Tell us what you are upto in your current campaign

[nataraj]

And so I died ...

I decided against attacking. Figured there'd be at least 2-3 destroyers in the pack. Too much of a risk for my first war patrol.

But ... I thought maybe sneak away and take a look at what's sailing in the convoy. Set a course SE - perpendicular to the convoy's NE course. Periscope depth to be able to listen and 5 kn speed. Stealth meter: green.

In the chaotic bundle of hydrophone lines on my map I must have missed the one that went after me: a Black Swan frigate was way ahead of the pack and started to chase me. I survived two runs of depth charges, but the third one hit me at 50-60m depth and engines off. Ping - ping - ping, you're dead. "Career abandoned"

----------

Good thing I still had that save from last night. Reloaded and made a quick run: surfaced, flank speed, course 110. After 15 nm there was no sound contact. Back on course due S. Phew.

Do not pull the tiger's tail ... (at least not if you're still a kitten)

[sublynx]

Welcome to the forum and good luck on the next hunt In 1939 you might well find a convoy with only one escort. If you do, attack it and practice avoiding just one escort. That's easier. But be sure to have lots of water between you and the escorts. In shallow water you might not have time to escape the depth charge runs.

[desirableroasted]

At 5Kts, an elite escort certaiinly might hear you and investigate. A dull one might pass 1000 m in front and never twitch. You never know.

Remember, your great advantage is that you move in three dimensions, while your opponents cannot. The ability to go deep is your best friend in this game, which it is why it is madness to run the Channel in wartime: you can do it, but if you are caught, you are sailing around in a shallow bathtub.

[nataraj]

Thanks, desireableroasted and sublynx, for your advice! Seems I need to pay more attention to good vs. poor position and be content to sink one ship out of a whole convoy - and get away with it
For the moment I'll have to learn how to observe without getting killed in the process. I'll do just that.

[the dark knight]

some time ago there was a hint here on the forum that I took to heart and still use today. When you are in your conning tower interior, there is a dial that shows your engine RPM's. If you are running silent and keep your RPM's below 100 (or less that 2 knots) when near an escort, you should be okay. I will get in front of the convoy, dive and go silent. When I am ready to unleash my attack I try to be in the middle of the convoy. I will come out of silent running and fire everything I have and reload if possible. When the escorts come, I crash dive and then go silent once more. The key is to keep your RPM's low. If you want to practice, the single missions are a great place to explore new tactics.

I also like to cripple 2 or 3 ships by attacking their propellers. The will come to a grinding halt, and after the escorts are finished trying to kill me and they leave, I have some nice fat merchants sitting still for me to finish off.

[nataraj]

Thank you, dark knight, for sharing your tactic and for the hint with the RPM dial . I took a quick look around last night but did not see it (or mybe just did not recognize it). Shall look harder next time ...

As for combat tactics, I definitely have to learn a lot here. During the "Naval Academy" convoy exercise I died often - until I changed the strategy and took out the destroyer first, then the ASW trawler. Seems I took a shortcut and never learnt the right way to hit Merchants and then escape the destroyers.

Did some searching last night and found a few hints/articles on the net that seem to be useful: "The Submerged Attack", "ASW technology and proper submarine tactics", "The Art of Escape" and "Defensive Maneuvering". Have to study these before moving on to training mode.

I was thinking about running the exercise again, but if there are any single missions that are particularly useful in training these combat/evasive tactics, I'll go and play these before returning to career mode.

Cheers
Helmut

[Rammstein0991]

Your best bet is to simply avoid convoys if at all possible, go for lone merchants or pairs traveling w/o escort, only go for the groups when you cant find the more helpless prey, you'll live longer

[jacobston]

Originally Posted by sublynx

In shallow water you might not have time to escape the depth charge runs.

What I usually do if I get caught in shallow water is rig for silent running and hope I don't get blown out of the water by the depth charges. Then I get my sonar officer to follow the contact and when he is circling around after his attack run, I raise the scope and try to fire a torpedo into him. I did that earlier today when i was being hunted by four destroyers outside their harbor. I sunk two and managed to get the others to run aground.

[Rammstein0991]

Originally Posted by jacobston

What I usually do if I get caught in shallow water is rig for silent running and hope I don't get blown out of the water by the depth charges. Then I get my sonar officer to follow the contact and when he is circling around after his attack run, I raise the scope and try to fire a torpedo into him. I did that earlier today when i was being hunted by four destroyers outside their harbor. I sunk two and managed to get the others to run aground.

Sounds like me infiltrating pearl lol

[desirableroasted]

Remember that a lot of shallow water is also heavily mined (at least in the supermods).

People play in different ways, but in my little SH3 world, being DCd means I have made a tactical mistake, but it comes with the territory. But being DCd in shallow water means I have been stupid for going there in the first place.

[jacobston]

Originally Posted by desirableroasted

Remember that a lot of shallow water is also heavily mined (at least in the supermods).

Oh, I remember. I recently started a new campaign with the Grey Wolves Mod. I was experimenting with different crew arrangements, tried to leave the harbor at periscope depth and, well, you can figure out the rest. I survived though, thanks to efficient damage control i managed to limp back to the harbor.

[Rammstein0991]

=War Diary=
U-794 (XVIIIA Walther type)
Ktplt. Egon Roth
=02-18-44=

Have just left base of Surabaya, Java for my first patrol in this new boat, I was initially reserved about leaving my old IXD behind and upon first sight I found my new command to be somewhat...unattractive in its blocky and rigid appearance, Even less appealing was the loss of rear firing Eels which limits offensive and defensive options as pertaining to enemy action.

However, I was made aware and instructed in the use of a new form of propulsion system, which to the amazement of the crew and I, can allow for a high knot of speed on the surface as well as submerged. Alas I cannot describe this new engine, its performance limits, or its fuel source in any written document kept aboard the boat on the off-chance that it may somehow fall into enemy hands.

This newfound speed along with the increased forward armament, as well as all of our eels being internal are a suitable compensation if I had to confess. In fact not half an hour ago we had our first success just north of Australia, we happened upon a lone troop transport traveling about 6 knots, 2 torpedo's stopped her dead in the water, but after a half hour she had not sank, so we struck her once more just aft of the bow and she went down by the head.

More entries will come, as soon as we have further success.

[nataraj]

Thanks again to all you guys on this forum for your help!

After some practice sessions with destroyers I started career mode again, this time with GWX and SH3 Commander (real ship names, no fatigue, stop TC on enemy contact). Flotilla 2, UBoot VIIb.

Set realism to 80% (still need help from the WO to ID those merchants), spent some of my precious renown on officer skills, and - for the second patrol - on a KDG hydrophone. Had a great time, enemy warships far enough, some minor cargo and two Large Merchants sailing my way.

Ended 2nd patrol with 6 ships sunk (34k t) after only 8 days (out of front torpedoes)

I play the downloaded version (amazon, not steam), on Win7 64bit. Tried to install the hi-res patch but no effect, it still sends 1024x768 to my monitor, hm. Good enough, though.

Next patrol, I'm going to shoot down those planes

OLt zS Helmut

[Sailor Steve]

Since you have Ship Names enabled you might be interested in this.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...o=file&id=4022

[Dread Knot]

Originally Posted by nataraj

Next patrol, I'm going to shoot down those planes

Be careful. It's a U-Boat, not an anti-aircraft cruiser.