[bstanko6]

PERISCOPE DISCIPLINE

I wanted to add to this topic a little something that most people don’t take seriously, and that’s periscope discipline. I mentioned it in the main article, but I think it something that needs to be discussed further. In my experience silent hunter five offers several ways in which your U-boat can be detected. When it comes to visual detection, you could be detected by your periscope or boat itself. If you open the Messages box options, and select “inform of sub sighted” messages, then Wolfram will give you very important info on whether your scope or boat are sighted. If this happens then one of two things will occur. If your scope is spotted you will see a message highlighted in red stating “submarine scope spotted in such and such position”. This red message is referring to you, while gray messages refer to other boats. Having your periscope spotted is not as bad as having your ship spotted. What will likely happen is an escort or task force will be sent to the location of the possible scope location. Don’t let this deter you from your attack, just know that the timer is on you. In a convoy the ship that spotted you may or may not move off course to avoid you. But that does not mean the other ships will. If you were in the middle of a convoy submerged, and decide to surface, a very interesting thing occurs. You will hear many different versions of an SOS message being displayed with red messages of your sighting. The ships will then do one of many things, ram you, zigzag, or fight you if they have guns. They will definitely report your position to nearby escorts. The point of my little tirade is that you should use periscope discipline at all times.

U-boat commanders handbook section 2 C. Preparing for the underwater attack subsection 125 - 127.