Does depth ping give away my position?

[Bl00dCat]

I'm playing SH3+GWX campaign, and, due to stock depth map which definitely was made by some Allies or Soviet agent, I have to ping my exact depth under keel very often. This raises a question: can enemy ASW ships actually hear this ping in GWX? Cause some recent game situations make me suspect they can't.

[Pisces]

This is indeed true. They don't react to it. It's a shame, but the way it is. But you can always do make-believe.

[Jimbuna]

I've always considered this to be one of the biggest failings in the AI.

[jreid666]

I have to say that once in gwx i constantly pinged to try to get an escort to break away from a convoy so i could attack it and it seemed to work. either that or they heard something else in my vicinity

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by jreid666

I have to say that once in gwx i constantly pinged to try to get an escort to break away from a convoy so i could attack it and it seemed to work. either that or they heard something else in my vicinity

Nope... just happenstance.

I've just accepted it and do not ping if I am in a situation where I could not surface and fire off the deck gun into the sky.

There is a lot in the game that someone put in as a good idea, but that was never followed up on. The helmsman qualification, for example. Does nothing whatsoever.

[Oleander]

It makes me wonder if someone is able to make it count as a sonar ping without the range estimate since that's essentially what it is.

[Marcello]

Originally Posted by Bl00dCat

I'm playing SH3+GWX campaign, and, due to stock depth map which definitely was made by some Allies or Soviet agent, I have to ping my exact depth under keel very often.

It is not like world oceans had been thoroughly surveyed with the help of GPS in 1939.

But afaik, the german u-boats barely used their horizontal sonar (S-Gerät) because optical information was more precise at that time,

As far as I have read the Kriegsmarine regarded active radar and sonar emission as something to avoid as much as possible. Sometimes they went to extreme lenghts to avoid turning on their active sets. Besides I am not sure how many active sonar sets were actually issued.

[the dark knight]

Sondergerat Fur Aktive Schallortung (or S-Gerat)

(Special Apparatus for Active Sound Location) was essentially sonar. It transmitted sound pulses and timed the returning echo. Because it emitted sound pulses which also broadcasted the U-boat’s location, this device was not very popular. It could detect objects up to 4,000 meters away. However this system was a bit temperamental and it's ability to detect the range to a target depended on so many things, salinity, sea state and even temperature (plus easily damaged by depth charges). I have read instances where the S-Gerat for what ever reason, did not detect a target at 2,000m or less. Because of it's unpopularity and uselessness, most if not all the U-boats fitted with S-Gerat had them removed later on in life.

I do not bother to mount it since the real one did not work properly, nor was it very effective.

[Leitender]

it emitted sound pulses which also broadcasted the U-boat’s location

That´s exactly the question. Could any S-Gerät or Echolot sound be heard by other vessels or not? No doubt, the Germans feared this, but they also feared the Metox beeing a homing beacon, what it definitely not was.

Btw., 4.000m seems to be very much overall. The british ASDIC type 123 had a efficient range of only 1.200m to 1.500m (depending on... source). Even with a range of only 2.000m, the S-Gerät would be superior to the British ASDIC, which was based on a development since 1919, whereas the Germans began their work on sonar in the middle of the 30´s.