a small three-ship convoy. We moved to investigate but it turned out to be a group of friendlies.25 December 1941:Early in the afternoon, we spotted another large old split freighter and again sunk the enemy ship with gunfire.Our Christmas greeting from COMSUBPAC did not come until early in the evening, and with it the news that Hong Kong had fallen to the enemy.26 December 1941:We departed the patrol area during the night, enroute for home.27 December 1941:Early in the evening, encountered an enemy task force moving north. Sank a Mogami heavy cruiser with three torpedoes, as well as an Asashio destroyer and a small passenger carrier, with one torpedo apiece.

Escaped to the south and returned to base in Surabaya (Java). (The Philippines were being overrun by the Japanese). 23 January 1942: Departed Surabaya (Java) in the morning, enroute to the Philippines.25 January 1942: Approaching the Celebes Sea, CINCPAC advised that the Japanese had begun operations in the Solomon Islands.29 January 1942: Arrived in our patrol area west of the Philippines.

Midway Battle Movie

During the morning, spotted a pair of large enemy flagged composite freighters. Engaged, putting one torpedo into each target. The second blew up immediately, but we had to finish the second with gunfire.31 January 1942: Our patrol of the designated sector completed. The weather was quite rough. Early in the morning, we moved southeast toward the Sulu Sea to investigate radio reports of enemy shipping in that area.

Late in the afternoon, we spotted a medium split freighter heading north. We engaged from about 2,000 yd, achieving a hit.

The target was listing heavily, and we finished her with gunfire. Following this engagement, we received new orders to conduct a photo reconnaissance mission of the enemy port of Hua-lien (Formosa).2 February 1942: Enroute to the Luzon Strait, we spotted a medium composite freighter during the morning. We torpedoed and sunk her. Seas still very rough.3 February 1942: During the morning while transiting the Luzon Strait, we encountered our first Japanese aircraft seen during this patrol, an A6M2 Zero moving southeast.

I do not believe it spotted us, the weather still being quite bad, but we dived anyway. In the mid afternoon, while approaching Formosa, we saw a medium composite freighter and engaged. Our torpedo missed, so we quickly surfaced, and sank the target with gunfire. Shortly afterward, a Japanese H6K search plane was seen, but again it did not appear to see our boat in the poor weather.

We elected to remain surfaced. Later in the afternoon, we saw a small enemy gunboat which appeared to be having a rough time of it in the heavy seas. We avoided approaching too closely. It was escorting a Minekaze destroyer, but as this crossing target was nearly 3,000 yd away, we did not engage. As evening fell, we surfaced and made our run toward Hua-lien. Our efforts to move north under the cover of darkness were nearly foiled by the approach of a fishing boat around 2200 hrs, forcing us to again dive to avoid being spotted.4 February 1942: We approached Hua-lien at 0530 hrs. We had to move quickly before dawn broke.

A quick survey of the area through the periscope revealed there were very few significant warships, excepting a lone Shiratsuyu destroyer acting as sentry. We engaged and destroyed this destroyer before quickly taking several photographs through the periscope and moving to egress. While moving away, we launched torpedoes at the two nearest and largest enemy ships at berth, using the stern torpedo tubes. We sank a medium tanker and damaged a large tanker.6 February 1942: Transiting the South China Sea. The weather has markedly improved.7 February 1942: During the night we came upon a huge Japanese flagged liner, southeast of the Spratly archipelago.

Two torpedoes - a Mark 10 and a Mark 14 - both impacted broadside from about 700 yd. She went down very quickly, and we observed only a single occupied lifeboat.9 February 1942: During the morning, as we rounded the west coast of Borneo, we came upon a medium split freighter and a large composite freighter, both moving northeast together.

The smaller lead ship was immobilized with a torpedo, and then surfaced and sank both targets with gunfire.11 February 1942: Returned to base at Surabaya (Japan) during the afternoon.12 February 1942: Assigned to command of the new Gato class submarine USS Drum (SS-228) and transferred to Pearl Harbor. 28 February 1942: At midnight we departed Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Drum, enroute to the Philippines.A quiet night in Pearl.1 March 1942: News from CINCPAC advised that the Japanese invasion of Java was imminent.7 March 1942: We passed within 300 nm of Japanese occupied Wake Island by late afternoon. We saw an enemy Betty aircraft, but it was quite distant.8 March 1942: Late in the morning, we were attacked by a Japanese Zero that had dove out of the sun and dropped three bombs close to starboard. We sustained some light damage to the 4 inch gun.

Later that afternoon, we received word that the Japanese invasion of Java had begun.9 March 1942: At noon, we came under attack from a Betty, but its first load of bombs missed. On the next pass, our AA crew brought the aircraft down, but not before it had dropped a load of bombs that inflicted serious damage to the forward compartments. We had heavy flooding in the forward torpedo room, and it wasn't until the early hours of the next morning that we managed to get it under control and pumped out the water.USS Drum (SS-228) moving at depth.10 March 1942: Late in the evening, news came from CINCPAC that Rangoon (Burma) had fallen.13 March 1942: We passed north of the Marianas Islands today. Radio reports indicate heavy enemy activity in this sector.

During the night, we spotted our first enemy target, a large composite freighter heading south. We chased it down on the surface and sunk the ship with gunfire.A close quarters battle at sea.17 March 1942: Late in the afternoon, we reached the Luzon Strait. Late in the evening, due north of Aparri (Philippines), we spotted a medium composite freighter and a small composite freighter traveling together. Both were soon struck by torpedoes, and finished with 4 inch gunfire.18 March 1942: Before dawn, we encountered a small composite freighter northwest of Luzon.

The ship was immobilized by a torpedo, and was burning fiercely, but we finished her with gunfire. We arrived in our patrol area around noon. We saw a G4M Betty but it did not engage.19 March 1942: Shortly after midnight, we received word that an enemy convoy would be passing our way. We encountered the lead escorts of this convoy before dawn. During the battle, we sank three medium composite freighters, one small split freighter, and two Fubuki destroyers. After clearing datum to the east, we decided to head back through the Luzon Strait.A Japanese freighter wallows in heavy seas, a gaping hole in its side from an American torpedo.Periscope view of a burning Japanese split freighter.24 March 1942: During the night, we passed within 300 nm of the Marianas. A convoy was reported nearby.25 March 1942: We managed to approach the convoy without alerting one of at least two, possibly three, Fubuki destroyers acting as escorts.

During the attack we sank a medium composite freighter and damaged a large split freighter.Approaching the convoy. A Fubuki destroyer can be seen on the right.Torpedo impact!3 April 1942: CINCPAC advised that fierce fighting was ongoing in Bataan.4 April 1942: We visited Midway while on the way back to base. A very busy place these days.Approaching Midway at sunset.

A Brooklyn class light cruiser can be seen on the left.USS Drum as seen from the Brooklyn class light cruiser.Leaving Midway, with miles to go.5 April 1942: Word came from CINCPAC that the Japanese had successfully attack British Royal Navy cruisers at anchor in Ceylon.6 April 1942: At dawn we returned to Pearl Harbor for refit. There was a driving rain storm, but the crew were upbeat anyway.The USS North Carolina (BB-55) at berth in Pearl. A poor day to visit Hawaii. 8 April 1942: We departed Pearl Harbor after a refit.18 April 1942: In the evening, CINCPAC passed along word of the Doolittle raids.20 April 1942: We were attacked by a G4M Betty aircraft in the early evening. We crash dived, and sustained no damage.24 April 1942: Today we passed north of the Marianas Islands.25 April 1942: Late in the afternoon, we intercepted a Japanese convoy west of the Marianas.

The attack was very successful. We sank two small split freighters, a medium composite freighter, a large split freighter, a small composite freighter, and a Fubuki class destroyer.26 April 1942: In the morning we sank a small split freighter with gunfire. Shortly afterward, we received new orders to proceed to a new patrol area near Honshu (Japan), some 900 nm to the northwest.27 April 1942: In the evening, we received word from COMSUBPAC that major Japanese naval contingents were gathering in the Coral Sea area.

It seemed a major battle was brewing there.28 April 1942: In mid morning we saw a D3A1 Val dive bomber to the southwest, and then a pair of B5N2 Kates. There was probably a Japanese carrier in the area, but we never saw it. In fact, the continued heavy air activity forced us to dive to avoid being spotted.29 April 1942: We came under attack from a G4M Betty today, but sustained no damage.30 April 1942: We reached our patrol area this date.

Late in the evening, we encountered a medium composite freighter southeast of Kyushu (Japan). This target was torpedoed and then finished off with gunfire.

During the night, there was a radio report of a convoy moving southwest toward us. We moved to ambush this new target, and during the battle, we sank a large composite freighter and a medium composite freighter, using two torpedoes on each.2 May 1942: Our patrol of the assigned sector complete, we began moving to the east.4 May 1942: Late in the afternoon, about 400 nm south of Tokyo, we were attacked by a pair of H8K aircraft. We damaged one of them before they broke off their attack.5 May 1942: Late in the evening, we came under attack from another H8K. It made several ineffectual passes before we eventually brought it down. Less than an hour later, we spotted a large composite freighter on the northern horizon. We were out of torpedoes by now, and so we closed the distance intended to use the 4 inch gun. But suddenly the enemy merchant opened fire on us.

This was the first time a merchant had returned fire, and it was a rude surprise. We went to flank speed and took evasive maneuvers during the gun duel that followed. We were ultimately victorious, but did sustain some damage. Another hour later, we were attacked by a G4M Betty aircraft. Its bombs fell close by but did no damage. We crash dived after this first pass and decided to stay submerged until night fell.The killing blow from the 4 inch gun.A smoking Japanese freighter sinks as the sun drops below the horizon.6 May 1942: During the afternoon, we were attacked by an H8K aircraft. It made several ineffectual passes before we ran out of 20mm ammunition, and dived to avoid further attacks.

In the evening we received the sad news that our brave American forces in Corregidor had been forced to surrender.8 May 1942: In the evening, news came that the battle in the Coral Sea had ended. No word on the outcome.12 May 1942: We arrived in Midway for a refit and a much needed rest.