Wednesday, May 18, 2011

[1938] Submarine U-152

In November 1918, the German submarine U-152 surrendered at Harwich, England. But I start the story at the end of WWI, not earlier.

U-152 , a Type U-151 submarine, was built to be a mobile quartermaster for other subs, but was changed to a combat sub mid construction. She was commissioned a year before she surrendered, in October, and then started her cruise by sinking American schooner Julia Frances in January 1918, and another, the Whyland, in March 1918. In September, she fought two US Navy ships, oiler USS George G. Henry (who managed to escape, heavily damaged) and cargo ship USS Ticonderoga (which was sunk). Her last prize was the Norwegian barque Stifinder. The submariners boarded the ship and scuttled her in October.

After that, nothing more until 1921, when she sank on her way to the scrapyard.

But what if that hadn't happened? What if Naval Intelligence kept the little sub that could and operated it all the way up to 1938? What if this little sub is the first modern black project?

No worries, I'm not going to stat this out in Savage Worlds. Best to leave it as a transport or a scene where adventure takes place. But which side is she on? What would the Liverpool Free State do with her? Or the Isle of Man, for that matter. Her fate could be up to the PCs, either by being crew or taking her in a surprise attack. Either way, it'll be exciting!

3 comments:

  1. Wouldn't she be teribbly outdated in 1938?
    Oh, and in trying to verify this statement I found this:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_X1
    What if there was another reason than breaking international treaties for taking a newspaper out of commission?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rorschachhamster: Thanks for the link to HMS X1 - very cool. As to whether she'd be terribly outdated, it goes back to high school - When you've got a car, no matter how crappy a car, it's better than your HS friends that don't have one. Whichever side has the sub, no matter how crappy the sub is, it's better than not having one.

    Ronin78: Thanks for the kudos! Keep reading!

    ReplyDelete

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