Herman Hum
08 May 05, 18:00
The Bedford Incident
By Paul Bridge
As the DD Bedford:
I wanted to try the surface force first so that I would have no preconceived idea of where the SSB would start. I dutifully patrolled within my assigned area and watched the action all around from the Canadian ASWGru. They were quite industrious and prosecuted 2 contacts. I did now know if one of the contacts was the SSB so I continued on my patrol.
Soon, the ASWGru came into my zone and started to patrol alongside me. I was glad for the company. A sub was detected and then localized by the ASWGru. Fortuitously, I was not too far away when her position was confirmed. She was classified as hostile when launch transients were detected from her towards the Canucks. My blood chilled when I learned that the torpedo she had fired was a Nuclear-tipped weapon! I immediately responded with a nuclear-tipped ASROC; which failed! While sweating bullets, I fired my second (and last) nuclear ASROC and was rewarded with an explosion. I was fully expecting the atomic annihilation of the Canucks but was pleased to see that they had survived without loss. Evidently, either the torpedo had missed or the nuclear detonation had destroyed it in the ensuing shock wave.
A real nail-biter.
As the SSB:
In hindsight, I think that I should have played with full realism instead of auto-datalinks. The information from my allies was excellent but it may have been a bit too helpful and not normally the amount of information a real submariner might receive.
I dove down deep with the SSB and cruised along at 5 kts towards the required reference points. I had no desire to stumble across the destroyer and did not want to risk a chance encounter until I had some idea of where she was. My comrades kept me well informed of events topside. When I learned of the Bedford's position, I gambled on some short sprints at 8 kts. This later turned out to be a bad idea. I had forgotten that I was in a diesel submarine.
I slowed down once again to cruise speed at 5kts when I closed on the Bedford at 10nm. I slowly crept around her and, once clear, went back to 8kts. Only as I was nearing the ice edge did I realize how badly I had depleted my batteries and that I would be unable to make the protection of the icefield without coming up to re-charge my batteries. Stupid, stupid, stupid me. I gingerly crept up to periscope depth and noted that the area was clear. I would alternatively snort for about 10 minutes then run underwater for 10 minutes until I was safely hidden under the ice. The entire jack-in-the-box exercise was unnerving but accomplished without incident.
A great little scenario for submarine operations. Thanks for putting it together.
Scenario posted at hh (http://www.harpoonhq.com/harpoon3/colonialwars/).
By Paul Bridge
As the DD Bedford:
I wanted to try the surface force first so that I would have no preconceived idea of where the SSB would start. I dutifully patrolled within my assigned area and watched the action all around from the Canadian ASWGru. They were quite industrious and prosecuted 2 contacts. I did now know if one of the contacts was the SSB so I continued on my patrol.
Soon, the ASWGru came into my zone and started to patrol alongside me. I was glad for the company. A sub was detected and then localized by the ASWGru. Fortuitously, I was not too far away when her position was confirmed. She was classified as hostile when launch transients were detected from her towards the Canucks. My blood chilled when I learned that the torpedo she had fired was a Nuclear-tipped weapon! I immediately responded with a nuclear-tipped ASROC; which failed! While sweating bullets, I fired my second (and last) nuclear ASROC and was rewarded with an explosion. I was fully expecting the atomic annihilation of the Canucks but was pleased to see that they had survived without loss. Evidently, either the torpedo had missed or the nuclear detonation had destroyed it in the ensuing shock wave.
A real nail-biter.
As the SSB:
In hindsight, I think that I should have played with full realism instead of auto-datalinks. The information from my allies was excellent but it may have been a bit too helpful and not normally the amount of information a real submariner might receive.
I dove down deep with the SSB and cruised along at 5 kts towards the required reference points. I had no desire to stumble across the destroyer and did not want to risk a chance encounter until I had some idea of where she was. My comrades kept me well informed of events topside. When I learned of the Bedford's position, I gambled on some short sprints at 8 kts. This later turned out to be a bad idea. I had forgotten that I was in a diesel submarine.
I slowed down once again to cruise speed at 5kts when I closed on the Bedford at 10nm. I slowly crept around her and, once clear, went back to 8kts. Only as I was nearing the ice edge did I realize how badly I had depleted my batteries and that I would be unable to make the protection of the icefield without coming up to re-charge my batteries. Stupid, stupid, stupid me. I gingerly crept up to periscope depth and noted that the area was clear. I would alternatively snort for about 10 minutes then run underwater for 10 minutes until I was safely hidden under the ice. The entire jack-in-the-box exercise was unnerving but accomplished without incident.
A great little scenario for submarine operations. Thanks for putting it together.
Scenario posted at hh (http://www.harpoonhq.com/harpoon3/colonialwars/).