Sunday, January 8, 2023

Silent Victory USS Nautilus War Patrol #2 AAR March 1942

 


Hello and welcome to the second patrol of the mighty USS Nautilus commanded by Lt. Commander William H. Brockman Jr. If you missed their first War Patrol you can click here to see what you missed.

Brockman Jr. gets his orders to patrol the China Sea area for this deployment. The submarine and crew are ready to go and the USS Nautilus sets out for War Patrol #2.


The Nautilus makes it through the transit from Pearl Harbor to the Pacific Ocean without incident. The Nautilus makes it to its ordered patrol and begins its second patrol. Unfortunately for the crew, the first few weeks go by with no enemy contacts. The crew starts to wonder if there is a war on or not.

Finally, the crew spots a large ship on the horizon. In the cover of darkness, the Nautilus sneaks up to medium range. As they approach the Japanese ship the Commander submerges the Nautilus before firing. The Commander decides to fire four torpedoes at the ship. With the firing solution set they fire their torpedoes and then turn to get some distance from the Japanese ships.


Out of the four torpedoes, one doesn't make it but the other three find their target. Two of the torpedoes are duds and don't explode but the last torpedo finds its target and explodes causing major damage to the Japanese ship. The explosion breaks the back of the Japanese ship sinking it. Without any more contacts, the Nautilus continues on with its patrol.


Almost immediately the Nautilus stumbles upon a small, lone Japanese ship. With it still night the sub sneaks up to medium range but this time the Commander keeps the sub on the surface. Four torpedoes are readied and fired at the Japanese ship. Two of the four are lost but the other two hit the enemy ship and both exploded causing severe damage. The Commander sees that the ship is wounded but not out of the fight so he decides to have the deck gun manned and four rounds later the Nautilus sinks its second ship of the patrol.


The Nautilus continues on with its patrol and as they get near the end they find a third lone Japanese ship. Without an escort protecting the enemy ship the Nautilus moves up to medium range under the cover of night. The Commander stays on the surface again and he ordered four torpedoes to be fired at the Japanese ship. Out of the four three find their target and surprisingly all three exploded quickly sinking the Japanese ship.


The Nautilus, nearing the end of this patrol, receives an Ultra Intercept and is giving the coordinates of a Japanese Capitol Ship. The Commander sets a course and arrives to find the Japanese Battleship Kongo. With the sun out the Nautilus submerges and moves to medium range. The Commander selects to fire six torpedoes at the Battleship. With everything lined up the Nautilus fires and then gets out of the area as quickly as possible.


Four of the torpedoes hit the Battleship and unfortunately for the Nautilus three of the four are duds and do nothing. The one torpedo explodes and does some damage to the Battleship but not enough to finish it off. The Japanese ship hunts for the Nautilus but is unable to find it. With the Battleship smoking the Nautilus has no time following it to setup up a second attack.

Once the sun sets the Nautilus sets up a second attack with four more torpedoes. Once fired three of the torpedoes hit the Battleship and with only one dud enough damage is caused to sink the Battleship. There are cheers heard all through the Nautilus. With the Nautilus at the end of their patrol, they head to Pearl Harbor without incident.

The USS Nautilus 2nd War Patrol ends with a big win. Four ships sunk for a total of 50,100 tons!

Kanto Maru                                  8600  ton ship
Hokuyo Maru                               1600 ton freighter
Nichim Maru                                2700 ton freighter
BB Kongo                                   37,200 ton Battleship

The USS Nautilus earns its second Battle Star. Lt Commander Brockman Jr is awarded the Navy Cross!


The USS Nautilus earns its second Battle Star. Lt. Commander Brockman Jr. is awarded the Navy Cross! Because of this award, the Nautilus earns a submarine upgrade tokin.

Come back next week for the USS Nautilus' 3rd War Patrol!


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